Category: Uncategorized

Stephen King: #43 – Bag of Bones

On By Luke FlorenceIn Books, Lists, Stephen King, Uncategorized, WritingLeave a comment

#43 – Bag of Bones

Plot

Set in the Maine territory King has made mythic, Bag of Bones recounts the plight of forty-year-old bestselling novelist Mike Noonan, who is unable to stop grieving following the sudden death of his wife Jo, and who can no longer bear to face the blank screen of his computer.

Review

An early lesson in any writer’s career is to “write what you know.” Stephen King abides by this as he often establishes his main character as an author. And while this holds true in Bag of Bones, it’s the only time I can remember King giving writer’s block to the main protagonist.

The original manuscript for Bag of Bones was more than a thousand pages but was edited nearly in half. Thank goodness as this novel benefitted enormously from the cutdown. The first half of this novel drags in places but picks up the pace at the midway point when the focus comes off Mike and is firmly placed on Kyra and Mattie.

This book – especially in the latter half – does an excellent job of mixing real emotions with a bountiful of fantastic horror. Bag of Bones is ultimately about a love lost and being able to move forward. It sprinkles in a child custody battle, a haunted house, and a town mystery for some added flavor.

Details

Pages: 544

Dates Read: September 2021 – February 2022

Quote: “I see things, that’s all. Write enough stories and every shadow on the floor looks like a footprint; every line in the dirt like a secret message.”

Best Part: Who knew senior citizens could be such excellent rock-throwers?!?

Hint for #42: Anyone who is on a diet is essentially trying to become this title.

 

Until next time, peace be the journey.

Stephen King: #44 – Needful Things

On By Luke FlorenceIn Books, Lists, Stephen King, Uncategorized, WritingLeave a comment

#44 – Needful Things

Plot

A wonderful new store has opened in the little town of Castle Rock, Maine. Whatever your heart’s secret desire—sexual pleasure, wealth, power, or even more precious things—it’s for sale. And even though every item has a nerve-shattering price, the owner is always ready to make a bargain.

Review

Another favorite of my Aunt JoAnn, I read this book very early in my Stephen King career. For the most part, I thoroughly enjoyed it – especially Leland Gaunt. Playing the main antagonist with a name so perfect you can already visualize his appearance, Gaunt is able to manipulate the entire town of Castle Rock by preying on their most superficial needs.

The town is full of characters – some better developed than others – most of which succumb to Gaunt’s spell and end up in the middle of pure chaos. As far as set-up goes, this one is right up near the top. It was the execution that had me slightly disappointed.

With more than 700 pages at his disposal, King misses too much for my liking as it relates to character development. Because of this the massive climax building in Needful Things doesn’t resonate as much as it could have. In my humble opinion as King has gotten older, he has turned into a better self-editor and this one would have been a Top 20 novel had King wrote it in 2021 instead of 1991.  Don’t get it twisted though – Leland Gaunt is a superbly written character and one of my personal favorites in the entire King bibliography.

This is my highest-rated 3-star review from Goodreads. We now move into the 4-star reviews with the next 19 books.

Details

Pages: 736

Dates Read: Pre-2012

Quote: “Everyone loves something for nothing … even if it costs everything.”

Best Part: Any scene that had Leland Gaunt. Seriously, he’s fantastic.

Hint for #43: Pierce Brosnan played the main character in an A&E miniseries based on this book.

 

Until next time, peace be the journey.

Stephen King: #45 – The Talisman

On By Luke FlorenceIn Books, Lists, Stephen King, Uncategorized, WritingLeave a comment

#45 – The Talisman

Plot

On a brisk autumn day, a thirteen-year-old boy stands on the shores of the gray Atlantic, near a silent amusement park and a fading ocean resort called the Alhambra. The past has driven Jack Sawyer here: His father is gone, his mother is dying, and the world no longer makes sense. But for Jack everything is about to change. For he has been chosen to make a journey back across America–-and into another realm.

Review

My Aunt JoAnn suggested I read this book once I finished The Dark Tower since it was one of her favorites. “You got to read about Travellin’ Jack,” she told me. There was no other synopsis given – but she hadn’t steered me wrong yet, so I bumped up The Talisman in my queue.

Honestly as I sit here and type my thoughts, I’ve realized that The Talisman is likely too low on this list. It has all the makings of a great King novel. Fantasy, good vs evil, coming-of-age, different worlds, great character development. It likely ended up in the bottom half of this list because I found the plot a tad confusing and hard to follow. The “twinners” and convoluted rules about how you can die in one world and not the other were too much for my young mind to comprehend.

I have a couple of Stephen King books that could really benefit from a re-read – and The Talisman would be near the top of that list. Speedy Parker is a phenomenal character, there’s a great villain in Morgan Sloat, and twelve-year-old Jack Sawyer is beautifully crafted.

Details

Pages: 735

Dates Read: Pre-2012

Quote: “He began to cry, not hysterically or screaming as people cry when concealed rage with tears, but with continuous sobs who has just discovered that he’s alone and will be for long. He cried because safety and reason seemed to have left the world. Loneliness was a reality, but in this situation, madness was also remotely a possibility.”

Best Part: Our very first introduction to Speedy Parker.

Hint for #44: Stranger Things supposedly was inspired by this novel when coming up with its title. Not surprising, consider they have one word in common.

 

Until next time, peace be the journey.

Stephen King: #46 – From a Buick 8

On By Luke FlorenceIn Books, Lists, Stephen King, Uncategorized, WritingLeave a comment

#46 – From a Buick 8

Plot

The state police of Troop D in rural Pennsylvania have kept a secret in Shed B out back of the barracks ever since 1979, when Troopers Ennis Rafferty and Curtis Wilcox answered a call from a gas station just down the road and came back with an abandoned Buick Roadmaster. Curt Wilcox knew old cars, and he knew immediately that this one was…wrong, just wrong. A few hours later, when Rafferty vanished, Wilcox and his fellow troopers knew the car was worse than dangerous — and that it would be better if John Q. Public never found out about it.

Review

From a Buick 8 does a lot of things well – but the best trait of this novel is that at times it is just pure story. Stories that add incredible detail from the past and provide a better framework for current events. The problem with this novel is that it too often deviates from storytelling.

I previously wrote during The Colorado Kid about the idea of a “Mystery Box” and while From a Buick 8 subscribes to this notion, it’s more of a half-measure. Too much time was spent showing the incredible things this car could access. It honestly would have made for a more suspenseful novel if we hadn’t seen the creatures/plants that are born from this special vehicle.

One of the best parts of this story is when one of the characters (Ned) starts to obsess with the Buick Roadmaster. King parlays this into a satisfactory ending, but Ned’s obsession could have been used to tell a much deeper story about a variety of topics (mental illness, closure, etc).

Details

Pages: 356

Dates Read: February – March 2016

Quote: “It’s funny how close the past is, sometimes. Sometimes it seems as if you could almost reach out and touch it. Only who really wants to?”

Best Part: Sandy attempting to save Ned from the Buick Roadmaster.

Hint for #45: The main character – a young boy – shares the same first name as my son.

 

Until next time, peace be the journey.

What Happened This Weekend? Vol. 103

On By Luke FlorenceIn Cleveland Browns, Cleveland Guardians, NFL, Notre Dame, Uncategorized, Weekend ThoughtsLeave a comment

A brief recap of the last 72 hours on a variety of topics including sports, news and personal events.

Cleveland Guardians – Central Champs

Two weeks ago I mentioned how everything the Guardians wanted was right in front of them.  All they had to do was take it.  Well, not only did they fully capitalize on that opportunity, they were damn near perfect in their endeavor.  Going 13-2 since that post 14 days ago, the Guardians capped off their incredible run yesterday when they clinched the American League Central.  Even though the Guardians have the youngest roster in baseball and even though they are almost dead-last in homeruns, they have still found ways to win – several in dramatic fashion.  May 9th might have been the most memorable when Josh Naylor got all the smoke from the Chicago White Sox after his game-tying grand-slam in the ninth inning, and then game-winning three-run homer in the 11th. 

They have been an incredible fun team to watch this year because they are winning in unconventional ways.  They don’t hit homers, but they don’t strike-out.  They steal bases.  They take 1st to 3rd at an elite clip.  They don’t play great team-defense but may have two gold-glove winners.  Their top two pitchers went a combined 23-19, but have been lights out the last two months of the season.  They have a dominant closer and a steady back-end bullpen. 

On April 6th my brother-in-law texted me the following: “Outfield of Mercado, Straw and Zimmer makes me physically ill.”  I responded with, “I like Steven Kwan, the rookie who can play OF.  High contact (hasn’t struck out all spring training).  Hopefully he forces Tito’s hand.”  

Not only did Kwan force Tito’s hand, he may end up with a top-three finish in the American League Rookie of the Year.  While players like Triston McKenzie, Josh Naylor, Emmanuel Clase and Andres Gimenez all deserve recognition for their contributions, the #1 reason this team is headed to the playoffs is Steven Kwan.  He stabilized not only the murky outfield, but the entire lineup in general.  He paved the way for the whole ensemble of rookies the Guardians brought up this year (16 in total).  He almost killed himself leaping into the stands to catch a fly ball.  In other words, he was King Kwan.  One word to describe the Guardians – compete.  They compete like hell and play hard all the way to their last out.  That never-give-up attitude has resulted in a major-league leading number of wins in their final at-bat. 

Heading into the final games of the regular season, the Guardians can now take some time to rest up and get their pitching rotation in order for their upcoming three-game Wild-Card series (Bieber – Game One, McKenzie – Game Two, Quantrill – Game Three). 

Regardless of what happens in the playoffs – and we’ll look at their playoff history in upcoming posts – this season has been remarkable.  The Guardians front-office finally went all-in to play younger guys and not waste at-bats on older/more expensive/less talented players.  The payoff is here and now.  You can’t win the World Series unless you’re in the postseason and the Guardians are emphatically in.  

First Family Vacation

You may have noticed there was no Weekend Recap last week, as I was out embarking on our first Florence Family Vacation (Niagara Falls – Buffalo – Cleveland).  We’ve previously taken Jack (our five-year-old son) on overnight trips that included a hotel visit, but this was the first actual long road-trip taken as an entire family.   All told, the trip was a success.  Jack was perfectly patient during the long-car rides and entertained himself with books, music and coloring.  Our trip included a visit to Niagara Falls (the Canadian side is 100% better), a new aquarium, putt-putt golf, pool-time in the hotel, his first Cleveland Guardians game and a trip around the bases.  

The “trip” verb was no accident as Jack had an unfortunate spill rounding second base on Progressive Field.  Surprisingly enough, it wasn’t Jack’s fault at all.  In fact it was an adult not paying attention to where he was going and inadvertently sent Jack into the dirt.  Yes, this “adult” was an Ohio State Buckeye fan, which helps explains his general lack of overall awareness. 

Jack looked like Jason Kipnis after he touched home plate and was generally more embarrassed than anything.  Tears soon followed after he realized a previous scab on his knee had opened up, but those cries were short-lived as we now point at second base during the games on TV and say to each other, “Jack, that’s right where you slid!”  Good times … I hope.  When Jack went to school the following Wednesday and had the opportunity to share about his vacation, he chose to recall none of this.  Not the pool, not Niagara Falls and not even the Cleveland Guardians game.  Instead, he told his entire class that he went on vacation and got to stay up late watching college football games with his dad.  That was his highlight.  

Odds and Ends

Notre Dame and the Cleveland Browns won in convincing fashion this past weekend, with both the Irish and the Browns controlling the line of scrimmage and utilizing their strong run games.  This method of victory was no surprise for the Browns, but it was a pleasant one for the Irish.  If Notre Dame can continue that positive trend throughout the season then 8 wins is more than obtainable (a far cry from where they were after two weeks).  

Appalachian State continues to play exciting football, this time coming up on the short-side of a 32-28 loss to James Madison.  App State was up 28-3 in this one, before giving up 29 unanswered points.  They play The Citadel next week, and I can’t wait.  

Roger Federer said good-bye to professional tennis this weekend as he announced his retirement following The Laver Cup.  Roger’s last match was a doubles contest with Rafael Nadal as his partner.  While Roger and Rafa ended up losing, it didn’t really matter.  As soon as the final point was won, the world got to say good-bye to Roger who was as gracious with his final words as he was on the court during his two-decade period of dominance.   One of my favorite new TV shows of 2022 was The Rehearsal.  It starred Nathan Fielder and is almost impossible to describe.  This past weekend I started watching Nathan’s first show, Nathan For You (which ran on Comedy Central from 2013-2017) which is absolutely fantastic.  I finished the first eight episodes on HBOMax and cannot wait to see what absurdity Nathan has in store for the next three seasons.   

Until next time, peace be the journey.