"A Spot of Bother" is one of my favourite books so I was excited to read this... but I never made it past the first 20 pages it was so annoying! And I'm a person who has to finish any book or movie that I start! Horrible choppy writing, skipping from character to character...

Mark Haddon is a very inventive writer, so it's to be expected that his books will not all follow the same path. Red House is as unique as his first book, but in a different way. That being said, although this book was written through several different viewpoints, which some readers felt was confusing at times, I found it an excellent read and didn't have a problem following the thoughts and dreams of the various characters. In fact, I had trouble putting it down and getting on with the rest of my life!

This was my first Mark Haddon book and it was such a huge let down. Its all over the place and nothing but a big messy soup. I am an avid reader and I was lost more than I was found. There are complete pages of two word sentences ( tho I beg to differ ) that were meant to decribe I guess. It was just choppy and horribly done. Yes it does follow the very unhappy lives of two families but to be honest I never felt compassion orany feeling. They were not the nicest people. I would NOT refer anyone to this book. BLAH!

I thoroughly enjoyed Mark Haddon's other two books that I've read, both A Spot of Bother and The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime had me captivated right from the start. This book, however, was difficult to follow and didn't have the same element of storytelling that the other two did. This one is told from the perspective of 8 different family members and is very hard to follow. Their thoughts are incomplete and scattered. It may be how people actually think and even speak, but reading that is quite difficult when trying to follow a story.

In Mark Haddon's newest novel, eight family members who all carry secrets, longings and resentments spend a week together near "the fine sandy beaches of Herefordshire." This uncomfortable mix includes the prosperous but career-stressed Richard; his vulnerable and sensitive wife, Louisa; Louisa's sharp-edged, sarcastic teenager, Melissa; Richard's sister, Angela, who still mourns the loss of her stillborn baby eighteen years earlier, eats for comfort, and worries that she will eventually become demented like her mother; Angela's husband, Dominic, embroiled in an affair with a much younger woman; and their three children: hormonal Alex, religious Daisy and nervous Benjy. "The Red House" reads like a dour exploration of family dysfunction in which the author interweaves symbolism with his characters' inner thoughts and dialogue. Each new paragraph contains the stream-of-consciousness of a different voice, causing the writing to seem pretentious, confusing and, at times, bizarre. Haddon does interest the reader enough to wonder whether the vacation will lead to anguish or solace and he does effectively show how constant attacks by loved ones lead to defenselessness. The story desperately needs a dose of the witty humour that characterized "The Curious Incident of The Dog in The Nighttime" and "A Spot of Bother." Without it, "The Red House"'s forced, artificial feel makes the book seem much longer than it actually is.

I read this book because I read The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time before and really enjoyed it. This book is very different, and the style of writing - mostly in short paragraphs that jump from character to character without warning - was a little difficult to get used to. However, I did enjoy the book and the story was engaging.

Disappointing... Didn't really like it much.

This is my first book by Mark Haddon, and The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night Time is definitley on my "to read" list. The book is about an estranged brother and sister and their familes spending a week at a summer house together. Using alternating voices, Haddon delves deeply into family relationships. His character devleopment is excellent and sort of reminds me of Anita Brookner.

LOVED IT. I had to fight through the first bit of it until I got used to the pace of it. But I almost think that was intentiional. Families can be like that. I laughed out loud at one point so that's always a good thing right?

This novel takes place over a week. Richard and his sister Angela have had little contact in recent years. Richard paid for his mother's nursing home and Angela visited her weekly. At the funeral of his mother, Richard is struck by the fact that this is his family and invites Angela and her family on a country vacation in Wales with his wife and stepdaughter. Richard's wife Louisa feels that her working class background means she must work harder to please Richard by following his high culture interests. Louisa's daughter Melissa is part of the in-crowd at her school, but resents the world around her. Angela is a good teacher, but feels her role is to be responsible for all those around her, and yet she resents anyone else taking on these tasks. She doesn't know how to nurture herself, and feels caught in the past, a past that she has mythologized. Angela's husband Dominic is a sensitive man, who feels diminished by the loss of his career as a musician. He has begun an affair with another woman in an effort to feel loved, a move not very successful for him. He wants to be a good father, but is wary about taking the lead. Their son Alex is an independent young man, with a plan for the future, a passion for adventure sports, and like most teenage boys, a strong interest in the female sex. Daughter Daisy has recently turned to religion as a place to feel wanted, but is finding that it is coming through for her as she imagined. Where does her resentment come from, and is she willing to face it? Son Benjy lives in a fantasy world in his head, a world of battles and dangers, and yet is fearful of anything that may threaten his real world. Put all these people together in a house for a week in the country, a place with bad cellphone reception but surrounded by nature, and you get some interesting things happen. There are realizations, decisions made, and connections that grow between family members. An interesting story of relationship dynamics.