My Year with King: January 2010

Friday, 29 January 2010

Update: Week 4

Week 4

Novel: Carrie

Published: 1974

Pages read: 51 - 242 (/242)

Novel: 'Salem's Lot

Published: 1975

Pages read: 1-76 (/478)

Wednesday, 27 January 2010

Carrie White and I have a history together, she was my first: Carrie was the first novel I ever read from cover to cover in one go. I’ve since only done that with two other books, Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone, and Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets.

The novel Carrie almost didn’t see the light of day, after King threw the start of it away, believing he didn’t know enough about teenage girls to be true to the character. His wife, Tabatha, retrieved the pages, liked what she read, and encouraged King to finish it.

The horror in Carrie doesn’t come from the girl herself or the telekinetic powers she is realising she processes, but more from those around her, namely her mother, Margaret White, and a girl at school, Christine Hargensen. Margaret White is a religious zealot, whose twisted view of the Bible and Christ, which are far removed from the truth, makes what she does to Carrie throughout the novel truly terrifying. She believes that everything she is doing is for the good of Carrie’s soul: the beatings, the verbal tirades, and locking Carrie in a cupboard full of violent religious imagery; all of it is the way in which she can get rid of the power of the Devil she believes is in her daughter. As Carrie grew up, and glimpses of her power started to show themselves, Margaret tried to kill her daughter, and when she failed she believed that it is her own weakness stopping her from going through with it. Carrie’s fear of her mother builds up inside her, waiting for something that will trigger the pent up release.

This is where Christine Hargensen comes in. She is what I call a typical high school bitch. She has a group of followers that are too scared to go against her, and because her father is a lawyer she thinks she is untouchable by the authority of the school. When Carrie gets her first period, and believes she is bleeding to death, which due to her mother's religious convictions she hasn’t told Carrie about it, Christine leads the rest of the girls in a session of taunting Carrie. Afterwards, though the other girls believe they may have gone too far, Christine, because of the punishment she receives from the Principle because of the incident, decides that Carrie will have to pay, culminating in a plan to get Carrie to the school prom and humiliate her further by covering her in pig’s blood.

One of the girls who was involved in the taunting of Carrie, Susan Snell, decides as a way of trying to make up for her part in it, convinces her boyfriend, Tommy Ross, to take Carrie to the prom instead of her, which he does.

Both the actions of her mother and Christine, unleash Carrie’s power resulting in death and destruction of anybody and anything that gets in Carrie’s path.

The novel is a good read, and is a worthy introduction into King’s work. This is the fifth time I’ve read it, and no doubt I’ll read it again and again in the years to come.

Friday, 22 January 2010

Update: Week 3

Week 3

Novel: Under the Dome

Published: 2009

Pages read: 597 - 877 (/877)

Novel: Carrie

Published: 1974

Pages read: 1 - 50 (/242)

Monday, 18 January 2010

Under the Dome: Review

After 18 days I have finished Under the Dome. Unlike some of King’s novels, I found that this one went at a really fast pace, which kept me interested from the first word to the last. In his Author’s Note, King credits Nan Graham, who edited Under the Dome, for keeping him focused on moving the plot along by writing in the margins, ’Faster Steve! Faster!’ which he most certainly does.

The main protagonist and antagonist are polar opposites. Dale Barbara is an ex-soldier who just wants a quiet life, and after an altercation with some of the town’s hooligans, decides that it would be best to just walk away from the trouble and leave town, only to be stopped by the appearance of the Dome.

‘Big’ Jim Rennie, on the other hand, is the puppet master of the town of Chester’s Mill’s Town Officials. Not putting himself up for the top job, but controlling every decision they make for his own ends. When the Dome appears, he even uses that to his own advantage. His public image is of a God fearing Christian, but in truth he is as far from Christ-like as he could get, even murdering anyone who gets in his way.

King bring us in Under the Dome, characters that you’ll love and long for them to make it through life under the Dome, and characters you’ll hate, and hope that they get what they deserve. As this is not overtly a horror novel, it is not just a book that King fans will love, but one that any reader will enjoy.

Friday, 15 January 2010

... they picked up the pieces in a basket.

It's the end of the second week of my project to spend the years reading Stephen King novels, and I'm really enjoying it. At the moment I am well into Under the Dome, King's newest novel, and I'm glad ot say that it has kept me engaged from the very first word. I do find most books I start to read can be very hard for me to get into, including some of King's, and I wondered if I was going to fall at the first hurdle, but I am glad to say I haven't.

In Under the Dome there are a vast number of characters, some that are easy to love and route for, and others that are easy to hate and you would punch if you met them in real life. My hope is that those I love will make it to the end, and those I hate will get what's coming to them, but I'll have to wait and see.

Below is an interview with Stephen King, about Under the Dome, and his writing life in general. It's also where I got the title of this post from... you'll see what I mean.