#62 – Dreamcatcher

Plot

Once upon a time, in the haunted city of Derry, four boys stood together and did a brave thing. Certainly a good thing, perhaps even a great thing. Something that changed them in ways they could never begin to understand.

Twenty-five years later, the boys are now men with separate lives and separate troubles. But the ties endure. Each hunting season the foursome reunites in the woods of Maine. This year, a stranger stumbles into their camp, disoriented, mumbling something about lights in the sky. His incoherent ravings prove to be disturbingly prescient. Before long, these men will be plunged into a horrifying struggle with a creature from another world. Their only chance of survival is locked in their shared past – and in the Dreamcatcher.

Review

Stephen King was involved in a near-fatal car accident in 1999. While recovering – and heavily partaking in Oxycontin – King wrote Dreamcatcher. It shows. This is a clunky and underdeveloped novel. As King himself said, “I don’t like Dreamcatcher very much.” Either did I.

On the surface – there’s a lot to like about Dreamcatcher. It involves four childhood friends. It reads from multiple perspectives. It includes flashbacks. It’s set in Derry, Maine.  However, the way King both paced and layered this book was clumsy. Clearly the publishers were just happy to keep printing King books that they overlooked the editing process.

An observant reader will notice a theme with several of the books at the bottom of these rankings: too long. (That’s what she said.)

Details

Pages: 621

Dates Read: February – April 2022

Quote: “SSDD. Same Shit Different Day.”

Best Part: Only Stephen King could come up with what happens to the stranger in the cabin bathroom.

Hint for #61: Typically, if you encounter this while in your car it will slow you down.

 

Until next time, peace be the journey.