BEWARE OF SPOILERS

Thursday 28 April 2011

Pet Sematary – 26th April 2011

Pet Sematary
I’ve high hopes for Pet Sematary, not only from reviews and reader comments of it being the scariest of his books, but also, in the introduction King wrote in 2000, where he calls it his most frightening and he thought he’d gone too far and had to be persuaded to publish it. I haven’t got the book in front of me, so can’t provide the exact quote, but there’s the gist.


It’s safe to say, I’m really looking forward to this one. I’ve already made a start on the first few chapters and am hitting the ground running. Plenty of before bed sessions should get the dreams kick-started. Go on son!

Christine - 30th March – 26th April 2011

This was a new one for me and I wondered from the outset whether I’d be able to really engage with the story of a haunted car. Of course it’s about a lot more than that, particularly the shift from adolescence to adulthood and the inescapability of the past, but the fear factor is embroiled in the car’s supernatural self-driving, vengeful bloodlust and regenerative capabilities and LeBay’s possession of Arnie.

It didn’t really get to me. I got caught up in the build up and final confrontation between Dennis/Leigh/Petunia/Christine, but that’s more a testament to King’s suspenseful writing than submitting to the premise. There was a twinge as well, towards the end when Dennis is lamenting the disintegration of his friend and their friendship that gave the whole book an echo of the feel of The Body, in its part-reminiscence/part lament on adolescence and the loss of innocence.

While it wasn’t a scary book, it was a good read. I'm starting to feel like a bit of a blind apologist for King's works. Perhaps a part of me has auto-programmed to resist just coming out and saying this or that book was shit, as if it would undermine the whole endeavour of reading all of his books. We’ll see. There have definitely been one’s I’ve enjoyed more than others so far, but I wouldn’t say any of them were shit. I’ll probably do a list of favourite to least one of these days. Bet you can’t wait, you shitters.


Listening:
Trap Them - Darker Handcraft
Victims - A Dissident
Chris T-T - Everything
NOFX - Everything
Also had a second crack at Alan Moore and Eddie Campbell's From Hell and finished it this time.  Is it possible to know and appreciate something is very good and be very impressed by it even if you didn't particularly enjoy it?  Yes? That's OK then.