Many years ago, while I was going to the Art Institute, I worked a part-time job at Mail Boxes Etc. It was a small place, but we had at least 100 mailboxes and I ended up going through a lot of mail, sorting and dispersing it. So one day I’m in this drug store and I see this copy of The Great and Secret Show by Clive Barker. I knew Clive Barker from the old Hellraiser movies, so I decided to check out the book, and what do you know, it starts out in the dead letter office in Omaha, Nebraska. And at the center of America, where all the dead letters go, one Randolph Jaff, sorting through the mail before burning it, was finding clues about another world, a secret world, as he read the letters before they were consumed by flame. What an interesting premiss. I had to get this book.

But like most books back then, it went unread. I did get through about half of the first chapter, but that was it, reading just wasn’t my thing. Now after discovering how important reading really is, I’m picking up books that I’ve always wanted to get through but never made the time, and Clive Barker’s book was just dying to be read.

The thing is, it turned out to be a great book. After only reading half of the first chapter some seventeen years ago I didn’t know what to expect. All I really knew was where it started, but by the time the first chapter had ended I was hooked. It has that explosive beginning that all books need to draw you in. It also touches on another love of mine, philosophy, creating its own version of the collective unconscious, becoming more of a fantastic read than horror, which is not what I was expecting from this author. And coming in at over 650 pages I can say that it’s the largest book I’ve ever read.

I’m glad I took the time to finish a book like this, it proves to me that I can handle something this big if I’m enjoying the author. There are some out there that I’ve tried to get into but just couldn’t. And I’m also happy because it’s something I’ve always wanted to do, but said to myself, in the back of my mind, it would never really get done. Ha, so there!

Yeah, a small milestone for me - D

Currently Playing: Fallen Earth