Carl Streator

Imagine a plague you catch through your ears.

Summary

Carl Streator - a journalist who investigates Sudden Infant Death Syndrome. 90% of the deaths occurred within the 1st nine months. When examining the crime scene, his meticulousness leads him to the culprit. All of the scenes had the book Poems and Rhymes from Around the World. All opened to page 27. Little did he know the poem ended up being a culling song. An African tribal song consisting of only eight lines. The tribe would read the song to wounded soldiers in order to spare them of the long and painful death. Other times, the song would be read to children during famines. He takes the poem to his editor and reads it aloud. However, his editor, Duncan, didn't come to work the next day.

Through his investigation he meets Helen Hoover Boyle a real estate agent who specializes in haunted houses. From there he met Mona, Helen's assistant who is Wiccian. She introduces him to Wicca rituals. From that point forward, they make a pack to destroy all of the books.

Once he realized his power. He couldn't control it. People literally dropped like flies all around him. Carl would go about his everyday routine. And start counting in his head. And once he would recite the poem silently, the person he was focusing on would just die. At first it started out as a little experiment. Then, it grew to an obsession.

Later in the book, Carl feels like he's wasting his life away. He comes up with this theory, that the best way to waste your life away is by taking notes. And the easiest way to avoid living is to just watch. Look at the details, don't look. And just participate.

Carl's motto is he didn't become a reporter because he was good at keeping secrets.

Stick and stone may break your bones but words will never hurt you.

Evaluation / Recommendation

The book started off on a slow, perhaps boring note. However, it picked up quickly. Palahnuik's writing style is choppy and slightly repetitive. I didn't like how the book jumps around from narrator to narrator. Lullaby would be considered as a magical realism murder mystery because the readers accept the logic, rather than question it. And because it incorporates a legend, throughout the book, the reader is minded where the