Stephen King's Bad Guys Are Terribly Real

Have  you noticed how unnerving some of King's killers are?  It's because they seem all too real.  That's because, I think, King often bases them on real people.  There was a real Annie Wilkes and a real Mr. Mercedes.

salon.com posted an interesting article  titled, "“Mr. Mercedes”: How Stephen King’s killers mirror real-life murderers."

Mike Berry notes that the timing for Mr. Mercedes could not be less propitious, and reminds us in a side note that Black House arrived in stores September 11, 2001.  I didn't know that.

The novel’s publication date comes a little more than a week after Elliot Rodger stabbed three people to death in his apartment near UC Santa Barbara, killed three others in drive-by shootings, ran down pedestrians in his BMW and then fatally shot himself with his own gun. In the wake of the Isla Vista tragedy, this straight-ahead thriller now makes for uncomfortable reading, in a way Mr. King undoubtedly did not intend.

Of course, King gives  us two types of  bad guys.   There's  the Randall Flagg naughty boy;  he's the devil  and he'll do as he likes.  And then there is the more creepy real life murders

The scary thing about Mr. Mercedes is that he could be -- anyone.  Thus Mike Berry notes Hartfield starts off as one of King's "least interesting villains."  He reminds me of Norman Bates; only, Psycho was scarier.  Norman was scarier.  It might be the difference in media (print verses movie, Hitch verses  King.)  But what both characters emphasize is that we never really know what's going on inside someone elses head.  And that's scary.

What Berry keenly  notes is that Hartfield didn't "snap." And most killers really don't.  They plan, plot  and  think over their crimes.  They relish messing with the police and reliving their crimes.

Here are some easily overlooked villains in the Stephen King canon: 

1. Jo St. George.  A child molester, wife beater and thief, it seems ole Joe doesn't get his due in the Stephen King universe.  His wife, Dolores finished  him off in what can only be described as a brilliant execution.  I loved it!  In fact, I think Dolores Claiborne might be one of those overlooked gems that Stephen King has churned out.  And though the focus of the novel is on Dolores, Jo is one mean  dude and the reader sympathizes with Dolores' vigilante style  of justice.

Let me tell you, as creepy as Mr. Mercede's is -- and as sick as his relationship with his mommy is -- he doesn't molest little kids.  Driving cars into crowds is very, very bad.  But there is something that so deeply crosses the line with child  molestation that it stands on its own in terms of wickedness.  Allow me to go a bit preacher on this one.  Jesus said it would be better to have a millstone hung around your neck and thrown into the ocean  than to have to stand before him on Judgment day and have to answer to harming a child.  In other words, God has a special  place in hell -- literally -- for that kind of wickedness.

2. In 11.22.63, King gave us a real life killer, Lee Harvey Oswald.  By mixing fictional characters with historical, King offered a strange blend of realism. Oswald wasn't a passing character in the book, but someone we followed at some length, getting to know and to some degree understand. Yeah, he was creepy.

3. Charlie Decker, a high school student in the Bachman novel, Rage, holds his classroom hostage  and has a long talk-session with them.  The novel is tense as the reader is left wondering if these students are going to make it out alive.  And, the book  is scarier now than when it was written, since it's actually been connected directly to several  schools shootings.

That ever helpful source, Wikipedia,  gives these examples of real life school  shootings that were in some way connected to or supposedly inspired by rage:

• Jeffrey Lyne Cox, a senior at San Gabriel High School in San Gabriel, California, took a semi-automatic rifle to school on April 26, 1988 and held a humanities class of about 60 students hostage for over 30 minutes. Cox held the gun to one student when the teacher doubted he would cause harm and stated that he would prove it to her. At that time three students escaped out a rear door and were fired upon. Cox was later tackled and disarmed by another student. A friend of Cox told the press that Cox had been inspired by the Kuwait Airways Flight 422 hijacking and by the novel Rage, which Cox had read over and over again and with which he strongly identified.

• Dustin L. Pierce, a senior at Jackson County High School in McKee, Kentucky, armed himself with a shotgun and two handguns and took a history classroom hostage in a nine-hour standoff with police on September 18, 1989 that ended without injury. Police found a copy of Rage among the possessions in Pierce's bedroom, leading to speculation that he had been inspired to carry out the plot of the novel.

• Barry Loukaitis, a student at Frontier Middle School in Moses Lake, Washington, walked from his house to the school on February 2, 1996, and entered his algebra classroom during fifth period. He opened fire at students, killing two and wounding another. He then fatally shot his algebra teacher, Leona Caires, in the chest. As his classmates began to panic, Loukaitis reportedly said, "This sure beats algebra, doesn't it?" — a line erroneously believed to be taken from Rage. (No such line appears in King’s story. The closest is when Charlie Decker quips, "This sure beats panty raids.") Hearing the gunshots, gym coach Jon Lane entered the classroom. Loukaitis was holding his classmates hostage and planned to use one hostage so he could safely exit the school. Lane volunteered as the hostage, and Loukaitis was keeping Lane at gunpoint with his rifle. Lane then grabbed the weapon from Loukaitis and wrestled him to the ground, then assisted the evacuation of students.

• In December 1997 Michael Carneal shot eight fellow students at a prayer meeting in West Paducah, Kentucky. He had a copy of the book within the Richard Bachman omnibus in his locker. This was the incident that moved King to allow the book to go out of print.

SOURCE: wikipedia.org/wiki/Rage

Berry raises the concern  that Rage  can be misunderstood as celebrating the violence it actually condemns.  Comparing Rage to Mercedes, Berry writes,

[Rage] was written by a young author not fully in control of the tools of his craft. “Mr. Mercedes” is the product of an old hand, an accomplished writer of popular fiction who generally knows what he’s doing. There’s really no need to fret that the book might inspire further mayhem.

4. The Needful Thing's cast.  Leeland Gaunt is supposed to be the devil himself.  He's one bad  dude.  But he's not the scary part of Needful Things.  The town-folk are!  Willing to cut each other up in the street, slay dogs and burn their town right  to the ground, the last novel of Castle Rock was a dozy!  It is long, but it's also under-appreciated.  King really shows how the devil  works, getting us to take one small step into sin and finding that soon we are willing to do things we never thought was in our own character.

Berry misses his opportunity to really dig deeper into Hartfield's psychology.  It does seem to be what the article promised.  Instead, Berry gives us as much a review of the book itself as a deeper look at Brady Hartfield.  He declares that the novel ranks in the "middle" of King's work in terms of quality.  And where  would that be?

nowhere near the pinnacle of “The Shining” but well away from the abyss of, say, “Dreamcatcher.” 

Humm.  I liked The Shining a lot.  But I'm not sure it was the "pinnacle."  It's brilliant, absolutely brilliant, and yes -- Mr. Mercede's isn't The Shining.  But it's not King's absolute  best.  Disagree with me?  It might be a while since you've actually read the book.  The  novel is very closed  in, which is both creepy and at point tedious.  I like sprawling novels like The Stand, and, believe it or not, Doctor Sleep.

And as for  Dreamcatcher, which Berry put at the bottom of the pile; I enjoyed it!  Well, for a while.  It's both crazy and engaging.  Stick with the book, not the movie on this one.  Is it a masterpiece?  No.  But it's fun.

Rose Madder Journal #1: Brewing Hate

In the 90's King wrote three novels that were distinctly different than his previous work.  All three focused on strong female leads and in two of the stories the theme of revenge.  Gerald's Game was the story of survival, Dolores Claiborne was about a woman who murdered her husband because he was sexually abusing their daughter and Rose Madder (1995) is about a wife who is physically abused by her police officer husband.

At the time both King readers and reviewers wondered where this new direction would take King. The new direction was a good one.  Stronger characters inhabited all three novels.  Dolores Claiborne and Gerald's Game took place in the same time frame, during a solar eclipse, and actually had some connections between the two.

I don't know about Rose Madder because -- this is my first reading.  And I'm loving it!  I may have been slow to come to the novel because I found Gerald's Game to be a frustrating novel.  The writing is strong, but it can be slow going as it is mostly about a woman tied to a bed.  There are frantic moments, but the novel is primarily built around flashbacks.  I found it difficult.

But here I am now --  At Rose Madder; alas!

I Hate Norman:

What's stands out in the opening chapter (the chapters are long) is that King is really good at creating victims and abusers.  In fact, I think Rose's husband, Norman, is one of King's most vile monsters.  I hate him.  He beats Rose daily, causing lots of bodily injury, and the miscarriage of her child.  He's more despicable than Dolores' sweetly pie I think; but that may just be a momentary feeling, since I've just had to spend time with Norman, so my feelings are pretty fresh.

Abusers are overlooked monsters in the Stephen King universe.  The nice thing is, they often get some hardcore payback.  What's scarier than Pennywise or Flagg?  Norman.  Just plain ole Norman.  A dude with a badge who knows how to hit his woman so no one knows what a monster he is.

Norman reminds us of a painful reality; when something bad happens in an abusers life -- maybe at work or driving or even at the store -- he finds a way to blame his pain on his wife and then take out his rage on her.  So a wife in an abusive relationship feels she can't do anything right.  What's more, every problem in life is blamed on her.  It's her fault he's a mess at work; it's her fault the IRS is after him; it's her fault he struggles with depression or suffers with ED or . . . whatever.  What's truly scary is how close to life King gets this character.

Cowards

Guys like this are often cowards with other men.  One night as I drove my family home, I saw a man and woman on arguing.  Only, they were arguing, she was crying and he was screaming.  I parked my car and started down the street.  "Don't get into that," my wife warned.  But I couldn't leave a woman on the street while her husband went after her.

"Hey there!" I said, in a cheerful - how ya doin' -- voice.  "Whatcha doin'?"
The guy immediately turned red and looked at his wife, "Now see what you've done!"
He quickly began to explain everything was okay.  I thought what a coward this guy was.  He could go after his wife, but was a wimp when another man called him on what he was doing.  I can't tel the rest of the story here -- but it was interesting.

Faith Abusers:

I'll take you a bit deeper into an abusers mind, if you want.  In the world of faith, abusers manage to keep women in terrible relationships by convincing them that if they leave, they are dishonoring God.  So these men convince their battered wives that God hates divorce, which means these women have to stay and continue to suffer at the hands of their abuser.

Once, as part of a marriage series, I discussed Malachi's statement that God hates divorce.  I pointed out that in the same passage, the same verse, God says he hates a man "covering himself with violence."  Somehow that part is always skipped!

Here's the full verse:

"I hate divorce ," says the LORD God of Israel, "and I hate a man's covering himself with violence as well as with his garment," says the LORD Almighty. So guard yourself in your spirit, and do not break faith." Malachi 2:16

So the very verse that is so often used to forbid divorce is actually a verse that also discusses abuse.  And God says more about abuse than divorce in the passage.  Notice the abuser in the passage is male.  That is because the prophet Malachi was addressing men who had broken faith with their wives, abused them and left them destitute.  Thus God hated divorce because of what it did, in particular, to women and children.  It says that some men cover themselves with abuse like a garment.  That is, as easy as it is to slip on a jacket, some men slip into rage.  And as a garment covers your body, some people are covered in anger.

It seems unusually wicked for men to use a woman's faith as a mean's of keeping her trapped in a physically abusive relationship.  And some women really are trapped.  Just as Jess was tied to that bed in Gerald's Game, some women are tied to destructive relationships.

Run!

The excitement in Rose Madder begins when Rose has finally had enough and decides to head out.  And she does just that; she just up and leaves.  With the cloths on her back, she turns from the world she knows and just begins walking.  This is AWESOME!  Because I have no idea where this novel will go.  It can take any turn, because the whole world is open to Rose.

Naturally, Norman will follow -- but King gives Rose a head start.

By the way, there's a nice reference to a Paul Sheldon novel.

Mothers In The Stephen King Universe

Do you have a favorite mother from the Stephen King universe?  I wrote down a few special ladies. . . but tell me, who’s your favorite?

Here are a few mothers King has given us:

• Margaret White.  Like her or not, you’ve got to admit she was a powerful force in Carrie’s life and one of the driving characters in the plot of Carrie.  She is abusive, crazy and a religious nut.  The lady has the crazy idea that it was because Adam and Eve  had sex that they got thrown out the garden.  Wow!  I guess she missed the part where they were married!  We watch with interest as Carrie stands up to her mother and seeks to stretch her wings, even if it brings discipline and disapproval.  It is that Carrie is finally moving away from Mama that makes it so heartbreaking when her "friends" humiliate her.  

• Wendy Torrance.  It’s hard for me to get a handle on this character.  Partly because both times she was portrayed on screen, it was very different.  Also, there is the book, which added another layer of complexity to her character.  She makes an appearance, if mostly passing, in Doctor Sleep.  She is for the most part pretty passive.  She takes Jack’s abuse until it is unbearable.  Notice how many King novels deal with violence in the home.  Also  think of those sad little swiped Wendy takes a Jack on the steps, hoping he'll back away.

• Rachel Creed.  Traumatized by the death of her sister, and the dark events that surround the novel, Rachel Creed spends a lot of time balancing between pleasing her father and her husband.  She is caught in the middle of a small family feud. when her son Gage dies.

• Donna Trenton.  When we first meet Donna she is involved in an affair, but is soon fighting for her life and the life of her son.   

• Rose Madder.  This book also deals with abuse, but I haven't read it yet.  

Dolores Claiborne

So who gets mother of the year?  My mother, of course.  Oh wait, in the Stephen King universe. . . I nominate Dolores Claiborne.

She is feisty, strong willed, something of a country bumpkin – I think she’s great!  Here’s why:

Dolores Claiborne is the picture of a mothers love.  It is powerful!  This independent lady did what she had to in order to protect her child.  Dolores worked hard to earn money for her daughter, hoping to give her something she herself never got.  When she discovers her abusive drunk of a husband has been stealing from the account and molesting her daughter, she lays plans to do him in.  How she carries out her plot is brilliant!

Did Joe get what he deserved?  You bet!  And through it’s outright murder, the reader spends the book rooting for Dolores.

Often when women show a strong or determined side of themselves, they are misunderstood by men.  “There she goes…,”  “Must be that time of month,” and so on. Dolores Claiborne is told from a woman’s point of view. Dolores is tough as nails—or so you would think.  But that strength comes because at heart she is a mama bear. She is ready to do whatever she has to in order to protect her daughter. She can’t physically win a fight with him, so she lays a brilliant trap.  (From: Stephen King, A Face Among The Masters)

In this book, King takes on the difficult subject of child abuse.  He does it skillfully – brilliantly.  Dolores doesn't ignore the issue, as some spouses of abusers are known to do.  Sally Mahout in Gerald's Game figures out that her husband is acting inappropriately with her daughter -- but does not do anything about it.  Dolores is made of a different cloth!  When she fully realizes what is going on, she takes matters into her own hands.

One person who indicated this was their favorite novel because they also had been abused, wrote on Stephen King’s message board:

I so wish my mother had dispatched my abuser the way Dolores took care of Joe. As it was, she did the best she could after she found out what happened, but the person who abused me did not end up paying a price for it. I asked my parents not to tell anyone, and since I hadn't been raped ("Has he f$%^ed her yet, Dolores?") they agreed. Now that I'm older and wiser I wish I had pursued it further. I have no idea how many other girls were victims after me, and that thought torments me now. 

I just wanted to post this because I find it remarkable that Stephen King could so perfectly depict that relationship between Dolores and Selina, and that he could so accurately show what happens to children who are molested. I've watched the movie several times, and I never get tired of the scene where Selina tells Dolores "I don't know how I feel about what you did, but I know you did it for me."

The picture of Dolores “mothering” goes on as she cares for icky Vera.  She becomes more than a house keeper, she becomes Vera’s friend.  Her strong mothering skills kick in even when doing what is best for Vera.

So, who do you think should make mother of the year from the Stephen King universe?

Books That Have Stayed With You

image: firewireblog.com

I like METACHAT's "Books That Have Stayed With You," as well as the many responses.  The discussion is framed this way, "Five books that have stayed with you.  They don't have to be best sellers or well known. Just books you read that for one reason or other you never forgot."

One person posted:
1. Watership Down.
2. Brighty of the Grand Canyon by Marguerite Henry.
3. All of the James Herriot books (All Creatures Great and Small, etc.)
4. The Crimson Petal and The White. by Michael Faber
5. The Stand, by Stephen King.

Let's do the same thing, but make two lists.  First books in general, then just 5 King books that will stay with you.

Non-King list:
1. Pillars of the earth
2. Cold Sassy Tree
3. 1984
4. Great Expectations
5. The Martian Chronicles

Five Stephen King Books That Have Stayed With Me:
1. The Stand
2. IT
3. The Shining
4. 11.22.63
5. Dolores Claiborne

Hitchcock and King sharing the art

Alfred Hitchock was the the master of suspense.  He had the ability to draw you deep into a story, watching every detail with breathless anticipation.  When he was at the top of his game, that is!  Like any artist, some of his work does not holdup.  Stephen King, when he is swinging home runs, also is a master of suspense. I find that stories like Dolores Claiborne and Joyland give me that same level of frantic anticipation that a good Hitchock film does.

I see online a lot essays comparing the two, asking who is the true master of suspense.  That's really subjective, and a little childish.  Not that this blog is beyond childish!  However, they worked in different story telling mediums.  If comparing apples to apples -- King movies verses Hitchcock movies, then the answer is hands down Mr. Hitchcock is the master of suspense.  King's art is with words, and in that realm, he is -- well -- king.

Watching a Hitchcock is a real treat.  In movie like Rear Window, Psycho, Vertigo and The Birds, each scene is like an incredible painting.  Hitchcock didn't like filming on locations because so much was out of his control.  However, some of the most awesome outdoor scenes brought to film are from Mr. Hitchcock.  He would choose every car, and in what order, that would drive by in a scene.  Nothing was left to chance!

It is natural to compare the two.  Though using different mediums, they often use similar approaches.

Limitation:

I got The Alfred Hitchcock collection on Blu Ray the other night.  On the Rear Window DVD, Peter Bogdanovich notes how Hitchcock really liked to limit himself.  In Rear Window, Jimmy Stewart has a broken leg and the entire movie is shot looking out his window!  Rope also takes place in one apartment.  And Lifeboat also is set completely on the boat.  Interesting, as there is little scene change, yet the story is so gripping it holds the viewers interest.

Limitation is an art Stephen King has honed and refined.

Some particular limitations:
1. In Cujo most of the action took place trapped in a car.
2. Gerald's Game cent`ered completely on a woman tied to a bed.  Small efforts -- like trying to get water -- become monumental feats in which the reader roots for her.
3. Susannah in the Dark Tower is crippled.  So is the boy in Silver Bullet.
4. Of course, in Under The Dome the characters are locked together under a giant Dome.  I sure would love it if King went back and finished Cannibals, which was an early attempt at Under The Dome.  In Cannibals, the people were trapped inside an apartment building.  I LOVED the drafts King released.
5. In The Mist the characters are trapped inside a Grocery store.

Cameos.
Not only did Alfred Hitchcock introduce each Hitchcock was known to appear briefly in his own works.  It's kind of fun to spot him!  I think the  most obvious is in The Birds.  Hitchcock did this early because he did not want the audience to spend the entire movie looking for him and miss the  other elements of his story telling.

It is unusual for an author to do Cameo's in their own work, but Stephen King has made quite a few.  Most of the time, it is simply references to his work.  Such is the case in The  Library Policeman.  But in The Dark Tower, King personally appears as himself in The Song of Suzanna.

Ordinary Dangers
In The Birds, Hitchcock took something very ordinary -- birds -- and terrified America.  Before the birds, horror movies usually created monstrosities, such as Frankenstein's monster.  Or, Hollywood was known to take ordinary animals and make them huge, like gigantisized ants.  With the birds, Hitchcock took an ordinary small animal and made it scary.  King does this all the time with rats!

Janet Lea, who took that famous shower in Psycho, said that Hitchcock made it so she could never take a shower again!  After all, think how vulnerable you are in a shower.  (Ask Travis Alexander how dangerous a shower is)  King didn't make the shower dangerous, but he did cause an awful lot  of people to hate clowns.

Here are some ordinary things King has made scary: 1. Cars.  2. Rats.  3. Dogs.  4. Libraries.  5. A Prom.  6. Clowns.  7. Blow torch.  (Misery)

Marriage

Hitchcock's wife Alma was deeply involved in each film he made.  From the work of scripting the story to choosing wardrobe and actors, she had a hand in it.  When Hitchcock recieved the AFI Life Achievement Award, he thanked one person:  Alma.

King has spoken often of the importance of his wife's support and input.  He continues to seek her approval -- even if he might deny it a little.  I like the story King tells of driving with his wife as she sat in the passenger seat reading part of a book.  He asked how it was, and she told him to stop being so needy!

Hitchcock didn't like to spend the evening on the set, but was always home promptly to be with his wife, with whom he often cooked dinner.  King has done his fair share of cooking, and has even contributed to a cookbook titled, "Man with a Pan."

GENRE
Though both deal in the art of suspense,  Hitchcock and King actually deal in very different genres.  King  is quick to use the supernatural as a story telling device.   It is fair to expect ghosts, vampires, possessed cars and even a few haunted houses in a Stephen King story.  In a Hitchcock film there are not ghosts, there are murders and Natzi spies!  But the tension is real  in both.

I discussed in my short essay, What King Book Would Hitchcock Film, a list of stories I thought would suit the famous director.  One person offered  the addition of The Ledge to my list, and I agree wholeheartedly.

Some people, my family included, have seen the use  of supernatural as a weakness in King's writing.  I love it!  From Bag of Bones to IT, the creepy stuff is the best when Stephen King is narrating.

Prolific
Hitchock hosted multiple series, as well as making over fifty feature films.  In fact, as I read The Art of Alfred Hitchock, I'm surprised by just how many of Hitch's films I haven't seen.  There are several I'd like to see.  The Lodger is one, and Under Capricorn is another.  Hitchcock started in the silent era in 1925.

King, likewise, has amassed quite a body of work, and he shows no signs of slowing.

Did you know that there is one film that Alfred Hitchcock filmed twice?  It's The Man Who Knew Too Much.  1934 and then in 1956.  Hitchcock said, "Let's say that the first version was the work of a talented amateur and the second was made by a professional."  Of course, King hasn't produced the same book twice -- exactly.  There was a first attempt at Under The Dome, called Cannibals.  But they are essentially different stories.  But when you look at The Gunslinger and the revision, I think you see two very different stories.  I prefer the revised version.  The same can be true of The Stand, which exists in two distinct versions.  Again, I like the one that was recut and retold.  The storyteller gets better at his craft with each telling.

Though King has never gone back and rewritten a book quite the way Hitchcock returned to The Man Who Knew Too Much, there is a book I wish he would rewrite -- The Tommyknockers.  I find parts of the novel difficult to read, yet the story itself quite engaging.

Years ago, my wife and I went out on a rainy night and watched the remake of Psycho.  As rain poured outside, and the well known story of murder played out on screen, my wife leaned in and said, "This is really scary!"  And it was.  But no one could reproduce what Hitchcock had done, even when trying to translate the film scene  by scene and frame by frame.  Actually, that remake doesn't make any sense to me!  Why did they remake it if they were going to use the same script and direction Hitchcock had  done?  Just to get new actors and do it in color?  Hitchcock did Psycho in black and white because by choice.

FAVORITES!

What's your favorite Hitchcock?  I find I like Hitchcock's later career -- but not the last of the last!  The films of the 60's --  Marnie, Torn Cuartian, Topaz, Frenzy and Family Plot all fail to grab me. My all time favorites are Psycho, Rear Window and Vertigo.

Here's a few of my favorites:
Mr. and Mrs Smith, 1940
Shadow of a Doubt, 1943
Lifeboat, 1944
Spellbound, 1945
Strangers on a Train, 1951 (Which has to be paired with Throw Mamma From The Train)
Dial M for Murder, 1954
Rear Window, 1954
The Man Who Knew Too Much, 1955
Vertigo, 1958
North by Northwest, 1959
Psycho, 1960
The Birds, 1963

And favorite episode of The Alfred Hitchcock Hour is Final Escape.

HITCHCOCK AT Talk Stephen King:
Check out my short article What King Book Would Hitchcock Film?
And Stephen Rebello's article 6 Great Reasons Hitchcock Is Still The Master Of Suspense
And Rebello's youtube discussion of Psycho
And Stephen Rebello's article 5 Things You Didn't Know About Psycho

King Makes MSN's Choice For Great Commute Audobook's

Shannan Rouss at msn has an article titled, "LISTEN UP! 10 best audio books for your commute." (Rouss lists more  than ten.)  King makes the list twice. I think he is the only author to be mentioned more than once.

The first choice is an obvious choice, but you better have a long commute!  It's the unabridged version of The Stand.  Rouss writes:

Clocking in at just under 48 hours, this Stephen King thriller is by far the longest on the list. When you finish it, you'll realize that you've spent the equivalent of two full days driving, probably over the span of a few weeks. That's a lot of time, but this book makes for good company. It begins with a super-flu that wipes out roughly 98 percent of the population. The survivors converge and attempt to rebuild society, but first they must contend with the Dark Man, who haunts their dreams. 

 The second choice is another classic King story, Salem's Lot.

Before Stephenie Meyer's lovesick vampires sucked the menace out of the genre, there was Stephen King's contemporary classic about a small town in Maine and the terrifying vampires who haunt it. (Sorry, no Edward Cullen here.) Salem's Lot is an ominous story with relatable characters that will draw you in and keep you reading long after the sun has set. 

The full article, and many other great suggestions, is at  msn.com

What's your favorite Stephen King audiobook?

I have two.  Dolores Claiborne is a great one to listen to, since it is told in first person like a confession.  You really feel like you're in the room with her as she tells her dark tale.  Chatty, wise, observant -- this is one of my all time favorite novels.  A story of revenge with a great twist!

I also like the most recent recording of The Stand quite a bit.  I didn't blog much about my most recent trip through it, since there's not a lot new to say.   But it is wonderful, and Grover Gardner makes it a great journey.

OH!  A third. .  . I also cherish King's own reading on Needful Things.  I forget to list the King recordings, because they stand out as something else; something other than just a recording of the book.  Something special happens when King reads this story.  You can feel it the moment he starts with "you've been here before."  His accent is right and his narration is quite energetic.  Of course, he know how to play each line, since he wrote the book!

My favorite non-King audio book is Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett.

So, do tell -- favorite King audiobook.  (or  non-King if you want.)

News and Notes From King's Live Talk About UTD

CBS has posted the live chat with Stephen King at www.cbs.com

NEWS:

• King said he asked to write an episode next season.
• He is currently writing a book called REVIVAL.

MY NOTES:

INSPIRATION: Naturally King is asked what inspired  Under The Dome.  He doesn't know where the idea came from,  but offers some of his first images of what the story would be.  He says, "It was a lot of fun to create that situation."  (King does like to destroy the world, doesn't he?)  He notes  he tried it in 72 and the story was just too big for him at the time.  He put it aside and wrote Carrie instead.

CHARACTERS: Asked what the best part is of seeing his story come to screen, King said it was the opportunity to see characters he created in his mind come to life.  "Sometimes it's fun to see what set designers do with places you made up."

He says that Barbie is his favorite character; however, he also says that he likes whatever character he's working on at the moment -- even the bad  ones.  This explains why his character development is so strong.  He notes the tougher  part is being the women, since he can only do that by observation.  That's interesting, since both my wife and mother have mentioned how amazing it is that he can get inside a woman's head. "It's kind of interesting and challenging to be a woman for a while," King says. He calls it, "Creative cross-dressing."  (Check out my article, Seven Reasons We Read Stephen King, #4 He's A Woman Talk Stephen King seven-reasons-we-read-stephen-king)

He said he does get to have a part in the casting of actors to play his characters.  He also notes that he keeps character lists to help him remember who's who.  This is funny -- King says that after writing Gerald's Game, which is just about one character, his wife Tabitha said his next book would be called "Living Room" and would have no characters at all.

King was asked which character best embodies him.  King quickly responded Gordon Lachance from The Body. "If I've written anything autobiographical in my life, it's that."  He then insists there is not a lot of autobiographical stuff in most of his book.  "Folks," he seems to say to the world, "I'm making this stuff up."

FAVORITE BOOK: King said asking a writer what their favorite book is that's like asking someone who their favorite kid is.  "I like them all," he insists.  He said he really loves the book he is currently working on.  Presently he is writing a book called "Revival."  King said he is abut halfway through with it and totally in love with the book. He also noted a special place in his heart for Lisey's story, because he associates it with a good time in his own life.  He says the most difficult was Pet Sematary.   He also says the character he would most like to meet is Dolores Claiborne.

The Language: When asked about all the short cuts in the language (like in facebook, twitter and when texting) the linguistic prude in King comes out!  He doesn't like using "2" for two, and so on.

MUSIC: King says when he wrote Lisey's story, he switched to listening almost completely to old country music.  "A lot of times what I do these days, when I'm composing, I'm just composing and the room is completely quiet.  When I edit I let it rip.  I have a real weakness for metal, disco." He likes AC/DC, Gloria Gainer, Donna Summer, Metallica, Judas Priest.

The Message Of Under The Dome: King said the message of Under The Dome is that we all live under the dome.  "We're all on planet earth, and we're not going anywhere, not in the next  hundred years.   We have diminishing resources."  There is so much gas, food, medicine and good air -- that's the situation we're all in.

The Stand -- THE KID!

The Stand Journal Complete and Uncut, #9

I've been slowly moving through the Stand as I drive.  It's a slow  read for me,  since I live in a  small town, only 1 mile from work. The best places in California are small towns.  I think I've been reading slowly also  because I'm not expecting much.  So I don't hurry out to make extra drives and listen to my book, since I think deep down The Stand cannot possibly surprise me.

I was wrong.  The Stand has once again surprised me! I know I read this version in high school, but once again either my memory has failed me -- probably not! -- or I just skimmed through spots I thought were  probably going to be dry -- THAT'S IT!  

The first time I read The Stand, I found the character of the Trashcan Man to be a huge distraction. Of course, I didn't know as I read the book just how important he is to the books grand finale.

Trashie is a nut.   I mean a big time, crazy loon nut.  Is he mean?  Well, not exactly.  He serves the dark man, but he's childish.  Of course, if trashie were a child, he'd be the one in the corner quite a bit for doing stuff  that would shock the good mothers in town.

By the way, Trashcan Man's trip into the Eisenhower Tunnel is almost as scary as Larry Underwood's.  It just comes later in the novel, so I think it's less talked about.

Now some of my memories for Trashcan Man are skewed because the most recent version I read was the original abridged version.  Though King cut down on Trashcan Man's journey, the entire episode is more boring because the character of the kid is almost completely stripped away.  If there is something that makes this portion of the book breath, it's The Kid.

I know he's not --  but I picture him as a kind of loony Elvis.

Who is The Kid? The Kid is a southern boy who catches up with Trashy as they head toward Cibola -- Vegas.  He is over the top domineering, demanding the introverted and often timid Trashy drink chug beer and not throw up.  At night, his abuse of Trash becomes even worse.  Frankly, he treats the Trashcan Man like trash.  He rapes him with a gun -- at it goes on from there.  The kid dies one of the most wonderful deaths ever in the Stephen King universe!  (Read on at your own risk)

After an argument, wolves come out to defend the Trashcan Man.  Apparently the wolves are servants of the Dark Man.  King writes:

The wolves came on, no faster and no slower, at a fast walk. Their eyes ... Trashcan Man found himself unable to look away from their eyes. They were not the eyes of ordinary wolves; of that he was quite convinced. They were the eyes of their Master, he thought. Their Master and his Master.

Trashcan Man, on the other hand, holds out a burned hand to the wolves, and a wolf licks it. They (the wolves) escort Trashy away from the crazy Kid, while trapping the kid in a car (an Austin).  This remind you of Cujo?  It should!  "The wolves seemed to grin up at The Kid, their tongues lolling out of their mouths. They seemed to be asking him just how long it would be before he kicked the dark man out of ole Lost Wages on his ass. Just how long?"

Exactly what happens to The Kid isn't revealed until quite a bit later in the book.  Stu, Larry, Ralph and Glenn come upon The Kid's corpse.  They call him the wolf man.  Though they will be unable to put together the mystery of exactly what happened, King fills the reader in -- for which he deserves a big THANK YOU!  It is so tempting for writers to leave bits of the story in a haze -- sometimes it's nice to have some answers!

(I'm not telling you anything here that's not already all over the web!)

King writes, "Finally driven by hunger and thirst, he had opened the passenger door. One of the wolves had jumped him and torn his throat out. But the Wolfman had throttled it to death even as he himself died."

Though no longer escorting him, the wolves give the easily spooked Trashy a huge dose of confidence.  If the Darkman can protect him with wolves, then he can protect him i the darkness of  the Eisenhower tunnel as he navigates through the darkness.

The tale of The Kid is a story of sweet revenge.  Even with the first conclusion to the story, that he is simply left to die in the car -- the reader has a sense of "OH YEAH" justice.  Then when  The Kid is found dead, and King reveals the wolves ate him alive -- and the reader remembers the evils The Kid brought on Trashcan Man in that hotel room, the reader is shouting all the more, "YES!"

It's the same sensation as reading Dolores Claiborne.  You know, that moment when she gets her  man running at full speed and then down the well the abuser goes!  In a Stephen King story, it's really not good to be a sexual abuser.  You might go down a well, or get eaten up by wolves.

Kevin Quigley writes at his website charnelhouse.com,

"It is here that the expansion of The Stand is most important. The Trashcan Man, little more than a puzzling cipher in the earlier edition of the novel, gets some much-needed character work. During his trip through the desert to find Randall Flagg, Trash meets a dangerous psychopath named The Kid, who emotionally and sexually abuses him during their strange time together. The Kid is a representation/culmination of the never-ending cycle of abuse and torture at the hands of others; Flagg represents inclusion, camaraderie. Trash's terror of and subsequent escape from The Kid works well to flesh out this relatively weak character, and to strengthen the resolve of his mantra, My life for you."

Underrated Stephen King Novels

Just so we all understand, by underrated I mean overlooked.  These are the books I think were actually pretty good -- if not great  -- novels that are so often just overlooked.

Here are the five most underrated (in my opinion) -- offer your own list.  I love it!

5. Christine.  When released, this novel was overshadowed by the publication of Pet Sematary.  Also, there is the awkward situation with the change in narration --1st person to 3rd person to 1st person.  But don't let a little issue of point of view keep  you from this truly gruesome novel!  It's good stuff, trust me.  (talkstephenking : CHRISTINE Journal)

4. Dolores Claiborne.  I think this is King at his best!  Yet, it seems to just fall in the pile with other books when King discussions come around.  Why?  This book is as tightly woven as a Ken Follett spy novel and as rich as a Dickens character drama.  The first person narration that drives  this story is so strong, it's hard for me to believe King wrote this and not a female.

Now, there is a pretty good movie and play about the book.  But still, I don't sense that people really appreciate just how well told this story is.

3. The Langoliers. This one suffers from bad press because of bad Hollywood!  A novella stretched into a mini-series turned into total mind-numbing boredom.  However, the story is great.  I found it to be a page  turner, anxious to find out what  had happened.

2. The Sun Dog.  Is this one great writing?  Maybe not.  But it's a good story -- very Twilight Zoneish.  I liked it a lot, but never hear much about it.

1. The MOST underrated? --  Needful Things.  

Needful things is creepy, all out gory and well told.  In fact, it's very well told!  Interconnecting plots, great characters and gutsy story telling keep this thick novel moving.  King has said he saw it as a parable of the 80's.  I didn't see that.  Honestly, I just saw  a really good novel!  The book is held together by a very bad man and a very good Sheriff.  Needful things has some of the scariest scenes I've ever encountered in a book.  When the two women have a knife fight in broad daylight right in the middle of the road. . . that's getting pretty crazy!

The end of Needful Things was not as strong as the rest of the novel.  I liked the fight and all the bits King pulled together  there; but Pangborn being confronted with video of his wife's death seemed out of place.

What really drives this story -- as with any good King story -- are great characters.  Much like in Tommyknockers, this is the story of an entire town becoming possessed.  We see various addictions formed as people get what  they think they want.  Want to make love to Elvis?  Want to spend your time betting over a toy racetrack?  Need a sure cure to that terrible arthritis?  Needful Things has it all.

What really hurt  Needful things was the terrible screen adaptation.  Fans should be screaming for a recall!  The movie started great, but went downhill quickly.  Unfortunately, I suspect many think they know the book by the movie.

.................
Your turn!  What King novels (or novella's) just don't get their deserved press?

The Box At The Bottom Of The Closet

shhhh. . . quiet. . . my wife can't hear us talking about this.  See, we were discussing how full our bedroom closet is.  I might have said that none of the junk in the closet was mine, because I don't have a need to keep everything.   (EVERYTHING!)

So, when I came home from work yesterday,  there was a large  box sitting on the bed.  My beloved informed me it was MY  box.  Strange, I don't seem to remember owning a box.

"So what do you think was inside your box?" My wife asked.
I dunno.  Books?
"Well, you do have a box f duplicate Stephen King books.   But this box is full of Stephen King books on tape."
"CDs?"
"TAPES.  So you want me to throw them away,  or ebay them?"

I  didn't think much of it until I started going through the box.  Strange how things can cause of to  be sentimental, right?  I LOVE these tapes!  I've listened to them over and over and over!

So, here is what was in the box:

• 2 books on CD.  (HA!)  
• The Drawing of the Three, read by Stephen King.  My favorite of the Dark Tower covers is this one.  I almost bought this set on ebay recently, but didn't because I reasoned it would just end up at the bottom of a box somewhere.  
• Secret Window, Secret Garden, from Four Past Midnight.  I bought this in High School, then found myself incredibly "sick" the next day -- requiring I miss school and listen to my book while I played video games.   It was a tough life.  I didn't like the ending at all.  I was intrigued by the idea of two writers writing exactly the same book. But it seemed to easy for him to just be having a mental breakup.  Besides, wasn't that the Dark Half?  Also,  I couldn't figure out where the Window and Garden were?!  So there was no secret garden, no real duplicate book -- just a crazy writer.  But, it was a good day off school.
• The three volume edition of Needful Things on tape.  I got this for my 18th birthday.  (I think 18.)  Each time someone would give me birthday money, I'd go  to the store and buy the next volume. I absolutely fell in love with that book!  Loved King's reading, loved the story and even loved the boxes they came in.  I lined the boxes up neatly on my bookshelf, thinking how cool they looked.
• Dolores Claiborne.  Once again, this is a great book!  And, once  I've read many times. In particular, I remember listening to it on a rainy day at my Grandma's house when I was in college.  I was alone in the house, and there was serious storming going on.  I took the tape recorder from room to room with me to keep me company.  (That house was scary in thunder storms.  So, naturally -- the thing to do was listen to a Stephen King book.  So wise.)
• The Shining.  I listened to this a few years ago, right before tapes went bye-bye.  
• Some books I never finished.  From A Buick 8, which I still can't get through.  And Dreamcatcher, which my wife and I listened to together for a long time -- until it jumped characters and became about a Men In Black military general who's insane.  

So what will I do with the box of tapes?  I actually don't know.  Probably haul them down to the shed.  But then my wife will find them and tell me I can't say ALL the stuff down there is hers.  But it is.  Because the Christmas stuff counts at hers.

Dolores Claiborne in Ankara Turkey

“Dolores Claiborne,” is being presented in a Turkish theater. This is awesome, as the novel focuses on domestic violence and women's rights.

The article titled "Stephen King novel on stage in Ankara" appears at www.hurriyetdailynews.com.  The Anatolia News Agency (Turkish state news agency) notes:

"The play is directed by Hakan Çimenser. Çimenser told Anatolia news agency that they were trying to reflect the supernatural and thriller characteristics of the novel in the play. 

“The play also takes on women’s existence in a men’s world,” added Çimenser.

The play also focuses on violence against women. “The supernatural characteristic of the novel is in the play,” he said. “Dolores is a woman who has become a ‘witch’ and a vile character because of her husband. She knows that her husband has sexually abused their daughter. Dolores becomes a wild character and kills her husband.”

I am excited to see this novel being translated into so many different media.  Not only was there a movie,  but is also being performed as an opera  by S.F. Opera.

Dolores Claiborne An Opera

Photo Credit: www.examiner.com

Stephen King on stage. . . on tape. . . on CD. . . on film. . . on TV. . . on Opera !!!

Imagine the Phantom, "SING, DOLORES, SING!"

Edward Ortiz posted an article in the Sacramento Bee titled, "S.F. Opera announces season to mark 80th year at War Memorial."  And on the docket is  King's novel Dolores Claiborne that will be taking the stage of the opera house.

Ortiz writes:

One of the highlights of the season will be the commissioned opera "Dolores Claiborne," based on King's 1992 novel. That work will offer music by Tobias Picker and a libretto by J.D. McClatchy. The appearance of a commission such as "Claiborne" is par for the course for San Francisco Opera general director David Gockley, who has built a reputation as a keen commissioner of new works. Since he took over the reins in San Francisco in 2006 he has commissioned or co-comissioned six operas, including the current season's dramatically bracing production of "Moby Dick" by Jake Heggie.

The appearance of an opera based on a King novel comes with the expectation that such works will get people into the opera house in a period of back-to-back yearly deficits for the company.

The production premieres Sept. 18 and stars standout soprano Dolora Zajick in the title role." 'Claiborne' is a gutsy, powerful American verismo work," said Gockley. "It's an opera that offers very strong challenges and one that asks singers to respond emotionally. … I think Zajick will tear up the stage."

"Dolores Claiborne" will take stage September 18-Oct. 4.  This is one of my favorite King!

Plot or Character Driven Novels

photo credit: fiolee2.deviantart.com

I read with interest a short article titled, "Self Publishing Podcast Pits Stephen King Character Methods Against Dan Brown's Plot Methods." (HERE)

Podcast co-host Sean Platt explains the pros and cons to both methods.

“Dan Brown’s books are definitely page-turners,” says Platt, “but they’re so tightly plotted that it’s like eating fast food—it’s very fast and disposable. With Stephen King, the characters feel real and the dialog flows because King’s not concerned about plot but about characters and situations and driving the story. I think that’s why some people hate Stephen King—he tends to meander, sometimes for hundreds of pages.”

That last line is true -- Some people do "hate Stephen King" because he tends to meander.  But others of us have become comfortable and even enjoy King's easy pace of story telling.  That he is not plot driven does not mean there is no plot!  It just means that in many of his novels, you have to live with the people who inhabit the story before you learn exactly what it is that's going to drive that story.

Some of King's novels open with incredible energy and plot.  Consider Under The Dome, which starts like a mad race.  The Shining, on the other hand, is a slow moving character drama.  These character dramas are not without action -- but they have to build and develop purpose before they can explode.  Reading a King novel is like churning a Jack-In-The-Box, you never know exactly when the whole thing will explode all over you!  Consider The Stand.  I enjoyed the plot, but was shocked when King killed off a whole bunch of good guys mid novel!

There are some instances where King ends the novel's actual plot long before the novel itself ends.  Again, the Stand goes quite a ways past the events in Las Vegas that bring a deadly end to Flagg.  But King is interested in the characters and takes time to tell us what happens to them.  I appreciate this style. King did much the same thing with IT.  Even after the monster is dead, we want to know what happened to Bill and take joy as he rides off on Silver.  (I'm being vague about the ending of IT on purpose).

There are times when King's heavy character development makes the novel too heavy.  "Where is this going?" the reader asks.  I find Lisey's Story hard to read, but am anxious to someday find the magic there.

I think King's best novels employ both gripping plot and sympathetic characters.  Dolores Claiborne is an example of strong plot and strong characters.  Gerald's Game, however, is so character heavy if fails to move at the speed the reader really needs  it to.  It takes a deeper commitment on the readers part to keep going after the first thirty pages of this book.

King often drops characters into wild situations and then lets them hash it out.  This is the case with The Mist, Under The Dome, Desperation.

To read and enjoy Stephen King you have to be willing to give him room to tell a story.  If you don't want to do that, there are the novella's and short stories.  The Body, The Mist, Blockade Billy -- and they are some of my favorites.  But there is something deeply satisfying about a good -- long -- read.  Stephen King often gives us that pleasure.

So, just for fun. . .

1. What novel contains your favorite plot?
2. Who is your favorite character in a SK novel?
3. What King novel most successfully weaves character and plot?

Go ahead, answer them.  It's Monday. . . we all know you look more busy at work typing away.

Me: The Stand  / Dolores Claiborne / 11/22/63

10 Favorite

Here are my current 10 favorite King novels, though my list is ever changing.

1. The Stand
2. The Shining
3. Dolores Claiborne
4. Needful Things
5. IT
6. The Green Mile
7. The Runningman
8. Christine
9. The Mist
10. The Drawing Of The Three

Did I surprise you any?  Didn't surprise myself a bit!

Here's what I notice looking at my own list: First, I am not a Dark Tower nut.  I'll roll with it, but I don't think I like the fantasy genre as much as many King fans do.  I also struggle with LOTR.  I also notice that I enjoy works from different King eras.  Remember the three woman novels, Claiborne, Gerald's Game and Rose Madder ?  I thought Claiborne was off the charts good. 

The Stand and IT seem to rank highest for most fans.  In fact, it's almost boring to admit they're fave's, because everyone rattles those two off. 

A note on Needful Things and Christine.  Two novels I think are excellent, and don't get the praise they deserve.  I found Christine to be a horror delight.  It doesn't attempt to be deep or even dramatic!  It's just fun.  Needful Things on the other hand is serous business.  Characters and plot unfold in a careful web -- the horror master at work here.  King finished Castle Rock off with a bang, and I enjoyed all the sparks and fireworks as the devil himself came to town.

So, you're turn.  10 favorite.  If you haven't read 10, then stop reading the blog and go read 10.  (Read your Bible first, said the preacher.  You're welcome.)

Dolores Claiborne Opera

I spotted this first at Liljas Library.

The Mercury News is reporting that Dolores Claiborne is being made into an opera. 

And projecting further still into the next new season, mezzo-soprano Zajick, Gockley said, is tailor-made for "Dolores Claiborne," the role that earned Kathy Bates an Oscar nomination for the 1995 film made from the Stephen King thriller.

"It's a movie of heavy passions and tragedy and survival, and we thought it had operatic qualities," Gockley said "And doing it for the indomitable Dolora Zajick made sense."

The opera, composed by Tobias Picker and well-known librettist J.D. McClatchy, will open Sept. 15, 2013.

I have thought for years that if any King movie was due a remake, it was this one and Needful Things.  But opera? 

Remakes Worth Considering

It's an era of remakes.  Talk of remaking movies like Pet Sematary makes fans scratch their heads -- what was wrong with the original?  Same with Carrie; though I do whole-heartedly embrace the TV version.  Why did they remake Salem's Lot?  And please, please, please Hollywood -- stop giving us Children Of The Corn remakes, sequels or any other media.  The Children of the Corn is DOA by now! 

If someone wants to remake King films, I have a few suggestions! 

How about remaking Dolores Claiborne? The book was awesome; the movie stunk!  There's a simple reason for the movie's downfall -- they deeply changed King's story.  It worked the way it was written!  Told in Dolores' voice, she moved naturally from past to present.  The addition of her adult daughter was not helpful to the story's flow.

Needful Things was just disastrous!  And I went into it with high hopes.  I had fallen head over heels in love with the novel, buying each segment of the audio tapes with my 18th birthday money.  (They released it in three parts to make purchasing more bearable!)  I loved it all!  The women killing each other in the middle of the street; Radar; Polly and her arthritis; the Sheriff and his shadow puppets; Buster and his race horses; the boy who takes his own life; the woman in love with Elvis -- all of that was wonderful!

The real engine in the book was the Sheriff's past.  What happened to his wife?  The novel becomes his own war with the devil.  I had no idea King was writing about the 1980's and our desire to buy everything!  To me, it was just a big, awesome brilliant novel.

But the movie lost most of that.  Needful Things the movie started well, but failed to maintain the intensity that King's novel did.  Instead of ending with a fight with the devil, it concludes with a sermon.  This one needs a little room to breath.  I don't know why it was never optioned as a mini-series, but I think it would work nicely.  The plot drives it hard, even when King spends time focusing on characters.

Oh, how about Dreamcatcher ?  Again, loved the beginning -- but I always lose interest in the movie midway through.  Desperation falls in the same boat for me.  It started good, but I just can't stay connected.  I did like the novel, but something doesn't feel right on screen.

The Langoliers was bad from the start.  Awkward acting, bad spacial effects and way too much screen time makes the movie a big yawn.  In fact, it's laughably bad.
Firestarter was a big budget movie, big names and followed the book to the T.  But still, something was very empty in that movie.  I don't know what!  I just know that the film isn't as much fun as it ought to be.

IT deserves a remake.  I look forward to the upcoming movie, because I think that the mini-series dropped the ball in many areas.  Special effects were bad.  The only adult that really carried the movie was Tim Curry.  The kids were great, I mean absolutely fantastic.  But all of the adult scenes were embarrassing!

Oh, this one is good. . . The Running Man!  Now that was an awesome book!  It was not an awesome movie.  In fact, other than the title and the game show, I'm not really sure what the movie had in common with the book.

Some King films weren't good, but there's no point in remaking them because the source material never really warranted a feature film!  Take for instance, Silver Bullet.  It started out as a calender, turned into a novella.  It's a fun read, and I even like the movie a bit, but I do wonder if the book had been written by anyone else, would it have become a movie?  Same with The Lawnmower Man -- though that can of worms oughta be left unopened! 

There are some King movies that had no source material, since they were made for the screen.  While Storm Of The Century was a home run, I'm speechless at Sleepwalkers.  Just speechless.  Can only say, "Please, no remakes!"

Now, some movies I just wish they would remake parts of them.  The end of the Mist for instance!  Some fans loved it.  I know from his review that Lilja thought it was great, and King gave it his blessing.  But it leaves my heart throbbing every time I watch that thing.

Remake we really don't need: Carrie, The Stand (but I'll be the first in line) and Pet Sematary.  As the old man said, if it ain't broke. . .

I think when the movie adaptation is really good, it changes how you read the book!  You fall more in love with the book having seen it on film.  When a movie doesn't work, you think, "At least I still have the book."

Rose Madder Movie

Palomar Pictures has plans to film Stephen King's rose Madder.  Variety contributor Dave Mcnary writes, "Rose Madder," based on King's 1995 fantasy novel, has been adapted by Naomi Sheridan ("In America"). That story's based on a woman who's on the run from her abusive husband and is able to travel into a painting."  (full article HERE)

James Wallace at Firstshowing.net notes that somehow Rose Madder has gone quite a long time without mention of any screen treatment.  He writes,

"I'm not sure the book is ripe for the picking when it comes to big screen adaptations, which is likely why it's gone untouched for 16 years and is being brought to us by smaller production companies but I guess it's too early to judge and time will tell. Fun fact though: like many of King's stories, Rose Madder has connections to the author's other works, most significantly The Dark Tower series. The question is whether or not this adaptation is just as desired as that one."

Is he right?  Well, I don't know.  Rose Madder came out while I was in college, and far too busy reading stacks of books assigned to worry myself with Mr. Stephen King.  When I finally came back to King's work, I think I must have told myself, "Rose Madder?  What's that about?  Oh well, I'll wait for the movie."

King was an experimental period when Madder was written.  A heavy focus on female leads, as well as abuse highlighted this period.  Dolores Claiborne and Gerald's Game round out this period.  I think Claiborne is one of King's strongest works, and am very disappointed the movie wasn't better. 

Thrillers

Getting ready for TCM's "A Night At The Movies: The Horrors Of Stephen King" and watching their 2009 documentary "The Suspenseful World Of Thrillers."  Alfred Hitchcock is featured quite heavily in this documentary.  Brian DePalma is also discussed, in particular how he was influenced by Hitchcock.

Apt Pupil:

Apt Pupil is discussed, through not at length, in its connection to Nazi's.  Of course, Nazi's are often quite important to the thriller genre, in particular in Hitchcock's work.  Guy Hendrix Dyas comments that "More modern directors, like Bryan Singer, have revisited Nazi's in an interesting way with films like Apt Pupil where you see an interest in where did they all go, and what happens once the uniform is put away?  What have these people become?"

Singer not only directed Apt pupil, but another Nazi movie, Valkyrie.  Singer says that Apt Pupil was an unusual reflection of himself.  "When I read it it was about this young boy who for some reason was fascinated with the atrocities the Nazi's committed in the concentration camps.  When I was very young, I was quite obsessed with that subject matter.  I think as a Jewish kid, suddenly realizing that such a thing happened at such a level by such a sophisticated society -- could this happen in my country, the United States to us Jews?"

"And then something about the iconography -- the boots , the grandeur, the swastikas, the whole Nazi thing fascinated me.  I don't think I would have blackmailed a Nazi war criminal if one was living across the street, I probably would have called the police.  But when I read this novella, I thought, wow, what a fascinating exploration!  That would be something my alter ego might do."

Other King Thrillers?

King is usually firmly typecast as a horror only author.  Some people have come to appreciate Stand By Me and Shawshank Redemption, but I think most people still think of him as monsters only.  King's ability to cross, even mix, genre's is actually quite incredible.

So what is a "Thriller"?  One commentator explains the genre, "A thriller to me was always a title for an action film that doesn't have the budget. We don't have the car chases or the explosions or the battle scenes, but you will still be on the edge of your seat."

But novels don't have to worry about budget!  Thus you can have action mixed with suspense mixed with thriller and it all works.  Have you noticed that quite often movies are unable to make those transitions between genre's, thus when a movie is translated to film, it has to choose what part of the story it is going to tell.  Why movies like Dolores Claiborne got so messed up.  The story was unable to move so freely among the genre's as King's novel had.

Actor Norman Lloyd (Saboteur), suggests that we have to separate the thriller from the suspense from the detective story.  I think that's true of movies, but not necessarily of books.  The novel is able to fly in more than one direction.  Is Christine a horror novel, or a love triangle?  Is The Stand horror, action or drama? 

Ken Follett, the master of the thriller, "A thriller is very simply a novel about people in danger. In the best thrillers the principle characters are in danger from chapter one." 

So what King books might classify as a thriller?  Well, not a lot, but here's a few. . .
1. Apt Pupil
2. The Dead Zone
3. The Running Man
4. The Drawing Of The Three starts out like a thriller
5. Cujo

What stories belong in the Thriller catagory?

Movie: Dolores Claiborne

If it weren't for the book, this would be a very good movie. Seriously. Now, I'm not a Stephen King purist. In fact, I think in many cases updates to King's work have served to strengthen his stories. This is particularly true of Tommyknockers mini-series, and King's rewrite of The Gunslinger. If I had not read the novel Dolores Claiborne several times, I would probably like this move very much -- because it tells a compelling story. However, I am left disappointed because this isn't the story Stephen King gave us.
.
While the movie contains several priceless scenes that come straight from the movie, it is laced with an unnecessary darkness and tension. The movie is not told from Dolores' point of view, but from Selena's.
.
I think what made this such a strong novel was Dolores' voice. The entire thing was told in flashbacks while she was giving testimony to the police. It was a natural setting for these flashbacks and ran in one continuous dialogue. I thought it was brilliant. In fact, it's one of my favorite King novels. King never broke in to Dolores' rant. She told the whole thing, from beginning to end. It is so well written, it seems as if it isn't a Stephen King novel at all, but was actually pinned by a woman named Dolores Claiborne. But to be certain, what makes the story work is her narrative -- her voice -- her point of view.
.
Revenge Is Supposed To Be Sweet
Now, let me be blunt: I don't want to deal with the affects of abuse from Selena's end. I don't even want to think about it! The scars, the pain, the emotions -- they are not things I want to reflect on for entertainment. However, switch the story back to the way King had it; from Dolores' point of view. If someone touched my daughter in an inappropriate way -- I think I could do great harm to them. So when Dolores sends her hubby falling down a well, in the novel we are all screaming: "YES! YES! YES!" But in the movie, the moment's hysterical joy at seeing Dolores get her revenge is broken by Selena's sarcasm.
.
The revenge in Dolores Claiborne is just as sweet, if not sweeter, as it was in Dolan's Cadillac. The premise is brilliant: What if a woman who really committed a murder was accused of the wrong murder? I like it. I think I like the movie, even though it is not as strong as it could be. The element added is unnecessary, and grim. Selena as an adult does not progress the story, she just darkens it.
.
Kathy Bates is at her best in this movie. She is very much what I imagined when reading the novel.
.
However:
Stephen Jones has this quote in his book Creepshows from Starburst #206, "The best psychological thriller Alfred Hitchcock never made, Dolores Claiborne is the latest sparkling example of a Stephen King novel being lavished with care and emerging another clear winner ahead of his third rate horror pack." p.97

Beyond Favorite

Constant Readers all have favorite Stephen King novels. usually The Stand and IT rank pretty high, along with The Shining and most recently Under The Dome. The Dark Tower series is a "beast" of its own -- some people don't even touch it!

.

Beyond the favorite novels is another issue worth consideration -- strength of writing. Some sotries we love because of the story itself, irregardless of the writing style. Put me down for the Tommyknockers on that one. I think it was a great, great story! But, the prose were long and confusing. Sentenses that ran on and on and became painful. I've said before I wish King would rewrite that thing. But not at the expense of time devoted to the next D.T. novel and Dr. Sleep.

.

What makes King such a popular writer is at least two fold: Stories and writing. The strange truth is, sometimes the writing is stronger than the story, and stometimes the story is stronger than the writing. A really powerful connection happens when the writing and story come together. I would argue that often King's novella's are driven as much by his writing as it is the story. Thus the strength of The Body. Did anyone really read it to see a body? No! The power of that story is King's writing and his ability to draw us into a world of young teen boys.

.

So what novels are well written? Which ones "pop"? Please share your thoughts. Here are some of my own notes:

.

Classic King was etremely strong. Carrie, Salem's Lot, The Shining, The Stand, The Dead Zone, Fire Starter and Cujo are all written with a similar energy. Then, with Christine, something starts to drift. You can see that same type of drifting magnified in Insominia, and at times with IT.

.

King is aware of his sometimes uneven writing, thus the existance of a reworked Gunslinger.

.

So here's my quick list of novels I thought were etremely strong writing:

.

1. Under The Dome. I have noticed more than once how short his sentences are in this. It keeps the story flowing.

.

2. Dolores Claiborne. I really liked the narration here. The writing was, in my opinion, King at his very best. I feel like I've been inside that old ladies head!

.

3. The Green Mile. I think the segmented style forced a level of self-editing that was good, without hacking up the novel. I read someone, now forgotten, who suggested that the Sun Dog was overly edited. I think that might be true. The Green Mile hits the right balance.

.

4. Firestarter is actually a very tight book, written almost like an action thriller. Notice all the "ly's" king puts at the end of the dialogue? In On Writing he said not to do that -- but I like it.

.

5. The Shining accomplishes what ing wanted to do in Geralds Game -- lock down a situation. One woman in a room got a little dry, but a family locked in together in a haunted hotel was delightful.

.

6. UNEVENNESS: Now, about The Stand -- is this really King's writing at his best, or is it driven by story? Come on, it's the all time favorite among King Fans! Obviously the writing is great -- in the revised version. But take a look at the original and notice how dry it feels. It has a hollow feel, almost appropriate for the 1970's! But then notice the writing in the revised version. King didn't just add scenes, he reworked the novel itself. It made a good novel a truly great novel (By the way, Cell gives me that same hollow feeling. I don't know why. I really want to like it!)

.

By the way. . . based on the picture above, I think I know where Beaver from Dreamcatcher caught his toothpick habit.