Christine
Author:
Genres: Literature & Fiction, Mystery, Thriller & Suspense
Book Type: Mass Market Paperback
Author:
Genres: Literature & Fiction, Mystery, Thriller & Suspense
Book Type: Mass Market Paperback
It ain't your average haunted object!
The premise of this story is pretty weird, in actuality, but it works somehow. I'm not a great Stephen King fan, although I've read a couple of his more popular ones recently. I do notice a couple of trends in his work: some positive, some negative. If you're an avid King fan (or even if you're not), in general, this novel definitely delivers. Guilty pleasure: I love a good ghost story, and this one is genuinely creative. The premise of a haunted car in and of itself is intriguing, and remains so throughout - is the thing evil itself, consuming everyone in its path, or is it haunted by its despicable former owner, who commits its terrible deeds unseen? King seems to have something of a morbid fascination with making the mundane and familiar sinister and terrifying, whether it's a seemingly-innocuous historic resort hotel or a cherished-turned-murderous classic car.
King is also a master storyteller, who delves deeply into the inner psyche of his characters, to the degree that they really do become living people to the reader, which makes what happens to them all the more tragic. After carefully crafting them, King systematically dismantles the worlds he creates in epic and disturbing ways, imparting a very unsettling feeling that remains. He sets palpable scenes for the reader, often centering on weather, so that you actually feel them. His descriptions of sights, sounds, smells, sensations are so realistic that readers easily, sometimes inadvertently project themselves into the scenes the characters are experiencing, making his novels very "visual," frighteningly so.
On the other hand, however, he often goes over the top with all the twists, turns and subplots, and this otherwise capable story is no exception. Also, I get that his work is largely mass-market, and has to appeal to a broad audience, but the prose does tend to be excessively pedestrian. Most of King's novels are so weighty, in the physical sense, that they're difficult to hold for long periods without your hands cramping-that's not really hyperbole! It isn't like I have difficulty with a 700-something-page novel, if the content is warranted, but King's really start to drag about 400 pages in, when it seems as if he starts consciously just trying to fill up empty space. Things do resolve in the end here, but a lot of the prose is just unnecessary; the story would be much more intense and unsettling without the excessive verbosity, which I've noted about his other novels as well.
It's almost as if he's trying too hard to be complex, which affects the quality of the whole. In this case, he waits until you're about two-thirds of the way through the novel before introducing a subplot consisting of a tangent about the criminal activities of Darnell and Company, which involves the main protagonist, Arnie. Another peculiarity with this one: in this novel, he changes perspective from a main character to a narrator to the main character again, once said character becomes incapacitated and essentially disappears from the story for several hundred pages (I never got the point of that!). Some people may be enchanted with the delayed gratification, which is well and fine, but ultimately, neither do I want to get bored when reading a ghost story.
The premise of this story is pretty weird, in actuality, but it works somehow. I'm not a great Stephen King fan, although I've read a couple of his more popular ones recently. I do notice a couple of trends in his work: some positive, some negative. If you're an avid King fan (or even if you're not), in general, this novel definitely delivers. Guilty pleasure: I love a good ghost story, and this one is genuinely creative. The premise of a haunted car in and of itself is intriguing, and remains so throughout - is the thing evil itself, consuming everyone in its path, or is it haunted by its despicable former owner, who commits its terrible deeds unseen? King seems to have something of a morbid fascination with making the mundane and familiar sinister and terrifying, whether it's a seemingly-innocuous historic resort hotel or a cherished-turned-murderous classic car.
King is also a master storyteller, who delves deeply into the inner psyche of his characters, to the degree that they really do become living people to the reader, which makes what happens to them all the more tragic. After carefully crafting them, King systematically dismantles the worlds he creates in epic and disturbing ways, imparting a very unsettling feeling that remains. He sets palpable scenes for the reader, often centering on weather, so that you actually feel them. His descriptions of sights, sounds, smells, sensations are so realistic that readers easily, sometimes inadvertently project themselves into the scenes the characters are experiencing, making his novels very "visual," frighteningly so.
On the other hand, however, he often goes over the top with all the twists, turns and subplots, and this otherwise capable story is no exception. Also, I get that his work is largely mass-market, and has to appeal to a broad audience, but the prose does tend to be excessively pedestrian. Most of King's novels are so weighty, in the physical sense, that they're difficult to hold for long periods without your hands cramping-that's not really hyperbole! It isn't like I have difficulty with a 700-something-page novel, if the content is warranted, but King's really start to drag about 400 pages in, when it seems as if he starts consciously just trying to fill up empty space. Things do resolve in the end here, but a lot of the prose is just unnecessary; the story would be much more intense and unsettling without the excessive verbosity, which I've noted about his other novels as well.
It's almost as if he's trying too hard to be complex, which affects the quality of the whole. In this case, he waits until you're about two-thirds of the way through the novel before introducing a subplot consisting of a tangent about the criminal activities of Darnell and Company, which involves the main protagonist, Arnie. Another peculiarity with this one: in this novel, he changes perspective from a main character to a narrator to the main character again, once said character becomes incapacitated and essentially disappears from the story for several hundred pages (I never got the point of that!). Some people may be enchanted with the delayed gratification, which is well and fine, but ultimately, neither do I want to get bored when reading a ghost story.
