cwalrus
February 25th, 2009, 11:33 AM
It took me a while to finish Roadwork, but I really enjoyed it. I found it very poignant and sad, and maybe it took me long to finish because I knew it was going to end badly. All in all, a very touching and moving story that I think most average people could relate to, and between this story and The Long Walk I think SK's nonsupernatural storytelling is vastly underrated. I read this story because it's part of the Bachman Books collection, which I got primarily for Rage, but The Long Walk and Roadwork are both excellent stories displaying a great deal of SK's range and craftmanship.
Bart's dialogues with Sal Mgliore were my favorite part of the book, particularly the Mr. Piazzi's dog story. I couldn't help but envision James Gandolfini portraying Sal Magliore if Roadwork were to ever become a film. I wonder if Sk would ever consider returning to this character because even though he doesn't appear often in Roadwork, I found him to be one of the more memorable supporting characters that I've read so far in SK's books.
Also I read on Wikipedia that Drake, the "street priest" is actually Father Callahan, but I'm not totally convinced of it. Drake is described as having a "scarred wounded hand" and I don't quite remember if that happened to Father Callhan. I thought he just drank Barlow's blood scarring his soul forever, but maybe I'm just not remembering everything. Maybe the scar is from when Callahan tried to enter this church. I just don't remeber. Could someone please jog my memory on this? Still, Drake just doesn't feel like the same character as Father Callahan to me, but I'd be interested in what people have to say about this.
My only critique of Roadwork is that I found it hard getting into the story and all of the laundry characters at the beginning were a blur when I began the story and it wasn't until Bart met with Ordner the first time that the story started to take shape for me. Once it did, everything that came before that started to make more sense and I got into the story. The only thing is that I knew it was going to end tragically and I didn't want it to. I wanted Bart to get his act together just as he said he was towards the end even though he had no intentions of doing so. The heartbreak involved of losing a child was just too much for him, I suppose. Still, I found myself hoping that he'd be stopped before using the explosives or that maybe Magliore sold him duds and that he'd get the help he needed once he was captured.
For anyone who hasn't read Roadwork, I'd highly recommend it. Just be aware that you might get so attached to its main character that you may not want it to end.
Bart's dialogues with Sal Mgliore were my favorite part of the book, particularly the Mr. Piazzi's dog story. I couldn't help but envision James Gandolfini portraying Sal Magliore if Roadwork were to ever become a film. I wonder if Sk would ever consider returning to this character because even though he doesn't appear often in Roadwork, I found him to be one of the more memorable supporting characters that I've read so far in SK's books.
Also I read on Wikipedia that Drake, the "street priest" is actually Father Callahan, but I'm not totally convinced of it. Drake is described as having a "scarred wounded hand" and I don't quite remember if that happened to Father Callhan. I thought he just drank Barlow's blood scarring his soul forever, but maybe I'm just not remembering everything. Maybe the scar is from when Callahan tried to enter this church. I just don't remeber. Could someone please jog my memory on this? Still, Drake just doesn't feel like the same character as Father Callahan to me, but I'd be interested in what people have to say about this.
My only critique of Roadwork is that I found it hard getting into the story and all of the laundry characters at the beginning were a blur when I began the story and it wasn't until Bart met with Ordner the first time that the story started to take shape for me. Once it did, everything that came before that started to make more sense and I got into the story. The only thing is that I knew it was going to end tragically and I didn't want it to. I wanted Bart to get his act together just as he said he was towards the end even though he had no intentions of doing so. The heartbreak involved of losing a child was just too much for him, I suppose. Still, I found myself hoping that he'd be stopped before using the explosives or that maybe Magliore sold him duds and that he'd get the help he needed once he was captured.
For anyone who hasn't read Roadwork, I'd highly recommend it. Just be aware that you might get so attached to its main character that you may not want it to end.