Ritual

by David Pinner

This novel was the inspiration for the cult movie, The Wicker Man starring Edward Woodward. Set against an enclosed rural Cornish landscape, Ritual follows the trail of English police officer, David Hanlin, who is requested to investigate the murder of a local child. During the protagonist's short stay, he is slowly subjected to a spectacle of psychological trickery, sexual seduction, ancient religious practices and nightmarish sacrificial rituals.

Genres: Horror, Fiction, Mystery, Crime, Fantasy, Thriller, Novels

222 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published January 1, 1967

About the author

David Pinner was born in 1940. After school and the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, he appeared with repertory companies at Sheffield, Perth, Coventry (Belgrade Theatre) and Windsor. By 1969 he had written thirteen plays, including ‘Fanghorn’, ‘Dickon’, ‘Lightfall’ and ‘Eiderdown’. RITUAL was his first novel.

Reviews

[Coos Burton · Rating 5 out of 5]

Normalmente cuando alguien acude a Ritual lo hace tras enterarse de que es el libro que inspiró The Wicker Man, la película de culto dirigida por Robin Hardy que le quitó las ganas a muchos de irse a vivir a un pueblito alejado de la ciudad. En poco tiempo, la película se volvió una de mis grandes obsesiones, y tan pronto me enteré de la novela estuve de cacería para intentar hallarlo.

Lo más interesante es que The Wicker Man no comparte casi nada con la idea original de Pinner. Por lo contrario, es una historia completamente diferente, que cuenta con algunos personajes de características bastante similares a los de la película, pero en un contexto totalmente diferente, con un foco más especializado en el resto de los personajes. Y sé que muchos juzgan Ritual por esa diferencia, algo que me parece terriblemente injusto, considerando que el libro fue el disparador original para realizar la película, y no al revés.

Se encuentra disponible una novelización de la película (que de momento no logré encontrar), pero que posiblemente se acerque más a la idea que ya conocemos de The Wicker Man, ya que se basa íntegramente en ella. Pero me parece sumamente importante que, al abordar esta lectura, se olviden por completo de lo que vieron en la película, especialmente si no quieren llevarse una decepción enorme.

Acá pueden ver mi video reseña más detallada: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HP83B...

[Alex Bledsoe · Rating 2 out of 5]

This novel is filled with many priceless examples of overwritten prose, particularly regarding the character Anna's breasts, which behave in ways contrary to both nature and basic anatomy (ex.: "She stopped, pursing her nipples towards him."). It's interesting as prose archaeology if you're a fan of THE WICKER MAN, but I wouldn't recommend it otherwise.

[Sheila · Rating 2 out of 5]

2 stars--it was OK. I read this because the book is the inspiration for my favorite folk-horror movie, The Wicker Man. (No, not the Nicolas Cage version!) I liked the description of the town and how it contorted reality. But overall I found it melodramatic/overwritten and dated (racist and sexist).

[Griselda · Rating 1 out of 5]

At the book's heart is the kernel of the idea for The Wicker Man, but it is almost unreadable owing to the stylistic quality of the narrative. The author ties himself in knots in an ostentatious attempt to include simile and other devices, most of which are contrived and inappropriate. A laborious read.

[Camilla · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have never! read! a book! with so many!!! exclamation! marks! in.
This is the book that inspired The Wicker Man and there are parts of it that were so like key scenes in the film that I now have to go and re-watch it. Supposedly set in Cornwall there seems to be very little that's Cornish about it- admittedly strange and witchy things do happen down here but the landscape and names seem very un Cornish. A good quick read that I shall probably revisit again.

[Gafas y Ojeras · Rating 4 out of 5]

Hay ciertos libros que me seducen, independientemente de lo que me quieran contar. Libros que conectan conmigo, que me impactan y, en algunos casos como este, me perturban. Libros que, por alguna razón dejas de analizar bajo una mirada analítica y dejas que se introduzca poco a poco bajo el amparo de tu niño interior. Y eso me genera miedos. Porque cuando leía esta historia me daba cuenta de cómo no conseguía encontrar la postura adecuada en la cama. Veía como a mi alrededor sombras inexistentes desaparecían al fijar la mirada. Como mantenía las ganas de ir al baño porque no encontraba el momento adecuado.

Llegó a mis manos El ritual sin tener mucha idea de lo que me regalaban. Ya de entrada, en la misma portada, la relacionaban con The Wicker Man, pero ni con esas. Una y otra vez me insistieron en leerla y, pese a que tenía otras historias acumuladas en la mesilla de noche, no pude resistirme ante esa sugerencia. Las primeras líneas de este libro van directas a la frente, con la narración incómoda de la aparición de una criatura aparentemente asesinada de una manera ritual. A partir de ahí, sin que David Pinner te permita un descanso, entras en ese poblado y comienza la auténtica locura.

Porque locura es lo que recibe el personaje. En todo momento la narración te mantiene alerta ante los sucesos que vive tanto el protagonista como tú como lector. ¿Qué es lo que pasa en ese pueblo que no son capaces de reaccionar ante lo truculento de los hechos que se narran? ¿Como es posible que una madre, una hermana, un párroco, unos niños actúen del modo en el que lo hacen? ¿Que malsana sociedad permite una convivencia como esa?

Y todo eso, aunque previsible, no deja de estimular la cabeza del lector. El autor no te miente, o si, en ningún momento. En ese poblado todos tienen algo que esconder y tú lo sabes. Es evidente que ellos son los autores de tanta maldad. Quieres desenmascarar a los culpables. Hacer justicia con la pequeña. Quieres que paguen por los crímenes y evitar que lo impuro camine con libertad por ese pueblo. Quieres quemar a la maldad y que desaparezca para siempre de tu corazón. Pero tienes que llegar al fondo del asunto y entender todos los porqués. Porque la maldad siempre es seductora y como tal, sabrá llevarte a su terreno. Y todo eso lo consigue el autor con una prosa tan cuidada que consigue distraer tus sentidos ante la belleza de sus palabras.

Pero precisamente ese puede ser el mayor de los inconvenientes que tiene este libro. La manera de narrarlo. No tengo claro si está escrito para cualquier tipo de lector. Su forma de relatar los hecho es pura estética y está tan cargada de detalles que en más de una ocasión termina por abrumarte. Puedes o no entrar en ese juego. Te garantizo que si te dejas llevar por su propuesta ya el resto importará menos porque conseguirá que te vuelvas tan loco como cada uno de los protagonistas de esta historia. Quizás esa fuera la verdadera idea del autor. Enloquecerte con sus palabras hasta acabar inmerso en esa pesadilla. Al menos conmigo lo consiguió y por eso, aun sigo con este mal cuerpo que me ha dejado esta historia.

[Robert Beveridge · Rating 3 out of 5]

David Pinner, Ritual (Finders Keepers, 1967)

I find it absolutely staggering that Ritual was out of print for as long as it was before being resurrected by Finders Keepers—a music collective, not a press—in 2011. After all, Ritual is the novel that Robin Hardy and Anthony Shaffer loosely adapted to create The Wicker Man, one of filmdom's enduring classics (despite the slight loss of luster form the abortion foisted on the world as a “reimagining” in 2006). According to Finders Keepers' preface to the new edition, Christopher Lee had optioned the book himself back in the sixties, but Lee, Hardy, and Shaffer, after the deal fell through, thought the source material was too good to pass up and, in essence, cooked up their own version by changing a few key elements. And yes, you will be able to see a good deal of similarity between the two stories.

Plot: Eight-year-old Dian Spark falls to her death while climbing a tree. Or so it would seem; why would she be climbing a tree whilst clutching a garlic blossom? Big-city inspector David Hanlin is called in to investigate, and the more the clannish villagers try to keep the incident to themselves, the harder he tries to break through their shell, until the Mayday festival reveals all to everyone involved...

Since the question that's going through your head right now is “is it as good as The Wicker Man?” I'll start by telling you the answer is no. Nor is it as good as Hardy and Shaffer's novelization of Shaffer's script (cf. review 29Mar04 ish). While there are certainly bits where the Shaffer team should have cleaved more closely to Ritual—Hanlin is far more a nuanced character than Neil Howie's paragon of Christian goodness, for example—Pinner is simply not as good a writer as Shaffer. The prose is oft times as purple as the book's cover, and for a rural town, everyone in it feels so... urbane. This is not necessarily a bad thing—if this town existed in the real world, it would be tops on my list of places to move—but it does require a great deal of suspension of disbelief. Also, there are a few places where Pinner seems to let one fact or another of one of his subplots et beyond his control. Never for a long time, and never enough to entirely derail the book, but enough to jar.

If you're a Wicker Man fan (and isn't everyone?), this is essential reading. On the other hand, if the movie's not your cup of tea, this isn't one to go seeking out. ** ½

[Corto · Rating 3 out of 5]

I don't know where to begin with this one.
It's a weird, trippy 60's novel- characterized by off-kilter reality.

If you're a fan of "The Wicker Man", it's worth a read, just to see the genesis of that film- which was more tightly constructed than the novel. I prefer the more stark moralistic contrast and conflict between the villagers and the policeman in the movie, than the fuzzier contest of wills in this book.

If you haven't seen the movie, I'm not sure I'd recommend this.

[Murray Ewing · Rating 2 out of 5]

The chances are, if you read this novel, you’re doing so because of The Wicker Man. The film started as an adaptation of this novel (they bought the rights to the book) but immediately went the way of so many adaptations, by throwing away everything but the basic idea (Puritanical policeman investigates occult goings-on in a remote community) and one scene (the through-the-wall seduction). And, in this case, that was probably a good thing.

Ritual follows Detective Inspector David Hanlin of Scotland Yard’s Special Branch as he arrives in a Cornish village to investigate the supposedly accidental death of a young girl found dead at the base of an oak tree. Hanlin believes it to be a ritual killing, in part because a monkey’s head and several bats had been nailed to the tree above her, but also because he’s obsessed with the idea of rooting out witchcraft and ritual killings.

This would have made for an interesting detective-story-with-a-twist, but Ritual isn’t your standard detective novel. For a long time, reading it, I wasn’t sure if the writing was inept or merely strange. Sample sentence: ‘David tabulated the remark on his brain slate.’ for David deciding to remember something, or ‘Oh, do please transport yourself from the murky shadows.’ instead of the usual 'Step into the light’. In the end, I settled for mostly strange, a little inept. The style is, I suppose, comic — not the in the sense of being funny, but in the sense of wringing every scene and every character for as much grotesquerie as possible. In part, it reminded me of Richard Hughes’ darkly Dickensian style from A High Wind in Jamaica, only not as successful.

Which is a pity, because, aside from the link to The Wicker Man, the prose style is about the only thing that comes close to working. As a comedy, it’s not funny; as a detective story, it follows no logic; it doesn’t play its occult elements for thrills, so it’s no use as a horror novel; its characters are all so grotesquely drawn, it’s got nothing to say about them. It has a twist at the end — but a short story’s worth of twist, not a novel’s worth.

I don’t want to say it’s bad. But, even once I got over the shock of it not being what I was expecting, I still wasn’t sure what to make of it, so never got into it. In the end, it seemed to be grotesque for the sake of being grotesque, like a Gerald Scarfe political cartoon satirising some now long-forgotten event. Perhaps, then, for Wicker Man completists only.

[Shaunna · Rating 1 out of 5]

Horrible

This might be the worst book I've ever read. It might actually be worse than the Nic Cage version of The Wicker Man. Full of racism, sexism, and homophobia, plus it's terribly written. Like at one point the detective humps a teenage girl through a wall. The prose is so bad it borders on nonsensical. Don't waste your time.

[John Morris · Rating 2 out of 5]

Still struggling!

I understand that this book was the inspiration for the 1970s cult film "The Wicker Man". If so, the film was better than the book. For all I know this book may be a literary classic but, to a simple lad from Sheffield, it was rubbish. It was written during the psychedelic flower power period of the 1960s and, perhaps, that explains it.

[Sean · Rating 1 out of 5]

Holy shit.
This is the most painful book I have ever read, and I'm not done. The prose is terrible, everything Pinner says is uncomfortably sexual (perfect for the subreddit for men write women or not how women's bodies work), and occasionally racist. I never thought a British guy would be so obsessed with "Indians" given what he's referring to is most likely the Indigenous Americans. I'd rather die than read the word "N**roid" again.
(Minor spoilers)
I just finished the book a few minutes ago and honestly, I don't know if I can adequately express how bad this book is. The plot consists of this-- David comes to the town and people are cryptic the entire book, but there is no evidence that any of the townspeople have committed murder. David is a Puritan wand intolerable and really likes Anna Sparks nipples, and gets frustrated when he does nothing. He's a shit cop, and by the end of the book, he has successfully done nothing. But neither have the townspeople! They are made out to be suspicious, but they don't do anything all that bad other than having an orgy on Midsummer's eve.
(Major spoilers)
We end the story with the understanding that David has gone insane and he is the one who kills Anna and likely has also killed Gypo. I can't tell if it implies he killed Billy too, but WHO THE HELL KILLED DIAN? We never get an explanation for what is going on. And there's no real explanation for why David goes mad either. They come into his dreams a few times over the course of the story and give him nightmares, but what these are and how they affect him (they don't negatively affect him from what we can see) is never discussed. Basically, it just comes out of left field, like, "Oh, look how awful it is that the main character we've been rooting for is actually the evil murderer!" NO! I never liked him! He was probably the most intolerable person I have ever been meant to root for in a novel, and that's coming from someone who wrote self-insert fanfiction in elementary school.
Final notes. Honestly, I only read this book because of "The Wickerman", which was genuinely really good, but it is so different from this book. I have read a lot of subpar books in my journey to read these horror books that inspired horror movies, and this one is just not worth it. "Psycho" is probably the best book you can look for if that's what you want, and surprisingly, it's super inoffensive, unlike this work. "The Exorcist" has major problems, but the psychological aspect of the possession is really cool. Please, spend your time in better ways than this book. Hours of my life that I will never get back.

[Steve Wiggins · Rating 3 out of 5]

I confess that I’m no ebook fan. When a used copy of an out-of-print book costs over $200, however, I’m willing to compromise my principles. The reason I read Ritual is that it’s the novel behind the movie The Wicker Man. Well, at least to an extent. The crew responsible for the movie based a broad outline on what Pinner is doing here in his novel. I really wanted to read it. Enough to actually buy an ebook. (My blog post on this [Sects and Violence in the Ancient World] focuses on the ebook reading experience.)

As far as novel reading experiences go, this was somewhat of a let-down. What I call “punchy” writing doesn’t really appeal to me. And the protagonist, detective David Hanlin is supposed to be a Puritanical Christian but it seems that the author doesn’t know from experience what being a Puritanical Christian is. He isn’t a likable protagonist, and the reason why eventually becomes clear. That’s not my problem, though. Unlikable protagonists are common enough. It’s just that to make the story work you have to believe he is what the story says he is. This is telling, not showing.

In any case, the plot is basically this: Hanlin has heard about a strange death of a child in remote Cornwall. He investigates and discovers an entire village of believers in witchcraft. He believes he is their intended victim. In the end the police come and mop up the mess. There is a twist ending. Setting itself as a hard-baked detective novel may lead to the choice of writing style. For me, I was just trying to get to the story behind the story. I suppose in that respect reading this was worthwhile, even in ebook form.

[Kurt Douglass · Rating 2 out of 5]

Since this book is primarily read because it is the inspiration behind 1973's "The Wicker Man", it is difficult to evaluate it on its own merits, without comparing it to the far more famous (and superior) film. Fundamentally this novel is a murder mystery; however, the mystery is never quite resolved, nor is the nature of the titular "ritual" explained. It is much more morally and spiritually ambiguous than "The Wicker Man", and is charged with a raw eroticism that borders on being pornographic.

The novel really suffers from Pinner's "purple prose" (something that was criticized upon its release). Here are a few samples: "The breeze paused to catch its breath" and "two girlish ribbons of blood tied themselves on the horse's white belly". The whole novel is written like this, and these aren't even the worst lines. The dialogue is a constant stream of wordplay and innuendo. On top of this overblown style, the point of view frenetically jumps from character to character. The result is a disorienting and nauseating reading experience. As other's have said, its trippy.

If you haven't seen Robin Hardy's film, I doubt you will be interested in this novel.

[JennRa · Rating 3 out of 5]

Una novela de terror con una atmósfera psicodélica muy marcada y tintes de humor negro. El paganismo y los rituales son la orden del día en este pequeño pueblo costero donde llega nuestro detective un hombre religioso y purista que tiene que desenmarañar la muerte de Dian Spark, una niña de 8 años de edad que murio "accidentalmente" tras caerse de un arbol, pero la imagen de una niña debajo de un roble, con el cuello roto, un ramillete de ajo en la mano, y la cabeza de un simio clavada en el tronco hacen pensar que ha sido víctima de algún tipo de ritual satánico.

Una historia interesante y que actualmente no aporta ninguna novedad al género, pero que su fama la tiene merecida si recordamos que fue publicada en 1967 y que obtuvo mayor reconocimiento con su adaptación cinematográfica de 1973 The Wicker Man. Muy recomendada.

[Beatriz Gallo · Rating 1 out of 5]

Este libro tiene todos los ingredientes para crear una historia muy mal rollera. El problema es que no lo hace y, en mi opinión, ni siquiera se acerca. Para mí el mayor problema que tiene la historia es que empieza prometiendo una cosa y acaba dando otra totalmente diferente. No he conseguido creerme a ninguno de los personajes y tampoco he conseguido que me llegue a importar lo que le pase a cada uno de ellos. La historia está llena de contradicciones sin sentido y deja muchos cabos en el aire que nunca vuelve a recoger, es como si el autor los hubiera usado como recurso cómodo.
Tenía muchas ganas de leerlo y ha sido un fiasco total.

[Óscar Brox · Rating 3 out of 5]

Por sus antecedentes históricos, el paganismo carga sobre sus espaldas con una marcada impronta de fenómeno rural propio de campesinos cuyas creencias desconocían la existencia de un Dios único. Las luchas intestinas de religiones, así como las sucesivas revoluciones sociales, consiguieron sepultar muchas de esas prácticas. Sin embargo, el espíritu del romanticismo decimonónico rehabilitó el panteón de deidades olvidadas, presentes en la naturaleza salvaje, a través de sus arrebatos líricos. En el fondo, se trataba de recuperar aquellos territorios, aquellas maneras de entender la vida, que el impulso industrial desencantaba a marchas forzadas. De ahí esa estética del bosque cerrado y los lagos, de la playa rocosa y los acantilados, representantes de una fuerza natural que resistía a su desaparición. Junto a su aspecto bucólico, el culto moderno ha hecho de lo moral su auténtico caballo de Troya, en perpetua batalla contra la integridad de unas buenas costumbres que se esfuerzan en denigrar cualquier otra manifestación humana. Ritual, de David Pinner, rescatada oportunamente por Alpha Decay, narra como si se tratase de un informe desde el ojo del huracán esa pugna con la moral. La historia de un hombre débil en el país de las tentaciones, su lucha entre la luz y las tinieblas y el miedo a revelar aquello en lo que tememos convertirnos.

Bajo su aspecto de trama con ramalazos de relato policial, Ritual describe una demoledora crítica contra los vestigios del puritanismo en la sociedad británica. Un policía de Scotland Yard, David Hanlin, llega a un pueblo costero de Cornualles con la intención de investigar la misteriosa muerte de una niña. Sin embargo, nada más aterrizar choca con la extraña idiosincrasia de una comunidad alejada de la mano de hierro con la que se gestiona la ciudad y el (agresivo) recato con el que se desenvuelve el policía. En Thorn, en cambio, la realidad parece sumida en una continua seducción sexual y en esa libertad de voluntad que preconizara cierto paganismo a principios del Siglo XX. Allí la razón no tiene más interés que como un pasatiempo dialéctico que hay que desmontar pieza a pieza hasta que el enemigo sucumba ante sus deseos ocultos. Y es a eso mismo, entre el sarcasmo más feroz y el espíritu más compasivo, a lo que se dedica Pinner con su protagonista. Porque a medida que Hanlin penetra en las costumbres del pueblo, la propia historia lo envuelve con una densa niebla de la que no puede escapar.

La principal virtud de Pinner reside, fundamentalmente, en su habilidad para cortocircuitar los pensamientos de su personaje. Admirador de Oliver Cromwell -una de las figuras políticas más controvertidas del Siglo XVII y, también, un fanático religioso-, Hanlin se debate una y otra vez entre seguir su instinto o flagelarse apelando a su mediocridad de funcionario. Mientras la historia avanza, el policía pervierte a conciencia sus principios hasta convertirse en la bestia más peligrosa del lugar. Humillado por la aplastante coherencia de Thorn, David solo hace que tensar la cuerda de su paciencia mientras continúa pensando en cerrar el caso de la niña muerta. Incapaz de resistir los cantos de sirena de la joven Anna, las chanzas del actor retirado Cready o la vulgaridad del corro de niños del pueblo, Hanlin se encierra en una moral cada vez más extrema y autoritaria que no sabe cómo soportar los latigazos de sus erecciones y la frustración de no poder ser como esos pueblerinos a los que tanto desprecia. De ahí la escalada de violencia y agresiones que solo la compasión de su autor acepta, por el bien del relato, mientras secretamente prepara la definitiva caída del protagonista.

A buen seguro, lo que más cautivó a Anthony Shaffer de Ritual fueron las brutales embestidas de su protagonista mientras se aferra a su integridad puritana para tratar de ahuyentar los fantasmas sexuales. Por ello The Wicker Man, inspirada en la novela de Pinner, exacerbaba a conciencia esa pugna terrible con las creencias propias. Porque, en el fondo, nos dice su autor, las tinieblas más peligrosas no emanan de la naturaleza, sino de la naturaleza humana. Y en su voluntad de no sucumbir a los placeres de la carne, Hanlin se transforma en un demonio peor que los habitantes de Thorn. He ahí la lección que la sociedad inglesa ha aplicado implacablemente en sus ficciones, como si tratase de borrar, mientras la expone, esa costra moral que atenazaba toda manifestación vital alternativa.

El entorno rural de Cornualles abriga otra batalla entre el paganismo y las buenas costumbres, la vida sin ataduras y los prejuicios que definen un comportamiento aceptable. Mientras David se pierde en sus fantasías, entre su incontrolable deseo por tomar el cuerpo de Anna y la tristeza de saberse un fracasado al borde de la cuarentena cuyo único mérito es el escrúpulo en su trabajo, Pinner narra la historia de una lucha eterna entre la luz y la oscuridad, el sol y la luna. La historia arranca con la llegada de un hombre débil a la colmena, su obsesiva fascinación ante aquello que se prohíbe tener y su lenta desesperación al observar que se está convirtiendo en todo lo que tan arduamente ha intentado esconder. Más que una caída, se trata de una revelación. El mérito de Pinner consiste en su precisión a la hora de exponerla: cuanto más se esfuerza por ocultar sus tinieblas a la luz de la luna, más rápido arde quemado por el sol. Cuanto más se esfuerza por pregonar su integridad en un pueblo de sátiros y desenfreno, más rápido arde víctima de la locura. Porque no es capaz de reconocer eso que con tanto celo protegen ciertas morales, tantas buenas costumbres y demasiadas manos de hierro: que la debilidad, las contradicciones y el instinto son las que nos hacen tan humanos.

Publicado en Détour

[naturaespecies · Rating 2 out of 5]

Horroroso. Leer, si acaso, por las risas.

[Sophie Childs · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's difficult not to compare this to "The Wicker Man" when you're reading it, which is a shame because the book, while an obvious inspiration for the film, really is a completely different story, and one which the movie took to a new level.

Still, although it pales in comparison to the story of the film, it's still a great read and it's fascinating to see the concepts that became on-screen characters. Anna and her incredible stretching breasts eventually become Willow, the landlord's daughter, while David, the police inspector who takes it upon himself to investigate a village where a child was potentially murdered, is a shadow of Edward Woodward. David's religion, while touched upon in the book, is nowhere near the central feature it is in the film.

Published in 1967, the book is dated in style and you can tell that it's not a modern text. Still, if you can get past the exclamation marks, it's still a great read, as we follow David into the darkness waiting for him in a little Cornish village.

[Side Real Press · Rating 1 out of 5]

This review was previously posted on the Side Real Press website in 2011.

This title interested me as it is the book which was supposedly the inspiration for the Schaffer film 'The Wicker Man' (1973) a great favourite of mine. 'Ritual' has been virtually impossible to find at a decent price, so this reprint is very welcome, and affordable.

Firstly one should say that whilst there are some similarities to the film (one scene in particular - no; not that one) the book is very much its own beast, and it would seem as if Schaffer took Hitchcock's dictum of reading it once and then making a film as opposed to filming a book.

This was a wise move on Shaffer's part as I have to say that this book is something of a mess.

The plot opens David Hanlin, a troubled Detective, who is en route to a Cornish village to investigate the murder(?) of a young girl a few days before midsummer. On his arrival he discovers that the village is very odd and seems to gearing up towards some big event which he suspects to be of a witchcraft nature. A palpable air of hysteria creeps through the book and Hanlin is inevitably drawn in.

There are some good moments within the book, but virtually every other paragraph draws you up short with its odd use of metaphor or sentence structure; "We villagers are like this greenfly, Inspector. We plunder the beauty of the earth by planting and weeding and sweating a lot." Or... "She moved towards the village, allowing her hips to continue the conversation. Anna turned her head to see if her rhythmical magnet was functioning. It was. She stopped, pursing her nipples towards him and then swung on." Greenfly weeding? Nipples pursed? There is a lot of this.

Most sentences involving dialogue have exclamation marks at the end of them. Too many!! No-one speaks normally!!! Well; not often!! Once you become aware of them it becomes a bit silly, and painful, to read.

There are some other oddities that might have been the result of not checking the text from which it was scanned(?) (the publishers own copy perhaps?) or just plain wrongnesses. I can't work out whether the reference to that well known Voodoo practising island of 'Tahiti' is one of those or not.

As you have no doubt gathered, I did not enjoy this book at all - it is garbled with aspirations to pretentiousness; and whilst the plot has a few neat twists in it, by the time I got to the end I really didn't care, as I was relieved not to have to read any more of the awful style. No doubt the 'Wicker Man' fans will want it but this is a book that 'I have read so that you dont have to'. Just enjoy the cover and put it on the shelf.

[Chris Browning · Rating 1 out of 5]

Bloody hell. This is one of the sources for The Wicker Man, with Shaffer and Hardy buying the rights for it to use as a starting point for their own ideas because, according to a very diplomatic Shaffer, he couldn’t see how to give it a direct adaptation.

What this translates to is that the book is terribly written, florid, dumbfounding nonsense with some occasionally brilliant moments - and these bits just shine like diamonds among the shit mainly because Shaffer lifted them wholesale for the film. Lots of moments and ideas from this become the roots of the far more interesting film, but that makes it sound like there’s a thrill to be had from chipping away at the rough stuff for the diamonds. This is not the case. There’s an argument that you can admire Pinner for going at this whole thing in a gung ho manner, but that just means it’s readably bad rather than boringly bad. It’s still bad

And it fails as horror, it fails as rural novel, it fails as detective story, it fails as a novel, it fails as a time capsule. All the good bits were taken by Shaffer, and without them you’d be left with errant nonsense with one of the single most ridiculous and nonsensical final paragraph twists ever put down on paper. This doesn’t even deserve being sacrificed in a giant wicker edifice. It doesn’t even deserve being *kindling*

[Anne · Rating 3 out of 5]

I’ve had this in my tbr for a while and had gotten it because it was described as the inspiration for The Wicker Man film. Though it has some similar themes, it is also quite different. It’s a short book but still felt like a somewhat difficult read. Some of the characters speak in confusing and very verbose ways, and the detective himself is a bit odd as well. The village has some unusual people and habits that take time to develop, and in the end it doesn’t have the kind of surprising and shocking ending that the film does. If you see the film, make sure it’s the original not the more recent one with Nick Cage which is just bad.

[Debeehr · Rating 1 out of 5]

How this book could have inspired the compelling WICKER MAN, I have no idea. Prose style is *awful*: ugly, ungainly, and hacked off. It's so bad the book is actually physically unpleasant to read. Characters are unbelievable and the whole thing comes with a “twist” ending that is just stupid. It defies imagination how they got THE WICKER MAN out of this book. I guess it *is* possible to make a silk purse out of a sow's ear.

[Rachel · Rating 3 out of 5]

The novel that inspired "The Wicker Man" is undoubtedly folk horror, but nowhere near as smart, engaging or well paced as the film that it inspired. Disappointing.

[Miguel Lupián · Rating 4 out of 5]

La novela que inspiró The Wicker Man... Como nos cuenta Bob Stanley en el prólogo, Shaffer (guionista de la película) compró los derechos de la novela para adaptarla a cine pero, al no gustarle el resultado, escribió algo diferente (con muchas cosas "prestadas" de Pinner). Sin embargo, la novela tiene otro tono (más absurdo y juguetón), sigue principalmente a los extraños niños de la isla y no presenta ese final icónico de la película. De cualquier forma, encontramos las tres características que, según Adam Scovell, toda obra de folk horror debe incluir: paisaje, aislamiento y elementos sobrenaturales.

[Bracken · Rating 1 out of 5]

#DNF. Couldn't get past the priest's bizarre syntax and overall weirdly purple writing. Completely kept me from engaging with the narrative.

[Phil Ford · Rating 3 out of 5]

A Pagan-Christianity Crime-Mystery that was the basis for the 1973 movie "The Wicker Man". All the elements that were in the movie are in the book, but nothing like the movie. There is the barkeep's temptress daughter, there is a weird thing with rabbits, there are sex orgies, there are pagan rites, but in the book they are used to almost comic elements in shaking up the Inspector who comes to the village (not on an island) because of a murder. The opening sentence of the book is fabulous, but sets the tone for more how the movie turned out rather than this fairly straightforward British crime mystery. Those seeking to read the "book version" of the famed cult movie will either not finish the book or be disappointed. However, if you take it for what it is, a late 60s mystery that can be humorous and strange, you may rather enjoy it. While the original press is hard to find, and expensive, record label Finders Keepers reprinted a version exactly like the original with its beautiful cover art. Written by actor/playwright David Pinner.

[Sergio Mori · Rating 3 out of 5]

The minute I learnt The Wicker Man was loosely based on this, I run to my local library to see if they had it (well, to their website). They did! However, once I got it I had to wait for a bit to read it: my pesky partner kidnapped it and started reading it first. As you can see, we are big pagan fans in this household. Bring on the witches!

The book is fun to read and you can clearly see the inspiration behind some of the iconic scenes in the movie, but it somehow lacks a lot of the magic. I think the main problem is not the sometimes artificially luscious language so much but the characterisation of the protagonist. While in the film you feel the pain he's going through, in the book everything seems a bit risible. His puritanism seems just a façade, whereas in the movie it felt more like belief. Anyway, enough of this nonsense of comparing the two: the book is fun in itself and there even are a couple of lovely twists towards the end.

"You behaved like goats!"

[Dave · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ritual is a goldmine of interesting imagery hampered by an author who clearly loved the cleverness of his clever wordplay without realising that to the outside reader it can become a bit tiresome.

Nevertheless, Ritual is a compelling read, capable of weaving a mystery through its odd setting and cast of characters (though it's an odd choice to emphasise its setting as Cornwall when it could take place in any small town that has: a pub, a church, a woodland and a beach, which may have added a more universal sentiment to it all). Pinner's prose, while frustrating at times, also means the novel, ostensibly a work of horror, is imbued with a strange sort of cynical whimsy.

And while, yes, you may find that the themes and imagery may have been reworked into a much more superior filmic work some six years later, it's still only fair to judge the book on its own merits, and it certainly has a fair bit of merit in and of itself.

[Hannah · Rating 2 out of 5]

Utterly bizarre and almost unreadable.

I had to read this because I've been an obsessed Wicker Man devotee for a long time. I needed to read the inspiration behind one of my favorite films. As other reviews have mentioned, the movie plot far surpasses the original source material.

This novel was written in a strange way, with overly flowery language that was just annoying and nonsensical. It had so much potential to be something mysterious and eerie, but mainly came off grotesque and frustrating. I plowed through it just wanting it to be over.

The ending was... Ugh. Abrupt and a letdown, yet not surprising. The Wicker Man movie is a million times better than this, but I suggest giving it a read anyway to get a better appreciation for the classic movie.