Mom of Eight Revisits S. King

[cfekete]

My compulsion to visit thrift shops in new locals led me into the Methodist Church Boutique of New Symrna Beach, FL. There is an obvious irony in staying in a $800k condo (not ours) and being thrilled in finding a pair of Columbia brand pants for my son for $3. Although, the condo NOT being ours may eliminate the ironic factor... I digress...

I stumbled upon a paperback of King's EVERYTHING'S EVENTUAL....and wonder "do I go THERE again?" Do I give THAT guy another opportunity to leave an inkblot on my mind? But a deal's a deal- and for 50 cents, I'll give it another shot.

The last King novel I invested in involved a brutal rape of a stunning and talented black woman in Maine and the murder of her son. The title of the book escapes me, but the details of the rape do not. The book was given to me by my step-father- and in an attempt to "bond" -I read it. Bonding gave way to a certain fear of what kind of perv my mom was married to. Ugh.

But King holds a certain sentimental value for me. I moved around much as a child, but Maine was our regular summer holiday. My father was a bit of a horror film buff- and would drag me, his eldest child (apparently my mom was NOT going to go) to movies like CARRIE, THE SHINING and CHRISTINE.

Back to EVENTUAL....KING invites feedback in his introduction, and this is how I am led to a website listed in a 2002 publication.

Autopsy Room Four.....boring and predictable. Although the guy seemed to be a corporate ass- so I wouldn't have minded him being cut up- maybe that's emotional fall-out from Enron and recent bail-out blahs? And the erection thing, puleeze- Stephen, you are better than this- it's not "modern", it's cheap.

The Man in the Black Suit...now we are talking! Suspense and tension that practically drives me to skip over words to get to the next, until I realize particular effort has been made to CHOOSE those words- so out of respect, I back up and re-read. Old-school talent- without the need to fall back on cheap outs like sex and cussing.

Now, I'm back to reading...

[Spideyman]

Have you read- Lisey's Story, Duma Key, Bag of Bones, The Dark Tower series,Colorado Kid. All these are SK books and you maybe pleasantly surprise at the storyline and characters.

[jtmanis]

I believe the title of the book you're looking for is Bag of Bones.

[blunthead]

I like all of sK's short story collections. Everything's Eventual contains three of my favorite stories: Everything's Eventual, 1408, and Lunch at the Gotham Cafe.

Bag of Bones was indeed severe, especially the scenes you mentioned. There are times when sK is heavy, but Bag of Bones is much more so than usual, IMO (but brilliant). I expect by now you're finding this to be true.

So, now that you're hooked...what next?

[-The Road Virus-]

I enjoyed the Road Virus Heads North, obviously. You should give that story a go.

[ShadowtheDragon]

The Road Virus Rides North was definitely my favorite. It was also Little Sisters of Eluria that finally made me decide to read the Dark Tower series.

[karend3]

It was Bag of Bones where the black woman was raped and her son was murdered. Her angry spirit seeks revenge on generations of family of the men who raped her.