Just finished Colorado Kid/ some thoughts on it...

[vivazebool]

Ok -- I just finished The Colorado Kid and I gotta say it: I couldn't put it down. When I got to the end, I wasn't dissapointed that the mystery wasn't resolved. I've read enough of King's books to know he does the things he does for a reason. So I asked myself, why did he end the story that way.

King says in the afterword that he was pleased with how his characters responded to an unsolvable mystery and that he wondered how his readers would respond. That's when something clicked for me -- the story isn't about trying to solve the mystery of how a guy got from Colorado to Maine in record time and how or why he died.

With that in mind, I thought the story was really a character study, how certain people respond to the unexplainable. That's what we ought to look at.
How did the two old men handle it? They wanted to find the answers out of good motives: they knew someone out there needed closure, and they discovered his wife, and she was able to get the insurance claim. They were also able to help their intern to become a better reporter, to learn how to think, and to learn how to ask questions, and to help her aquire a taste for searching out answers for the unexplained.

Also, at the end, the intern sees the picture of the baseball players watching the lights in the sky. Two opponents who've set aside their competition and joined together to try to comprehend the unexplainable.

Maybe the story is really about how the human heart does, or maybe should, respond the mystery.

Anyways, that's what I was thinking.

[JohnDalglish]

Hi,

Interesting thoughts and I tend to agree with you.

Which is why I find the abandoning of these elements for the planned spin-off TV series 'Haven' so irritating.

Long days and pleasant nights

[frisbee]

Just finished The Colorado Kid and loved it. I agree with viva's comments above. In addition, I thought SK really did a great job with the two old men. I swear, I could hear their accents in the words coming off the page....

[GNTLGNT]

It was an interesting side trip if you will, for our esteemed Inkslinger. I kinda hoped for resolution to the mystery too, but with Uncle Stevie I knew better. To wish for him to give us an ending wrapped in a bow, conjurs up the phrase"Wish in one hand, sh** in the other". Certainly it was a grand character study-and once again, one so real-you feel as if you could wander into a nearby seafood place and there they'd be-holding forth as only two old "newshounds" could...

[stevohump]

I completely agree with you vivazebool. It was a character study. I also love the dialog. I recently read Bag of Bones and The Colorado Kid was almost like coming back home. i love the northeastern dialect and King has it down to a tee. Great book

[Alkaline]

I just finished this myself. I absolutely loved it, the theme scared me more than a lot of SK's other novels. Just imagine finding a dead body like that, then the mystery surrounding the death. The whole feel of the book was great, I live all the way over in England but with the quality of the writing I could easily picture that small island in Maine and what it would be like. And (this could be me just hoping) I could maybe see links with The Dark Tower, the Low Men being involved somehow...

I'm not going to look to much into that anyhow, just enjoy it for what it is. A lovely little book

[Nataly]

(Sorry for my english, I'm french, But you had noticed it in my accent, no? lol)

For my part when I ended the story, I said myself : " I like ", then I read Stephen's afterword which said that or we hate, or we like...
In fact, I liked the book having read the afterword, because I had read the book only as a "tele-viewer" while thanks to King, I reanalyzed it.
It is often moreover what what takes place at the end of its books, it leaves place on second thought... Regrettably, it does not appear to the end of movies...
Having said that, I have the printing that in France, the book was not so appreciated, so much and so that there is no republication of the book... Because of it, an edition of " Colorado kid " which costs normallement 3€ saw being sold to 95€ on Web... I am rich, I have two of it! Lol

[MrsSmeej]

Just finished The Colorado Kid and loved it. I agree with viva's comments above. In addition, I thought SK really did a great job with the two old men. I swear, I could hear their accents in the words coming off the page....

What accents?



I just finished this one on my Kindle. It was great.
Now I have a question that's been bugging me of late;
Isn't there a character named Colorado Kid
In The Stand (the unabridged)? My copy's gone and hid.

The crazy guy with whom Trash rides? I'm sure that was his name.
When the T.V. show came out I thought they were the same.
Now, along with all the other questions this book raised
I can add this other one. It's making me feel crazed.

Anyone remember, or am I the only one?
Did I get the guy's name wrong? (Old age is no fun.)
I may have to run right out and buy The Stand once more.
Wait a minute... I forgot. That's what my Kindle's for.

[Moderator]

It was just The Kid. Here's the list for next time.

[MrsSmeej]

It was just The Kid. Here's the list for next time.

Ms. Mod to the rescue - just like always. Many thanks.
Any time I've had a question, you've filled in the blanks.
Every day you prove you're worth each penny of your pay.
I guess I should have waited but I bought it anyway.

I now need a folder just for stories by your boss.
But my new collection's not subject to theft or loss;
Not unless my Kindle breaks. I hope not. That would mean
I might have to organize or, even worse, to clean.