love vs addiction

[tak113454]

I just finished reading Tommyknockers, which I actually enjoyed a lot - perhaps because I'm in desperate straits after the abrupt dissolution of love... anything by King right now is the most wonderful escape from pain I can hope for (well, other than getting sh*tfaced, but as Bukowski said and I must agree, "drinking is a form of suicide where you're allowed to return to life and begin all over the next day. It's like killing yourself, and then you're reborn." -- reading King is a lot safer form of high)

I was struck by a couple things in the book... but I guess mostly the relationship between Gardner and Bobby, and it's dissolution into total nothingness was what struck me the most.

There was a quote earlier in the book, which I don't have now because I tore the page out to give to a friend (ehh, defacing books!) where Gardner comments on the fact that God made man smart enough to -- Lord only knows, build an A-bomb, a nuclear power plant, I can't remember - but stupid enough to keep believing in "forever" over and over again.

And yet, in a book teeming with metaphors for addiction - getting the scoop, digging out the ship, the obsession with seeing fire, and of course Gardner's own drinking - love seems to be the one thing never demonized as such.

When Gardner dies he dreams of a life where he had been welcomed by Bobby, and the final scene is Hilly and his brother wrapped in a warm embrace...


So, I don't know... is love the only solution for escaping the destructive power of our passions,
or will our passions ultimately destroy the things we love and we just have to learn to accept that and keep moving on?

Also, just out of curiosity, Gardner wants to know the Tommyknockers reason for existence, and at one point he says that he now understands, and it is never really spelled out WHAT their reason is. I got the idea what he wanted to say was that they lived for sheer enjoyment, for pleasure, but I'm not sure if that is right. Does anyone know??

[Dull Dull Boy]

Well shortly after this book S.K.'s family staged an intervention for him. To confront his growing problems with drugs and alcohol. He admits not remembering much of the time working on The Tommyknockers, due to being under the influence. Still amazingly powerful novel can't understand why more people dnt recommend it.

[wally wonder]

can't remember rightly where it is, perhaps tommyknockers, but there is a quote, won't get it exactly right, but here goes: happiness should remain unexamined for as long as possible........i'll go take a look....if i find it, i'll have a double post....i'm nothing but trouble....
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looking....but i found this other great description....'gardener hooked a hand into the man's armpit, wincing a little at the hot, jungly dampness there, and pulled him to his feet.'....heh heh heh, don't ya love that phrase, hot jungly dampness?...yeah, here it is, page 218 in the hc edition: and i believe that happiness is the exact opposite of sadness, bitterness, and hatred. happiness should remain unexamined as long as possible....'......see, like i said, i'm nothing but trouble...took a nap earlier, and i woke up with a hot jungly dampness...day sweats...now i won't sleep until late and so it goes....

[GNTLGNT]

Tak, I empathize with your loss-but wrapping your arms around a SK novel and letting his words embrace you in return is certainly wonderful solace. Tommyknockers has always given me a headache-could be that the pages were fermented somehow...Seriously though, Sai King is just a big mushy old teddy bear deep down I think(sure a were-teddy, but teddy nonetheless). I feel a chance for redemption and the power of Love over Evil in many of his stories. You WILL love again....mind the old Gentle Giant now!!

[Pucker]

What does it say about the human condition that love is both the problem and the solution, as often as not?