Chris–wrapping up The Tommyknockers

Well, my concerns were handled quite nicely. This is why you go back and re-read books. You get fuzzy on the details, start thinking that things didn’t really make sense, and you start to under-appreciate a story.

I mentioned that I thought that the opening rhyme about the Tommyknockers didn’t seem to fit with what I knew was going to happen. And honestly, there are no actual Tommyknockers in this book. That’s just a convenient handy name that someone picks up on and it just happens to stick. And the other instances that I was worried about were really just attempts for characters to make sense of what was happening to them, what they just could not believe was happening. So everything really falls into place.

The one complaint is the structure. You start off thinking that this is Bobbi’s story. Well, then it becomes Bobbi and Gard. And then we get a history lesson. And then a bunch of other characters–some of which get full chapters. Then back to Gard and Bobbi, then a bunch more characters… and so on. So you sort of lose track over where the focus is supposed to be. Somehow it works, but it does derail the narrative.

In the end, this is a book about a friend who thinks he is doing the right thing. He thought he was the hero, but he lost his way, failed to really stop and think about what he was doing, and why he was doing it. He failed to see the consequences of his actions, and failed to realize that by “supporting” his friend, he was simply losing her. Addiction, co-dependence, and obsession are really the central themes here–as well as the fact that you can break free.

There are a ton of connections in here. Charlie McGee, John Smith, and even Pennywise the clown are referenced. Jack Sawyer makes an appearance. Someone says something about Jack Nicholson in “The Shining”.  There is even mention of a writer in Maine whose books are filled with “made-up monsters and dirty words”. Now who could that be?

 

Chris–The Tommyknockers

Late last night and the night before,

Tommyknockers, Tommyknockers, knocking at my door.

That’s how this one starts.  So honestly, it sounds like there’s some Slenderman-like creepy thing out in woods, getting ready to eat you.

Well, that’s not the direction that this one goes in.  And honestly–even though I have read this one semi-recently–I’m a little worried about how what is actually happening lines up with some of the events in here.  I seem to remember that I liked this one, but I can’t remember how everything comes together…

So here’s hoping!

 

Chris–Misery

Not only is it an accurate euphemism for the State of Missouri, it’s also the title of every writer’s worst nightmare come true.  Do you really, REALLY want to meet your biggest fan?

Really?

 

Chris–Eyes of the Dragon, finished and wrapped!

This was a very different book.  First off, it turns out that this is really something of a YA book–it was just written well before YA books were a thing.  On the jacket notes, King mentions how this was the first of his books that his daughter enjoyed.  Now, while the language and horror and gore are toned way down, they are not non-existant.  Everything is just a bit easier to follow.

I wasn’t really expecting this, honestly.  Like I said before, I have read this–I just read it waaaaaay back when I WAS a YA, and I guess that I wasn’t all that impressed with it the first go around.  And really, if this isn’t what you are expecting, you are probably either going to be pleasantly surprised with something new, or you’re going to be disappointed by this odd flavor.

So yes, it is written at an easier reading level.  And it’s written like a bedtime story (while it doesn’t QUITE start out with “Once upon a time”, it’s still pretty close).  And yes, it is a fantasy.  There is a kingdom, and a dragon, and a magician.  And a plot.  And a murder.  And really, that’s what it comes down to.  Once you get past all of those details, what you have left is a story.  And really, no one is better at telling a story than Stephen King.

Now you may think that there is no way that this fantasy story set in the realm of Delain could possibly be connected to the King Universe–but I have a name for you:  FLAGG.  Familiar?  He destroyed much of the world in The Stand.  He was referenced in Carrie.  And we’ll see much, much more of him when we get to The Dark Tower.  Flagg is King’s eternal boogeyman, the original Man in Black.  But that’s still a ways down the road.

So bottom line–it’s a super fast read, and once you get used to the idea of what it is and how it’s presented, it really does grab a hold of you.

Because at it’s heart, it’s a great story.

 

Chris–OMG FINISHED!!!!

Oh man.  Really.  So let’s wrap this up!

IT.  Here we get to see King not only TELL a great story, but also to CONSTRUCT a great book.  As far as King stories go, From A Buick 8 may honestly be my favorite, but as an entire complete package–I don’t think it gets better than IT.

So why?  The basic run down is that a group of kids discover that their home town is pretty much run by a literal monster that takes the shape of whatever the hell scares you the absolute most and then kills and probably eats you.  This–of course–sets up an epic showdown between good and evil!!!  Only we don’t see that.  WE see a bunch of adults who don’t remember A SINGLE THING about their childhood.  But then they each get a phone call which shatters their imaginary peacefulness.  With the phone call, things begin coming back.  And so as they learn and figure out what happened, what needs to happen, and why they can’t remember, we are right there with them.

Of course, they are pretty much overwhelmed.  They now have to deal with things that they went through–and things that they did–all over again.  And they never had a chance to process, deal, and move on from these events.  So BLAM.  Now, this book is seriously big.  My copy clocks in at 1138 pages altogether, and while that is a ton of words, I truly feel like this took me way too long to read.  And I believe the reason for that is that King loads it down with detail.  SO MUCH DETAIL.  So not only are the characters overwhelmed, but also the readers.  WE now have to deal with all of this information suddenly getting thrust at us.  And maybe not all of us made it…

As the story and the memories progress, things become more and more intense, and move at a faster pace, and the writing matches.  At first, it’s sort of slow.  They all get lost in their individual thoughts, go through a memory, and then we switch to someone else who does the same thing.  When they finally meet, things get a bit blurry.  And once things really get moving, we switch backandforthbackandforthbackandforth…  And then…  well, spoilers and stuff.

While this book really truly does work very well, I have one giant problem with it.  If you’ve read IT, maybe you can guess what it is.  Maybe you had the same problem.  If you haven’t read IT, you may want to skip the rest of this…

So, after the epic showdown back in 1958, the kids are lost in the sewers, unable to find their way out.  This is because the “breakup” has already started to happen.  They’ve started drifting apart, their purpose done–more or less.  Unfortunately, they still need each other, need to belong to the group as a whole.  So, in order to bring them all close again, Bevvie comes up with the brilliant idea that THEY ALL HAVE SEX WITH HER.  And this ultimate act of togetherness will bring them back as one.

Except, no.  Look, throughout the book the theme of the power of children’s beliefs is emphasized, over and over again.  That’s what frightened It, and what ultimately defeated It.  So what do children believe about sex?  That it’s gross.  That it’s weird.  That it’s funny.  Or, most likely, some combination of the three.  So why would this bring them close?

THIS is where Stan and the coke bottle should have happened.  When you are a kid, there is no bond stronger than that of a blood brother or sister.  Those bonds will last a lifetime and then some–ask any kid.  THAT act would have been so much more powerful and meaningful.  Instead, we get a super uncomfortable awkward scene that I don’t think would have worked.

Still, that’s like 5 pages out of the whole–overall, this book is excellent.

There are quiet a few King-isms in here.  Scattered throughout, you’ll see Orinco trucks, Texas Driver, Shawshank Prison, even Frank Dodd gets a mention.  But there are a few surprises.  In The Stand, we had a battle between the actual forces of good and evil–which is very similar to what happens in IT.  Mother Abigail was from Hemingford Home, Nebraska–where Ben has settled down.  Dick Halloran makes a cameo, shinin’ on as bright as can be.  And there is a very familiar 1958 red and white Plymouth Fury.

If you’ve got a couple of weeks between books–grab this one.

 

Chris–Let’s get back to IT!

OK–so, done with Margaret Atwood.  Pretty good books, although the story truly does peak with Oryx & Crake and then winds down.  but still–very good reads.

Now, back to King with IT.

This is a HUGE book, spanning several decades, with a ton of characters.  And it jumps around.  A lot.  I’m only a few pages in, and it’s all over the place.  This has one of the scariest intros to any of King’s books.  Like most of the rest of these, the last time that I read this was probably 25 years ago or so.  So I’m very fuzzy on what’s what.  But let’s get into IT!

 

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…

 

Chris–Thinner wrap up

OK, so… Thinner.

This is the first of the “Richard Bachman” books in our list; although, it was not the first Bachman book to be published.  That would be Rage–Thinner is Bachman #5.  However, Rage is out of print, and the other early Bachman’s are fairly difficult to find (at least in early printings), plus they have been conveniently compiled into a collection (appropriately named The Bachman Books), so we’ll hit those up later on.

In the late 70s, King adopted an alter-ego, and wrote a few novels under this persona.  I’m not sure why–there is an author’s note in my copy of The Bachman Books that explains it, I think, so I may find out.  Like I mentioned, my copy of Thinner has an author portrait, which really adds some depth to the deception.

The basic run-down (that’s a pun–you’ll get it in a minute) of Thinner is this:  respectable lawyer runs down old Gypsy woman, local “law” whitewashes the whole thing, lawyer gets off scot-free.  So the Gypsies enact their own brand of justice.  Pretty simple story line, and that’s the way that King (I mean Bachman) keeps it.  Doesn’t get all bogged down in side details and plot points.  Just focuses on one man who has been seriously cursed and his attempts at dealing with it.

And since the plot is fairly simple and straightforward, we really get some good characterization.  Billy Halleck truly is a respectable guy.  He’s got a good relationship with his wife, he’s just been made partner at the firm, his daughter loves him.  All of that ends when he hits the old woman with his car.  And yet, thanks to his pals–the police chief and the judge–he pretty much gets a second chance.  The leader of the Gypsies sees this, and puts a stop to it.  But really, even before the curse really hits, you can see that Billy really isn’t OK with getting away with this.  And maybe that’s why the curse worked so well.  Billy has tried to set part of himself aside, to try to ignore the guilt and his conscience.  And as he does that, he starts getting… thinner.

I love this book, but it sort of falls apart for me near the end.  I understand that Billy is mad at Heidi.  After all, she definitely had a hand in the accident (that’s another pun!), but the punishment lands squarely on him.  And as he is forced to watch himself die a little more each day, he gets angrier and angrier.  I understand that.  And when he explains to Heidi that it’s a curse, and she thinks he’s flipped his lid, he gets angrier.  I understand that.  Then she has him committed in absentia.  And he gets angrier.  And I understand that.  BUT THEN HE TRIES TO KILL HER?  And kill her in a horrible manner?  That I can’t understand.  That seems like a stretch.  Like a means to get to the end of the story–which really is awesome.  But it doesn’t seem to flow logically for me.

Although Richard Bachman’s name is on the cover, you can feel King in here.  If I had read this before he was outed, I would have thought “Yep, that makes sense.  Not really surprised.”  Even when Bachman call King out–he has a character mention how all this Gypsy curse stuff sounds a bit like Stephen King–he doesn’t really separate himself from King’s style.  A majority of the story even takes place in Maine.  I kept expecting Herbert Tarrytoons to get mentioned.

Anyway, great book, tons of fun, excellent twist ending (even if I don’t agree with how we got there).

 

Chris–Christine wrap-up

One of the great things about reading is that the more books that you read, the more connections and references you find.  Stephen King uses “the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune” word-for-word in Christine, and while it sounds cool, it’s better if you’ve read Hamlet.  So, before we really get into this, I have to ask–have you read the Harry Potter books?  Cause get this: Christine is a horcrux.

Now, by this point hopefully you realize that these posts are absolutely full of spoilers, but this one is perhaps going to be a bit more spoilery than usual.  So, if you haven’t yet read Christine, and are planning on doing so, I’d recommend that you stop here.  BUT please do yourself a favor; read those Potter books and brush up on your knowledge of horcruxes.

OK, so I mentioned in the Christine intro post that I hadn’t read this in forever, and didn’t really remember it.  I am pretty sure that I sort of dismissed it as just a book about a haunted car.  But King is never really that simple.  It’s not so much the car; it’s really more Rollie LeBay.  This was a man who hated EVERYTHING.  Everything except for the car.  And over time, those feelings of hate (and love–but again, only for the car) really left an impression.  Really put an essence into Christine.

Back to Harry Potter.  I sincerely hope that you’ve read those!!  Voldemort hates everyone and wants to live forever, so he fractures his soul and hides the parts of it in inanimate (well, not all of them) objects.  And he needs to kill someone each time to do this.  And as we find out, regular old folks are very much affected by contact with horcruxes.

In Christine, LeBay hates everyone but Christine.  And as we see later in the book, he actually offers his daughter up as a sacrifice, ensuring that she dies inside the car.  So Christine is all set up.  And if you notice, Arnie didn’t really start having troubles until LeBay died.  Because he didn’t really die–Christine kept his soul “alive”.  And so, just like a horcrux, Arnie became sullen, angry, paranoid, and eventually completely possessed.

I don’t know if JK Rowling ever read Christine, but after I finished it, horcruxes were very much on my mind.

There really is so much more to this story than just a possessed car.  Like a lot of King’s stories, we have an outsider, someone who never really fits in, who feels very much like everyone is out to get him.  In fact, Arnie Cunningham is pretty much Harold Lauder.  And like Harold, Arnie really was just a kid who got involved with something that he never understood, that really was only out to use him.  And also like Harold, Arnie managed to come to himself at the very end.  Perhaps at the time when it really mattered.

I think that a big reason as to why this book works is the fact that most of it is written from Dennis’s viewpoint.  If it was from Arnie’s, we’d see what was happening to him.  We’d be right there in his head the whole time.  We’d understand.  But we get Dennis, who can’t see inside Arnie’s head, and has to make some logical leaps and guesses.  Just like we do.

I did really enjoy this one.  As I’ve mentioned before, often times King’s version of foreshadowing is sort of along the lines of “And that was the last time he ever saw Johnny–alive”.  He doesn’t do that in Christine.  Everything is very subtle, and open-ended.  When it comes down to the finale, we know everything goes South–Dennis says as much before he fills us in on what actually happened–but we don’t know how bad, or who makes it out.  It makes for a seriously tense read.

The only thing that really didn’t work for me was all of the “ghosts” that were in the car.  I get LeBay–that makes sense to me.  But I thought that when Christine stopped at Don Vandenberg’s station with a car full of dead folks, well, that was a little too much for me.  Still, even though the concept of a haunted car full of ghosts seems pretty silly, King pulls it off.  Again, mainly due to the strength of his characters.  It’s really a story about Dennis, and what happens to him.  There just happens to be a haunted car that gets it’s “hands” on his best friend.