Misery: 31st January 2012

I'm really excited about this one. For a couple of reasons. I've read it before and know it's a goodie (not forgetting the film - I'll definitely be hunting it down once I've read it) but also, I've just read Walker Percy's The Moviegoer so am ready for an easier read. I know The Moviegoer isn't a densely, didactic tome, but its reading demanded a fair degree of intellectual application and interpretation. It does for me anyway. I'm currently researching critical thought on the book and Kierkegaard's philosophical influence and their confluence with Percy's own ideas on existentialism and subjective experience. All good fun, but I'm ready for a page-turner.Let's go!

The Dark Tower II: The Drawing of the Three: 19th-24th January 2012

I'm more than happy to say I really, really enjoyed this one.  After my disappointment with The Gunslinger - http://thekinglongread.blogspot.com/2011/02/gunslinger-dark-tower-i-14th-jan-19th.html *(more on this below)- it was a relief to find that I got right into the thing straight away and charged through it.  I especially took pleasure in how often I found myself looking forward to the next time I'd be able to pick the book back up and get on with the story.

These days it's almost unheard of for me to read a 450 page book in a few days.  It's both a relief and a reassurance that I can make the time and maintain the concentration in the face of the Internet and the iphone, not forgetting marriage, parenthood and employment, to achieve such a feat.

So, why and what did I like about this book?  I think the main draw this time was the gunslinger's increased humanity.  While he's still nails and a borderline sociopath, it was much easier to warm to him here than in The Gunslinger.  I don't know whether you feel it necessary to like your protagonist to enjoy a book, but it must help.  I remember reading Camus' The Outsider and not liking or enjoying the book in the slightest bit because I found the main guy an absolute tool.  I know that was part of the point and the reader should be able to appreciate the work with an artistic detachment, I just couldn't bridge that gap.
I know it's not essential to be able to identify with the hero - I'm not that much of a simpleton - but you can't deny that it makes the reading that bit smoother.
The story itself was compelling.  The mixture of the slowly closing doorway to progression on the quest with the well-written horror of the beach scenes and the rip-roaring tales of the gunslinger's interloping in the minds of The Prisoner, The Lady of Shadows and The Pusher.

I was going to say there were a couple of things in the book that I wasn't that bothered about, but really it's just one big thing.  The Odetta/Detta thread didn't do much for me.  It seemed a protracted way of constructing the twist of the three that were actually drawn in the end.  I'm not saying it wasn't a nice and satisfactory twist, it was just a thread where the destination interested me much more than the journey.

It's something of a challenge to satisfactorily view the book as an isolated work in itself.  Yes, I know it's a volume within a larger work and can't (or shouldn't) be divorced from its place in the greater tale.  But still, it's a novel and should have enough of narrative arc to exist independently.  What I'm really getting at is; is there a limit to how much a book can rely on its existent volumes for details and character traits that this one will only tell you about and never show.  And equally; can an author only get away with so many obscure nods to the future and the promise that this detail will be really significant or 'if you just keep on the road with me for another n pages, the story is really going to take off'?
I'm not really levelling any charges at King here, rather just giving voice to ideas that crossed my mind as I came to the end of the book.  It's fair to say I'm very much looking forward to continuing on Roland's quest for the Dark Tower, there's just the small matter of four novels and a collection of novellas to see off first.

*On the subject of The Gunslinger - when I came to starting reading The Drawing of the Three, there was a bit of a recap of The Gunslinger and I found myself thinking 'really? I don't remember that'.  Clearly my memory is toss.  So, in an effort to refresh my shitty memory and find out whether I'd missed something that would have made me appreciate the book more as well as looking back with a modicum of context surrounding Roland, the man in black and the tower quest, I'm currently listening to the audiobook version of The Gunslinger, read by Stephen King himself.  It would have made sense to have finished it before I got to the end of The Drawing of the Three but things didn't work out that way.  Do they ever.  Anyway, once I'm done I'll be back with a re-review.

Thanks for reading.

The Dark Tower II: The Drawing of the Three - 19th January 2012

So, I read Jeff Lemire’s Essex County once I’d finished The Eyes of the Dragon and it was so, so good. I can’t recommend it enough. The artwork is stark, distinctive and beautiful and the story is heart-breakingly moving and real but its heaviness doesn’t drag it down. It’s a thing of wonder.

Anyway, back to The Dark Tower. I didn’t care much for The Gunslinger so am hoping for a vast improvement. I am reliably informed by Laura of http://devouringtexts.blogspot.com/ that it is “The Dark Tower is the best ever!” so my expectations are still pretty high.

Onward!

The Eyes of Dragon: 8th-16th January 2012

A nice, quick one; that just about sums up the whole book and my response to it.

Not knowing anything about the book beforehand, it’s apparent in the first pages that it falls squarely in the fantasy genre.  I’ve got to say, I’m not sure how I feel about the fantasy as a genre.  It’s not something I generally read, but don’t have an outright aversion to it.  I think people who reject whole genres of literature are idiots.  Whatever setting they’re in, the stories are all about people being people and, while not always groundbreaking, they’re often revelatory or at least illuminative of our capacity to cover the spectrum of good and bad behaviour.

It’s also quickly apparent that this is an all-ages book.  There’s no horror, no bad language or sex etc.  It’s just a nice, wholesome story of good vs. evil in a fantasy land of magic, dragons and kings and queens in their castles.  From reading this (http://www.stephenking.com/library/novel/eyes_of_the_dragon_the_inspiration.html) King wrote the book for his then 13 year old daughter who wasn’t keen on his horror stories.  It feels to me like an author flexing his writing abilities and trying his hand at a genre exercise outside of his usual fare.  As I’ve already said, it’s a nice story, nicely written and, of course, has a nice ending (I don’t think that comes close to spoiling it) but that really is it.  I haven’t even got anything bad to say about it.  I don’t have a great deal of praise for it either.  I will say that I happily charged through it, was very interested to see how things would turn out in the end and did get caught up in the race against time, was touched by the loyalty between friends and fealty of servant to master.  It will serve as the perfect introduction to his works for my own children when they get a little older.

That he would eventually come to see his grand fantasy series, The Dark Tower, as his true magnum opus is interesting and a little disconcerting at this stage as I’m not really buzzing at the prospect of spending more time in a fantasy land.  Presumably, The Dark Tower is a lot more grown-up?  As The Dark Tower II: The Drawing of the Three is next on my list, I guess I’ll be finding out sooner than later.

Well, once I’ve read Jeff Lemire’s Essex County Trilogy.  My wife got it for me at Christmas and I've been looking for an opportunity to read it without interrupting the King mission.  As I'm now waiting for my local library to find a copy of The Drawing of the Three - now's as good a time as any.

If you're into comics, or not, check out Jeff Lemire's Sweet Tooth series.  It's so good!  In fact, anything he's put his hand to is worth a look.

The King Long View...continued

I started this post in August last year, but failed miserably in finishing and posting it.  I’ve watched quite a few of the film adaptations recently and meant to write a bit about them at the time but, of course, indolence always wins out; that and the indomitable wariness of ever espousing a critical opinion.

29/03/11            The Shawshank Redemption

http://thekinglongread.blogspot.com/2011/02/different-seasons-rita-haywo-rth-and.html


I’ll come straight out and say I love this film.  I know there’s some mixed opinion on it, and I summed up mine in a recent tweet – “If you don’t love The Shawshank Redemption, you are either a reactant douche, dead inside or a fucking liar.”

I don’t know about it being one of the best films of all time, but it’s one of my favourites.  Aside from the fact that there’s a yawning chasm between something being critically good and it’s potential to be enjoyed, I can’t help but feel that anyone’s dislike for the film is fuelled by a desire to buck the trend.

30/03/11            Stand by Me

http://thekinglongread.blogspot.com/2011/03/different-seasons-20th-february-29th.html

This film gets better each time I watch it.  It’s one of the few films where comparisons between it and the book are largely meaningless and the realm of trolling donkeys.

04/04/11            Apt Pupil

http://thekinglongread.blogspot.com/2011/03/different-seasons-apt-pupil-22nd-march.html

McKellan’s always great, but the kid was just annoying.  I guess that was the point, so he did a good job, but it made it hard to get behind. 

02/05/11            Christine

http://thekinglongread.blogspot.com/2011/04/christine-30th-march-26th-april-2011.html

Shit.  Can’t be bothered to explain, except to say that Arnie was a dick who was neither menacing enough nor capable of eliciting any sympathy.

11/05/11            Firestarter

http://thekinglongread.blogspot.com/2010/10/firestarter-26th-sep-13th-october.html

I’ve read reviews of the film that hated it.  I didn’t hate it.  Like many adaptations of King’s work, they just stay faithful and let poor performances shit all over your imaginiations.

25/05/11            Cat's Eye

http://thekinglongread.blogspot.com/2010/03/night-shift-20th-feb-8th-mar-2010.html


Not great, but not bad. 

08/06/11            Creepshow

Awful

12/06/11            Pet Sematary

http://thekinglongread.blogspot.com/2011/05/pet-sematary-26th-april-4th-may-2011.html


Apart from Herman Munster being in it (although I think he was miscast), there’s no justification for this film having been made.  It’s one of the few times where I’ll put my foot down and say “just read the book!”

20/06/11            Cujo

http://thekinglongread.blogspot.com/2010/11/cujo-6th-26th-november.html


A bit pointless.  And they changed the ending.  Pussies.

17/08/11            Silver Bullet

http://thekinglongread.blogspot.com/2011/05/cycle-of-werewolf-4th-5th-may-2011.html


Definitely one for the ‘so bad it’s good’ category.  Good, but not great.  Gary Busey was typically inappropriate and wonderful.

22/12/11            The Mist

http://thekinglongread.blogspot.com/2011/09/mist-skeleton-crew-22nd-31st-august.html

I loved the novella.  Loved it.  I didn’t like the film nearly as much; mainly because it’s a straightforward retelling of the story that removes all of your imaginary detail and replaces it with someone else’s.  I’ve seen criticisms of the effects and acting which, to be fair, were TV-movie standard (Toby Jones was the standout and Marcia Gay Harden was effective in that I wished her eventual demise could have come within moments of her appearance on screen.  But it was still a solid film.

Much has been made of the ending.  I’d heard it was even bleaker than the book so was very interested into what Darabont had changed.  I know I’m dropping book spoilers all over the place, but I won’t spoil the film ending, save to say that my jaw dropped and I sat gaping at the screen with my mouth agape and thinking ‘fuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuck.’  Awesome.

The Eyes of the Dragon: 8th January 2012

470 pages of bigger print. Easy street!Roland and Flagg are familiar names but, past that, it's all new to me. Let's go!

2011

Seeing as I don't update my personal blog I might as well put this here.

Here are some of my favourite things that I put in my eyes and ears released in 2011

Film:
Thor
Source Code
Rise of the Planet of the Apes
Drive
X-Men: First Class
The Guard
Snow Town
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2
Black Swan
True Grit

Music:
Trap Them - Darker Handcraft
Ben Marwood - Outside There's a Curse
Fucked Up - David Comes to Life
Chris T-T - Disobedience: Chris T-T Sings A.A. Milne and Words Fail Me EP
Touché Amoré - Parting the Seas Between Brightness and Me
Oxygen Thief: Destroy it Yourself

There were more, some disappointing (Rise Against - Endgame, Frank Turner - England Keep my Bones; I love him and there are some of his best songs yet on there, but there's some cack and it's not the masterpiece everyone's making it out to be. I'm not a blind apologist for his early stuff either. His best is still to come.)
Some that I haven't give enough time:
Russian Circles - Empros, Mogwai - Hardcore will Never Die, Oathbreaker - Mælstrøm

Comedy:
Louis C.K. - Hilarious, Live at the Beacon Theatre and the Louie series. The guy can do no wrong.
Marc Maron - This Has to Be Funny (if you haven't already, get stuck into his WTF podcast - WTFPod.com)
Patton Oswalt - Finest Hour

TV:
The Walking Dead
True Blood's still worth a watch
The Office (US) - I hadn't seen it at all until this year. For shame.
I also rewatched all of Quantum Leap. It went on for two seasons too many, but it was such a good show.
I also finally got on the 30 Rock and Breaking Bad trains.

IT: 24th September 2011 - 8th January 2012

Writing a post for IT is a bit daunting. Considering the book's expansive, ranging immensity, my inclination is to try to write something that pays tribute to those qualities. That said, this is not a masters thesis, nor even a school book report or even a review, so I'll just say what I feel like saying and leave it at that.
While it took over three months to read it, that's not due to procrastination or going off reading other things, as I did during both The Stand and The Talisman (I'm picking on these two as they're the longest of his books I've encountered so far.) I read a few comics but not many. It's really a measure of how much time I have (or, more tellingly, make) to read. It's a big book, but it didn't drag. During both The Stand and The Talisman, I found myself looking at how much I still had to read with a degree of exasperation and the feeling that I didn't much care about what was still to come. Not with IT.
I don't think it lost its way or grew tired. I don't even think it could have lost a few hundred pages. I really enjoyed it. I loved the way he drew each of the many strands of the plot and gradually entwined them. I'd also liken it to a patchwork quilt with vibrant, beautifully embroidered panels that is eventually folded in on itself as the arcs are drawn to their conclusion. The way the parallels between the 1958 and 1985 strands become more apparent, until they become two sides of the same coin spinning in place, was a delight to read.
As for my usual question: did it scare me? It did a bit. While posing a real threat to our heroes and its many victims, IT's predominant strength is the way it taps into the nature and mechanics of fear itself, particularly the immobilising irrationality of perceived fear. I haven't come away from it with an aversion to clowns, though their intrinsic creepiness is no less diminished. I'm still not great with the dark. What a girl.
If there was anything about the book that niggled me, it was the group virginity-losing. While a group of eleven year olds having sex in the context of a horror novel doesn't offend me per se, its inclusion does demand some justification, whether as a plot point or conceptual device. There are enough people whom the idea will render apoplectic and, without anything to back it up, the scene comes off as pornographic by definition. Having read a couple of his books now, I know that King isn't a cheap writer, so he gets the benefit of the doubt in this instance but giving a more explicit reason than a bonding experience for the group would have been nice. I wondered whether he was using it as a way for them to prematurely transcend the boundary between childhood and adulthood as a way to sabotage IT's influence over them. But, considering their encounters twenty-eight years later, this obviously wasn't the case. That said, this is a horror novel: the arena of subverted norms where anything can, and often, does happen.
So yeah, 1090 pages of small type later, I'm done with IT. Good shit!