Chris–The Bachman Books, final thoughts

I know, I know.  I said that I was going to read each story, and then post and discuss.  Well, I had to leave town for a week, and ended up not being able to get into WordPress, but I didn’t want to stop reading, so I went ahead and finished the book and now have buried you all under these rapid-fire posts.  Sorry.

Just a couple of final things.  First up, it’s obvious that King wrote these.  Of course, that’s easy to say for me–I have always known that Stephen King = Richard Bachman.  But the writing here is all King.  Maine again features predominantly, and somebody even smokes Tarrytoons.  But the style is all King.  Sometimes the stories are a little uneven, and maybe sometimes they don’t quite come together, but remember–these are very early writings.  Some of this stuff King is still learning.  But don’t worry, he gets the hang of it.

Now, I should jump right into IT; however, it’s Banned Book Week.  And while I’m pretty confident that IT is on a challenged book list, I’ve decided to read something a bit more contemporary.  So I picked up The Perks of Being a Wallflower.  It shouldn’t take too long, but I think it’s important to support bringing attention to the fact that people still try to ban books.

And then back to King.

 

Chris–The Running Man

Here’s another fantastic King story, for many of the same reasons that “The Long Walk” worked so well.  This one is maybe a bit more frightening, though.  I mean, look at the state of reality TV today.  And think about how it has evolved in the short time that this sort of programming has been on the air.  And look at how already we have politicians and people in power fighting against pollution controls, and catering to big business.  And how about police brutality?  All of this is very real today, and all King does is move things down the road a few years.  It’s pretty easy to imagine how things could end up like they are in “The Running Man.”

Here we have a character whose motivation is pure and honest.  We can see exactly where Richards is coming from, why he feels this is the only way–and way he knows that he’s going to lose.  Unfortunately, he can’t see just how much he is going to lose.  Still, through all of the darkness, there are several moments that really highlight what humans can really do for one another.  Also unfortunately, we also get plenty of moments that really highlight what humans can really do to one another.

And by the way, if you’ve only ever seen the movie, you are doing yourself a HUGE disservice.  Go read this right now.

 

Chris–Roadwork

I actually understand Barton Dawes pretty well.  I don’t deal with change.  At all.  I get the same cereal, the same detergent, I order the same thing at Chipotle.  Of course, I don’t have to deal with what Dawes is going through.

But really, the road construction that is about to turn his life upside down and take away his job and home isn’t what’s at the core of the story.  Sure, you could make an argument that this major, drastic change is what drove Dawes, but that just isn’t it.  We need to look at the contrast between Bart and Mary.

Mary is under a lot of the same pressures, and has to deal with a lot of the same changes.  Now, this being a very old fashioned story, and a very old fashioned couple, there is probably more pressure on Bart–he is the breadwinner.  Mary even makes it a point to mention how much she depends on Barton.  But still, Mary is dealing.  She’s got a pretty good handle on all of this, while Bart is losing his marbles.

And it’s because of Charlie.  Bart has never managed to truly grieve, and has never managed to get over–I don’t know that you can ever “get over” something like this, but Bart never has managed to heal–the death of their son.  Mary has fallen and has pulled herself back up and found some way to go on; something Bart has never been able to do.  And so, now faced with losing the place where Charlie came home, where he grew, where he spend his entire life, Bart absolutely cannot let go.

 

Chris–The Long Walk

This is my favorite of the four stories in here, and this is really a great example of King’s writing.  First off, he just drops you right in.  He doesn’t give you any back story.  I mean, you take a guess–“I bet it’s about a… long… walk…  right?”  And pretty soon, you find that you were correct–“I KNEW it!”  And then, slowly, gradually, King gives you little bits to fill in the blanks.  And then you see what The Long Walk is all about, and you realize that this is much less Forest Gump and much more “The Lottery.”  And King still doesn’t let you off the hook.  He keeps building, slowly, surely, and you find yourself gripping the book tighter and tighter.  This is what King does, and he does it very well.

For me, a lot of what makes this story great is honestly what King doesn’t tell us.  He never fully fills in what’s missing–that, he leave up to you.

We know that this is a contest that really has no winners, but how did it start?  WHY did it start?  What’s the purpose behind it?

Who is The Major?  How did he get put into power?

King glosses over these points, as if they are not important.  But that’s not it.  It’s the fact that we have become a part of this world.  Deep down we know the answers to these questions, and there is no sense for King to tell us again.  This story feels so real, because King treats it like it is.

 

Chris–RAGE

So, Rage.  Now, this was initially published in 1977 as the first of the “Bachman Books.”  It is also the single most-difficult King book to locate, as it is the only one of his books that is out of print.  At King’s request.  Some time ago, some kid shot up his school and named Rage as an influence.  King said “well, that’s enough of that” and told his publisher to pull it.  Completely.

And that is what this story is about.  Charlie Decker brings a gun to school, kills his math teacher, kills another teach and holds the class hostage.  But then something odd happens.  We shift from a school-shooting massacre…  to “The Breakfast Club.”  If you’ve never seen “The Breakfast Club” shame on you, go fix that right now, but it’s about a group of kids who spend a Saturday detention really learning about their motivations in life–how events have shaped them into the people that they are today.  And that’s what happens with this class.  We get to see what has influenced Charlie, and while we don’t really, truly know why he’s doing this, we can sort of see how he has ended up here.

King has written several stories with similar themes, but this one really gets into it.  He pretty well nails just how much pressure kids really are under, and the fact that they typically don’t have the coping skills to really deal with it.  Charlie is sick, he has been sick for some time, and at this point it is too late to pull him back from the ledge.  And he knows it as well.

Towards the end, we get another shift, and go from “The Breakfast Club” to Lord of the Flies.  We get to see two sides of madness–two different kids, two different sets of issues, two different reactions.  Rage is a frightening book, probably more so today, when this has become all too common.

Even though King wrote this under Bachman’s name, it does read like a King.  It’s also set in Maine, near Harlow.  And there is a funny reference in here about another writer with a pen name.  So it’s not like he was really trying to keep it a secret…

 

Chris–The Bachman Books

OK, so The Bachman Books.  Now, this one’s a little weird, because although this is another novella collection along the lines of Different Seasons, all four of these were originally published on their own–under King’s mysterious Richard Bachman nom de plume.  And they were all published prior to Thinner.  But, while The Long Walk and The Running Man are pretty easy to find, Roadwork is a bit more tricky, and Rage is next to impossible.  Well, at least for my wallet.  I did find a nice-looking copy on eBay for $1000…

So, we’re forced to read them in this collection, and out of publication order–we’re doing this by the date The Bachman Books collection was published.  HOWEVER, I’m going to discuss each story as I finish it, so things should stay relatively fresh.  And we’ll discuss Bachman himself at the end.

Stay tuned!

 

Chris–Skeleton Crew wrap up!

King really is a terrific short-story writer.  I don’t think that all novelists are really able to craft great short stories, and maybe it’s a surprise that King is so good at it, given how long some of his books are, and how much build-up he tends to put in them.  However, his shorts don’t really lose anything in their size.  What he is maybe forced to leave out adds rather than subtracts.  Now we have to wonder a bit more.  We have to think about things, and what’s happening, and why it’s happening.  Which makes for a great reading experience.

For the most part.  There are a few stories in Skeleton Crew that, for me, really fall short.  So let’s discuss!

THE GOOD:

“The Mist”  OK, maybe this has been done before, and often.  Strange mist, weird creatures, certain death!  But King doesn’t just give you monsters–he gives you characters.  You get to know David, and Steff, and Billy, and Norton, and really, the whole town.  You get their history, their hopes, and now, their fears.  These aren’t strangers trapped in a supermarket.  These are your friends and neighbors.  And you want them to get out.

This got movied not too long ago, but they RUINED the ending.  Absolutely ruined it.

“The Monkey”  I am now on a quest to find a cymbal monkey.  There are a ton listed on eBay, but I’m scouring local antique shops.  Hopefully it’s not the same one from the story…

“The Jaunt”  King ventures into SF territory with this one.  And even though he never really gets into the science part, he manages to build a very realistic version of teleportation.  This one is awesome, and really makes you wonder–would you hold your breath as well?

“The Raft”  ALWAYS, always tell someone where you are going!!

“The Man Who Would Not Shake Hands”  A return to that strange men’s club from Different Seasons.  I’m pretty sure that I had mentioned that I would love to see some other stories set there–apparently I had forgotten about this one.  “It is the tale, not he who tells it.”

“Beachworld”  ANOTHER SF story!  And seriously cool and tense.  The name pretty much gives you an idea…

“The Reaper’s Image”  A haunted mirror story–and like I said in the intro, often with King’s shorts, it’s what he leave out that really makes the story.  This is one of the scariest in the book.

“Survivor Type”  Oh man.  Two questions–how badly do you want to live?  And–how much trauma can you take?  It’s like SAW, only solo!

“Gramma”  Hands-down, the scariest story in the collection.  Oh jeez.  This one seriously creeped me out.  And I’ve read this book before, and really had no memory of this one.  As you are reading, you really aren’t sure which direction it’s going, what kind of story it is.  And then BAM! at the end…

THE BAD:

“Here There By Tygers”  I honestly just don’t get this one.  From the whole “I have to go to the basement” to the fact that there is a tiger in the bathroom, this just does not work for me.

“Paranoid: A Chant”  This one’s a poem, and I will admit, poetry is not really my deal, with very few exceptions.

“For Owen”  Again, a poem, and one that seems very personal (to King’s son).  Nice, but just not my thing.

The Milkman stories–I just don’t get them.  How could a pyscho milkman keep his route?  And it’s obvious that people are suspicious, since Rocky knows that Spike kills people…  how was this guy not fired?

“The Reach”  A ghost story?  Sort of?  This one just plain lost me as a reader, and I could not get into it.

THE REST:

“Cain Rose Up”, “Nona”  These are sort of similar, in that they end with young men going on killing sprees.  “Nona” seems like it might be a ghost story, but I get the feeling that it’s really more mental illness–schizophrenia.  And same goes for “Cain Rose Up”.  It’s easy to think that these kids were just killers, but I think that there is much more going on.

“Mrs Todd’s Shortcut”, “The Wedding Gig”, “Word Processor of the Gods”, “Uncle Otto’s Truck” These were all good stories, but for me, that was just what they were–good stories.  Nothing wrong with that, but these didn’t impact me like the ones above.

There are a couple of Castle Rock stories in here, where we learn that Joe Camber and his dog are still the talk of the town, and we get to see an older Vern Tessio, as well as Ace Merrill.  So we’ve got a few King connections.  And even though there are a handful of stories in here that I don’t particularly care for, the others more than make up for it.

 

Chris–Skeleton Crew

Up next, King’s second short-story collection–Skeleton Crew.  Personally, I think that Night Shift is a stronger collection, but this one has got some of my very favorites.  “The Mist,” “The Jaunt,” “Survivor Type”–these are King at his very best.  “The Mist” is really more of a novella than a short story, which is fortunate for us, because it is awesome.

Unfortunately, there are some clunkers in here.  Now, it has been a while since I’ve read this, so maybe my opinion has changed.  But I don’t remember being too impressed with “Here There be Tygers,” “Paranoid: A Chant,” or either of the “Milkman” stories.  But we’ll see…