Back when I was eleven, I wrote a fan letter to Stephen King.
Should I have been reading Stephen King at such a tender age? Possibly not, but I seem to have turned out okay, despite the language, sex, and really graphic violence.
To date, Stephen King is the only author I’ve felt compelled to write. Did always mean to drop a note to Kurt Vonnegut, but then he up and died on me.
At any rate, I’ve had a lifelong love affair with Stephen King. I realize that certain literature critics delight in panning his work, and being a sometime literature critic myself, I understand the glee of trashing someone who deserves it, but for the life of me I can’t see criticizing SK. He writes some darn good stories, he has a vivid imagination, and he makes you care about the characters.
To be sure, I’ve been disappointed with his recent output. I couldn’t get excited about Lisey’s Story, and I actively disliked Cell. I keep wishing he’d just write The Stand again, or maybe The Shining, or ‘Salem’s Lot. Those were some good books, there.
Or do I only think so because I read them when I was young? Am I too jaded as an adult to appreciate him the way I once did? I guess I’ll never know, but Duma Key is certainly the best he’s put out in the last few years.
It’s your typical King story: There’s a likable protagonist who manages to get himself on the wrong side of a malevolent force. In this case the hero is Edgar, recovering in Florida from a terrible accident at a building site. With diminished vision, a bum hip, an amputated right arm, and a marriage that has suddenly gone down the tube, Edgar tries to find a reason to go on living. To his surprise, he discovers that he has a flair for painting.
More than a flair, really; Edgar’s newfound talent is extraordinary. The paintings are absolutely beautiful, but that’s not all: Edgar seems to be channeling a psychic energy with his art. Some of his pictures are telepathic, depicting visions of things he cannot possibly know; others actually cause changes to manifest in the real world.
Which would be all well and good, but of course this is a Stephen King story, meaning that a nasty supernatural critter is just itching to to make an appearance. Turns out that a wicked spirit is trying to use Edgar’s talent to channel her own purposes. And — as in any good Stephen King story — we readers must bite our nails through a series of tense scenes and murdered innocents before we face the final confrontation.
I can’t claim to have been actually scared, but here’s hoping that readers less cynical than I will be able to derive some heebie-jeebies from the book. Even if you are too well-read in the horror genre to get scared, I still recommend the book for the excellent characters and for King’s captivating writing style.
Check the WRL catalog for Duma Key
Oh, I loved Stephen King as a kid too. Misery and Pet Semetary! Oh man, I remember devouring Misery and being in disbelief over what Annie Wilkes could do. I read each new book as it came out. Until about Delores Claibourne. Then I feel like his work took a different route and didn’t appeal to me quite as much. I’ve read several reviews of Duma Key though and I do want to read this one. Thanks for your review!
It’s a wonderful audio book also – but LONG! And I found myself thinking / talking like Wirerman [spelling phonetic, because I heard the book]
Do the Day! And let the day do you
It’s your typical King story: There’s a likable protagonist who manages to get himself on the wrong side of a malevolent force. In this case the hero is Edgar, recovering in Florida from a terrible accident at a building site. With diminished vision, a bum hip, an amputated right arm, and a marriage that has suddenly gone down the tube, Edgar tries to find a reason to go on living. To his surprise, he discovers that he has a flair for painting.