Lisey's Story by Stephen King
July 9th 2007 01:37
It is not a general habit of mine to review a book before Ive finished it. I always like to finish something before I review it - Books, especially, have an innate ability to disappiont you. To go in directions you never imagined(but not in a good way) to lose quality and repel you from caring in those vital, final moments. I mean, look what happened with the 'Wayfarer redemption' I could not have cared less by the end. But Lisey has had such an effect on me Ive decided to review it now, even though Ive barely grazed the half way mark.
Today is a great day for reading too. The rain is coming down in driving sheets - its roaring a thunder over our tin roof and is so thick its actually hard to see the front fence. Its cold, even with the fire going, just the way I like it. There is no job that can possibly be completed in the out doors in weather like this. Starting to understand why I love wild weather? Ive got a few things planned - hunting down poems I want to post, thrashing out others Ive been meaning to write for months, scrapbooking and collaging various subjects, one of them my wedding.....But I know, as surely as that rain is hypnotisingly drumming right now, Im going to turn around and say...."Well, one chapter wont hurt" and before you know it I'll have been curled on the couch, barely noticing my old tapes needing to be turned over, dream comfortable in my dirty tracksuit pants, for about 6 hours. Thats what Lisey can do to you.....
Officially, from its blurb 'Liseys Story' is about the widow of a famous writer, who is finally undertaking going through her late husbands things. It takes her in .....Unexpected directions. Lets face it - I always have a great empathy for the crazy characters in any situation. Ginger in 'Ginger Snaps' Najara in 'Xena' John Travolta in 'Broken Arrow' and theres a book called 'Witchlight' by Marion Zimmer Bradley where the main character Winter is just impossible not to love. But its unclear......As yet, just how crazy Lisey is. Perhaps not at all. But let me mention assuredly that in this instance I did not need to be 'Sucked down' or 'drawn into' the depths that Stephen King and Lisey are exploring, I was already there. It was a welcoming, a home coming, like inviting people in to a party. I already knew her, this Lisey and her crazy husband, and everything they say (like - SOWISA and 'blood bool') seems completely familiar to me, and accordingly appropriate.
I have only ever read one Stephen King novel before this - 'Carrie' I loved it because I identified straight away with Carrie herself, in her situation, and hence loved it. I found his other offerings notoriously hard to swallow. I watched them as movies but couldnt get my head around the books. Now it seems King has found his niche - he has finally achieved what every horror writer sets out to achieve. He is exploring the inner most mind, he is delving and diving and its seems to be no effort - as if the true terror was always there waiting to be unleashed. As if all the other books were an attempt to hold it BACK, and this, finally, is him just letting it rip.
Im recommending 'Lisey's story'. Some of you will hate it, some of you will not understand it and some of you, maybe, some of you, will dare to look beyond the written lines and imagine something of your own fate. A select some of you, like me, will welcome Lisey with open arms and a "where have you been?" smile, wondering where she has been, this magnificent expression of female character so complex and yet so real.
So, this is my tentative review - Of course, King may screw me yet, I wouldnt put it past him honestly - but at barely half way through Kleo swears this is a book worth reading. Set in those maddening short chapters like the 'Davinci Code' it just urges you to read and READ, simply teasing you with crumbs and begging you to turn the page. Its one of those books Im so desperate to get to the end of so I find out what happens, yet desperate for it never to end - A wanting to live in Lisey's head forever. There is no happy medium in a book like this - Once I find out everything there is to know, I'll be finished, but unsatisfied. Unsatisfied forever, because Lisey and her views on the world will be gone forever(until the next visit) and I think thats going to make me very sad. Because living with Lisey is quite comfortable.
So, while the air freezes to crystals, and the rain pounds on the tin roof and the wind screams and drives, Im gonna curl up in my comfyest clothes, light a ciggi, and sit with Lisey. Just for one chapter, I swear......
Today is a great day for reading too. The rain is coming down in driving sheets - its roaring a thunder over our tin roof and is so thick its actually hard to see the front fence. Its cold, even with the fire going, just the way I like it. There is no job that can possibly be completed in the out doors in weather like this. Starting to understand why I love wild weather? Ive got a few things planned - hunting down poems I want to post, thrashing out others Ive been meaning to write for months, scrapbooking and collaging various subjects, one of them my wedding.....But I know, as surely as that rain is hypnotisingly drumming right now, Im going to turn around and say...."Well, one chapter wont hurt" and before you know it I'll have been curled on the couch, barely noticing my old tapes needing to be turned over, dream comfortable in my dirty tracksuit pants, for about 6 hours. Thats what Lisey can do to you.....
Officially, from its blurb 'Liseys Story' is about the widow of a famous writer, who is finally undertaking going through her late husbands things. It takes her in .....Unexpected directions. Lets face it - I always have a great empathy for the crazy characters in any situation. Ginger in 'Ginger Snaps' Najara in 'Xena' John Travolta in 'Broken Arrow' and theres a book called 'Witchlight' by Marion Zimmer Bradley where the main character Winter is just impossible not to love. But its unclear......As yet, just how crazy Lisey is. Perhaps not at all. But let me mention assuredly that in this instance I did not need to be 'Sucked down' or 'drawn into' the depths that Stephen King and Lisey are exploring, I was already there. It was a welcoming, a home coming, like inviting people in to a party. I already knew her, this Lisey and her crazy husband, and everything they say (like - SOWISA and 'blood bool') seems completely familiar to me, and accordingly appropriate.
I have only ever read one Stephen King novel before this - 'Carrie' I loved it because I identified straight away with Carrie herself, in her situation, and hence loved it. I found his other offerings notoriously hard to swallow. I watched them as movies but couldnt get my head around the books. Now it seems King has found his niche - he has finally achieved what every horror writer sets out to achieve. He is exploring the inner most mind, he is delving and diving and its seems to be no effort - as if the true terror was always there waiting to be unleashed. As if all the other books were an attempt to hold it BACK, and this, finally, is him just letting it rip.
Im recommending 'Lisey's story'. Some of you will hate it, some of you will not understand it and some of you, maybe, some of you, will dare to look beyond the written lines and imagine something of your own fate. A select some of you, like me, will welcome Lisey with open arms and a "where have you been?" smile, wondering where she has been, this magnificent expression of female character so complex and yet so real.
So, this is my tentative review - Of course, King may screw me yet, I wouldnt put it past him honestly - but at barely half way through Kleo swears this is a book worth reading. Set in those maddening short chapters like the 'Davinci Code' it just urges you to read and READ, simply teasing you with crumbs and begging you to turn the page. Its one of those books Im so desperate to get to the end of so I find out what happens, yet desperate for it never to end - A wanting to live in Lisey's head forever. There is no happy medium in a book like this - Once I find out everything there is to know, I'll be finished, but unsatisfied. Unsatisfied forever, because Lisey and her views on the world will be gone forever(until the next visit) and I think thats going to make me very sad. Because living with Lisey is quite comfortable.
So, while the air freezes to crystals, and the rain pounds on the tin roof and the wind screams and drives, Im gonna curl up in my comfyest clothes, light a ciggi, and sit with Lisey. Just for one chapter, I swear......
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