I said it before and I’ll say it again: Rapture is
extraordinarily long. And yet, despite its length, Rapture has succeeded in
both capturing and keeping my interest, which can be rare with a story so
obviously complex.
I’ve often heard from DJay that Act 1 was not his finest ‘Act’,
and I would like to immediately throw out there that I disagree. There is a
very unique feel that is generated in the first Act that gave me more of a
chilled, horror-filled ambience than, say, the second Act did. It can be best
described with Jordan’s starting innocence as a character. He hasn’t been
filled in with many of the details of hows and whys of the apocalyptic events, and
at times in the beginning of the Act, it feels as though the coming Rapture
hasn’t quite sunken in for him yet, which contrasts terrifically well with the
direness of the whole situation. The reader knows that darker things lay on the
horizon for Jordan, and as Jordan stumbles, sometimes blissfully, into these
darker situations, one can’t help but feel both terrified and sympathetic for
him.
Jordan also goes through intriguing development through this
Act, and I would even go so far as to say that his encounters with the Wooden
Girl could be considered a sort of ‘rite of manhood’, seeing as Jordan appears
to go through some drastic maturity growth once he’s free of the Wooden Girl’s
influence. Before, when the Wooden Girl practically had her strings in him,
Jordan is a helpless character, constantly pondering about the morality of his
deeds and yet powerless to change them with Donnie’s life on the line. Yet once
opportunity arises, and once Jordan takes that opportunity to temporarily
eliminate the Wooden Girl, Jordan regains some control in his life and begins
to use it, in my opinion, a bit more wisely. Instead of simply trudging about
looking for answers, Jordan begins to look for a safe haven for him and Donnie,
and throughout the rest of the Act he becomes more of a conscious protector
than simply dragging around a guitar and haphazardly hitting things as they
come. This development pleases me, because as much as it was humorous to watch
the adventures of poor Jordan as Rapture continually spews shit in his general
direction, it is more gratifying to see a character that may or may not become an
integral part of humanity’s fight to survive.
The semi-arc of the Exodus
was also a pleasing thriller for me to read, vaguely reminiscent of Agatha
Christie’s And Then There Were None via the inescapable setting and the
slow murdering of pretty much everyone on board. (With the exception of the
Campers) The suspense is what makes that part of Rapture, and with the
culmination of the zombie army awaiting Jordan and Donnie on the shore of
America, the suspense truly did not disappoint.
This does not go to say that Act 1 was perfect, of course.
There were a few parts that dragged on, especially when Jordan is on his own ‘converting’
for the Mistress. It is understandable that Jordan’s ramblings are to fill in
for thought and time as he traverses Europe alone, but to the reader I can see
it becoming that one part of the story that you want to get through really fast
so you can get to the better parts. There were a few ‘WTF’ moments for me, more
revolving around ‘how can a crowbar possibly decapitate someone in one stroke
when it’s for the most part a blunt object’ than the thankfully left out Wooden
Girl rape scenes, but perhaps that’s just me being anal.
Overall, though, Act 1 was a pleasant read. Enough suspense,
horror, and humor to please my reading fancy, and a truly good wrap up at the
end. (Thank you DJay for not giving us a horrific cliffhanger between Acts)
Coming up next, of course, will be the review of Act 2.
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