11/22/63- Stephen King



Purchase:  Amazon | Chapters

Published:  2011
Pages:  849
ISBN:  9781451627282
Genre:  Historical Fiction, Thriller

Started:  Jan. 11, 2012
Finished:  Jan. 30, 2012 (20 days)

Where Found:  Xmas 2011 gift
Why Read:  It's the latest Stephen King book...um, do I need any other reason? ;)

Read For:  What's in a Name 5 Challenge--Something on the Calendar (1/6)

Summary:  A high school English teacher in 2011 steps through a time travelling portal to 1958 with the intent of rewriting history by intervening in the assassination of President John F. Kennedy.

Review:

Marketed as a reimagining of the socio-political day the music died, November 22, 1963, you may be surprised to find that the assassination and events leading up to the shots fired from the Book Depository in Dallas, Texas with suspicions surrounding the grassy knoll plays a supporting role.  The story is more about the butterfly effect: how a single decisive event leads to countless outcomes in unfathomable ways.

The book is highly ambitious with a seamless transition from 2011 to 1958 where Jake's journey begins.  He discovers other tragedies and problems that he has the influence to change for the better...as long as he doesn't inadvertently change the outcomes of other people's fate.  Cultural, political, and social atmosphere is tweaked for historical accuracy in such a way that contemporary readers who may not have lived during that time (including yours truly) can get a close-up glance of attitudinal contrasts between past and present.

I really enjoyed where the story went and wasn't at all disappointed that the story of Lee Harvey Oswald and JFK's assassination blended into the background as Jake's imprint on other, fictional characters' fates made up most of the book.  His relationship with Sadie was a lovely touch and just how (if he even can) prevent the assassination against the obstinate nature of time and space keeps you guessing.

It was written in a way that stretched the scope of what constitutes a Stephen King novel, often to the point of forgetting that he wrote it, much in the way I thought of Bag of Bones.  I was impressed with it for very different reasons than other books of his I've read and reviewed, and I would count it as a definite must-read.  The Green Mile still remains my favourite King book with Bag of Bones, Different Seasons, and Carrie up there as well, but this is one fine addition to his catalogue.

Rank:  (A)- Excellent, Highly Recommend

It- Stephen King

Purchase:  Amazon | Chapters

Published:  1980
Pages:  1090
ISBN:  9780451169518
Genre:  Horror

Started:  Nov. 13, 2011
Finished:  Nov. 30, 2011 (18 days)

Where Found: Chapters-Indigo
Why Read:  Was recommended from several book bloggers

Summary:  A group of 7 childhood friends come together again as adults in their haunted hometown of Derry, Maine to ward off a shapeshifting demon who has terrorized and killed over generations and was thought to have been vanguished but has returned after remaining silent for 25 years.

Review:

I was surprised to find that this novel is nearly as long as Stephen King's most massive undertakings, The Stand and Under the Dome yet in relatively the same number of pages, he weaves a story more focused on the gang of seven and less varied than the other massive doorstop novels with casts of characters bigger than a Kennedy family reunion.

Without the undertones of supernatural phenomena, It reads like a serial killer novel, but definitely not a typical one.  The seven childhood friends all grow up to have successful jobs but each have a troubling personal problem that has lingered with them for most of their lives, from stuttering to psychosomatic disorder, to sexual abuse, and in a terrifying cycle, all are bound to relive the hauntings of their childhood at the hands of an otherworldly creature they thought they had vanquished.

Stan and Mike were my favourite characters: both awkward, shy, introverted outsiders to the gang of seven, yet vital to the story's progression, and the only two of the gang to have the strongest memories of their childhood encounters with It. 

The ending comes off like a fairy tale (a bit dopey but it made me smile) and you come away thinking that things are bound to cycle back around again.  It is a worthwhile read with an exciting and layered story.  At least one character should remind you of someone you know from childhood--King has a penchant for writing diverse child characters so accurately.  It didn't wow me as much as my follow-up read, Bag of Bones, but was a solid investment.

Rank:  (A)- Very Enjoyable, Highly Recommend

Bag of Bones- Stephen King

Purchase:  Amazon | Chapters

Published:  1998 (original version; I read the 10th anniversary edition)
Pages:  548
ISBN:  9781439106211
Genre:  Mystery/Horror

Started:  Dec. 1, 2011
Finished:  Dec. 9, 2011 (9 days)

Where Found:  Chapters-Indigo
Why Read:  It's no secret that I love Stephen King books.  This one was recommended by Two Bibliomaniacs.  Thanks :)

Summary:  A writer whose wife died suddenly 4 years ago returns to their summer retreat, Sara Laughs, where he encounters supernatural phenomena coinciding with the custodial struggle of a young mother with a precocious 3-year-old against the wealthy psychotic father of her dead husband.

Review:

If Daphne du Maurier and Ray Bradbury had a child who wrote a book, would your first guess to his/her identity be Stephen King?  Me neither.

King enters vaguely familiar territory without veering too far from his background in horror fiction with the shocking backstory that is slowly unveiled as writer Mike Noonan (in a thinly disguised likeness of the author) tries to resolve a three-fold mystery: the bizarre nature of his wife's sudden, tragic death; the cause and source of eerie ghost-like behaviour in the house: a bell that rings on its own, refrigerator letter magnets that spell cryptic messages, thumping that responds to yes/no questions, and deathly screams he recognizes as those of his wife's, and the crotchety multi-millionnaire along with his skeletal crone of a constant companion seeking to ruin his widowed daughter-in-law through any means necessary to fight custody of his 3-year-old granddaughter who quickly forms a significant bond with Mike.  Whew...

It takes time for the ball to get rolling and even then the writing is so absorbing that you don't tire of it at all, but in no time, it all comes barreling down the hill.  Like a typically clever mystery, your suspicions are many, but your accuracies are few.  When du Maurier rests and Bradbury reigns over King's brilliant duality of style, the mystery once a tough coconut to crack gets to the centre core and the result is certainly sweet...and a tad bitter.

No Stephen King fan should ignore this book and any dissuaders of his should take notice: I've never been more confident in reviewing a Stephen king book (and I've reviewed 16 of them), and neither should you in reading it.

Rank:  (A+)- One of His Best, Must-Read

Pet Sematary- Stephen King

Purchase:  Amazon | Chapters

Published:  1983
Pages:  562
ISBN:  9780743412278
Genre:  Horror

Started:  Aug. 28, 2011
Finished:  Sept. 2, 2011 (6 days)

Where Found:  Chapters-Indigo
Why Read:  On my TBR list; a Stephen King classic I hadn't devoured yet
Read For:  Stephen King challenge (5/6)

Summary:  Dr. Creed and his family move into an old relic with an ancient burial ground that has eerie powers soon perpetuating a series of morbid events that get even more tragic as they close in on the Creeds and their old neighbour with unsettling past experiences.

Review:

This turned out to be better than I expected.  Judging from the book's premise, I figured King had dug up his roots in horror writing with an homage of sorts to the B-movies and magazine serials of his youth with cornball storylines and unspeakable (due to fits of giggling) dialogue.  Yup, he did.  But it's still the intriguing pageturner that you wouldn't expect any less of from King.

The buildup is a tricky plot device in this novel: some people will be irritated by it; others (myself included) see the purpose in laying the plot out one brick at a time for nearly half the novel to give greater depth to the climax because from there on out, it's impossible to stop reading.  The distance between instigating action and climax is rather lengthy, but boy does it hit you once it comes.

I've always been a big fan of King's supporting characters, often the most fascinating and/or horrifying people that steal the main characters' thunder (some of my favourites are Mrs. White in Carrie, Eduard Delacroix in The Green Mile, Mrs. Carmody in The Mist).  In this book, it's Jud Crandall, who is a much more layered character than Louis Creed, with his age offering a plentitude of experiences that carry the weight of the novel.  Granted, Louis is also likeable and ends up taking on his share of weighty experiences, but when it comes to the hero of the story, Jud is it.

I was surprised to find that I like this book as much as I do.  King fans will recognize a different sense of the macabre than say Carrie or The Shining.  I came away with the feeling that King created a quality story from a B-movie idea and infused the characters with likeability to the point that the only villain that exists is an invisible threat and, as horror stories tend to prove, a terror that we can't sense is the scariest of them all.

Rank:  (A)- Excellent, Highly Recommend

The Gunslinger (Dark Tower series, #1)- Stephen King

Purchase:  Amazon | Chapters

Published:  1982 (2003- revised & expanded edition)
Pages:  300
ISBN:  9780451210845
Genre:  Series, Sci-Fi/Fantasy

Start Date:  July 10, 2011
Finished Date:  Aug. 4, 2011 (26 days)

Where Found:  Chapters-Indigo
Why Read:  On my TBR list; I also devour anything by Stephen King

Read For:  Stephen King challenge (4/6), 1st in a Series challenge (6/6)

Summary:  In the dystopian world of Gilead, a wandering rebel, Roland, seeks the mysterious Man in Black in the vast desert terrain reflects on his prior and present encounters that alter their memories and fates.

Review:

I don't believe it.  I never thought I would meet a Stephen King book that didn't quite meet my expectations.  As exciting as it is for a favourite author to dip a toe into a different kind of genre, the western-dystopian subgenre was just too uneven a match for the master of horror fiction for this fan. 

While I commend King's attempt (the dystopian angle of the story was actually intriguing and the prose, as usual, was interesting and cutting edge), but the western is better suited for the helmsman he cites as inspiration in the introduction--Sergio Leone.  Or maybe Louis L'Amour (though I've never read his work, but he is the only novelist in the western genre I can think of at the moment).  The genre is difficult to write and keep reader interest alive.  There is much lingering tension, self-reflection, and travails both on the mind from one's past and on the horizon in one's future.  It won't leap off the page and keep them turning without a masterful hand.

As much as I've heard that King's later books in the Dark Tower series are better than the earlier installments, this one failed to keep my attention, and plodded along to the end, leaving me perfectly willing to forego continuing on with the series to find out Roland's fate.  I honestly did not find him all that interesting a character.  Oh well...you win some, you lose some.  I'm still a huge Stephen King fan nonetheless and will continue to read anything else he writes.  Just not this.

Rank:  (C)- Just Okay

Night Shift- Stephen King

Purchase:  Amazon | Chapters

Published: 1979
Pages: 326
ISBN: 9780451170118
Genre: Short Stories, Horror/Fantasy

Start Date: May 22, 2011
Finished Date: May 29, 2011

Where Found: Chapters-Indigo
Why Read: It's no secret that I love Stephen King's books!

Read For: Stephen King Challenge (3/6)

Review:
I've split up my reviews into short segments, one for each of the 20 stories in the collection, then give an overall impression at the very bottom.

Jerusalem's Lot
Summary: A series of letters and diary entries from 1850 tells the story of a rich heir moving into a house with a sordid past and how he & his servant investigate the house's mysteries and noises.
Review: King gets the ball rolling (and starts a rat motif that occurs in a few stories) with this spooky period horror/mystery. The epistolary structure adds to the eerie atmosphere. A solid beginning.
Rank:  (A)- Excellent

Graveyard Shift
Summary: A group of mill workers are assigned the task of cleaning up the basement when an enormous army of rats begins attacking.
Review: A chilling story with a potential hero and a nasty boss who cuts corners one too many times. When the rats attack, things get ugly. If you have a phobia, you might feel like skipping this one. It's nasty but King enthusiasts won't be able to resist.
Rank:  (A)- Excellent

Night Surf
Summary: A group of teenagers come to terms with their dwindling existence on a post-apocalyptic Earth.
Review: I was a bit disappointed in this one. I found the characters too shallow and they showed some pretty disturbing behaviour. The plot falls flat and the only envitable thing that comes out of the story is the obvious fact that these people are doomed.
Rank:  (C)- Average

I Am the Doorway
Summary: A wheelchair-bound astronaut reflects to a friend on his failed mission to Venus and some ill-gotten effects from this trip.
Review: First of all, it's an awesome, intriguing title. The story builds up from the instigating incident to an amazing end. It wasn't as terrifying as the first two stories were but it really hit home at the end.
Rank:  (A)- Excellent

The Mangler
Summary: A cop investigates a series of brutal attacks at a laundromat by a maniacal, possessed ironing machine.
Review: If the summary doesn't sound cheesy to you, think again. It really is. It was farfetched, even for a fantasy/horror story. And despite pushing all that aside, it still didn't sit well with me. And the ending seemed like a cheap cop-out. Oh well.
Rank:  (C)- Average

The Boogeyman
Summary: A man receiving therapy after the deaths of his three children confides in his psychiatrist that they died from a Boogeyman hiding in their bedroom closets.
Review: This story had a great turn of events on the classic "Boogeyman" figure of childhood terrors. The circumstances of the children's deaths are frightening and leave you guessing right up to the twist ending.
Rank:  (B)- Very Good

Gray Matter
Summary: The young son of an alcoholic who becomes housebound and vegetative seeks help at the local tavern when he finds his father has transformed into a spider.
Review: A slimey creepfest. The description of the spider's ooze alone is enough to make your skin crawl. Fans will enjoy it. Any arachnophobics may want to stay clear ;)
Rank:  (A)- Excellent

Battleground
Summary: A mild-mannered hitman fights for his life from a Vietnam-era footlocker full of toy soldiers with live ammo.
Review: Awesome! This was my favourite story of the anthology. It was quick-paced, fun, exciting, and has all the qualities of a great, smart action movie. Turns out it was adapted into an episode of a fascinating TV mini-series based on Stephen King short stories, Nightmares & Dreamscapes.
Rank:  (A+)- Fantastic

Trucks
Summary: A group of strangers at a deserted truck stop diner fend off attacking trucks that demand refuelling or every vehicle on Earth will take over.
Review: This reminded me of Legion, an awful horror/action movie I saw a while back that took place at a diner in the middle of nowhere when things attack. This story was much better. The idea that technology is taking over humans in the chain of existence on Earth is tested in an action setting. It blends a little fun with a lot of scares.
Rank:  (A)- Excellent

Sometimes They Come Back
Summary: A high school teacher is haunted by three new students replacing three dead ones who remind him of childhood bullies who killed his brother.
Review: A strong plot with a sympathetic protagonist (not really a hero but close) and what appears to be paranoia and hallucination becomes something much more terrifying. A solid story.
Rank:  (A)- Excellent

Strawberry Spring
Summary: A serial killer at a college campus during a foggy "Strawberry Spring" season is recurring in the present.
Review:  Predictable ending and not a lot of detail to this story. Somewhat of a bummer.
Rank:  (C)- Average

The Ledge
Summary: A man having an affair with a crime boss's wife partakes in a bet that involves him navigating the perimeter of a building's upper floor along a 5-inch wide ledge.
Review: Fascinating idea for a story though it's a bit limited on details. I would have loved to see this extended into a novel with more backstory on the characters and the circumstances they have gotten into in
The Ledge. Nevertheless, as short a story as it is, it's enjoyable and has bite.
Rank:  (B)- Very Good

The Lawnmower Man
Summary:  A man hires a mowing company to cut his grass but is shocked to find out just how the job is done.
Review:  The title character is just revolting but the story works very well in just a few short pages. It was better than The Mangler, which was longer and less effective, though it had more detail. I guess it depends on what you prefer from a short story. It was even funny in parts. The only thing that bothered me was the ending which had no hints about what became of the Lawnmower Man or gave any backstory. But still, it's a good addition to the freakshows of Night Shift.
Rank:  (B)- Very Good

Quitters, Inc.
Summary: After a recommendation from an old friend, a man goes to an agency to quit smoking, only to learn that their methods of curing his addiction are quite disturbing.
Review: A deliciously dark tale with many twists and quite a take on stop-smoking aids. It sure packs a wallop. Next to Battleground, it was the best story in the bunch.
Rank:  (A+)- Terrific

I Know What You Need
Summary: A college girl reluctantly falls for an unusual young man with a highly acute photographic memory.
Review: Great buildup with an end that I didn't see coming. I didn't have much sympathy for the girl as she didn't come across as very likeable to me, but the story wouldn't have worked otherwise. The story's structure was pitch perfect with every detail in place.
Rank:  (B)- Good

Children of the Corn
Summary: A couple who accidentally run over a child in a seemingly deserted corn farming town are soon haunted by a number of evangelical otherwordly children.
Review: Of all the titles in Night Shift, I bet this one is the most familiar to you. It was to me too, though I wouldn't categorize it as the best story. It felt a bit incomplete as I was really hoping to see a more extensive ending. As it is, the story is tres creepy as King tends to be when dealing with crude evangelist characters in a middle-of-nowhere setting. This story alone would keep me out of a cornfield.
Rank:  (A)- Excellent

The Last Rung on the Ladder
Summary: A man struggling to communicate with his father reflects on the summer his sister nearly died from falling off a broken ladder on a hayloft.
Review: This was the most heartrending story in Night Shift. It felt so innocent, then startling, then distressing and finally solemn. You definitely come to care about all the characters involved. It reminded me of King's stories that don't feature an obvious villain but have eerie undertones from the actions good characters get involved in, such as Stand By Me.
Rank:  (A)- Excellent

The Man Who Loved Flowers
Summary: A man who buys a bouquet of flowers catches everyone's eye as he wanders the streets alone amid the various goings-on in the neighbourhood.
Review: Short, sharp, and unexpected. I can't say much more than that without spoiling it. It's like a photo or painting with one abstract part to it that you're not too sure fits with the rest.
Rank:  (B)- Good

One For the Road
Summary: A stranger wanders into a tavern during a blizzard, seeking help to save his wife and daughter who are trapped in the area surrounding haunted Jerusalem's Lot.
Review:  After reading "Jerusalem's Lot," you get a better perspective on exactly what haunts the area in this follow-up story (though with completely different characters).  It had a taste of old-fashioned storytelling to it, though it took place in the recognizable present.  It doesn't disappoint but it doesn't stand out either.
Rank:  (B)- Good

The Woman in the Room
Summary:  A man contemplates assisting his mother, who is dying of cancer, to die.
Review:  The story concept was terrific and the characters are interesting, but I found what bogged it down was the description, which tended to drag on and slowed the pace down.  All in all, not very much happens in this story but the one event that occurs is powerful enough to make it memorable.
Rank:  (B)- Good


To wrap it up, Night Shift is worth reading for two amazing stories, Battleground and Quitters, Inc., a few excellent tales, such as Trucks, Sometimes They Come Back, Children of the Corn, Jerusalem's Lot, and The Last Rung on the Ladder, and even some decent stories, such as The Boogeyman and The Ledge.  While far from perfect and, in my opinion, not as powerful or well-crafted as his collection of novellas, Different Seasons, King does as much as he can with as little space as he can, creating terrrifying snippets of fantastical horror in a few short pages at a time.

It's hard to read some stories back-to-back as they are very different from each other.  I found it effective to read a story, then put the book down, even for just 10 minutes, to reflect on the story, then open yourself to a new one.  It was much too difficult to digest them by reading many in quick succession like you would with another of Stephen King's pageturners.

Overall:  (A)- Excellent, Highly Recommend

Misery- Stephen King

Purchase:  Amazon | Chapters

Published:  1987
Pages:  338
ISBN:  9780451169525
Genre:  Horror/Thriller

Started on:  Mar. 20, 2011
Finished on:  Mar. 25, 2011 (6 days)

Where Found:  Chapters-Indigo
Why Read:  I love Stephen King books and this was an obvious oversight!

Read for:  Stephen King Challenge (2/6)

Summary:  A popular writer is held captive by a deranged fan after a car accident leaves him helpless to escape her wrath unless he can write a sequel to reverse the death of her favourite character.

Review:

Misery turns out to be a more meaningful title than it initially seems.  Misery is not only a state of being for Paul Sheldon, kept barely alive by the tyrannical, completely psychotic "number one fan" Annie Wilkes until he writes a sequel just for her that reverses the death of her favourite character, also named Misery.

King's novels usually involve paranormal activity or other phenomena, something that doesn't occur here, which makes it all the more real and even more frightening.  It starts off rather suddenly with the whys and hows of the story slowly building from there.  It reads like a slow burn, gets quite addictive, and suddenly brings forth one unexpected curve after another up to the end.  I didn't know until only a few pages from the end

I haven't seen the 1990 movie with Kathy Bates and James Caan, but it was obvious from the book that Kathy Bates is perfect for the role and could really pull off every horrifying, disgusting, and even sickly sweet sides of Annie.  I could also picture James Caan as Paul--not sure why, but probably because of his tough guy demeanor with a touch of suave smoothness, like in The Godfather.

This was a hard book to rank.  I was so close to giving it an A+, but while I can't quite bring myself to place it in the same league as my favourite Stephen King books (The Green Mile, Different Seasons, Carrie and The Shining), it is a fantastic read and I highly recommend it.

Rank:  (A)- Incredible, Highly Recommend

Stephen King Reviews

I've previously featured a series of mini-reviews for books I've read by John Grisham and James Patterson.  They didn't comprise every single book by those authors, but nonetheless provided an overview of many popular ones.  And now for something not completely different :D

With the Stephen King challenge underway (1 down, 5 to go so far for my current challenge level of participation) and having a few backlog reviews of Stephen King books to write, I've decided to post some mini-reviews here collectively.  Links to previously written reviews of King books are available as well.  Books are organized chronologically by publication date.  Enjoy!

Review (A+)

Purchase:  Amazon | Chapters

Published:  1977

Length:  464 pages

ISBN:  0451193881
Genre:  Horror

Start Date:  Sometime in 2003-4
Finished Date:  Sometime in 2003-4

Where Found:  Sears book sale
Why:  Stephen King!

Summary:  A recovering alcoholic writer with a short fuse brings his wife and young son, who has seizures and unrealized ethereal visions, to an isolated mountain hotel where he soon develops cabin fever and mayhem ensues.

Review:

Lots of suspenseful buildup leading to a series of haunting, climactic scenes.  Up there with Carrie as King's scariest, most well-written novel.  The 1980 Stanley Kubrick-directed movie with a brilliant, unconventional performance by Jack Nicholson had a different ending than the book but was just as skin-crawling.

Rank:  (A+)- A must-read! One of King’s best

Purchase:  Amazon | Chapters

Published:  1979

Pages:  402

ISBN:  045155750

Genre:  Horror

Start Date:  Sometime in 2005-6

Finished Date:  Sometime in 2005-6

Where Found:  Used bookstore

Why Read:  Stephen King!

Summary:  Awakened from a 5-year coma, John Smith develops a sixth sense that allows him to see futuristic consequences often stemming from people’s dirty secrets, including a murder in the area, a tragic accident in the making, and a crooked politician with Presidential ambitions.

Review:

With this novel, King took a break from the all-out gore of his previous work to explore ESP, an offshoot theme from Carrie, in more of a science-fiction vein.  Not that The Dead Zone is completely exempt from horror scenes, but is more about human intent & the possible outcomes stemming from these intentions, visible through a scary "gift" that could spell tragedy.  A terrific David Cronenberg movie adaptation with Christopher Walken was made, as was a TV series running from 2002-7 with Anthony Michael Hall.

Rank:  (A)- Excellent, Highly Recommend

Review (A+)

Purchase:  Amazon | Chapters

Published:  1996 (originally in serial form)

Length:  536 pages

ISBN:  0671041789
Genre:  Mystery/Fantasy

Start Date:  Sometime in 2006-7
Finished Date:  Sometime in 2006-7

Where Found:  Originally an X-mas gift for my dad, it found its way back to me
Why Read:  Stephen King!

Summary:  A retired prison guard recalls the summer of 1932 on death row with an ensemble including a giant inmate capable of healing powers, a group of murderous (some remorseful) prisoners, a cocky, masochistic guard with political connections, and the commissioner’s wife dying from an inoperable brain tumour.

Review:

This book is fantastical, horrific, dark, and beautiful all at once.  The ensemble cast of characters provides a multitude of storylines that somehow intertwine seamlessly.  At times there is even comic relief to ease the deep exploration of difficult themes, such as capital punishment, human healing, and longevity.  The 1999 movie starred a phenomenal ensemble:  Tom Hanks, Michael Clarke Duncan, James Cromwell, Patricia Clarkson, Sam Rockwell, Michael Jeter, David Morse, Bonnie Hunt, Graham Greene, Doug Hutchison, Barry Pepper, Jeffrey DeMunn, and Harry Dean Stanton.  King publicly stated that the movie is a vast improvement over his novel, and while I do feel that the movie greatly enhances many aspects of the novel, there is a special quality that makes it one of my all-time favourite books.

Rank:  (A+)- One of my all-time favourite novels

Review (A+)

Purchase:  Amazon | Chapters

Published:  2006

Length:  355 pages

ISBN:  0743292332

Genre:  Sci-Fi/Horror

Start Date:  Sometime in 2008-9

Finished Date:  Sometime in 2008-9

Where Found:  Chapters-Indigo

Why Read:  Stephen King’s latest (at the time)

Summary:  A graphic artist, accompanied by a diminutive sidekick and two young children, attempts to reunite with his son in the midst of a widespread virus transmitted via cell phone signals that cause users to morph into zombies.

Review:

I remember snagging a copy of this very shortly after it came out in paperback, and while it was an exciting, suspensful read, reminiscient of George A. Romero zombie movies (Night of the Living Dead, Dawn of the Dead, etc.), it came across as a Stephen King knockoff rather than an original King novel.  I also felt that the ending was a bit inconclusive.  It's worth reading, but hopefully anyone reading this novel as their first by King won't expect this to be any kind of benchmark, and any fan of King's will like it but probably won't be bowled over by it.

Rank:  (B)- Good, Recommend, just not his best

Review (A)

Review (A)

Review (A)

Full Dark, No Stars- Stephen King

Purchase:  Amazon | Chapters

Published:  2010
Pages:  368
ISBN:  9781439192566
Genre:  Short Stories, Horror

Start & Finished Dates:  Jan. 1-4, 2011

1922- Jan. 1, 2011
Big Driver- Jan. 1, 2011
Fair Extension- Jan. 2, 2011
A Good Marriage- Jan. 3-4, 2011

Where Found:  Xmas 2010 gift from mom & dad (off my wish list)
Why Read:  Long-awaited & latest set of short stories by Stephen King!

Read For:  Stephen King Challenge (1/6)

Summary:  A collection of 4 short stories:

1922- A rural farmer & his teenage son attempt to hide behind the murder of his wife to keep their farm.

Big Driver- After a popular mystery novelist is raped & left for dead, she seeks revenge on the truck driver that assaulted her.

Fair Extension- A man dying of cancer makes a deal with a shady street character to extend his life while slowly disintegrating another.

A Good Marriage- A long-married woman discovers a hideous secret her husband has been keeping & must decide what, if anything she will do about it.

Review:

1922- This was creepy good reading!  How far the characters try to cover up a murder and eerie, beyond-the-grave attempts to thwart them make it your hairs stand on end (cliched but true).  The ending was the most brutal of all four stories.  Overall, it was a strong plot and a great start to the book.

Big Driver- This took the rape revenge story, a reworking of The Dirty Dozen and The Brave One (which King explicitly references in the story) and made it more original.  Tess was my favourite character of all four stories.  I loved the unique take on her behaviour post-rape--equals parts tortured, angered, humiliated, and trying to plot her next move.  The only downside was the ending seemed a bit long, especially the second half of it that tended to go off in a weird direction.  I also a bit put off by the Dr. Doolittle meets Joan of Arc voices she attributes to animals and her Tomtom (that's right, her GPS device).  A bit too odd.

Fair Extension- A short, quick read with an interesting take on the old "making a deal with the devil" yarn.  I have to admit that the amount of bad luck this deal created provided some comic relief, and some ailments were quite creative.  With the tight page count, the story's ending was too inconclusive for me--there seemed to be no end in sight and no consequences to this deal that I felt Dave didn't have any regret or even a hint of conscientious thought about the deal.  It was a good story but far from the best.

A Good Marriage- The most realistic horror story in the bunch, which struck an even scarier tone simply because of that.  It turned out to be a tad predictable but was well written and had an interesting moral twist to the story.

Rank:

1922- (A)- Excellent

Big Driver- (A)- My favourite of the 4 stories

Fair Extension- (B)- Good

A Good Marriage- (A)- Excellent

Overall:  (A)- Excellent, Highly recommend

Under the Dome- Stephen King

Purchase:  Amazon | Chapters

Published:  2009
Length:  1072 pages (not a book you want to lug around in a tote bag!)
ISBN:  9781439196960
Genre:  Suspense/Sci-Fi

Start Date:  Sept. 20, 2010
Finished Date:  Oct. 6, 2010

Where Found:  Chapters-Indigo
Why Read:  Stephen King's latest

Summary:  An unexplained invisible forcefield surrounds a small Maine farming town, which soon results in catastrophic physical, political, environmental, and even criminal events between two formed alliances led by an Iraq War soldier new in town backed by an ambitious newspaper owner and a used-car salesman with dangerous political aspirations, a spineless police chief, criminal underage cops, and a cast of troubled residents who will stop at absolutely nothing to survive.

Review:

Stephen King wrote one whopper of a book.  Clocking in at 1072 pages, it's a wonder that in this age of short-term attention spans he could create a bestselling epic that returns to his glory days of The Stand.  A simple test of humanity is created in Under the Dome, mixing elements of apocalyptic fiction, sci-fi, and western (there are numerous references and allusions to Star Trek, Twilight Zone, and High Noon, among others).  There is a surprising blend of pulp, recognized especially in the often hit-and-miss dialogue (sometimes it slams home, other times it veers into cornball territory), and offers pleasant homages to old chestnuts that his younger generation of readers will likely see as fresh.  Bringing back the theme of psychological fear and destruction caused by isolation he explored in The Mist, King expands his scope (and setting from a supermarket to an entire small town) to probe the ugliness of human nature that emerges in the face of an unknown phenomena that tests the will, sustainability, foresight, and care that the residents of Chester's Mill are divided over and eventually form alliances over.

There is lots of build-up (in fact, over 1000 pages of it) to a skimpy but explosive 20-page climax, followed by a downhill coast to the end, but the build-up is what creates the story's best tension:  the tests against an unseen force, the stressors that cause people to panic, the corruption that exists in the town's political leadership, and the pre-existing traumas that are spiked uncontrollably by the entrapments of being under the Dome.

A great reference tool at the beginning of the book (besides the neato map) is a short cast list that comes in handy early on when you are initially introduced to a busload of quirky, though overall not fully developed characters.  Why aren't they given more space to grow?  Because the goshdarn Dome is in the way!  The primary focus of the novel isn't the indivdual development of a character, but the group dynamic threatened and pushed to the brink by an unnatural disaster.  Chester's Mill's varied population will remind you of American heroes and villains--I recognized allusions of Pat Robertson, Rush Limbaugh, George W. Bush, but also Barack Obama.

And now come a couple of minor beefs.  There is certainly a question of length.  Did the novel really need to be this long?  At about the halfway point, Under the Dome suffers a kind of peak syndrome where the excitement starts to ebb, but I encourage you to plow through because around page 700, it starts cooking up again!  Also, there is a question of characters.  How many is too many?  I think there are certainly too many mentioned only once or twice that could have either been cut out or combined with another character to deepen their profile.  Some minor characters are grossly underdeveloped and no motive to their behaviour is present (most major ones are strong though not fully developed).  Finally, what is hard to believe, besides the occurence and permanence of the Dome itself, is how widespread stupidity is amongst the town, bred by hate, ego, and power.  Conspiracies against the obvious "good guys" are dumb even by the dumbest standards--how anyone could believe them is beyond me.  Then again, a certain former President was elected two terms...*cough* 

As for the ending, it's not as bad as some negative critics claim.  Think about this:  if you were King, how exactly would you end the novel (based on the premise given) that wasn't too obvious, didn't veer into the outlandish, and was satisfying enough to not feel that you spent over 1000 pages just to feel cheated in the end?  I think he made a rational decision on the ending that ties back to a recognizable, highly personal declaration, and the three final paragraphs of page 1071 actually made me smile.  Please share with me if it did the same for you after you read it :o)

On the front cover of the trade paperback edition is a review quoted as: "The best yet from the best ever."  I would definitely agree with that--the newest book of King's I've read is Cell, which was all right but not his best.  I think the key word in the quotation is "yet"; it's not King's best ever, but the latest from greatest is pretty darn good.

Rank:  (A)- A Page-Turner

Carrie- Stephen King

Purchased:  Amazon | Chapters

Published: 1974
Length: 253 pages
ISBN: 0671039725
Genre: Horror/Suspense

Start Date: Sometime in 2007
Finished Date: Sometime in 2007

Where Found: Chapters-Indigo
Why Read: Stephen King fan all the way!

Summary: A teenage girl with telekinetic powers seeks normalcy among her terrorizing classmates, ignorant teachers, and her religious extremist mother.

Review:

First of all, let me advise you not to read this book under certain conditions, such as a small space, at nighttime, home alone, or anywhere you cannot seek comfort and normalcy immediately! I read the ending with shaky hands on a bus coming home and even without a mirror, I felt pale. It was a long ride home!

This wasn’t the first King novel I had read, but it was an amazing debut with crackling horror and an insightful look at emotional bullying of high school girls. Hidden under a blanket of events escalating to a monstrous climax that no other novel I’ve read can compete with is a shocking, high-energy revenge tale.

Carrie is ostracized from everyone around her, from teachers who give an air of false sympathy when deep down they are helpless or simply careless, to girl classmates who act haughty, ignorant, or purposely nasty, and slack-jawed boy classmates, some of whom harbour a secret desire to know her. Carrie returns home to her emotionally and sometimes physically abusive mother who demonizes her daughter from the time of her conception in the name of religious zealotry. When Carrie realizes that she has no one left to rely on and is betrayed and humiliated in a cruel prank, she exerts her revenge in a twisted, otherworldly fashion that brings out the bloody best of King.

He has expanded on themes of horror, suspense, and fantasy since Carrie, but has never created another character quite like her, whom we can both sympathize and fear. The 1976 movie starring Sissy Spacek in the title role is excellent in its own right, but can’t compare to the novel’s enormity. It jumpstarted Stephen King’s to the equivalent of jamming your finger in an electric outlet.

Rank: (A+)- A must-read!

Different Seasons- Stephen King

Purchase:  Amazon | Chapters


Published: 1982
Length: 508 pages (with Afterword)
ISBN: 0451167538
Genre: Short Stories/Novellas

Start Date:  Sometime in 2005-6
Finished Date:  Sometime in 2005-6

Where Found:  Chapters-Indigo
Why Read:  Why not?  I'm a huge Stephen King reader.

Summary:  A collection of 4 novellas (no more than 200 pages each), offering the macabre in four acts: a Count of Monte Cristo-esque prison tale; a cold, murderousm, scheming plot; a coming of age and death lesson; and a mysteriously horrifying tall tale.

Review:

This is the only book of short stories or novellas that I’ve read by King. Other similar collections of his are Night Shift, Skeleton Crew, Four Past Midnight, Nightmares & Dreamscapes, Six Stories, Everything’s Eventual, and Just After Sunset. The spooky 2001: A Space Odyssey star baby knockoff on the cover is an odd choice, somewhat relevant to the last of four stories in the collection but nonetheless strange.  The newest edition shows the railroad tracks of the 2nd story, which is a much more poignant choice of cover.

Rita Hayworth and the Shawshank Redemption should sound familiar as it was adapted into an amazing movie that remains my all-time favourite and can rarely be competed against any other I’ve seen. The story is about an innocent man's treacherous, yet oddly life-affirming, time at a scandal-ridden, maximum security prison where he redeems himself as the prison librarian, go-to accountant, and GED tutor before making his incredible escape (that's not a spoiler by the way--if I told you how, that would be a devastating spoiler!)  The movie, as King admits, expands and improves on the less than hundred page short story, yet retains much of its narration by veteran inmate Red, played by the velvety voiced Morgan Freeman and much of the plot, eliminating some forgettable side bits that were left on the movie’s cutting room floor. I also have the privilege of owning an autographed copy of screenwriter/director Frank Darabont’s adapted final draft script of The Shawshank Redemption that is incredibly close to the final cut of the movie.

Apt Pupil is the longest story of the collection but also the weakest. A teenage boy blackmails his elderly German neighbour, whom he suspects is a notorious Nazi soldier who ran a death camp during WWII and is a war crimes fugitive. He soon uses the old man to garner information about his past, becoming addicted to the stories, and even having him pose as a relative to get out of trouble at school with a skeptical guidance counselor who soon catches on to the real story. The main characters are cold-blooded, kill-to-thrill types who make the novel very difficult to swallow, especially with the absence of a “good guy.” It wasn’t a bad story, per se, but it was one of King’s most disturbing, and the plot was stuck in a dull trance of scheme, blackmail, murder, rinse & repeat.  The story was adapted into a movie that didn't come off much better.

The Body, which was adapted into the coming-of-age flick (with a better title) Stand By Me, about a group of four young friends, one of whom destined to be a great writer, the others a tragic mess, who trek through the railway & backwoods of their hometown to find truth in the rumor of a dead body, discovering their own demons along the way. The movie is much lighter on character development than the novella makes them out to be, but other than that, they are very true to each other. King makes an autobiographical sketch out of Gordie, the budding writer, whose parents continue to ignore him after the untimely death of his favoured older brother. The ensemble of friends (gullible, innocent Vern; hard-nosed, loyal Chris; and crazed, tragic Teddy) make the story character-rich, full of fun, often hilarious, insights, and, in one day, begins a sunset on their childhood.

The Breathing Method has never become a movie, which is far from likely and nearly impossible without tacking on additional subplots that will probably render the original moot. It simply works best on paper. It begins with a man entering a mysterious secret society with access to otherwise unseen, unheard things, where a doctor tells the tale of treating and possibly falling in love with a young, widowed pregnant woman. His treatments and methods are modern today but were unconventional then, as is her being pregnant and unmarried. However, it is the delivery of her baby and their separate destinies that is sure to blow you away. This is (in my opinion) the most warped tale of the book, and a memorable story that could very well have been expanded into a novel.

Overall, Different Seasons is, as promised by the title, varied in scope and subject matter.  It would be King’s masterpiece novel, even though it’s a collection of 4 separate stories with no discernible connection to each other.  But what the heck—it still is a masterpiece.

Rank: (A+)- A must-read (even if you're typically averse to King)

Teaser Tuesday

Teaser Tuesday is a weekly bookish meme hosted by MizB @ Should Be Reading.  Anyone can play along! Just do the following:

•Grab your current read
•Open to a random page
•Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
•BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
•Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

Love the paperback cover!
Different from the hardcover version.
Better, I think.

Last night, I started Under the Dome by Stephen King and got up to page 44.  It's definitely hard to put down, but I was getting a headache and was forced to stop, otherwise I would've pulled an all-nighter!  I've heard all good things about this book and different amounts of time spent getting to the finish line--one blogger is on Week 20-something; a fellow book shopper yesterday told me she finished it in 5 days?!? 

"All behind him.  And ahead of him?  Why, the gates of America.  Goodbye smalltown Maine, hello Big Sky" (page 11).

A Wednesday Top 10

This weekly meme is hosted by Jillian at Random Ramblings.  She poses this top 10 topic: 

Feel Good Books

"The books that will never fail to cheer me up, pick my mood up, get me out of a rut, and/or lift my spirits."

A good book never ages & can be revisited over again to be enjoyed on a different level of experience: finding things you didn't notice before, knowing the outcome & being able to feel the emotions expressed even deeper.

To be honest, I'm not much of a "re-reader" so choosing 10 books I have re-read, let alone re-read many times over as a comfort, is a challenge for me.  I guess movies are more of my comfort forte.  So, my choices may not be "comfort reading" to everyone, but they are books that have captivated me on more than 1 occasion & have stuck with me over time.

Here goes nothing...In no particular order, here's a list of 10, with some titles linked to my reviews:

1)  K-PAX- Gene Brewer

The captivating movie convinced me to try the book & I am still completely mystified and taken with it.  It's a blend of sci-fi, fantasy, mystery, and philosophy that may expand your thinking about the existence of life in the universe beyond Earth.

2)  Different Seasons- Stephen King

How creepy is that cover?!?  It looks like an homage to the 2001: A Space Odyssey star baby.  This collection of 4 novellas is a masterpiece, allowing King to return to his roots in the shorter genre.  Two, if not three, of the stories will sound familiar.  Rita Hayworth & the Shawshank Redemption was adapted into one of the greatest critical films ever and The Body became the beloved coming-of-age tale Stand By Me.  A third story of the same title became the less than reputable Apt Pupil.  The final chapter of this collection, The Breathing Method, leaves your spine tingling long after finishing it.  This set of short stories together can easily compete with King's other accomplished novels as his best work.

3)  The Green Mile- Stephen King

I'm not a cop-out (really, I'm not), but King is an addictive storyteller & The Green Mile is my favourite novel of his.  It is horrific (it's what he does best), but the blend of fantasy & mystery lays a foundation of purpose that makes up the core of the novel.  King claims the adapted movie is better, but I argue that they are two different takes on the same story and that they both go beyond comparison.

4)  The Firm- John Grisham

I'm not being very original with this list, I know, but I cannot bypass this book that remains my favourite Grisham novel and one of the best mystery yarns I've ever read.  The movie was good in his own right, but did not fully utilize all the twists & turns that Grisham gave the novel a quality of being more than just a pageturner, but proves once again that popular fiction can be thought-provoking.

...Wow, I'm completely stumped by this list (and I've bent the topic around enough)!  Let's change this around a bit & I'll list books I want to reread when the TBR stack is a little smaller (just a little...).

5)  The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time- Mark Haddon

There has never been a novel written like this.  Period.  The perspective of Christopher, a British teenage boy with Asperger's syndrom investigating the death of his neighbour's dog while confronting the absence of his mother, is acutely visual, purposely rigid in detail, and supplemented by drawings that are both baffling & eye-opening about how his mind works.  I badly want to revisit this, but will settle for some insightful comments :o)

6)  One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest- Ken Kesey

The trippy, beat generation writing of Kesey is hippie poetry through the perspective of the Indian and his encounters at the mental hospital run by the evil Big Nurse, who is appalled by the reckless behaviour of the newest inmate, Randle MacMurphy.  I was stunned by the story and its take on the treatment of mental illness and how both aggressiveness and muteness can be misinterpreted and handled in a disturbing manner.

7)  The Lovely Bones- Alice Sebold

You may be wondering why I would choose a book that begins with a gruesome murder as a rereadable book.  I agree that there are mixed opinions about whether or not to even read it because of that very reason, but here's why I will reread it:  It is a fine piece of writing that reminds me of a china cup, ironically both brittle with its devastating scene that creates a wound in both the characters & reader, and built strong with its omniscent narration, fierce dedication to finding truth, if not justice, and a powerful will to allow for the story to end in peace.

8)  A Map of the World- Jane Hamilton

Because I recently read The Book of Ruth by the same author, I wanted to revisit an earlier book I read of hers.  I was immediately taken by the stark writing style and how harsh it came off, then how it build up to a point where the instigating incident causes everything to crumble, then go even deeper into the crux of the matter.  How the painstaking, slow rebuilding process is written will allow a new perspective on human nature's way of coping with trauma by, all at once, remembering what was yet not clinging to the "what ifs" that we habitually create.

9)  One True Thing- Anna Quindlen

I have recently penned a review & don't want to repeat it here, but I am very fond of Quindlen's writing and have every intention of re-reading this novel that takes a new perspective on mother-daughter relationships and how judgment is brought to bear against every character, only to be re-examined in light of a slow-building change and questions surrounding its end result.

10)  The Time Traveler's Wife- Audrey Niffenegger

This is likely on many readers' TBRR (to be re-read) list if you were as captured by the uniqueness of this fantasy tale as I was.  I had an inkling before seeing the adapted movie that it could not possibly capture all the intricacies of the writing, and I think most would agree that I predicted right.  The love story of Henry & Claire is tangled up in many complex ways by his uncontrollable, nearly lifelong ability/curse to time travel, yet you find yourself rooting for them to make it work despite or perhaps because of Henry's preview of the future & revisiting of the past.  When the time is right, I will feel drawn to this novel again, and I hope it sheds new light on it the second time around.

Please share with me your top 10 list on this week's topic.  I look forward to reading your responses, too :o)