Featured Site: Shelf Monkey's Review of Left Behind

Photo from source, Wikpedia

There isn't much reason for this particular post at this particular time, other than to show you how my mind works. Today, my friend, co-worker and fill-in editor, Stupid Monkey Planet were talking, as we like to do. I mentioned that the cloud moving over the mountains made me feel like The Langoliers were coming. More accurately, I was probably thinking of a similar story, The Mist. Both are Stephen King short stories with a vaguely similar vibe.

We started talking about The Langoliers, a story about an airline flight where many people suddenly vanish from the plane, leaving various items behind, and those left behind have to figure out what's going on. It's a gripping story, with a suspenseful setup. Then, I wondered aloud if the authors of Left Behind--an apocalyptic Christian story which started in much the same way--stole the initial premise for their enormously profitable and spectacularly badly written series of books and sundry spin offs.

After a little Googling, I stumbled upon this review of Left Behind, also mentioning The Langoliers. Aside from the "Monkey" reference in the blog's name (which was a shoo-in for this blog on that basis alone), the review is hilarious, and spot-on. I wrote my own review some time ago, which was much shorter and not nearly as funny. Shelf Monkey has picked up a fan in me, and I wanted to share. Here is an excerpt from the post that hooked me.

[Excerpt]

Critical Monkey Entry #4 — Left Behind: Ouch! My soul!

In his collection Four Past Midnight, author Stephen King wrote a tight little novella entitled 'The Langoliers.' It concerned itself with a small group of people who had fallen asleep on an aircraft, only to awaken and discover that everyone else on board had mysteriously vanished. . .

The scenario is absurd, but over 200 or so pages, King achieves a surprising amount of gut-clenching suspense over the predicament. His characters are strong, the dialogue is heightened yet believeable, and the plot device (waking up abandoned and alone) is so universal that a suspension of disbelief was easily achieved.

. . .Flash-forward five years, when Tim LaHaye and Jerry Jenkins (hereafter L&J) release the first volume of their Rapture epic Left Behind. Like 'The Langoliers,' it begins on an airplane where a segment of the passengers have mysteriously vanished. However, rather unlike King's pulpy good time, L&J take an astounding, brain-shattering event and treat the disappearance of passengers with all the astonishment of passengers not wanting a second helping of peanuts. That is to say, there is zero tension in the narrative from the get-go. And it does not get better. . .

Read more at: Shelf Monkey