Part 4—Reviews: Books
Section 1—The Ones by King
On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft
Posted: June 30, 2000
Finally, it was time for King’s second nonfiction book, On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft, to be published. To be really honest I was a bit nervous and skeptical about it. Why? Well, to be honest, I didn’t like the first one, Danse Macabre, all that much.
When it comes to King’s writing, I prefer the fiction over the nonfiction, as I think many of his fans do, although not all. Of course, I do read the nonfiction stuff as well, but not with the same eagerness as I do with his fiction. Danse Macabre dealt rather much with what King liked to read and watch, stuff I haven’t read or seen myself, which makes the book less interesting to me. Actually Danse Macabre is the only book by King I had a hard time getting through. [I guess this is why I was worried at first that On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft was going to be another nonfiction book.]
Then, at the end of last year, when you could download an excerpt from On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft, I instantly calmed down. What I read could best be described as a biography, and what a biography!
What do I now think about On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft after reading it? Well, it’s a great book…most of the time. The first part, where King tells us about his childhood, is wonderful! He tells us about the babysitter from hell, Eula—Beulah. He tells us about how his brother, Dave, released Dave’s Rag. He tells us about how he meets Tabitha. He tells us about his mother’s death. He also, in a very open way, tells us about his drinking and drug problems.
What we get here is an extremely open and honest overview of King’s life. It really feels like King is telling us all there is to tell. King also tells us that he now has been clean for about twelve years, and I’m extremely happy for him!
After the strong opening the book turns weak though. We now get an English grammar lecture about verbs and adjectives from King. Even though I probably need it, I think it gets tiresome to read. I’m not a writer myself (and probably never will be), so this doesn’t appeal to me much, and I just felt that this part of the book was hard to get through. While I was reading this section, I felt I wanted to know more about King’s childhood, instead; I wanted more of the stuff from the first part.
After the grammar section comes more writing tips. This part is more interesting though. Here King tells us about how he wrote specific books, and this is very interesting to know. Among the things he talks about is how Misery was written. This part is a real joy to read. I love getting background on King’s work. Unfortunately, this part of the book is a bit heavy, as was the grammar section. When King talks about writing in general, it gets a bit uninteresting to me, probably because I’m not a writer myself. It becomes a bit like reading an instruction book about a thing you don’t have!
When you get through this part of the book (which isn’t all that bad, but a bit too long for me), you do get rewarded. There came a chapter in which King tells about his accident last year. For the first time you get all of the information you read in the papers confirmed or denied. King tells us how he, after the accident, came to and saw Bryan Smith sitting on a rock, looking at him as if he were looking at a TV show. King also tells us how he thought he would die in the helicopter when he couldn’t breathe because of the punctured lung. Similar to the book’s first part, I feel that King is very open and honest when he tells us about the accident. It feels like he tells it exactly the way it was, and you really feel for him!
Lilja’s final words about On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft
If you’re a big King fan this book is a must read! (Even if you’re not a writer yourself…)
If you’re a sporadic King reader who only likes King’s fiction, then this might not be the book for you. You don’t have anything else to read? Well, then, give it a try, you can always give it up if you don’t like it, right? You might actually end up enjoying his non-fiction work. However, if you only like books like IT and The Stand, then you might want to try something else…but you’d be missing out!
****
Dreamcatcher
Posted: January 23, 2001
We’re in Derry. It’s 1978. Something big is happening…four young boys are doing a brave thing—perhaps even a great thing…
In Dreamcatcher, King tells the story about Beav, Pete, Henry and Jonesy, four boys living in Derry. One day in 1978, they save Duddits (who is retarded) from being harassed by some bullies. This is a brave thing considering the bullies are both bigger and stronger than they are; a great thing considering that it will affect the future of mankind…
After saving Duddits, the four friends spend a lot of time with him, something both they and he enjoy. It turns out, though, that spending time with Duddits changes the four of them. It gives them a special gift; it gives them the gift of telepathy.
When the boys get older, the four of them leave Derry. Duddits is left behind. They spread like the wind and don’t have as much to do with each other like they did when they where children. They do, however, get together every November in the woods of Maine to hunt. They have a place called the Hole in the Wall where they stay for a week and talk, play cards and occasionally shoot deer.
Dreamcatcher has a strong connection to IT, not just because it partly takes place in Derry: The Losers Club and its members are actually mentioned in the book. Dreamcatcher is also connected to IT by the way the story is told. King mixes past and present (as he does in IT), telling us what the four of them were like as kids in 1978 and how they are now as adults. Dreamcatcher is greatly told by King. I like its style a lot.
The present time in the novel is November 2001; yes, King is telling this story as if it is already November 2001. This time, when the four of them are at the Hole in the Wall, things go horribly wrong. One day a man named McCarthy stumbles into their lives, telling them he has been lost in the woods for some time. When they get him into the house he starts farting—farts that smell like nothing the others have ever smelled before. At first they blame it on what he must have eaten from the woods while lost. It turns out, though, that he is, in a way, pregnant…
Inside of him, a shit-weasel is growing and all hell breaks loose. It turns out that a spaceship carrying aliens and something called Byrus has crashed in the woods. The Byrus (or Ripleys, as the military calls it) appears extremely contagious and spreads quickly. The military soon seizes control over the area. The man in charge, Kurtz, leads an attack against the aliens, blowing up their ship, killing them all and eliminating the danger. Or so he thinks…
Henry, who escapes from the woods, is caught by the military and put in a barn with about two to three hundred other civilians (mostly hunters) who will soon be executed. Kurtz doesn’t want to leave any witnesses behind.
When King describes the military, its camp and the virus situation, I get the feeling I’m reading The Stand all over again. Not because any of the characters, places or events from The Stand are mentioned, but because of the spreading Byrus.
After a while, people are starting to notice that the aliens brought more than the Byrus and the Byrum. They also brought telepathy. People are starting to be able to read each other’s minds. Henry feels that Jonesy, who has been abducted by Mr. Gray (the only surviving alien), is about to do something horrible. Henry knows he has to stop him. With the help of telepathy he convinces Owen, who is Kurtz’s right-hand man, to help him. Owen helps Henry break out of the camp, setting the other prisoners free, and by doing so creates a bloodbath.
Soon they are on Mr. Gray’s/Jonesy’s trail. He is heading for Quabbin Reservoir—Shaft 12, to be exact. Mr. Gray plans to dump the body of a dog in the shaft. The dog, which has a Byrum growing inside, will be dumped in the water and serve as the Byrum’s home until it’s adapted to the climate.
Henry and Owen have to stop Mr. Gray, but to do it, they need Duddits. As they pass Derry to pick him up, they find out he is dying of leukemia. No one had even know
n he was sick. Here, King really plays on the reader’s emotions and is successful in doing so— some parts of the story are really sad.
As if having to catch Mr. Gray isn’t enough for Henry, Owen and Duddits, there is more. Kurtz is on their heels. He feels Owen has stepped over the line and is going to make him pay for it…
Lilja’s final words about Dreamcatcher
I liked this book a lot and I think most King fans will as well. King tells a really good story in a great way, with many jumps between past and present, dreams and reality. I was also surprised by how the story developed for the four main characters. I won’t say what happens, but to me it was a bit of a surprise.
The climax of the book is also very exciting. I was practically on nails for the last one hundred pages or so and had a really hard time putting the book down. Besides being both exciting and sad, Dreamcatcher is also one of the bloodiest and goriest books King has written. One particular scene in a bathroom is truly gruesome…I also predict that the book’s ending will be widely debated.
As most of you know, this book has already been destined to be a movie. I think that will be a hard task to fulfill—much of what happened can only be imagined in the reader’s mind. I know the technique in Hollywood is great, but this is one story they won’t be able to tell in a satisfying way.
So, my advice is: go out and get Dreamcatcher now! Dreamcatcher is King at his best!
****
Secret Window, Secret Garden (audio)
Posted: February 14, 2001
First, let me tell you that I’m no big listener of audiobooks. I usually just read the book instead of listening to them from the stereo or my walkman. Now and then there are some audiobooks that are worth listening to though. Secret Window, Secret Garden is one of them.
What makes this one so unique, you might ask. Well, for one thing, it’s not just someone reading the book (not that that’s necessarily a bad thing)—it’s a dramatization of the book. This has been done before, I know. The Mist is one example, and the newly released version of Pet Sematary is another. This current release, from British BBC radio, might very well be the best one yet.
It’s terrifically performed and the actors, Henry Goodman (as Mort Rainey) and William Roberts (John Shooter), do a superb job. There are other actors and actresses as well, but these two are the ones who have the two big parts of the story.
I have always been a bit skeptical about dramatizations, as they are so easy to screw up. The Mist is one dramatization that I’m not that fond of. The story is good, but there is too much noise in the background, making it a bit hard to follow the story. Thankfully, this is not the case with Secret Window, Secret Garden—there is just the right mix of actors, background noises and sound effects.
I guess most of you know what the story itself is about by now, but for those of you who don’t, I’ll tell you. Secret Window, Secret Garden tells the story of author Mort Rainey, who one day gets a visit from a man named Shooter claiming that Mort plagiarized one of Shooter’s stories. Mort does everything he can to prove that this is wrong, without success. The more he tries, the more violent Shooter gets. [SPOILER ALERT! Skip to next paragraph if you don’t want to know!] After committing a murder (which he can pin Mort to), Shooter demands that Mort write another story, using Shooter’s name as the author, which would make them even.
Secret Window, Secret Garden is one of my personal favorites among King’s shorter works. It’s a well-told story and its surprisingly twisted ending is just wonderful. The beauty of this dramatization is that they have succeeded in preserving King’s voice in the story. It’s still the same wonderful story that King tells in Four Past Midnight. Great work!
As if this wasn’t enough enjoyment, we also get an interview with King at the end. It’s an interview with Mark Lawson from back in 1998 when King visited the U.K. to promote Bag of Bones, and even though it’s a bit out-of-date it’s still an interesting interview. In it, King says, among many other things, that he might be getting to the end of his career (something that hasn’t happened yet)—something that stirred up the King-fan community quite badly at the time.
Lilja’s final words about Secret Window, Secret Garden (audio)
So, how do I best summarize my experience of listening to Secret Window, Secret Garden? Well, it’s easy: go out and get this audio dramatization now! It’s a great story that has been dramatized in a very engaging way. You can’t lose!
This audio dramatization has been in the making for quite some time. I know I first read about it approximately two years ago, but then nothing happened. Now, it’s finally out. I don’t know why it was delayed, but I’m glad it’s out now. I enjoyed all 1½ hours (about two hours if you include the interview) big time!
****
Pet Sematary (audio)
Posted: March 31, 2001
When I got my review copy of Pet Sematary I also got a copy of the dramatization of Secret Window, Secret Garden. After listening to Secret Window, Secret Garden I was totally sold on dramatized versions of King’s work. I loved that one.
It was with that thought that I sat down to listen to Pet Sematary. Unfortunately, I was deeply disappointed with it. Was I disappointed because I expected something like Secret Window, Secret Garden? Probably! A lot of my disappointment has to do with the cast, even if not all of it was their fault.
I think that Pet Sematary is far too rich of a book to turn into a three-hour dramatized version. It has too much plot and story for that, and you are bound to lose some of it. I also feel that it’s a really graphic book, too graphic to work as a dramatization. It’s a book where the reader needs to make up the images himself. The BBC should have realized this before picking this story. Again, it’s not the cast’s fault.
I also want to say that I do like Pet Sematary a lot, but here it’s too compact and too short. It’s being told too fast. I guess it would be hard to make this one fly as a dramatization (even if it would have been twice as long) and I’m sure the director (Gordon House) did his best, but it’s just not enough. This book wasn’t meant for it, it’s as simple as that!
What about the cast then? Well, I don’t really know how to say it in a nice way, but most of them really suck big-time when they have to show some kind of emotion! The worst ones are John Sharian (Louis Creed) and Sarah Benichou (Ellie Creed). When Louis is supposed to sound frightened and/or upset he sounds like a tortured pig. He is hissing out the words in a way that is painfully embarrassing to hear.
When it comes to Ellie, it’s her credibility. In some scenes she sounds like she is three years old and in some she sounds like nineteen. Very confusing. It makes it hard to feel for the character—you can’t help laughing at her sometimes.
The other actors and actresses are somewhat better though. Briony Glassco (Rachel Creed), Mark Bonnar (Victor Pascow) and the others manage to do their parts, but not much more. The only one I really like is Lee Montague (Jud Crandall), who is the best in this group. One out of more than ten is far from good enough though.
In the U.K. this dramatization aired in six parts and I’m not sure if that worked to its benefit, but I guess it doesn’t make it worse.
Lilja’s final words about Pet Sematary (audio)
If you want to hear a great dramatization of King’s work, skip this one and get Secret Window, Secret Garden, and if you want to hear the story Pet Sematary, get the book!
****
LT’s Theory of Pets (audio)
Posted: July 19, 2001
When I first read LT’s Theory of Pets, I must admit that it wasn’t my favorite. It was funny, but I didn’t really like the ending. I thought it left too much hanging and that the story didn’t finish properly.
Yesterday, when I listened to the audio version of the story, read by King himself, I still felt that the ending leaves me hanging a bit, but the story gets so much better when it’s read by King instead of when you read it yourself.
I’m aware that a lot of fans don’t think tha
t King should read his own books, that he doesn’t have the right voice for it. Personally, I feel the complete opposite. I think King is a superb reader and that his voice works very well for reading stories. I also feel that it’s a plus if the author reads his own works. He, if anyone, should be able to get it right, right?
The story is about LT, who has a special theory about pets. In the story he tells us how he got a cat—Lucy or Screwlucy, like his wife Lulu likes to call her—for Lulu on their anniversary. Lulu got him a dog called Frank. After a while it turns out that Frank hates LT but loves Lulu, and Lucy loves LT and hates Lulu. Confusing? Don’t worry, King tells the story in a great way. This is the basic element in the story LT is telling and what his theory is based on. I won’t say anything more about the story itself, which would spoil it for you. You will understand when you hear it.
I will tell you, though, that at the beginning of the tape, which was recorded at the Royal Festival Hall in London, back in 1998 when King was promoting Bag of Bones, King tells us a bit about this story’s history. At the beginning it was meant to be a fun story. As King wrote it, it passed over from funny to dark at moments, but even so, this is one of King’s funniest stories, and the darker parts are shorter than usual and are mostly present in the somewhat unexpected ending.
The downside to this audiobook isn’t so much the story itself, but more the packaging of it. The publisher has put this story, which is approximately one hour long all by itself, on one tape. This means that it’s a rather expensive story. When Hodder released it the first time back in 1999 they also included an interview with King on the tape. This interview isn’t on the LT’s Theory of Pets tape, which is sad since it’s a rather good one.
Lilja's Library Page 27