What Makes Bag of Bones so Powerful?

[michal]

Really, what is it about this book that still haunts my dreams years after I've read it last. It's not even one of my favorites! I don't even WANT to read it again, because it was so emotionally draining - like an itch under my skin.

Is it the rape scene? The sacrifice of young children by their parents? The murder of a child or the extreme violence, racism and loss that are portrait in it?

Maybe it's everything together.

[JRM]

I know exactly how you feel, and because of that it IS my favorite. I've never been as absorbed into a book as Bag of Bones. Not before, not since.

[Snooky]

I read that book years ago too and I still can't go into a dark room and not expect to see a small black child with creepy white eyes. That book freaked me out! (but I loved it)

[TheHardcase]

Well, Bag of Bones was not my favorite SK novel. The Stand occupies that esteemed position, always and forever. That said, BoB made my Top 5 list, and like others on this thread, I'm not sure why.

Could be the complexity of the tale sucked me into the narrative in ways other books didn't. It might have been the extraordinary character development SK achieved in crafting a tale so rich. But if I had to pick one element, it would be the uncanny ability Mr. King has for encapsulating the dynamics of small-town New England life.

He did the same thing with 'Salem's Lot almost a quarter century before, and that, more than anything else was what I found so riveting.

'Salem's Lot also made my top five as well. No surprise.

[michal]

He did the same thing with 'Salem's Lot almost a quarter century before, and that, more than anything else was what I found so riveting.

'Salem's Lot also made my top five as well. No surprise.

I deffinitly second that. 'Salem's usually ranks at the top of my SK book list, and it is without a doubt the book I've read the most. Even today, and by now I know many parts almost by heart, whenever I feel like rereading something for a few minutes I either pick 'Salem's up or reach for The Stand, and I always find new things.

[Fliss]

It was the rape scene for me. It was heart breaking, especially combined with what happened to her son. I suppose good writing is supposed to be able to make you feel anything, even revulsion.

[Velswab]

Yo.
I read B o B this year.
I must say,
of all the Stephen King I read this year,
and in the past,
in fact,
of all the books I have read this year, except for three which I will not give the honor of being spoken 'aloud',
B o B was the weakest link by far.

Why?

I do not know, can not explain.
It was a bit less than SK, to me anyway.
or maybe it was the surrounding territory that brought this one to me with less than the gist it deserved?

It could have been the tense,
the actual story,
or neither of these.
it could have been the setting,
but again- I cannot pinpoint where my opposition lay.
I will most likely not ever read it again,
as once I read something, I find it nigh impossible to read again- something about being able to remember the whole work in its entirety because i read slow and deliberate?

Well,
hope i helped! ;)

[ginapenn]

I read Bag of Bones when it first came out and it was one of those books I literally could not put down. Even a trip to the supermarket couldn't hold me back-I stopped at the book section in the store and picked that book up and started reading it from where I had left off. I probably lost myself for about an hour longer than I normally do in a store but it was that good. It's in my top 5 favorites of his for me.

[Manxkitti]

Bag of Bones is one of my favorite SK stories. His ghost stories always have great twists and turns.

[michal]

Yo.
It could have been the tense,
the actual story,
or neither of these.
it could have been the setting,
but again- I cannot pinpoint where my opposition lay.
I will most likely not ever read it again,
as once I read something, I find it nigh impossible to read again- something about being able to remember the whole work in its entirety because i read slow and deliberate?

Well,
hope i helped! ;)

It actually does :laugh:. And this is exactly how I feel, a combination of Oh My God what an excellent book with no inclination to pick it up again in the next few years. Of course... Being human it is not unlikely that I will change my mind :biggrin2:

[Velswab]

Great response Michal.
:)
I often forget, because I have worked hard not to remember,
to be human.
;)

:smile2:

[Audaciousfox]

Love.

The love between Jo and Mike. That's what makes it so powerful in my opinion. Bag of Bones is not only the greatest modern ghost story ever, but a powerful love story. Johanna, dead though she was the duration of the book, was by far my favorite character...and may be the reason I didn't so much care for 'Maddy'. I thought King did a better job filling out the character and nature of Jo - she felt more real.

[Jojo87]

I have to read this book again. This was one on my favorit. Sometimes I start to even think about what happen in that book.

[DreamDarkly]

I read this book when I was on deployment, I loved it because it was able to take me away from the then-present. For me, that's what makes that book so intriguing and powerful.

[towerchilde78]

For me the power came in how the novel was written. That was the book that showed me how Stephen King's writing had matured, become more refined and beautiful. It's like My Fair Lady, Eliza Doolittle before and after, that's the best comparison I can come up with right now.

[Pucker]

I think the popularity of this book derives primarily from the univeral desire of middle-aged men to bang much younger women.

:wink2:

[blunthead]

Bag of Bones is intense indeed. It's one of sK's great works, imho. It's an epic, creepy, horrific, mythic ghost story. What makes it so powerful is sK's powerful imagination, which has never shown less mercy. The book isn't cruel; I'm saying the story/subject matter demands honesty and truth and sK records that. Bag of Bones is fantastic.

I think the realities of evil, human and otherwise, fear and paranoia; certain yet unpredictable death; heroism, cowardice, bizarre superstition reported first person brings the horror of Bag of Bones home where we don't want home to be.

No, yeah. That's where we want it.

[JellybeanJay]

Bag of Bones is my favorite SK novel. I loved the relationship between Mike and Jo and the relationship between Mike, Mattie and Kyra. When Kyra died I cried as if I had lost my own child. One of the most powerful novels I have ever read and re-read!

[ginapenn]

This is definitely one of my favorites. I remember when it first came out, I didn't want to put it down. I went to the grocery store shortly after it came out and ended up stopping in the book section so I could keep reading. Yeah, I'm that pitiful. :)

[EmeraldEye$]

It kind of made me think it was about Stephen King in a way. He was a writer and it let you get into his mind. It was sad too. It still make me sad to think about how he was going to be happy again with the young mom and then she got killed and the poor little daughter was left all alone. It was a powerful story. But the ending just kind of left you hanging.

[boromadnut]

For me, it's powerful because it's written first person, which I always find captivating, and its a good old fashioned ghost story. It is one of my favourites, and it scares me to death, but that's powerful writing.
One thing about King, even though this book, like many of his others, is a stand alone story, it doesn't escape being linked with the rest of his works somehow (in this case, Jo had been reading a Bill Denborough novel at one point) and I love that about him, the way he links up all of his books and characters recur making his whole universe seem real.