Category: Uncategorized

Stephen King: #32 – The Dark Tower II: The Drawing of the Three

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

#32 – The Dark Tower II: The Drawing of the Three

Plot

While pursuing his quest for the Dark Tower through a world that is a nightmarishly distorted mirror image of our own, Roland, the last gunslinger, encounters three mysterious doorways on the beach. Each one enters the life of a different person living in contemporary New York. Here he links forces with the defiant young Eddie Dean and the beautiful, brilliant, and brave Odetta Holmes, in a savage struggle against underworld evil and otherworldly enemies.

Review

The second book in The Dark Tower series opens with a fantastic sequence on the beach involving monster lobsters. It then quickly transpires into setting up the foundation for the rest of this epic series, as we learn the identities of Roland’s crew – or ka-tet.

From a straight story and character developing perspective, this novel brings the action. I was blown away by King’s creativity ability and was very quickly drawn to all of the characters involved. My personal favorite was Eddie Dean as I was enthralled with both his struggle – and ultimately – his redemption.

My two knocks from The Drawing of the Three is the love story that begins to fester at the end didn’t feel deserved and the writing can be a little uneven at times. King introduces a character by the name of Susannah Deah, who was born out of her split personalities of Odetta and Detta. The way King describes the interactions between those differing personalities was often confusing and made for some slow reading.

Details

Pages: 463

Dates Read: Pre-2012

Quote: “What we like to think of ourselves and what we really are rarely have much in common.”

Best Part: Roland opens the third – and final – door.

Hint for #31: The only movie from a Stephen King adaptation to win an Academy Award.

 

Until next time, peace be the journey.

Stephen King: #33 – The Running Man

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#33 – The Running Man

Plot

The Running Man is set within a dystopian future in which the poor are seen more by the government as worrisome rodents than actual human beings. The protagonist of The Running Man, Ben Richards, is quick to realize this as he watches his daughter, Cathy, grow sicker by the day and tread closer and closer to death. Desperate for money to pay Cathy’s medical bills, Ben enlists himself in a true reality style game show where the objective is to merely stay alive.

Review

The Running Man is straight out of the Black Mirror Netflix show – as it involves game-show contestants trying to evade their death in order to win a boatload of cash. America tunes in to be entertained by the hunt. In fact, I would not be surprised at all if Black Mirror’s episode titled Fifteen Million Merits was indirectly inspired by this novel.

Stephen King – who published this novel under the Richard Bachman pseudonym – says he wrote this book in one week, and it shows. The Running Man is an action-packed novel that makes it difficult for readers to catch their breath. Not heavy into building too much character, but more focused on continuing plot, The Running Man is an easy read.

Had King written this later in his career it likely would have raced up this ranking list, but you can easily tell that King was still developing his craft when he wrote this novel. The dialogue isn’t incredibly sharp, and the scene-setting leaves a little to be desired. Those are complete nitpicks, as I would completely recommend The Running Man to anyone who enjoys great premises that immediately race to the finish line.

Details

Pages: 317

Dates Read: April – May 2020

Quote: “In the year 2025, the best men don’t run for president, they run for their lives.”

Best Part: Everything that happened on the plane was riveting – with the initial phone call leading the way.

Hint for #32: We meet Roland’s ka-tet for the first time.

Until next time, peace be the journey.

Stephen King: #34 – It

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#34 – It

Plot

To the children, the town was their whole world. To the adults, knowing better, Derry Maine was just their hometown: familiar, well-ordered for the most part. A good place to live. It was the children who saw – and felt – what made Derry so horribly different. In the storm drains, in the sewers, IT lurked, taking on the shape of every nightmare, each one’s deepest dread. Sometimes IT reached up, seizing, tearing, killing.

Review

Trying to properly summarize my feelings on a book with nearly half-a-million words in a couple of bullet points is an incredibly difficult task. I guess I should start by saying I was very excited to read this novel, which felt like a brick in my hand – but in a good way. I had heard about the clown (Pennywise) but had no idea about the overall plot details.

It encapsulates so much of what I enjoy about King novels. He is able to masterfully tell two different stories at the same time and weave his way back and forth effortlessly. On one side you have a group of children terribly frightened of a clown in a sewer and on the other side, you have the same group of children all grown up and terribly frightened of going back to face Pennywise. Incredibly structured and every character is fully developed (which should hopefully be a given considering how much paper King had at his disposal).

However, this book does struggle in parts (which again, should be expected) – but there is one scene that knocked It down to the middle of the pack.  Granted, I know this book is largely about the end of childhood and sex is a big part of that transition, but how King chose to portray this did not sit well with me.

Maybe it’s because I have a child and imagined him being involved in this scene, or maybe it’s because it was a ridiculous way to move the plot – and characters – forward. Either way, it’s one of my lasting memories from this novel, and that’s a shame.

Details

Pages: 1,156

Dates Read: July 30 – September 7, 2020

Quote: “We all float down here!”

Best Part: Many memorable moments – and scenes – in this novel, but my favorite is the opener.

Hint for #33: Arnold Schwarzenegger starred as the main character in a 1987 film loosely based off this book.

 

Until next time, peace be the journey.

 

Stephen King: #35 – Blaze

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#35 – Blaze

Plot

Blaze is the story of Clayton Blaisdell, Jr. — of the crimes committed against him and the crimes he commits, including his last, the kidnapping of a baby heir worth millions.

Blaze has been a slow thinker since childhood, when his father threw him down the stairs — and then threw him down again. After escaping an abusive institution for boys when he was a teenager, Blaze hooks up with George, a seasoned criminal who thinks he has all the answers. But then George is killed, and Blaze, though haunted by his partner, is on his own.

Review

I’ve previously talked about how I structured the order in which I read these Stephen King books. After some back-and-forth, I ultimately landed on reading the older books first (while also reading any new King release). At the end of the day, it led to Blaze being the last book I needed to read to finish my 13-year pilgrimage.

Blaze was published under the pseudonym Richard Bachman, but by now everyone knew that this was a Stephen King novel. He originally wrote it back in the 1970s, before he wrote Carrie. Very quickly it became a “trunk novel” and it wasn’t until 2007 that he re-wrote this story and offered it for publishing. Thank goodness this novel didn’t stay in that trunk, because it’s a well-told story that clearly drew inspiration from Of Mice and Men.

One of the many things I enjoy about King is his ability to write flawed – and special – characters. When he writes from the perspective of a dog, or a child, or someone suffering from a stutter, he’s able to bring the reader into their world. He does this with Blaze, who is our main character but is limited in his mental capacity. King expertly allows us to view the world from Blaze’s eyes and by doing so invokes a plethora of feelings – empathy, sorrow, and humor among many others.

Details

Pages: 320

Dates Read: July 2 – July 6, 2022

Quote: “Memories are contrary things; if you quit chasing them and turn your back, they often return on their own.”

Best Part: Blaze returning to the convenient store a second time had me absolutely rolling with laughter.

Hint for #34: Arguably one of Stephen King’s most famous novels. It’s hard to look at clowns and not think of this story.

 

Until next time, peace be the journey.

 

Stephen King: #36 – Firestarter

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#36 – Firestarter

Plot

Andy McGee and Vicky Tomlinson were once college students looking to make some extra cash, volunteering as test subjects for an experiment orchestrated by the clandestine government organization known as The Shop. But the outcome unlocked exceptional latent psychic talents for the two of them—manifesting in even more terrifying ways when they fell in love and had a child.

Review

Firestarter does everything right. It builds plot effectively, involves a couple of massive twists, has characters the reader will be invested in, and includes a well-developed main antagonist. Throw in some supernatural abilities, a family torn apart and an epic climax. Firestarter has very few flaws and instead is just a well-paced, interest-holding novel.

I’ve often thought about what book I would recommend for someone who has never read Stephen King. We discussed this briefly when recapping The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon, but Firestarter would be the ultimate choice. It efficiently showcases King’s ability to write plot, build suspense and isn’t massively long.

One day I may rank my favorite Stephen King antagonists. If that list ever comes to fruition, expect to see John Rainbird somewhere near the top. He’s a smart, creative and incredibly manipulative villain who has the upper hand throughout – until he doesn’t.

Details

Pages: 564

Dates Read: September – October 2019

Quote: “Life is short and pain is long and we were all put on this earth to help each other.”

Best Part: Everything that happens at the barn – including some Keanu Reeves Matrix bullet sequences.

Hint for #35: One of Jack’s favorite TV shows as a three-year old, involved Monster Machines and this title character.

 

Until next time, peace be the journey.