Out of any of the books, I dreaded reading this one the most. I fear "It" (and several others), but dread "Pet Sematary" - it hits way too close to home on so many different levels. This is also one of the few books that I have seen the movie for (wait tell I tell you how that came about) and so this makes the imagery of this story so much more real.
In 1990, when I was 17 my brother, who had just turned 20, was killed in a car accident outside of Rosarita, Mexico. He had gone for Labor Day with some friends to go party and have a good time - a simple, innocent, common occurrence for young, single men. However, they had too much to drink, elected to continue driving, took a small and narrow mountain road, and ran head on into a cement truck. My brother was thrown through the windshield into the side of the mountain. His friend, who had a seatbelt on, suffered some very serious injuries, but survived the accident. So what does this have to do with the story, not a lot, other than I can relate and to also say that the day after I found out about my brothers death, my closest friends came over to sit with me and to try and help me get my mind off of it. One of them decided it would be a good idea to watch some movies, so they rented "Steel Magnolias" and "Pet Sematary". (I still have a hard time understanding what would possess them, only to think that teenagers are pretty fucking dumb and self-absorbed. I am SURE they had the best intentions, but it did not take my mind of it as you can imagine)
Anyway, that does not really have relevance to the story, but for my reading as that memory followed me the whole time I read this book. The other thing you should probably know, if you don't already, is that I also lost a child. The pain is beyond belief, and yes, you would do anything to have that child back. ANYTHING.
What struck me most about this book is the inability by the father to see past his grief and think rationally. I realize that the burial grounds holds a magic and a will that forces people to do its bidding, however the continual drawing in was a little much for me.
I will end by saying I will be glad to not read this book ever again.
Wednesday, December 26, 2012
Monday, December 17, 2012
Different Seasons
I was very excited to read this collection of short stories again as it was one of the first books of his I read and it contains several of my favorite stories. Again, people will recognize two of these for sure as they were both made into very successful (and I think well done) movies, with slightly different names; Rita Hayworth and the Shawshank Redemption and The Body (which became the movie Stand By Me). Apt Pupil was also a movie, not one that I have ever seen and I am not sure just how successful it was. Just as with Night Shift, I want to go through these one by one and give my opinion and insights into the stories.
Hope Springs Eternal - Rita Hayworth and the Shawshank Redemption
Most will be familiar with this story, a man is convicted of killing his wife and her lover, goes to prison, has some struggles and then finds out a way to make himself useful to the guards and wardens (probably too useful), this becomes a prison within the prison, and eventually he makes his escape by burrowing a hole through the wall (the hole is covered by Rita Hayworth and eventually other pin-ups) down into the sewer system where he crawls through a half-mile of shit to his freedom. The big difference in the book versus the movie to me is that in the book Andy takes over a fake identity that he set up before he went to prison along with the bank accounts under that name. In the movie, he swindles the warden out of money that he helped him launder and embezzle. Personally, no offense Mr. King, I like the second version better as the source of his freedom. However, the book as a whole is much better than the movie (aren't they always?) because it is not just about the terror of being sent to prison and innocent man - it is about the walls we build for ourselves and how we make our way in the world. The means we use to escape and the patience that is necessary to see a goal through to the end. I admire Andy Dufresne tremendously.
Summer of Corruption - Apt Pupil
Such a disturbing story on so many levels. I will admit that this took me a while to get through as at parts it was just to morally appalling. This is about a young boy, about 13, who discovers that a man who lives in his neighborhood is actually a Nazi war criminal who is hiding under an assumed name an identity. Todd, the boy, tells Mr. Decker (Dussander) that he will expose him for his crimes unless he tells him everything about serving in the concentration camps, the torture, the experiments, etc. Like I said, disturbing. Todd is a young psychopath in the making who gets off on this tales. Mr. Decker is an old man who would rather forget it, but eventually finds himself enjoying the memories as much as the boy. Eventually they both are tormented by nightmares and find themselves linked by their own horrific fantasies about murder. Which leads to real murder, more secrets, more blackmail, and on.
Fall from Innocence - The Body
I love this story, maybe more than I should, but this sums up all the joy, wonder, agony, and disillusion of childhood better than most anything else I have read. It is a coming of age story in some of the worst possible circumstances and I am sure that I relate as I about the age of this kids in this story when I read it. (The movie really helped confirm it's greatness in my mind).
A Winter's Tale - The Breathing Method
This is a story about love, plain an simple. I am sure there is argument to that that it is a story about telling stories, or some other nonsense, but stripped to its most basic idea - it is love. This story is about a young pregnant unwed women who is a patient of a doctor who advises her to use the breathing method (later to be known as lamaze) to help her through the birth as she wants to do it all natural. She practices this religiously so she can be prepared and on the night that she goes into labor it is this method tat ultimately leads to her demise, and saves her sons life. The story of this women is told at a secret club for men who get together and share stories. Some disturbing, some funny, and some terrifying. To me, this story felt the most like an old Poe or something similar, which may be why I really enjoyed it.
Hope Springs Eternal - Rita Hayworth and the Shawshank Redemption
Most will be familiar with this story, a man is convicted of killing his wife and her lover, goes to prison, has some struggles and then finds out a way to make himself useful to the guards and wardens (probably too useful), this becomes a prison within the prison, and eventually he makes his escape by burrowing a hole through the wall (the hole is covered by Rita Hayworth and eventually other pin-ups) down into the sewer system where he crawls through a half-mile of shit to his freedom. The big difference in the book versus the movie to me is that in the book Andy takes over a fake identity that he set up before he went to prison along with the bank accounts under that name. In the movie, he swindles the warden out of money that he helped him launder and embezzle. Personally, no offense Mr. King, I like the second version better as the source of his freedom. However, the book as a whole is much better than the movie (aren't they always?) because it is not just about the terror of being sent to prison and innocent man - it is about the walls we build for ourselves and how we make our way in the world. The means we use to escape and the patience that is necessary to see a goal through to the end. I admire Andy Dufresne tremendously.
Summer of Corruption - Apt Pupil
Such a disturbing story on so many levels. I will admit that this took me a while to get through as at parts it was just to morally appalling. This is about a young boy, about 13, who discovers that a man who lives in his neighborhood is actually a Nazi war criminal who is hiding under an assumed name an identity. Todd, the boy, tells Mr. Decker (Dussander) that he will expose him for his crimes unless he tells him everything about serving in the concentration camps, the torture, the experiments, etc. Like I said, disturbing. Todd is a young psychopath in the making who gets off on this tales. Mr. Decker is an old man who would rather forget it, but eventually finds himself enjoying the memories as much as the boy. Eventually they both are tormented by nightmares and find themselves linked by their own horrific fantasies about murder. Which leads to real murder, more secrets, more blackmail, and on.
Fall from Innocence - The Body
I love this story, maybe more than I should, but this sums up all the joy, wonder, agony, and disillusion of childhood better than most anything else I have read. It is a coming of age story in some of the worst possible circumstances and I am sure that I relate as I about the age of this kids in this story when I read it. (The movie really helped confirm it's greatness in my mind).
A Winter's Tale - The Breathing Method
This is a story about love, plain an simple. I am sure there is argument to that that it is a story about telling stories, or some other nonsense, but stripped to its most basic idea - it is love. This story is about a young pregnant unwed women who is a patient of a doctor who advises her to use the breathing method (later to be known as lamaze) to help her through the birth as she wants to do it all natural. She practices this religiously so she can be prepared and on the night that she goes into labor it is this method tat ultimately leads to her demise, and saves her sons life. The story of this women is told at a secret club for men who get together and share stories. Some disturbing, some funny, and some terrifying. To me, this story felt the most like an old Poe or something similar, which may be why I really enjoyed it.
Thursday, December 6, 2012
The Running Man
This is another Richard Bachman book and most people probably know this story (or think they do) from the movie of the same name with Arnold Schwarzenegger. However, the title is about the only two things that the book and movie have in common, to say it was loosely based on the book would be exaggerating. Personally, I never really cared for the movie and believe that if they had made a movie that followed the book more closely, it would have been much better. I can see why King wants to maintain creative control or input on the movies - yikes! Anyway, I will get off my soap box now.
So this story takes place in the future, 2025, and the world is much different, but not for the better. The classes are very divided, unemployment is extremely high, and the government controls pretty much everything that the populations see or hears. (Ok, so maybe it is not all that different - j/k) Ben Richards is the hero in this book and he is faced with providing money to care for his wife and sick infant daughter, without many means or ways to do that. So he turns to the "Network" and tries out for their endless list of game shows that are designed to pay for little for the ultimate sacrifice of the contestant. This range from anything to running on a treadmill to your heart bursts, to losing a limb to crocodiles, to the grand-daddy of them all, The Running Man.
This show pays the most, but it is almost the most brutal as a person is basically sent out to the world with some money and his wits and he has to see how long he can survive without being caught and killed. The catch is, everyone knows what you look like as it is plastered on the Free Vee which all citizens watch all the time. The longer you survive the more money there will be for your family, so you can see the appeal. Along the way, some people may help, but most will not and the trick is finding those who will. You are also required to check in while running, which of course is one way they hunt you down and track your location.
I loved this book because in some ways it seems like something that could happen, which is also what makes it more terrifying. As it is a Bachman, don't expect a happy ending. But, do expect a page turning thrill read that will make you wonder what you would do and that forces you to question what our own government tells us.
So this story takes place in the future, 2025, and the world is much different, but not for the better. The classes are very divided, unemployment is extremely high, and the government controls pretty much everything that the populations see or hears. (Ok, so maybe it is not all that different - j/k) Ben Richards is the hero in this book and he is faced with providing money to care for his wife and sick infant daughter, without many means or ways to do that. So he turns to the "Network" and tries out for their endless list of game shows that are designed to pay for little for the ultimate sacrifice of the contestant. This range from anything to running on a treadmill to your heart bursts, to losing a limb to crocodiles, to the grand-daddy of them all, The Running Man.
This show pays the most, but it is almost the most brutal as a person is basically sent out to the world with some money and his wits and he has to see how long he can survive without being caught and killed. The catch is, everyone knows what you look like as it is plastered on the Free Vee which all citizens watch all the time. The longer you survive the more money there will be for your family, so you can see the appeal. Along the way, some people may help, but most will not and the trick is finding those who will. You are also required to check in while running, which of course is one way they hunt you down and track your location.
I loved this book because in some ways it seems like something that could happen, which is also what makes it more terrifying. As it is a Bachman, don't expect a happy ending. But, do expect a page turning thrill read that will make you wonder what you would do and that forces you to question what our own government tells us.
Monday, December 3, 2012
Cujo
So this is the first book so far that has really freaked me out. I imagine it is the new perspective of being a parent that I have since I last read it. I have never been a dog person, I tolerate them most of the time, but typically keep my distance and I can say that this book only reinforced my position. This story combines a lot of the elements that really make me love Stephen King however. Bringing in characters from other stories, telling a story in a way that makes you keep reading through the horror, building a variety of sub-plots or alternate situations that create an unbelievable amount of tension, etc.
Cujo is at its core a story about a dog who gets rabies and becomes a killing machine. However it is more than just that as there a multitude of complex relationships happening as well that further complicate the story. At the center is a family, the Trenton's, with the dad who works as an adman and who uprooted his wife from NYC to Maine to start his own firm with a partner. They have a 4 year old son named Tad. Also included are the family that own the dog, the Cambers who run an automotive shop on their desolate property. Side players are their drunken neighbor, the lover of Donna Trenton, a tennis bum named Steve Kemp, Vic Trenton's partner Roger, and Mrs. Cambers sister.
The Trenton's and Cambers paths cross when Vic's Jaguar starts acting up and she has to take it to the garage for repairs. There they meet Cujo for the first time, who is a wonderfully gentle and sweet St. Bernard that plays with Tad and watches out for him while the family waits for the repairs. Next a terrible chain of events and coincidences occur which lead to a horrific conclusion. First Cujo contracts rabies from a bat, next Mrs. Cambers wins some money in the lottery and plans to go away with her son Brett to visit her sister out of state. While she is gone her husband and the neighbor decide that they will also leave town and party in Boston. (Which means he cancels the mail) Vic Trenton and his partner have to go on a week long business trip to help save a huge account, so Donna and Tad will be alone. Donna breaks off the affair with Steve Kemp, who in a fit of rage will send a letter to the husband about the affair which he gets right before the trip, and Steve will also trash the house and in the process destroy some important information. It is a record high temperature July for Maine. The last and most crucial piece is Donna's Pinto is having problems and Vic does not get it fixed before he leaves so she has to take care of it herself.
All of these circumstances come together to create a situation where a woman and her child are trapped in a sweltering car for several days with a homicidal dog steps away from their car. I cannot and do not want to even imagine the hell that this must be, but it stayed with me after I put this book down. Well done Mr. King.
Cujo is at its core a story about a dog who gets rabies and becomes a killing machine. However it is more than just that as there a multitude of complex relationships happening as well that further complicate the story. At the center is a family, the Trenton's, with the dad who works as an adman and who uprooted his wife from NYC to Maine to start his own firm with a partner. They have a 4 year old son named Tad. Also included are the family that own the dog, the Cambers who run an automotive shop on their desolate property. Side players are their drunken neighbor, the lover of Donna Trenton, a tennis bum named Steve Kemp, Vic Trenton's partner Roger, and Mrs. Cambers sister.
The Trenton's and Cambers paths cross when Vic's Jaguar starts acting up and she has to take it to the garage for repairs. There they meet Cujo for the first time, who is a wonderfully gentle and sweet St. Bernard that plays with Tad and watches out for him while the family waits for the repairs. Next a terrible chain of events and coincidences occur which lead to a horrific conclusion. First Cujo contracts rabies from a bat, next Mrs. Cambers wins some money in the lottery and plans to go away with her son Brett to visit her sister out of state. While she is gone her husband and the neighbor decide that they will also leave town and party in Boston. (Which means he cancels the mail) Vic Trenton and his partner have to go on a week long business trip to help save a huge account, so Donna and Tad will be alone. Donna breaks off the affair with Steve Kemp, who in a fit of rage will send a letter to the husband about the affair which he gets right before the trip, and Steve will also trash the house and in the process destroy some important information. It is a record high temperature July for Maine. The last and most crucial piece is Donna's Pinto is having problems and Vic does not get it fixed before he leaves so she has to take care of it herself.
All of these circumstances come together to create a situation where a woman and her child are trapped in a sweltering car for several days with a homicidal dog steps away from their car. I cannot and do not want to even imagine the hell that this must be, but it stayed with me after I put this book down. Well done Mr. King.
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