I hate to do it, I LOVE Stephen King — but this was just too much of people going into a store, buying something, something sinister happens, rinse, rI hate to do it, I LOVE Stephen King — but this was just too much of people going into a store, buying something, something sinister happens, rinse, repeat.
Set in Castle Rock, Maine there is potential here and it's decently creepy at times. However, I found myself hoping for it to be finished soon and not wrapped up into the characters or story at all.
The good and the bad kind of balanced this out to make it an okay read; very imaginative.
“And the purple parted before it, snapping back like skin aftThe good and the bad kind of balanced this out to make it an okay read; very imaginative.
“And the purple parted before it, snapping back like skin after a slash, and what it let out wasn't blood but light: amazing orange light that filled her heart and mind with a terrible mixture of joy, terror, and sorrow. No wonder she had repressed this memory all these years. It was too much. Far too much. The light seemed to give the fading air of evening a silken texture, and the cry of a bird struck her ear like a pebble made of glass. A cap of breeze filled her nostrils with a hundred exotic perfumes: frangipani, bougainvillea, dusty roses, and oh dear God, night-blooming cereus... And rising above one horizon came the orange mansion of the moon, bloated and burning cold, while the sun sank below the other, boiling in a crimson house of fire. She thought that mixture of furious light would kill her with its beauty.”...more
I've never seen the movie (maybe after I write this review I will though) and went into this only knowing broad strokes.
This book was even more enjoyI've never seen the movie (maybe after I write this review I will though) and went into this only knowing broad strokes.
This book was even more enjoyable than I would have guessed and the perfect winter read, especially during a pandemic. And while going stir crazy from almost a year of social distancing.
So, yeah. Relatable.
“Writers remember everything...especially the hurts. Strip a writer to the buff, point to the scars, and he'll tell you the story of each small one. From the big ones you get novels. A little talent is a nice thing to have if you want to be a writer, but the only real requirement is the ability to remember the story of every scar.
Art consists of the persistence of memory.”...more
Watched the movie immediately after finishing the book ... the book was way better, of course.
It is so hard to truly capture a Stephen King book entirWatched the movie immediately after finishing the book ... the book was way better, of course.
It is so hard to truly capture a Stephen King book entirely on screen, there's just too many supernatural elements.
After reading (and loving) The Shining in December, it was fresh in my mind as I continued the journey with young Danny Torrance. The Shining was perfection in every way for me, it had some of everything.
This book was extremely entertaining, and I really enjoyed it—but it wasn't quite at The Shining level.
King does a good job per usual capturing the conflicting struggles of an alcoholic, interwoven with threads of telekinetic and telepathic powers.
“There came a time when you realized that moving on was pointless. That you took yourself with you wherever you went.”
*Note* Part of my inspiration to read both The Shining and Doctor Sleep came from Caroline Kepnes' You—Joe makes one of his captives read it and there is a lot of SK discussion in the book....more
**spoiler alert** Couldn't put this one down, great way to spend the weekend.
Hallorann was excellent — the ending of the book is so much better than t**spoiler alert** Couldn't put this one down, great way to spend the weekend.
Hallorann was excellent — the ending of the book is so much better than the movie in my opinion. So glad he wasn't killed off when he arrived at the Overlook, as happened in Kubrick's adaptation.
Even if you've seen the movie, give the book a chance. Worth it!
Looking forward to Doctor Sleep, and then to give the movie a chance. ...more
Can’t quite put my finger on it, but this one didn’t exactly lift my skirts.
Not bad, but not my favorite SK either.
"This life we think we're living iCan’t quite put my finger on it, but this one didn’t exactly lift my skirts.
Not bad, but not my favorite SK either.
"This life we think we're living isn't real. It's just a shadow play, and I for one will be glad when the lights go out on it. In the dark, all the shadows disappear."
After mulling it over for a few days, Stephen King must be a huge fan of Stranger Things as there are a fair amount of parallels. Also, I read Carrie last month, and had similar feelings (I gave it 3 stars as well). They both left me wanting MORE psychokinetic activity.
I didn't plan on reading King's first book (Carrie, 1974), and most recent book (The Institute, 2019), so close together, but it inspire some interesting book end analysis.
Still can't get enough of the SK universe, looking forward to reading The Shining and Doctor Sleep before I watch the movie.
For reference, a few of my FAVORITE King books are: The Dark Tower Series, 11/22/63 and Under the Dome.
"He checked all the correct interaction boxes and then went back to his books. Because there was an abyss, and books contained magical incantations to raise what was hidden there: all the great mysteries. For Luke, those mysteries mattered."...more
Watched the Sissy Spacek original movie for the first time last night when I was only 65% finished ... not sure if that helped or hindered my enjoymenWatched the Sissy Spacek original movie for the first time last night when I was only 65% finished ... not sure if that helped or hindered my enjoyment of the book.
Biggest things that stuck out:
1) Still puzzling over the physics of a tampon getting “stuck” in a giant bush and staying there. What the heck SK?!
2) This felt like a short story compared to many of King’s hefty tomes. Almost wish there had been more telekinesis.
3) Young SK writing about female adolescents played more comedic than “horror” for me....more
Lieutenant Baaaaaaarbara ... I will never think of Barbies again without thoughts of the handsome (in my mind's eye) Lieutenant Dale Barbara, and the Lieutenant Baaaaaaarbara ... I will never think of Barbies again without thoughts of the handsome (in my mind's eye) Lieutenant Dale Barbara, and the despicable Junior Rennie's long drawn out affectation.
Total deus ex machina of an ending, but really, where else could the story have gone? I LOVE Stephen King, but as we all know, he's not always the best at closing out his books. Still, I thought the ending was acceptable if somewhat contrived. Reminded me of 11/22/63 in some ways, as I totally loved that book too, except for the hodgepodge of a conclusion.
Convenient resolution aside, this book was so much fun. It's basically a character study of the small town of Chester's Mill (Maine, where else?)—and there are characters galore. What happens when a town is completely isolated? Think: shaking up an ant farm and watching the resulting chaos.
Quite the page turner, many late nights with this one. Fantastic summer read.
"Wherever you went, there you were. The great Zen truth of the age."
"The family that slays together stays together."
"They walked back into the world together, wearing the gift that had been given them: just life."
*Loved Horace the Corgi (named after the 19th century newspaper editor Horace Greeley), and the snippets from his perspective. Made me think of Molly, aka the Thing of Evil, and King's well known love of the breed.*
[After I finished, I found out there were three seasons of a TV adaptation on CBS ... has anyone watched it?]
Went into this one almost completely blind, other than the basics inferred by the title.
“Sometimes dead is better” sums it up nicely.
One of my favorite parts was the note from Stephen King at the beginning of the book, where he explains the true life experiences that inspired the book, and declares Pet Sematary the most frightening book he's ever written.
Michael C. Hall reads the audiobook and does an excellent job. I'm a huge fan of Dexter, and his voice suited the creepy material to a T. Once I started, I couldn't stop and listened to the whole book over the course of a weekend. It was magical.
Maine, as usual, is a vibrant character; check out this single sentence:
"The sun sailed out from behind a fat gray spring cloud, and the temperature seemed to go up five degrees almost at once. They stood in the bright, unreliable warmth of March straining to be April in the high dead grass of Mrs. Vinton's field; above them the Vulture soared up toward the blue, higher, its plastic wings spread taut against that steady current of air, still higher, and as he had done as a child, Louis felt himself going up to it, going into it, staring down as the world took on its actual shape, the one cartographers must see in their dreams; Mrs. Vinton's field, as white and still as cobwebs following the retreat of the snow, not just a field now but a large parallelogram bounded by rock walls on two of its sides, and then the road at the bottom, a straight black seam, and the river valley—the Vulture saw it all with its soaring, bloodshot eyes."
*Enjoyed this one more than The Dead Zone and slightly less than 11/22/63—one of my all time favorite King books.*...more
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