Tag: Writing

Stephen King: #50 – The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon

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

#50 – The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon

Plot

The brochure promised a “moderate-to-difficult” six-mile hike on the Maine-New Hampshire branch of the Appalachian Trail, where nine-year-old Trisha McFarland was to spend Saturday with her older brother, Pete, and her recently divorced mother. When she wanders off to escape their constant bickering, then tries to catch up by attempting to shortcut through the woods, Trisha strays deeper into a wilderness full of peril and terror. Especially when night falls.

Review

If I somehow stole Doc Brown’s DeLorean and bumped into my 12-year-old self, I would tell him to start his Stephen King journey with The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon. It’s not overtly horrific but does tell a compact story about something we can all relate to – getting lost in the woods.

Character development lacks a little in this book, but it’s made up for with pinpoint scene construction. You really feel as if you are in the woods with Trisha and completely empathize with her situation. Throw in a little delusional fear and it’s almost impossible not to root for Trisha – even despite her infatuation with the Boston Red Sox.

This book is grounded in reality and expertly told by King. There’s no giant lesson or moral to be learned here nor is there anything wrong with that.

Details

Pages: 224

Dates Read: September 1 – September 6, 2016

Quote: “The world had teeth and it could bite you with them anytime it wanted.”

Best Part: The first night in the woods – filled with terror, confusion, despair – are all expertly captured by King.

Hint for #49: Just when I thought I had finished the entire Dark Tower Series – this novel comes along.

 

Until next time, peace be the journey.

Stephen King: #51 – Rose Madder

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

#51 – Rose Madder

Plot

After surviving fourteen years of hell in a violently abusive marriage, Rosie Daniels finally summons the courage to flee for her life. But leaving her husband, Norman, for a new city and a new start is a very daunting prospect. It’s hard for Rosie not to keep looking over her shoulder, and with good reason—Norman’s a police officer with the instincts of a predator, a force of relentless terror and savagery … a man almost mythic in his monstrosity. He’s very good at finding people, even if he is losing his mind. Rosie’s only hope for salvation may lie in a far more dangerous place, where she must become her own myth and the woman she never knew she could be.

Review

Similar to Dolores Claiborne, Rose Madder discusses spousal abuse – although this particular novel does so with more graphic/vivid detail. It also features the abusive spouse in a much more dramatic fashion.

Had this novel adopted the Dolores Claiborne philosophy of having zero supernatural elements, it would likely be ranked higher. For those supernatural elements in Rose Madder are much more distracting than additive and take away from a solid story with a truly horrific antagonist. King does an excellent job of showing how brutal Norman is and how much Rosie is overwhelmingly scared of him. Unfortunately for Rosie – Norman is a well-respected police officer and uses that skillset wisely to track her down once she fleas.

The bones for a great cat-and-mouse book are here, but then King detours into the paranormal and the book suffers because of it.

Details

Pages: 656

Dates Read: May – June 2021

Quote: “In that instant she knew what it must feel like to cross a river into a foreign country, and then set fire to the bridge behind you, and stand on the riverbank, watching and breathing deeply as your only chance of retreat went up in smoke.”

Best Part: Norman was a genuinely horrible guy, but I got to give him credit for the disguise and his plan of action at the festival. Brilliant.

Hint for #50: The only Stephen King title that features a real professional baseball player.

 

Until next time, peace be the journey.

Stephen King: #52 – Dolores Claiborne

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#52 – Dolores Claiborne

Plot

When Vera Donovan, one of the wealthiest and most ill-natured residents of Maine’s Little Tall Island, dies suddenly in her home, suspicion is immediately cast on her housekeeper and caretaker, Dolores Claiborne.

Dolores herself is no stranger to such mistrust, thanks to the local chatter and mysterious circumstances surrounding her abusive husband’s death twenty-nine years earlier. But if this is truly to be the day of Dolores Claiborne’s reckoning, she has a few things of her own that she’d like to get off her chest … and begins to confess a spirited, intimate, and harrowing tale of the darkest secrets hidden within her hardscrabble existence, revealing above all one woman’s unwavering determination to weather the storm of her life with grace and protect the one she loves, no matter what the cost.

Review

A unique book in the fact that it’s one long monologue told in the first person. No chapter breaks, no differing point-of-views, and no flashbacks. It’s simply Dolores Claiborne telling her story. Don’t get me wrong – it’s an interesting story and held my attention throughout – but it oftentimes reads like one long run-on sentence.

Dolores Claiborne was written the same year as Gerald’s Game (1992) and both share a common theme of women dealing with a crisis during an eclipse. Some label this as King’s feminist period. When you consider that Rose Madder came out soon after, it’s hard to argue that label, as men are not portrayed in the best of light in all three of those novels.

The story itself is well-told and deals with major issues such as anxiety, depression and spousal abuse. The characters are well-developed – especially Dolores and Vera. There’s a lot to like about this novel – but the strange structure didn’t sit well with me.

Details

Pages: 395

Dates Read: March – May 2021

Quote: “Sometimes being a bitch is all a woman’s got to hold on to.”

Best Part: It’ll be very difficult to look at an outside well and not think of this story.

Hint for #51: If a piece of artwork has ever spoken to you, then this is your novel.

 

Until next time, peace be the journey.

Stephen King: #53 – The Colorado Kid

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#53 – The Colorado Kid

Plot

On an island off the coast of Maine, a man is found dead. There’s no identification on the body. Only the dogged work of a pair of local newspapermen and a graduate student in forensics turns up any clues. But that’s just the beginning of the mystery. Because the more they learn about the man and the baffling circumstances of his death, the less they understand. Was it an impossible crime? Or something stranger still…?

Review

J.J. Abrams talks a lot about the idea of a “The Mystery Box.” Imagine you are handed a locked box, one that you have no idea what is inside. He says that if you keep the box closed anything could be inside it – and only when you open it does the box lose all its value. I thought a lot about that analogy when reading The Colorado Kid.

Critics of this Hard Case Crime will often cite how the book is boring and doesn’t go anywhere. To me, that is missing the point of the story – which is not every question needs to be answered. Some stay in The Mystery Box forever because the answer would not be nearly as satisfying. If only LOST could have remembered that point at the end of Season Six.

I’ve mentioned how much some of the endings to these novels disappoint me. It’s important to call-out that endings don’t mean complete closure. When I speak of “endings” I’m simply referring to the final pages of the book. I don’t need everything to be buttoned up if it fits with the story being told. In this case, The Colorado Kid has a great ending – BECAUSE nothing gets resolved. The Mystery Box stays closed, and the story is better for it.

Details

Pages: 178

Dates Read: September 12 – September 19, 2015

Quote: “Sooner or later, everything old is new again.”

Best Part: The discovery which led to John Doe becoming The Colorado Kid.

Hint for #52: The only Stephen King novel that is a single-continuous narrative. It was turned into a Kathy Bates movie and an opera.

 

Until next time, peace be the journey.

Stephen King: #54 – Christine

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

#54 – Christine

Plot

It’s love at first sight for high school student Arnie Cunningham when he and his best friend Dennis Guilder spot the dilapidated 1958 red-and-white Plymouth Fury for sale—dubbed “Christine” by its original cantankerous owner—rusting away on a front lawn of their suburban Pennsylvania neighborhood.

Dennis knows that Arnie’s never had much luck in the looks or popularity department, or really taken an interest in owning a car . . . but Christine quickly changes all that. Arnie suddenly has the newfound confidence to stick up for himself, going as far as dating the most beautiful girl at Libertyville High—transfer student Leigh Cabot—even as a mysteriously restored Christine systematically and terrifyingly consumes every aspect of Arnie’s life.

Review

Christine is a good book. It’s well-written, develops multiple characters in tidy fashion and tells a complete and action-packed story. On the surface, this has all the makeup of a Top 20 Stephen King novel. And it likely would have, had it not featured a demon-possessed car as its main antagonist. I just couldn’t get past that – especially when the “female” car starts to get jealous of real female humans.

The plot is well thought-out and is continually moving, which says a lot considering Christine checks in north of 700 pages. Christine held my attention throughout, has plenty of diverse characters and takes us back to the 1950s-60s with exceptional detail.

Maybe I have a problem with King and bringing life to everyday items (like trains and cars). Maybe I find it juvenile or maybe I just want my imagination stretched a bit further. Whatever the reason, it ultimately holds back otherwise solid novels like The Waste Lands and Christine.

Details

Pages: 721

Dates Read: June – July 2020

Quote: “If being a kid is about learning how to live, then being a grown-up is about learning how to die.”

Best Part: Even demon-possessed cars have issues with septic tanker trucks.

Hint for #53: Haven, a five-season show on SyFy that debuted in 2010 was loosely based off this novel.

 

Until next time, peace be the journey.