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I really like this book. On a recent visit to the library I found both the book and the audiobook on CD sitting on the shelf. I couldn't resist - so I'm currently reading Brother Odd for the second time. I don't think there is any other Dean Koontz book that covers so many different disabilities. I'll be sharing some favorite passages and thoughts. Feel free to join in the discussion :-)

I finished Brother Odd yesterday and I must admit I'm not quite as thrilled with it as I once was. I still gave it four stars :-) It started out great and really had my interest - I was loving it, but as it neared the middle my interest was lost. The very end is really sweet. There was a lot of religious ideas again similar to Breathless, but I guess that's to be expected (at least to some degree) when the story takes place at a monastery.

"Living in a monastery, even as a guest rather than as a monk, you have more opportunities than you might have elsewhere to see the world as it is, instead of through the shadow that you cast upon it." - Brother Odd

I didn't like that book (surprise surprise !). It's obvious who the bad guy is, there's no suspense or anything innovative here.

*SPOILER*
And hanging Odd's portrait alongside Harper Lee and Flannery O Connor was too much. I get that he loves his character but is such intelectual blasphemy really needed ?
*SPOILER*

What do George Washington, Harper Lee, and Flannery O'Conner have in common with Odd Thomas? Read Brother Odd to find out! :-)

Maciek wrote: "I didn't like that book (surprise surprise !). It's obvious who the bad guy is, there's no suspense or anything innovative here.
"

I saw your goodreads rating :-) I thought there was some suspense and definitely some innovating going on :-)

"I don't allow flying nuns in my convent" she said. "They tend to be frivolous, and during night flight, they're prone to crashing through windows."
- Brother Odd

"I looked at the needlepoint sampler framed on the wall above the computer: THE DEVIL IS IN THE DIGITAL DATA."
-Brother Odd

Can anyone explain the following passage from Brother Odd to me???

"The trick is to be able to differentiate irrational fear from justifiable fear. If you squelch justifiable fear and soldier on, dauntless and determined, that's when Santa Claus will squeeze down the chimney, after all, and add your peepee to his collection."

I didn't know Santa Claus was in the business of collecting peepees - should I tell my children the truth about Santa Claus?

Odd's Sixth Sense

"I see dead people, spirits of the departed who, each for his own reason, will not move on from this world. Some are drawn to me for justice if they were murdered, or for comfort, or for companionship; others seek me out for motives that I cannot always understand."
-Brother Odd

In the movie, The Sixth Sense, there is a big surprise which I didn't get until the very end (I guess a lot of people picked up on it during the film - I was not one of them :-) Likewise, in Brother Odd there is a surprise that upon my first reading I didn't get, but on second reading I saw subtle hints.

The whole Odd Thomas series is just a big inspiration/copy/rip off of "The Sixth Sense". I love the movie (and I didn't guess the surprise either) but the books keep getting worse and worse...
PS. It's funny, because DK meantions M.Night Shyamalan (the writer and director of TSS) in The Taking. I thought that it would be a perfect movie for Shyamalan to direct and bump! there he is.

PS. Brother Odd has one good quote - "When we hope, we usually hope for the wrong thing". How sweet and accurate.

Maciek wrote: "PS. Brother Odd has one good quote - "When we hope, we usually hope for the wrong thing". How sweet and accurate.
."

I'm glad you got something good out of the book :-)

Too bad it has about 400 pages and only one sentence was good, lol ;) Glad others enjoy it though.

Maciek wrote: "...It's funny, because DK meantions M.Night Shyamalan (the writer and director of TSS) in The Taking. I thought that it would be a perfect movie for Shyamalan to direct and bump! there he is...."

YYYEEESSS!!! That would be awesome!!!

Dustin wrote: "Can anyone explain the following passage from Brother Odd to me???

"...If you squelch justifiable fear and soldier on, dauntless and determined, that's when Santa Claus will squeeze down the chimney, after all, and add your peepee to his collection."

:-/

Jason "YYYEEESSS!!! That would be awesome!!! "

Have you seen "The Happening" ? It's the last Shyamalan film. The plot concerns an inexplicable phenomenon that causes people to kill themselves. It received mostly negative reviews but hey, "The Village" was considered a flop too and it's a great movie.

Dustin wrote: ""Can anyone explain the following passage from Brother Odd to me???

"The trick is to be able to differentiate irrational fear from justifiable fear. If you squelch justifiable fear and soldier on, dauntless and determined, that's when Santa Claus will squeeze down the chimney, after all, and add your peepee to his collection."

I didn't know Santa Claus was in the business of collecting peepees - should I tell my children the truth about Santa Claus?."

It's one of Koontz's recent attempts at wittiness and humor, something at which he mostly fails profusely. The best thing is to obliterate that sentence from your mind. I mean Santa Claus and pee pees ? Pleazzze.

Maciek wrote: "Jason "YYYEEESSS!!! That would be awesome!!! "

Have you seen "The Happening" ? It's the last Shyamalan film. The plot concerns an inexplicable phenomenon that causes people to kill themselves. It ..."

I saw The Happening in a theater when it first came out and was disappointed. So far, it is the only MNS film I don't care for. It was an interesting premise, but really failed to deliver as a whole, IMO. As for the Santa and pee-pees thing, I really don't derive any humor from it whatsoever and don't see how it is even an attempt at humor, failed or not. It is like saying soil has children's fingernail clippings in it--it is not even an attempt at humor, just nonsensical.

Jason "plasborgma" wrote: "I saw The Happening in a theater when it first came out and was disappointed. So far, it is the only MNS film I don't care for."

He stated that he wanted to make a B movie and that's exactly it. It's solid entertainment and a nice way to spend some time. And it's better than Lady in The Water...

Jason "plasborgma" wrote: "As for the Santa and pee-pees thing, I really don't derive any humor from it whatsoever and don't see how it is even an attempt at humor, failed or not. It is like saying soil has children's fingernail clippings in it--it is not even an attempt at humor, just nonsensical.

It still fails though. Why include a passage like this ? It completely ruins the mood.

Maciek wrote: "...It still fails though. Why include a passage like this ? It completely ruins the mood."

I agree, it seems to serve no purpose.

Is The Happening a fairly recent film? I was so disappointed with Lady in the Water that I haven't been following MNS anymore.

The Happening is from 2008. You might want to check it out - I found it entertaining.
A little oftopic: Guys, what are your favourite MNS movies ? He procuced three excellent films: The sixth Sense, Unbreakable and The Village. Those are my types.

Maciek wrote: "The Happening is from 2008. You might want to check it out - I found it entertaining.
A little oftopic: Guys, what are your favourite MNS movies ? He procuced three excellent films: The sixth Sense..."

I especially enjoy The Sixth Sense and Signs (except for the religious component). I must confess to also enjoying Lady in the Water, especially its premise. Unbreakable and The Village are decent. The Happening might be worth seeing once, as it is very creative. I despise the science behind it though, which is totally unrealistic, despite being put across as legit. I like its message of protecting the environment though.

Maciek wrote: "The Happening is from 2008. You might want to check it out - I found it entertaining.
A little oftopic: Guys, what are your favourite MNS movies ? He procuced three excellent films: The sixth Sense..."

My Favorite is The Village :-) I own that one and The Sixth Sense

I love The Village. I liked it since I first saw it in theaters, back in 2004. I can't understand the negative reviews, there's just so much to enjoy in this movie.

MNS almost always has such wonderful twists in his movies.

Maciek wrote: "I love The Village. I liked it since I first saw it in theaters, back in 2004. I can't understand the negative reviews, there's just so much to enjoy in this movie."

I echo every word you wrote about The Village :-)

Dustin wrote: "I echo every word you wrote about The Village :-) "

Glad someone enjoyed it as much as me :)

Jason "plasborgma" wrote: "MNS almost always has such wonderful twists in his movies."

That's why all my favourites of his have twists ! They're awesome.

I'll give him The Sixth Sense, great movie. I was like everyone else I didn't see the ending coming. And he did good on Signs, very edge of your seat. I even liked The Happening, and I thought the premise was solid. But The Village, and Lady in the Water, just didn't do it for me. I thought they were terrible.

Maciek wrote: "Jason "YYYEEESSS!!! That would be awesome!!! "

Have you seen "The Happening" ? It's the last Shyamalan film. The plot concerns an inexplicable phenomenon that causes people to kill themselves. It ..."

Regarding the Santa Claus pee-pee thing:
I have to agree that I was a little mystified about this passage, what it would mean and if it even made any sense at all. The sense that I get out of it after cogitation is that perhaps the pee-pee thing was meant as in 'wet-your-pants' kind of scared. He was talking about the difference between rational and unrational fear...one wouldn't normally be AFRAID of Santa Claus coming down the chimney, let alone think he would be there to get us to pee, or even to literally collect our pee-pees...but in Odd's world, as bizarre as it is, things aren't always as they seem and the seemingly innocent things can be deadly...hence the rational and irrational fear. I notice that in his asides, Odd talks a lot about what he envisions will happen, which usually doesn't take place, but sometimes does. I appreciate the mention of the dichotomy of rational fear and irrational fear and Odd's rambling verbalizing of his fears have helped me to see more of a distinction in my own fears and realize that some things I fear come out of my own imagination, so I can relax and just see what happens instead of immediately wanting to 'fight or flight'.

I suppose, though, that if we really want to know, we'll have to ask HIM...It occurs to me that perhaps someone should start a thread of "important questions to ask Dean Koontz if we can ever get 'ahold' of him". I also want to know what Odd meant in Odd Thomas by saying that his mother 'ran with them' (the bodachs). Probably a question that only he (DK) could answer.

Carol wrote: "I suppose, though, that if we really want to know, we'll have to ask HIM...It occurs to me that perhaps someone should start a thread of "important questions to ask Dean Koontz if we can ever get 'ahold' of him". I also want to know what Odd meant in Odd Thomas by saying that his mother 'ran with them' (the bodachs). Probably a question that only he (DK) could answer."

Anyone is welcome to start that thread :-) it's a good idea that I hadn't thought of. Anyone, feel free to start the discussion if I don't get to it before you, if a thread gets put in the wrong folder, I'll just move it :-)

btw, I think the whole Santa Claus pee-pee image is just garbage which like Jason said in an earlier post, we shouldn't spend any more time thinking about. I just don't know why Dean through it in the story, but listing it as a question to ask Dean is a great idea :-)

I asked this before but I'll ask it again - would anyone like to volunteer to be a Koontzland Ambassador and contact The Dean Team inviting some Dean Koontz representative to visit us & answer our deepest questions? It's worth a try but I'm just not up to the task right now - any volunteers?

It's a good bet that "Team Koontz" knows of this group.

Tom wrote: "It's a good bet that "Team Koontz" knows of this group."

Really, then I'm calling them out to start letting themselves be known :-)

Is that what he calls his people/helpers? Team Koontz?

Lori wrote: "Is that what he calls his people/helpers? Team Koontz?"

I have no idea; that's what I called them though :)

Lori wrote: "Is that what he calls his people/helpers? Team Koontz?"

I have no idea; I call them The Dean Team :-) should we put it to a poll? j/k

Perhaps we could call them your minions...

Who's minions? What's the definition of a minion exactly? Any walking dictionaries, feel free to reply :-)

Maybe my question should be: The minions of whom? I don't know - grammar and punctuation are not my strong points.

a servile or fawning dependant

L O L !

I didn't read through this thread because I'm not done with the book yet, and I don't know if there are any spoilers mentioned. Kinda ambivalent so far. I love the setting, but the pace is slow!

Have you read the other ODD books?

Yeah. About a year ago I read the first two. Its probably just me and my taste. My interest usually begins to wain in a series after 3-4 books. I absolutely love the setting and background on the monks though. Just waiting for the action to kick in.

I just read through the earlier posts - I don't think there's anything posted that would spoil the story. Group members are expected to mark comments that may be spoilers, so I think you can safely read the previous comments if you want :-)

Wow...everyone seems caught up with Santa Claus cutting off your junk :)

Our discussions get interesting at times :-)

Nathan wrote: "Wow...everyone seems caught up with Santa Claus cutting off your junk :)"

:-D

Nathan wrote: "Wow...everyone seems caught up with Santa Claus cutting off your junk :)"

btw this is not a spoiler - it had nothing to do with the story really :-)

SUV's full of militant monks....awesome!

Brother Odd is still my favorite of the series so far :-)

St.Barts Monastery and some of the monks are going to make at least a brief appearance in this Summmer's release of Lost Souls (Frankenstein, book 4) - at the end of Dead and Alive (Frankenstein, book 3) Dean had Deucalion head to St.Barts, so that's where we meet up with him again :-)

Dean has made a preview of the first 3(very short) chapters of Lost Souls available - a link to the preview is posted in the group description and also the Lost Souls discussion thread.