Take a photo of a barcode or cover
A review by tobin_elliott
Lisey's Story by Stephen King
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Well. Colour me surprised.
For almost twenty years, I've been counting this book as one of King's weakest, and could never understand why he always said it was his favourite. Truth be told, I have only an inkling now of why it's his favourite, and I think it's partially due to King imagining the heroics of the spouse of a famous author both during and after their life...maybe. I don't know.
But, I do believe I figured out what turned me off this book so much the first time around. It was two things, the first being that it took forever for the story to actually kick in, but that can happen in a King novel from time to time, so it's more of an annoyance than a turn-off.
No, the true turn-off for me—and it might have slapped me around a little harder than it should have on the first read—was the "secret language" between Lisey and Scott. All the terms Scott used, that King harped on a LOT toward the front of the book, but just didn't let go of and kept adding to even as the book was wrapping up. I remember much of the focus of the initial reviews talking about the charming language of a long marriage.
And yes, there is terms that become canon between two people who live together long enough, but there's too much shoved in here.
Still, shove that aside, and this is King's rewrite of BAG OF BONES from the perspective of the wife instead of the husband, mixed in with a twisting of ROSE MADDER. So, yes, he's still cannibalizing his earlier stuff for parts, but he's at least remixing them in new and different ways.
I found myself enjoying this one far more than expected. Again, being truthful, I was actually tempted to skip right over this one, especially after suffering through the dreadful CELL just before it, but I'm glad I read it again.
It's much better than I remember.
For almost twenty years, I've been counting this book as one of King's weakest, and could never understand why he always said it was his favourite. Truth be told, I have only an inkling now of why it's his favourite, and I think it's partially due to King imagining the heroics of the spouse of a famous author both during and after their life...maybe. I don't know.
But, I do believe I figured out what turned me off this book so much the first time around. It was two things, the first being that it took forever for the story to actually kick in, but that can happen in a King novel from time to time, so it's more of an annoyance than a turn-off.
No, the true turn-off for me—and it might have slapped me around a little harder than it should have on the first read—was the "secret language" between Lisey and Scott. All the terms Scott used, that King harped on a LOT toward the front of the book, but just didn't let go of and kept adding to even as the book was wrapping up. I remember much of the focus of the initial reviews talking about the charming language of a long marriage.
And yes, there is terms that become canon between two people who live together long enough, but there's too much shoved in here.
Still, shove that aside, and this is King's rewrite of BAG OF BONES from the perspective of the wife instead of the husband, mixed in with a twisting of ROSE MADDER. So, yes, he's still cannibalizing his earlier stuff for parts, but he's at least remixing them in new and different ways.
I found myself enjoying this one far more than expected. Again, being truthful, I was actually tempted to skip right over this one, especially after suffering through the dreadful CELL just before it, but I'm glad I read it again.
It's much better than I remember.