Needfull Things finished!

[luckeyskinner]

I have been on a Stephen King kick all summer. It started with a roadtrip to Maine. (Isle Au Haut has the best trails - I highly recommend camping there). While in Bangor, I picked up Needful Things in the Betts Bookstore (dedicated strictly to King books and several tomes on aviation - another recommendation), and I too just finished reading.

I have to say, I take one issue with your post: the good "from beginning to end - " specifically the "to end" - part.

I have to say I LOVED most of the book. It never ceases to amaze me how Stephen King can introduce so many characters and keep my interest in all of them. I don't even have to resort to keeping "character charts" in pencil on the back cover of the book (Anyone else have to read Faulkner in high school?). Usually when an author has so many characters working at once, I lose interest in some and cannot wait to get to the next chapter that features the characters I am interested in. That is not the case with this book. EVERYONE in Castle Rock kept me rapt, especially my favorite, Aunt Evvie. And the images of those tainted treasures - the ratty, rotting fox tail wrapped around Hugh's neck and the bent, paint-chipped metal horses splattered with Myrtle's fresh blood - made my skin crawl.

HOWEVER, what is UP with the last few chapters? Why does Alan suddenly possess magical powers at such a convenient time, when there is nothing supernatural even hinted at regarding his quickness and his adeptness at tricks of the hand? It felt like cheating to me. Surely there was a way that Alan could have mentally defeated or tricked Gaunt without a ray of magical light intervening? (That is also my one beef with The Stand - why the Hand of God?).

Also, I think dialogue gets so corny near the end! "Did I just see that fella's car turn into a wagon and go flying off into the sky?"..."Let's just say there was the biggest going out of business sale you ever saw, only some of us weren't buying."...WHAT?!

It seems like King spent so many hours laboring over hundreds and hundreds of pages, and then, at the end, he was like, "Screw it! Let's just wrap this thing up already!" Anyone else feel this way???

P.S. I would like to say I am only complaining because I like SK's books so much. I have high expectations every time I pick one up. And this one was so good most of the way, the let down at the end was doubly bad. I have the same problem with XFiles. I love the good episodes so much, then the second movie comes out, I have high hopes, I go to see it, and it's like, "WHAT?! NO!!!"

[bopropadop]

HOWEVER, what is UP with the last few chapters? Why does Alan suddenly possess magical powers at such a convenient time, when there is nothing supernatural even hinted at regarding his quickness and his adeptness at tricks of the hand? It felt like cheating to me. Surely there was a way that Alan could have mentally defeated or tricked Gaunt without a ray of magical light intervening? (That is also my one beef with The Stand - why the Hand of God?).

Welcome and thanks for your post!

Complaints are fair and welcome. We're here to discuss things just like this. I think I understand where you're coming from, though I didn't experience the same "disappointment." I tend to look forward to these supernatural endings when ordinary people do extraordinary things or some greater force intervenes. Gives me some hope that we're capable of great things in traumatic times. That's just my two cents.

Hopefully some others will join in the discussion and we'll all benefit from the exchange.

Again, welcome and please enjoy your time here!

[baylorbear2008]

So I finally finished it last night...good book, and I liked the references to The Dark Half and Cujo in the end, however, it did seem like a stretch. Could it be that Gaunt was a minion of The Crimson King and that is why the white light hurt him so? Kind of interesting if you ask me.

[randallFlaggfan1]

Great book. Classic King. I'll be rereading Needful Things sometime this year.

[Scott C]

The last book i read was needful things (awesome cover to cover) and i agree with Bopropadop in that i look forward to the supernatural side to things in SK books...think of how aweful reading would be if everything was based on reality...reading is just the opposite for me..it's my escape from reality!!!

[jalexbrown]

Out of all the lengthier Stephen King novels I've read so far, I found Needful Things to be one of the easiest to read and breeze through. The story had a great, unrelenting flow to it. (As opposed to, say, The Tommyknockers, which was in itself a great novel, but lacking the smooth flow of Needful Things.) I finished Needful Things maybe six or seven months back, before Dreamcatcher (another very smooth read) or Under the Dome (yes, yet another very smooth read). Needful Things was a fantastic book, and it never really let me down. My mind is pretty sketchy on the ending (if memory serves me correctly, I considered it the weakest link in the novel), so I might have to pick up my copy and re-read the last hundred-or-so pages again to see what I pick up. (I don't want to re-read the whole book again, having a huge library of unread books and having just finished Needful Things less than a year ago.)

[sarar]

I remember reading this while having a bath on holiday. Needless to say i was terrified haha
this is my favourite book of all time!
such a brilliant book!
i think everyone should read it

[Lencho_of_the_Apes]

I don't think the ending was pulled out of his hat (or somewhere else) just because Sai King was desperate to finish. The thing with the pop-up snake toy was set up early in the book, and it was brought up periodically during the action to keep it visible. My feeling is that Sheriff P. imbued that object with positive energy, the same way that Gaunt's Needful Things were filled with negative energy.

OTOH, Sai King does sometimes go for an easy solution at the end of his books, it's not hard to think of examples of that... so maybe this is one of those... You decide.

We all float down here.

[motocop]

One of my favorites for sure. I love the Castle Rock books. Cujo is one mentioned. I dont recall the Talisman being in there. What was mentioned about it? Alan Pangborn is an awesome character. Like someone said earlier, the Dark Half talks more about him. NT talks about the Dark Half characters as well. Im reading the Body right now, and theres talk of a younger Ace Merrill, so thats interesting. When I finished NT I thought about Leland Gaunt and the Walkin Dude and who was more evily powerful. Maybe their just the same person. I guess I just like comparing books and matching characters up against one another.

[Maoster]

Just finished it too and thought it was an exceptional read - Leland Gaunt for my money is the most loathsome, evil character I can recall in a SK story and I was just sorry Alan P didn't waste him at the end.

I think the Talisman reference is to Gaunt's "car" no?

Quick question - I have not yet read Dark Half - will it spoil it now I have read this?

Cheers