The Playground

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The ending was odd, though not really out of place with the rest of the story. I'm not quite sure what I'm supposed to make of it. It had a Twilight Zone-esque twist, but I'm not sure I really liked the twist as much as I wanted to. As the weeks go by, the couples become very close; there are barbecues, garden parties, a holiday at a country villa in Greece. Resentments flare. An affair begins. Unnoticed, the children run wild. The couples are busily watching each other, so distracted and self-absorbed that they forget to watch their children. No one sees the five children at their secret games or realize how much their family dynamics are changing until tragedy strikes. If you're a parent or an older sibling, you probably know this feeling very well - the intense protectiveness and the fear of letting the child step out alone into the big and cruel world. But only this morning his sister Carol, who had occupied the empty space across the breakfast table from him each day for six months, quietly broached the subject. The boy was smiling high in the misty air, and now, jostled by other yelling children, rushed shrieking down the slide.

I found this to be intriguing at first and then maddening as it became obvious what was going on. There were a lot of characters to get to know and different points of view in the narration to adjust to, but I never really related to any of them. The children needed supervising, that was obvious, and the parents kept on blithely getting drunk, forming illicit relationships, or just not paying attention. I couldn't understand why no one was taking care of them, asking them questions, being more observant. It mystified me how the truth could go unnoticed for so long. I like suspenseful thrillers and I might have quit reading had I not agreed to write a review and also having a compulsion to finish every book I start. I wanted to like it more than I did and the vague ending left me a bit unsettled. I get wanting to give your kids some freedom, especially when you have 2+ acres of woods to run around in, but you can’t do that with a two year old! Tweens/early teens, not a big deal, but they also shouldn’t have to keep a constant eye on younger siblings.

Amidst the chaos and carnage, the children face unimaginable challenges and must confront their own fears and differences. Some struggle to put their selfishness aside and work together for the greater good, while others succumb to their darkest instincts. As they navigate the treacherous architecture of the playground, the children are forced to make difficult choices that will determine their fate.

What an interesting web you weave, Shemilt! The synopsis definitely says best when it comes to Big Little Lies feels because those are definitely all there! These parents are the worst. I mean, they don't mean to be but they're so busy dealing with their own issues to really pay attention to their children. Then again, what's really right or wrong - every one has a different parenting technique. I don't even want to blame them *too* much even though there are definitely some that I just wanna slap silly. Some of the subject matter, especially with domestic violence, is too vividly described for me and made those parts difficult to stomach. Playground by Aron Beauregard is a truly chilling and uncomfortable novel that will leave even the most seasoned horror fans squirming. The author’s ability to create a relentless and suspenseful atmosphere is commendable. From the very beginning, the story grips you with its intense and diabolical premise, and it never lets go. It’s 1953 and Ray Bradbury wrote a story about parenting and playgrounds. The main character – Dad – is a widower. He may have had a hard time grieving or taking on the role of being a single parent. His sister has been living with him for six months now to help. That seems - but don’t know 100% sure - to have gone well until today. His son is three years old and she left him in the park play ground when she went shopping. The Dad freaks out on that. Why is the question of the day! Did he think his son was too young for this? (I did but the story isn’t about me!) Was he projecting his past? Is it his cascade of unhappy memories or fear or guilt from his childhood memories that haunts him and makes him take the actions he does? Or is it a quasi-observation on parenting and the bullies and rough kids that came out of the fog of his dream mind and took over? Or did his sister make a bad choice that scared him “almost to death”? La forma en que Bradbury retrata a Underhill es muy profunda. No parece mentirse a sí mismo. No vive en negación, al menos en cuanto a sus motivos. Reconoce que sus sentimientos sobre el parque de juegos, y sobre su actitud sobreprotectora hacia Jim no son particularmente saludables, pero están motivados por dos cosas:Ray Bradbury's work has been included in four Best American Short Story collections. He has been awarded the O. Henry Memorial Award, the Benjamin Franklin Award, the World Fantasy Award for Lifetime Achievement, the Grand Master Award from the Science Fiction Writers of America, the PEN Center USA West Lifetime Achievement Award, among others. In November 2000, the National Book Foundation Medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters was conferred upon Mr. Bradbury at the 2000 National Book Awards Ceremony in New York City. I went into this book feeling very excited. The blurb had me expecting something with twists, turns, some heat, some intrigue. What I got, though, was a lot less exciting. I have to admit I am not a fan of Bradbury at all. I thought Fahrenheit 451 was a weak watered down version of 1984 with cardboard cutout characters. And I felt the Martian story collection was just boring. I will say that it was interesting to watch how the mystery played out. I figured it out early, but one character made it especially intriguing! Too bad, more of this character wasn’t featured. Overall, I can't say I would recommend The Playground. It has some interesting moments, but the narrative style combined with vile characters makes this a miss for me. Three families’ lives become increasingly intertwined when they meet during tutoring sessions for their children. Throughout the summer and into the fall, the adults become more and more preoccupied with each other, leaving the kids to amuse themselves. But what exactly are the kids up to?

At first there seemed absolutely nothing whatever to see. And then as he adjusted his attention outward from his usual interior monologue, the scene before him, a grey, blurred television image, came to a slow focus. After dinner, he took Jim for a brief walk while his sister was washing the dishes. They strolled past the Playground under the dim street lamps. It was a cooling September night, with the first dry spice of autumn in it. Next week, and the children would be raked in off the fields like so many leaves and set to burning in the schools, usingtheir fire and energy for more constructive purposes. But they would be here after school, ramming about, making projectiles of themselves, crashing and exploding, leaving wakes of misery behind every miniature war.

Some who suffered in childhood, say it did them no harm, and the next generation should endure as well. I prefer reading about likable characters, so when the adults started behaving badly I sort of lost interest. It was frustrating to watch them make bad decisions and neglect their children, even though I’m sure that sort of thing happens all the time. Underhill stood bemused by what he saw. Now the Playground was an immense iron industry whose sole product was pain, sadism and sorrow. If you watched half an hour there wasn’t a face in the entire enclosure that didn’t wince, cry, redden with anger, pale with fear, one moment or another. Really! Who said childhood was the best time of life? When in reality it was the most terrible, the most merciless era, the barbaric time when there were no police to protect you, only parents preoccupied with themselves and their taller world. No, if he had his way, he touched the cold fence with one hand, they’d nail a new sign here: TORQUEMADA’S GREEN. The story twists and then twists again while the three families desperately search for answers. It’s only as they begin to unravel the truth of what happened over the summer that they realize evil has crept quietly into their world. Playground takes readers on a harrowing journey as they witness the desperate struggle for survival of a group of children trapped in a nightmarish realm. Aron Beauregard weaves a story filled with tension, gore, and a touch of redemption. The novel explores the dark side of human nature and tests the limits of the characters as they confront their fears and navigate the dangerous playground. Synopsis