Is Misery Under Rated

[Sawney Beane]

It´s a great book.But "evil yet funny"???Evil yet sick more like¡¡.Funny??.Would you say that to her?:"oh,Annie you´re funny...".Annie:"what do you mean, you mean the way I talk? What?" Big-Pink:"Just..you know...you´re funny" Annie:"You mean, let me understand this cause, you know maybe it's me, I'm a little f***ed up maybe, but I'm funny how? I mean ,funny like I'm a clown?, I amuse you? I make you laugh?, I'm here to f**ing amuse you? What do you mean funny, funny how? How am I funny???".

[LadyHitchhiker]

Misery was an excellent book and definitely underrated.

[rose key]

Misery is one of my favorites. It's one of the books I've recommened (and loaned) to first time readers. The fact that it all takes place in one room, and yet there is so much action and entertainment is amazing. There were also many points I laughed out loud, like: "You must think Annie's in a real poopie-doopie mood today, Paul!" She had her own language when it came to adjectives, did she not?
And the ashtray scene? Edge of your seat, white knuckled excitment.

[delores 74]

It´s a great book.But "evil yet funny"???Evil yet sick more like¡¡.Funny??.Would you say that to her?:"oh,Annie you´re funny...".Annie:"what do you mean, you mean the way I talk? What?" Big-Pink:"Just..you know...you´re funny" Annie:"You mean, let me understand this cause, you know maybe it's me, I'm a little f***ed up maybe, but I'm funny how? I mean ,funny like I'm a clown?, I amuse you? I make you laugh?, I'm here to f**ing amuse you? What do you mean funny, funny how? How am I funny???".

LOL!!!! I LOVE GOODFELLAS!!!!
Anyway, Misery is definitely one of my favorites. I remember reading it the first time and being scared out of my wits for Paul. When he escapes the room and is trying to get back in before Annie comes in, my heart was racing and I was breathing hard. Sure sign of a great book.

[CorruptGoat0079]

I just finished Misery three days ago and have let it sit while I digested the story. I doubt that I will state anything that has not already been said, but I loved the novel. I quite literally could not put Misery down for the last hundred fifty pages.

Even after I read 'On Writing, a Memoir of the Craft' where SK states that he did not realize Paul Sheldon would be as resourceful as he turned out to be, I still believed that he was a dead man. I truly saw no way for him to survive, even after he escaped Annie's house I thought she would kill him.

People I have spoken with who only watched the movie give mixed reviews, but I could not see anyone who could read Misery and not be terrified for Paul Sheldon and for their own sanity.

[adrianmarley]

I think Misery is one of SK's best books. It's tightly written and incredibly suspenseful. It was the book that got me back into Stephen King after I had stopped reading him.

Annie Wilkes is a great creation and the book highlights many of King's strengths as a writer: his command of language and how a book with only two main characters can keep you on the edge of your seat for so long.

I also suspect that King makes some interesting points on the nature of fame and on how obsessed some fans can be. It's also a powerful piece on the nature of writing and what it means to be a writer. It may not be autobiographical but I think there's a grain of truth in this book with regards to how King feels towards his own fame and, indeed, the trappings of the fame.

All in all, I think Misery is one of the best books he's ever written and I don't understand why it's not lauded more.

[jchanic]

I don't think it's praised more by King fans because a lot of them feel it reflects the way King feels about HIS fans and that makes them feel unsettled. I don't agree.

John

[The Outsider]

This is definitely one of my more liked king novels, and I really enjoyed-and was horrified by- the character of Annie. And the ending, in my opinion, was a great solution and a perfect way for Annie to go down.

Can anyone say irony?

[wall of fog]

Watching the movie again the summer before last I realized what a great detective story it is! Like Murders of the Rue Morgue. This creepy old house used against him, finding clues step by step, the traces the police look for outside. I would love to know more about the good guy sheriff idea with the white cowboy hat.

[Mary Beth]

Although The Stand will probably always be my favorite King novel, I think Misery is his finest work. I just love it and cannot wait to hit it on my re-read schedule. It's simply brilliantly constructed and it's so darn....sly.

I love how he plays his readers and uses the Annie/Paul relationship as a fun house mirror for any reader/author relationship.

I love the technique of weaving in Misery's story and how skillfully he manages to change voice so effectively. There's so much vivid imagery in this novel, as well. I think it can be a fair criticism of King's works that they can be wordy, bloated and/or obscure. But this book ducks all that and is almost perfection.