Although Cook's works tend to be too retrospective for my taste, it works for this book. In between chapters, the main character (David) is trying to explain his situation. Each chapter is a narration on what's going on in David's life, but the entire book is plagued by flashbacks of his childhood and descriptions of things that have already happened. In other books by Cook that I've tried to read, this obsession with repetitiveness bothered me. In this book, it's relevant to the mental states of the main characters.I appreciated how Cook weaved in the references to sound and water. While I thought I had the character of Diana figured out 2/3 through (and it turns out I certainly did not) there were still some surprises near the end. David's history with schizophrenia and his paranoia of Diana made the closing chapters pleasantly creepy. What I enjoyed most, though, was the overall effect of the novel.It's a simple read, but that doesn't take away its power and cause for you to question your own sanity. Everything is connected, and Diana's quest to prove this made me appreciate this despite the mental illness that was pinned to her. David seems to be tortured by his memories, no matter how innocent he may have been at that time. He doesn't seem to understand that everyone has memories that pop up when phrases trigger them, but maybe this is also something the author doesn't understand. I may be generous in my rating because I'm not a big mystery fan. For a light mystery, it's pretty good. I happen to like novels regarding schizophrenia, and Cook's style--for this novel--pulled me into the deep end. I likely won't be reading any of his other works (been there, tried that) but this one might need a re-read long down the road.
It was bound to happen sooner or later; my first Cook novel to elicit a lukewarm reaction. That’s not to say it was horrible; I don’t actually think it’s possible for Thomas H. Cook to write a horrible novel. The Cloud of Unknowing was a bit of a bust for me, though.David and Diana Sears were raised by their brilliant but schizophrenic father. Now they are adults and they carry all the baggage from that often difficult childhood. David is a married lawyer with a teenage daughter. Diana is also married, with a young son who suffers from mental illness. We meet David as he sits in an interrogation room at the local police station. Diana’s young son, Jason, has drowned and Diana blames her husband, Mark. More than blames him; Diana thinks Mark has murdered their son.The Cloud of Unknowing cleverly weaves David’s deposition and the back-story necessary to make Diana’s story both believable and suspect. David is, as many of Cook’s protagonists are, an average man – honest and hard working. This novel has less to do with the mystery surrounding Jason’s death, and more to do with David’s feelings of helplessness as Diana’s fears about Mark grow and as she pulls other people into her orbit.I can’t fault Cook’s writing. As always, I turned the pages quickly. The Cloud of Unknowing just didn’t have either the emotional payoff or the clever twist I’ve come to expect from Cook’s novels. My ho-hum feelings about this novel in no way undermine my deep admiration for Cook’s work. I intend to read every single one of his novels: I love him that much.
What do You think about The Cloud Of Unknowing (2007)?
I borrowed this book from the library thinking it was another book with the same title; a little disappointed when I got it home. I'd never heard of this author, and had no idea what genre of book it belonged to, but I thought I might as well read it. It almost goes without saying that I couldn't possibly write a book of any kind, so with that qualification/disclaimer in place I say, this is an ordinary book. A couple of times I felt engaged, but never intrigued. It seemed to overreach itself, and wanted to present genius characters without the ability to write them. Also, it appears to have been written with the view of being turned into a movie, which makes it stylistically episodic and a bit lacking in depth.Opinion is divided in the other reviews here, and a few have said this book is not of his usual (presumably higher) standard. It took about four hours to read, so there's that to be said for it. If you find yourself at a loose end, or at home sick but not so sick you can't hold a hardcover book, this might be decent medicine.My apologies, Mr. Cook, since I know it's much better than anything I could produce, and I know you labored over it very much longer than the four hours it took me to read it, but it was a pedestrian experience.
—Elpy Dee
The Cloud of Unknowing by Thomas H. Cook was an ambitious book about the mysterious death of a child and the infliction of paranoid schizophrenia. The story follows the uncle of the child through his testimony with a detective and his narration of the actual events of the story. I felt both narratives intertwine perfectly and give a great sense of the mindset of all of those involved. The questions posed by the author, the language and technique of how this story was portrayed, and the level of research contributed to this novel really intrigued me. I enjoyed reading from beginning to end.
—Vicki
Another fine read by Thomas H. Cook. Not his best or at least not my favorite, but nevertheless still a very good book. Cook's fiction habitually leans toward darkness, but this was a particularly bleak piece, at its heart a difficult complicated relationship between brother and sister and the shadow their dead father casts on their lives, King Hamlet style. In a way this is an exploration of the implications of hereditary madness and from that perspective it's very interesting, so this book is primarily a drama and any mystery aspects are very much secondary. Anyone going in with the expectations of a literary thriller might be somewhat disappointed. Anyone looking to read a well written, complex, intelligent family drama would really enjoy this, so long as they don't mind the dark and depressing subject matters. As a character study, this is Cook at his finest and most astute. Very quick read, less than 4 hours.
—Bandit
