What Makes Bag of Bones so Powerful?

[Velswab]

Great response Michal.

I often forget, because I have worked hard not to remember,
to be human.

[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.

[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.