Sunday, April 15, 2007

Lisey's Story

I admit that Stephen King may not be for every reader (more's the loss for them), but revile him for his proliferation, mourn his flops, question his "I've retired/ I'm back again" games, and you still can't deny the fact that when King is "on", he is masterfully brilliant.
I have sentimental ties to King because his writing was something my father and I loved to share. I cried when I finished the Gunslinger series because it was something my own father did not live to see, and he would have loved it. Since then I have been less than impressed with King's releases, but again I find myself saddened that my Dad and I can't share Booya Moon. While completely fictional, I do believe that this work is the most intimate look the readers may ever see of the landscape of Stephen King's mind, and I have no doubt that Scott Landon's love for Lisey finds no small inspiration in the relationship between King and his wife.
The one difficulty I had with book was the "private language" between Scott and Lisey, which must simply be accepted for a time before it is explained. Otherwise King has written a completely unique work with the stylistic elements he is famous for, but in a genre which I would never have imagined he would try. To quote my husband: "In his own inimitable way, Stephen King wrote a love story." And indeed, he did.

4 comments:

Wendy said...

I am really looking forward to reading this one. I'm trying to wait until it comes out in paperback :) I agree with you about Stephen King...I have not always loved everything he's written, but he is undeniably brilliant when it comes to weaving a story. Having lived in Maine years ago, I have to say, his characters are often "right on the money." Thanks for the review!

kookie said...

You are right, Dana, that if we'd seen more of Scott and Lisey together their private language would have been more convincing. Good point.

I also cried at the end of the 'Gunslinger' series, but (of course) for a very different reason.

Amy said...

I am reading this one right now. Thanks for the review!

Nyssaneala said...

I think one of my goals for next year is going to be catching up on a lot of his books that I haven't read (and there are tons...I've only read about 6).
Hmm...the Stephen King challenge!