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Control work V-IV
James Herbert SEPULCHRE
I. Give the plot of the set-book (3 pages[1]): This story began three thousand years before the birth of Christ, when the first real moves towards civilization emerged from southern Mesopotamia. The people there were called Sumerian. The Sumerian high priests discovered a way of making man immortal. But they destroyed or hid all such records because of some reason. The main character of this book, Liam Halloran, is a professional bodyguard. He worked in the company "Achilles' Shield" as an agent of security service, a specialist in life-saving of hostages. One day the Magma Corporation engaged him as a personal bodyguard for its researcher, who had paranormal abilities for searching minerals. The Magma Corporation practised the exploitation of the mineral wealth; it has widespread international interests in the mining, industrial and energy sectors. The researcher, Mr. Felix Kline, was insured for £50 million but it was not enough to cover the loss of the company in case of his death. Rivals had made an attempt upon Kline's life before, that's why the Magma Corporation wanted to get help from the "Achilles' Shield" in addition to its own security to protect him. Liam Halloran arrived at the Magma Corporation's office and wanted to exam the security structures of that building because Mr. Kline was living at the time in that building, except on holidays, when he moved into his estate near London. There was a personal assistant of Felix Kline, Cora Redmile, who helped Halloran in guarding Mr. Kline. She had to coordinate Halloran's operations and Kline's timetable and his day-to-day movements. Cora was chosen by Felix Kline for that task. Cora led Halloran to a sky-high penthouse of the Corporation's building, where Kline's apartments were placed. Kline had four bodyguards, two of them were in Corporation's building, but they weren't professionals, they were rather his servants. And Halloran was discontented with them. And Felix Kline made a strange impression on Halloran. He had a lot of oddities but he was a man to protect. After examining the security and Kline's bodyguards, Halloran came to the conclusion that the bodyguards needed some instructions on driving, shooting and fighting. At the time they were getting those instructions, he had to protect his client on his own. On Saturday Felix Kline with his group (his personal assistant and two bodyguards) moved to his estate near London. They were being followed during all the way but they were not attacked. But Kline was very worried about that event. The estate was called "Neath". There was a stone wall, surrounding the estate, massive gates and a lodge-house beyond the gates. In the heart of some kind of a grove there was the main building of the estate and a lake near it. There were two other Kline's bodyguards, the Arabs. From Halloran's point of view the estate had no adequate security system. "Neath" had been built around the central courtyard. There were too many dark places, corridors, corners and niches to be examined them all very attentively by him. Halloran also found too many locked doors. Kline told him that he didn't have to explore the home so carefully because it was a safe place. He added that there was no need to worry, not inside the estate; and nothing could disturb Kline there. Step by step Halloran found new mysterious things. During his investigations he found that there were dogs in the estate, but Kline denied that fact. The Arabs simulated the misunderstanding of English, but Halloran heard them speaking well enough. Cora seemed to be worried about something but she refused to speak about it. But Halloran tried to do his best to discharge his obligations. Next morning Halloran continued his investigations of the estate. The lake attracted him; he didn't know why. Halloran felt there was something was in the depth of the lake. It seemed to him that something alive was there, something that called him to the depth of the lake; he could see shadows, moving in the depth. It was some kind of hypnosis. But he knew that there couldn't be anything and he overcame that feeling. He was worried about the locked doors of the house especially the door to the cellar. His sense of danger told him that there was something unusual, something he had never met before. That was one more mystery. He was worried about the lodge-house too; he hadn't investigated it yet. But he found out a troop of jackals near the lodge-house. They were non-aggressive, but there was something queer about their behaviour. That evening Halloran saw some kind of a natural phenomenon over the lake. There was a light from the water; the lake was lighter than its surrounding and some kind of clouds were over the lake. Sometimes the clouds were lighted up with lightings. And there was one more thing. There was a boat out there and four bodyguards in it. They were watching something that was outside the boat, in the lake itself. Halloran thought that his sense of danger hadn't lied that morning: there had to be something. There was Kline too, but he wasn't in the boat. It seemed to Halloran that he was... on the water. But nobody answered his questions after all. Next morning all of them had to return to London. One of the chiefs of the "Achilles' Shield", Dieter Stuhr, was killed the previous night. He was tortured before being killed and then thrown down to the Thames. It meant that the rivals acted with all brutality and tried to find out the way Kline was protected. And it meant that there was a spy in the Magma Corporation. Halloran and Cora didn't suspect anybody of spying. But Kline suspected Cora. That event made them all nervous. Halloran decided that it would be safer if they returned to "Neath". In "Neath" Kline felt poor. His skin had become dry and some pieces fell away when he moved. Halloran was worried about his health because he couldn't protect Kline from any disease. Halloran insisted on visiting a doctor but Kline denied any offer. Kline locked himself up in his room and only the Arabs were allowed in. Cora was worried about Kline too; she had never seen him in such condition before. Meanwhile Halloran decided to investigate the lodge-house. At that time he entered the house. In the building Halloran discovered a lodge-Keeper, a guardian of the gates and a master of the troop of jackals. It was an old dying man, who told Halloran that his mind controlled the gates, the troop of jackals and the demons. But he was too weak to keep them longer. According to his words, Kline was inconceivably old. The Keeper told Halloran that Kline needed another Keeper to keep his life and it would be Halloran. Then the old man died. Halloran confronted the death of the old man with Kline's condition and hurried to the main house. But there was nobody. Halloran could find neither Cora nor Kline. Then he heard a woman's cry. He broke into run and found out the half-open door of the cellar. But when he began to come down the steps, one of Kline's bodyguards brought a metal bar down against his temple. There was a sepulchre in the cellar. Kline's sepulchre. About three hundred years before young Kline was a tomb-robber. He had found the heart of Sumerian man-god Bel-Marduk and controlled Sumerian knowledge of immortality. He performed the ritual and became immortal, but not absolutely. He needed a man, the Keeper, who could keep his soul in his body, who had to protect him from the ancient devils. The lake near the building was some kind of an energetic centre for the Keeper. When Kline's Keeper became old, Kline found another one. That was Halloran's turn to become the Keeper. But Cora, who fell in love with Halloran, couldn't allow that. She shot Kline when he started to perform the ritual of converting Halloran into the Keeper. Then Halloran destroyed the heart of Bel-Marduk.
II.
Describe the personage you liked best in the book. Dwell on The main character of this book is Liam Halloran. The author described him as a tall, but not massive man, certainly not muscle-bound. He had pale blue eyes, and the warmth in them could turn to a bleak coldness in an instant. He was a man to feel safe with - unless you were his enemy. At first sight he seemed anything but a violent man. He preferred his clothes casual, nothing sharp or self-conscious about them. At first Cora Redmile supposed that Halloran was a murderer, but then she learned him better and understood that it was a mistake. Halloran wasn't a murder; he was a good specialist and discharged his obligations as much as he could. If the conditions demanded murder from him, Halloran murdered. But it was only in the name of saving life of his client. He was Irish and spoke with the little trace of Irish. His childhood was rough. And it is impossible to understand Halloran' s character being ignorant of his biography. Liam's father was captain in the British Army. He met his future wife while on leave in Southern Ireland. They were married and, within a year, Liam was born. But his duty required him long absences and his wife and Liam lived with Liam's grandfather in Ireland. The captain spent as much time as possible with his family but their marriage had created a rift between his wife and the other members of her family. She had cousins who had strong links with the IRA, and they suspected that Liam's father was no more than a British plant, put there to seek out information on the rebel activities in the area. And one day Liam, just eight years old, went fishing with his father. And the gunmen struck. The boy was frozen with fear and could only watch when one of the masked men shot Captain Halloran in the back of the head. Liam got a very deep shock. Liam's mother knew her cousins had been involved. And if not for Liam's grandfather who was in the IRA a great person, Liam would have been murdered too, as a witness. As Liam grew older, it seemed he was always in some kind of trouble. His wildness grew out of hand when his mother finally committed suicide. He hated the priest, Father O'Connell, who had warned Liam that the wildness had to stop, that the Good Lord Jesus would punish the boy for his wickedness, that his cankered soul would be damned eternally into Hell. Liam set fire to the church, and Father O'Connell was lost in the fire. Liam hated the Good Lord Jesus, who allowed his parents tj be killed, he hated all of his relatives. I think that if Liam had had no such rough childhood, he wouldn't have been chosen by Kline for his purpose, because Halloran was bad enough to be a servant of the evil god. But, as times went by, his intense hatred and aggression became cold. One of his father's friends arranged for him to board at an army school in England; that school turned out many fine cadets. After active military service Liam Halloran was engaged by the company "Achilles’ Shield" as an agent of security service. Of course, if he had had no military experience, he wouldn't have been such a good specialist. I like this character because of his strength of mind and ability for discerning the true from the false, the real from the unreal. Every time Halloran acts with confidence and presence of mind. He knows exactly what he has to do. In spite of his previous life he can feel deeply. He is a good example to show man's ability to overcome the Evil inside and finally defeat the Evil outside. Of course, he does rough work, he runs risks every day, but he is a sensitive and gentle man, a man to feel safe with.
III. Do a complete interpretation of a chapter: Pp 261-263 James Herbert, Britain's literary horror equivalent to Stephen King, has sold over 40 million books worldwide. He is the real Master of horror, whose books make everybody be wide awake all night. “Sepulchre” is an excellent story with everything – action, plot, characters and the horrifying truth of the modern life mixed with some kind of mystery. Distinctive features of his novels are alive characters and truthful conflicts. Let me take up only a short extract from the novel. The scene of the extract is laid in Kline’s estate called "Neath" near London, a very secluded place with an old stone wall, surrounding the estate, massive gates and a lodge-house beyond the gates. The main characters of the extract are Monk – a personal bodyguard of Kline, and Halloran - a professional bodyguard, working for "Achilles' Shield" as an expert of security service, engaged for the special action to protect Kline from rivals. From Halloran's point of view, the estate had no adequate security system. "Neath" had been built around the central courtyard. There were too many dark places, corridors, corners and niches to examine them all very attentively. Halloran also found too many locked doors. He came to the conclusion that the security system of the estate left much to be desired. Halloran intended to patrol the outskirts of the estate. He gave some instruction to Monk how to cope with possible problems in his (Halloran’s) absence. After that he went to the lodge-house. In this short extract the author shows us the conflict of the type “Man against man” and I can say, “man against himself”. The conflicts are between Monk and Halloran. We can see their intense relationships from their conversation and Monk’s reaction to Halloran’s words. Herbert skilfully, in a few words, shows us Monk’s inner conflict and the tension of the situation. We can see Monk’s attitude towards Halloran: “The bodyguard’s thick lips set a sneer, his heavy-set body tensing as Halloran approached”, “Monk smirked rather than reply”. We can understand that Monk despised Halloran utterly, but he is forced to obey Halloran because of the situation. He thinks that Halloran’s instruction are unnecessary and even insulting, but at the sane time he understands that Halloran is a real professional and he is the only man to guard Kline properly. Halloran knows that Monk as a bodyguard is of no use. “You think, I’m stupid, Halloran? – We both know it.” We can see that only in the interests of safety Monk manages to keep himself in check not to provoke a skirmish. And Halloran has a certain authority: “Monk’s shoulders visibly straightened and he almost took a step forward. Only Halloran’s hard-eyed smile stopped him”. We can see that Halloran is the winner of the conflict “Man against man” type because of his high professional skills. At the same time Monk’s professionalism took the upper hand over his ambitions in the conflict man against himself In spite of the fact that Monk is a very contradictory person, he is a professional too. And the interests of safety, the interests of his boss Kline are above all for him. For any professional the interests of his business should be above all, it should come first.
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