I just finished Let’s Go Play at the Adams’ today. What a heart-wrenching, gut punch of an experience. I had forgotten or avoided any details of the novel so was surprised at how thoughtful and well written it is. As rough as it was, this will benefit from a second read. Poor Barbara. 💔 Now on to the next disturbing book…
@@CriminOllyBlog I’m going through your quintet of disturbing books. The Girl Next Door is the next one I’ve been able to get my hands on. It is a reread but it’s been a while.
I keep coming back to LGPatA. Lately I've been seeing it as a cautionary tale of how easily a group can convince themselves that an ends justifies a means no matter how horrific. And this is true for these kids, and they see adults doing it too.
I'm going to try my best not to sound like a Ketchum fanboy lol. First off: You did a brilliant comparison, and I think you really hit the nail on the head for both of these books. Especially for Let's Go Play at the Adams', I'm glad I'm not the only one that picked up on the style being reminiscent of literature for younger readers. I think in my review, I compared it to Zindel's the Pigman. Also, the subject of "winning" in society is also fascinating, and I think really showcases the main difference between the two books. Ketchum also makes mention of torture and humiliation of others feeling like "winning," but I think Ketchum approaches it from a more strictly humanistic and existential edge. Johnson does that as well, of course, but the introduction on my version of Let's Go Play at the Adams' makes it crystal clear that his book was a mobilization of political ideas above all. I guess I just generally am more drawn to narratives of the former category, but I will agree the passages of anticipation and implied threat were indeed much more grueling in Johnson's novel. And one thing that fascinated me the most about Let's Go Play at the Adams' was that it makes overt reference to immigrant workers, and how the children see them as "no one." I think adults are also expressly blamed in this novel as they are in the Girl Next Door, but in a much more subtle and insidious way. It was a surprising indictment on racism and sexism. When we start seeing certain groups of people as "no one," all else follows. I could go on and on, but I will stop lol. 😂 You don't even have to read this whole thing. I'm just really fascinated by this topic, and again, I thought you did a fantastic job. This is now one of my favorite Booktube videos ever!
Thank you for your very kind words Juan! Is the Adams edition you have the Paperbacks from Hell one? I’d love to read that introduction as I find Johnson a fascinating writer. I completely forgot to mention the immigrant character (or maybe that was partly reluctance to talk about events near the end of the book), but the point about the children’s view of him is an excellent one.
@@CriminOllyBlog Yes, that’s the version with the introduction by Grady Hendrix. In observance of your buying ban, I can try and send you some scans of it if you’d like.
I enjoyed your video comparison. They're both excellent books, but LGPATA does a better job of capturing how it really feels to be tied up for a long period of time. It puts you in the mind of the victim, which makes it more personal and emotional. Which one did you think is better?
Glad you enjoyed the video - I prefer Johnson's book for just that reason. The Ketchum is definitely disturbing, but I think LGPATA has more impact because you feel the victim's pain and distress
@@CriminOllyBlog Also in Let's Go Play... we get glimpses of how Barbara keeps thinking she can turn the situation around. And there is a time limit as the parents will return in days so certainty it will come to an end then. Whereas in GND continues on much longer and there is less of a time limit imposed by outside forces. I got the impression that Meg's imprisonment lasted months but Barbara's lasted only a week to 10 days. In GND the goal was open ended, but in LGPATA cold logic forced the kids into just one goal which Barbara became aware of and that's where the horror REALLY started.
Wow! Fantastic review of both of these! I'm afraid of reading either one, but your explanation of what they really mean for society and for people makes me feel like maybe I'll get sometihing important out of them. We shall see. Awesome video!
Thank you! They are both very difficult and troubling reads, but also I think kind of essential because of the light they shine on our ability to be inhuman.
Fascinating! Never read Johnson’s novel, but the Girl Next Door really blew me away. Interested to see how this shift in perspective plays out. Excellent review, sir!
Excellent video! Amazing how you can provide such fantastic analysis without giving away important plot details - you have earnt yourself a subscriber. I shall definitely give Let's Go Play At The Adams' a read.
Great reviews! I’ve got Girl Next Door lined up for 22. I want to read it even more now. I’ve never read The Adams…guess I’ll get to that in about 100 books.
For me Let's Go Play... was the more severe and troubling of the two. Like you stated, in Let's Go Play... the kids are doing this on their own and for lack of a moral compass they start this path which become more and more of a slippery slope. Whereas in Girl Next Door it is more often an adult (a psychotic and abusive one) that leads much of the escalation. Which is still bad as she is the authority figure and even David is reluctant to challenge where she is taking them. It's interesting that in both stories the kids did play in secret a similar prisoner game.
Awesome comparison :) would like to read both in the future. I’m currently reading House of Leaves and I can’t wait to finish it so I can watch the video you made about it.
This year, I found out my partner hadn't seen or read American Psycho, so I had a rewatch that lead into a reread and I can't help but find the same themes across AP and my read from a day or so ago, Let's Go Play at the Adams'. Where Ellis goes big and manic showing the emptiness and moral bankruptcy of consumerism, capitalism and the keeping up of appearances, LGPatA shows thee same with more subtlety: the grocery store delivers and keeps a tab open for this firmly Upper Middle Class family, to the extent that this, and other rich-people-niceties help camouflage the abuse and criminality occurring within the home. This distancing that money allows also keeps Barbara in peril: they live in homes far from each other, spread out for privacy, preventing anyone from hearing her screams. I've read that AP was as much anything as it was a book about his broken relationship with his father, and LGPatA was a political piece against the soft left and the "American Middle". In separating authorial intentions from art, I find both to be cautionary tales at the gift of distance and privacy money offers, which strikes particularly close to home as an agoraphobic, neurodivergent person.
*** SPOILER WARNING *** *** SPOILER WARNING *** Something else that comes to mind which adds to the horror is that these kids are doing something that adults do in the adult world. When a problem arises, they look for the easiest solution that minimizes risk to them. A solution that just removes the problem. And they think they've found that solution. That the solution involves death becomes acceptable. As others have pointed out about this story is that it takes place during the Vietnam War. I recall nearly daily news reports on the number of soldiers killed on each side. Almost like a football game. And that would have certainly been in the mind of these kids. Remember the story blurb is that "it's just a game", life is just a game. Some win, some lose. Adults do it all the time. So, so what if the easier way out involves someone dying. Life will be easier for others as a result. So, it's an all too common adult decision. And only in the last couple days does the babysitter comes to understand that she has transitioned from being a prisoner in a child's prank to being on real-life death row and she helpless to get out of it. The kids are just doing what adults do. A necessary action. And why this story did remind me of Lord of the Flies.
What a great idea for a video! I still think about Let's Go Play at the Adams' from time to time.. that one really stuck with me, especially the passages from the children's perspective where they are rationalizing their behaviour. Out of curiosity, have you read Harriet by Elizabeth Jenkins? I think that has to be one of the most disturbing books I've ever read - not overtly violent like The Girl Next Door but (to me) depicts the epitome of human cruelty.
Thank you! Glad you enjoyed it. And yes, Adams' is a really chilling book. I haven't read Harriet, will have to seek it out! Thanks for watching and sorry for the delay in replying!
I would love a more in depth breakdown of both books. I tried to read both several times and I just couldn’t. Although I don’t mind watching/listening to creators who are brave enough to consume & critique morbid entertainment.
I've never really done that kind of really in depth analysis. They're really difficult books so I totally get why you haven't managed to read them. Thanks for watching!
There are two aspects of history. The one is written commonly, and it's what most of us know. Then there is a reality not fit to print for everyone. We should really know both, but the former is often the only on to survive. When Roe vs Wade was passed, there is the history you can easily look up. It's recorded, and will last ti be read years from now. Then there is the history that is less than palatable. It's still out there, but you have to know where to look. When Roe vs Wade was passed in the United States, the reasons you can find in history is not what reason the bill passed. There was this very ugly truth about society, that had always been with us, but never spoken about and almost never seen in print. Even in official records, it was glossed over.I'm about Ollie's age, and in the eighties, the effect of Roe vs Wade had yet to temper the worst of society. You also had older siblings of your friends willing to shock younger childern. In my life, we had a school janitor who liked to say, "You kids think I'm stupid, but I joined the Navey at eighteen. I had food on the table, a roof over my head, and I didn't come home from Viet Nam in a bag. He bragged about buying a house, with the money he saved in the Navy. When he did come home, he worked in a state mental hospital. That was to harsh, and he than worked in a regular hospital. That to was to much, so he ended up at the high school. He used to tell us the importance of an education, and the horrors of not having one. Real horrors. The point was, He spoke on how, almost over night the darkest sides of society just stopped. He said it was Roe vs Wade. He worked at hospital emergency room, and told of th horrors that came rolling in. Most of them were like the two books above, but worst. You didn't need that janitor, there were True Detective magazines hiding besides every father's stack of Playboy magazines. Stephen King writies about those type of magazine in his short story "Apt Pupil" . A vulager ugly reality exist and pretending it doesn't makes it worse. That is the true value of disterbing books.
I just finished Let’s Go Play at the Adams’ today. What a heart-wrenching, gut punch of an experience. I had forgotten or avoided any details of the novel so was surprised at how thoughtful and well written it is. As rough as it was, this will benefit from a second read. Poor Barbara. 💔
Now on to the next disturbing book…
So glad you liked it Justin, I agree it's a much better written book than you might expect. What are you reading next?
@@CriminOllyBlog I’m going through your quintet of disturbing books. The Girl Next Door is the next one I’ve been able to get my hands on. It is a reread but it’s been a while.
@@ThisJustInBookTube Ah yes, from the short! Enjoy!
I keep coming back to LGPatA. Lately I've been seeing it as a cautionary tale of how easily a group can convince themselves that an ends justifies a means no matter how horrific. And this is true for these kids, and they see adults doing it too.
I have come up with an idea for a story like LGPatA and been daring myself to develop it. Not sure I will though.
I'm going to try my best not to sound like a Ketchum fanboy lol.
First off: You did a brilliant comparison, and I think you really hit the nail on the head for both of these books. Especially for Let's Go Play at the Adams', I'm glad I'm not the only one that picked up on the style being reminiscent of literature for younger readers. I think in my review, I compared it to Zindel's the Pigman.
Also, the subject of "winning" in society is also fascinating, and I think really showcases the main difference between the two books. Ketchum also makes mention of torture and humiliation of others feeling like "winning," but I think Ketchum approaches it from a more strictly humanistic and existential edge. Johnson does that as well, of course, but the introduction on my version of Let's Go Play at the Adams' makes it crystal clear that his book was a mobilization of political ideas above all. I guess I just generally am more drawn to narratives of the former category, but I will agree the passages of anticipation and implied threat were indeed much more grueling in Johnson's novel.
And one thing that fascinated me the most about Let's Go Play at the Adams' was that it makes overt reference to immigrant workers, and how the children see them as "no one." I think adults are also expressly blamed in this novel as they are in the Girl Next Door, but in a much more subtle and insidious way. It was a surprising indictment on racism and sexism. When we start seeing certain groups of people as "no one," all else follows.
I could go on and on, but I will stop lol. 😂 You don't even have to read this whole thing. I'm just really fascinated by this topic, and again, I thought you did a fantastic job. This is now one of my favorite Booktube videos ever!
Thank you for your very kind words Juan! Is the Adams edition you have the Paperbacks from Hell one? I’d love to read that introduction as I find Johnson a fascinating writer.
I completely forgot to mention the immigrant character (or maybe that was partly reluctance to talk about events near the end of the book), but the point about the children’s view of him is an excellent one.
@@CriminOllyBlog Yes, that’s the version with the introduction by Grady Hendrix. In observance of your buying ban, I can try and send you some scans of it if you’d like.
I enjoyed your video comparison. They're both excellent books, but LGPATA does a better job of capturing how it really feels to be tied up for a long period of time. It puts you in the mind of the victim, which makes it more personal and emotional. Which one did you think is better?
Glad you enjoyed the video - I prefer Johnson's book for just that reason. The Ketchum is definitely disturbing, but I think LGPATA has more impact because you feel the victim's pain and distress
@@CriminOllyBlog Also in Let's Go Play... we get glimpses of how Barbara keeps thinking she can turn the situation around. And there is a time limit as the parents will return in days so certainty it will come to an end then. Whereas in GND continues on much longer and there is less of a time limit imposed by outside forces. I got the impression that Meg's imprisonment lasted months but Barbara's lasted only a week to 10 days. In GND the goal was open ended, but in LGPATA cold logic forced the kids into just one goal which Barbara became aware of and that's where the horror REALLY started.
@@henrytjernlund That's a very good point
Wow! Fantastic review of both of these! I'm afraid of reading either one, but your explanation of what they really mean for society and for people makes me feel like maybe I'll get sometihing important out of them. We shall see. Awesome video!
Thank you! They are both very difficult and troubling reads, but also I think kind of essential because of the light they shine on our ability to be inhuman.
Fascinating! Never read Johnson’s novel, but the Girl Next Door really blew me away. Interested to see how this shift in perspective plays out. Excellent review, sir!
Thank you! They’re both excellent novels so it was fun to compare them.
Excellent video! Amazing how you can provide such fantastic analysis without giving away important plot details - you have earnt yourself a subscriber. I shall definitely give Let's Go Play At The Adams' a read.
Thank you! It’s a really excellent book. Enjoy is the wrong word, but I think you’ll be glad you read it.
Great reviews! I’ve got Girl Next Door lined up for 22. I want to read it even more now. I’ve never read The Adams…guess I’ll get to that in about 100 books.
They're both excellent books, and as you said in your recent video, joy-filled and life affirming :D
For me Let's Go Play... was the more severe and troubling of the two. Like you stated, in Let's Go Play... the kids are doing this on their own and for lack of a moral compass they start this path which become more and more of a slippery slope. Whereas in Girl Next Door it is more often an adult (a psychotic and abusive one) that leads much of the escalation. Which is still bad as she is the authority figure and even David is reluctant to challenge where she is taking them.
It's interesting that in both stories the kids did play in secret a similar prisoner game.
Awesome comparison :) would like to read both in the future. I’m currently reading House of Leaves and I can’t wait to finish it so I can watch the video you made about it.
Thank you! Glad you liked it! Hope you’re enjoying House of Leaves. Thanks for watching 😊
Great video! I really enjoy your review and comparison style, please keep the videos flowing.
Thanks David!
This year, I found out my partner hadn't seen or read American Psycho, so I had a rewatch that lead into a reread and I can't help but find the same themes across AP and my read from a day or so ago, Let's Go Play at the Adams'. Where Ellis goes big and manic showing the emptiness and moral bankruptcy of consumerism, capitalism and the keeping up of appearances, LGPatA shows thee same with more subtlety: the grocery store delivers and keeps a tab open for this firmly Upper Middle Class family, to the extent that this, and other rich-people-niceties help camouflage the abuse and criminality occurring within the home. This distancing that money allows also keeps Barbara in peril: they live in homes far from each other, spread out for privacy, preventing anyone from hearing her screams.
I've read that AP was as much anything as it was a book about his broken relationship with his father, and LGPatA was a political piece against the soft left and the "American Middle".
In separating authorial intentions from art, I find both to be cautionary tales at the gift of distance and privacy money offers, which strikes particularly close to home as an agoraphobic, neurodivergent person.
*** SPOILER WARNING ***
*** SPOILER WARNING ***
Something else that comes to mind which adds to the horror is that these kids are doing something that adults do in the adult world. When a problem arises, they look for the easiest solution that minimizes risk to them. A solution that just removes the problem. And they think they've found that solution. That the solution involves death becomes acceptable. As others have pointed out about this story is that it takes place during the Vietnam War. I recall nearly daily news reports on the number of soldiers killed on each side. Almost like a football game. And that would have certainly been in the mind of these kids. Remember the story blurb is that "it's just a game", life is just a game. Some win, some lose. Adults do it all the time. So, so what if the easier way out involves someone dying. Life will be easier for others as a result. So, it's an all too common adult decision. And only in the last couple days does the babysitter comes to understand that she has transitioned from being a prisoner in a child's prank to being on real-life death row and she helpless to get out of it. The kids are just doing what adults do. A necessary action. And why this story did remind me of Lord of the Flies.
What a great idea for a video! I still think about Let's Go Play at the Adams' from time to time.. that one really stuck with me, especially the passages from the children's perspective where they are rationalizing their behaviour. Out of curiosity, have you read Harriet by Elizabeth Jenkins? I think that has to be one of the most disturbing books I've ever read - not overtly violent like The Girl Next Door but (to me) depicts the epitome of human cruelty.
Thank you! Glad you enjoyed it. And yes, Adams' is a really chilling book. I haven't read Harriet, will have to seek it out!
Thanks for watching and sorry for the delay in replying!
I would love a more in depth breakdown of both books. I tried to read both several times and I just couldn’t. Although I don’t mind watching/listening to creators who are brave enough to consume & critique morbid entertainment.
I've never really done that kind of really in depth analysis. They're really difficult books so I totally get why you haven't managed to read them. Thanks for watching!
Question, should public libraries carry either of these books in their holdings?
Yes, definitely
The Girl Next Door ruined me Olly...what a read though.
Same!
There are two aspects of history. The one is written commonly, and it's what most of us know. Then there is a reality not fit to print for everyone. We should really know both, but the former is often the only on to survive. When Roe vs Wade was passed, there is the history you can easily look up. It's recorded, and will last ti be read years from now. Then there is the history that is less than palatable. It's still out there, but you have to know where to look. When Roe vs Wade was passed in the United States, the reasons you can find in history is not what reason the bill passed. There was this very ugly truth about society, that had always been with us, but never spoken about and almost never seen in print. Even in official records, it was glossed over.I'm about Ollie's age, and in the eighties, the effect of Roe vs Wade had yet to temper the worst of society. You also had older siblings of your friends willing to shock younger childern. In my life, we had a school janitor who liked to say, "You kids think I'm stupid, but I joined the Navey at eighteen. I had food on the table, a roof over my head, and I didn't come home from Viet Nam in a bag. He bragged about buying a house, with the money he saved in the Navy. When he did come home, he worked in a state mental hospital. That was to harsh, and he than worked in a regular hospital. That to was to much, so he ended up at the high school. He used to tell us the importance of an education, and the horrors of not having one. Real horrors. The point was, He spoke on how, almost over night the darkest sides of society just stopped. He said it was Roe vs Wade. He worked at hospital emergency room, and told of th horrors that came rolling in. Most of them were like the two books above, but worst. You didn't need that janitor, there were True Detective magazines hiding besides every father's stack of Playboy magazines. Stephen King writies about those type of magazine in his short story "Apt Pupil" . A vulager ugly reality exist and pretending it doesn't makes it worse. That is the true value of disterbing books.
That's a great point - there is so much ugliness out there that we pretend isn't