Later, by Stephen King →
Stephen King's book "Later" is "hard-boiled crime fiction.” The third book in the series included The Colorado Kid and Joyland.
In “Later, “The son of a struggling single mother, Jamie Conklin, just wants an ordinary childhood. But Jamie is no ordinary child. Born with an unnatural ability, his mom urges him to keep it secret; Jamie can see what no one else can see and learn what no one else can. But the cost of using this ability is higher than Jamie can imagine—as he discovers when an NYPD detective draws him into pursuing a killer who has threatened to strike from beyond the grave.”
Stephen King commented about this book “I love the Hard Case format, and this story—combining a boy who sees beyond our world and strong elements of crime and suspense—seemed a perfect fit.”
Of course, this book is worth reading.
Gwendy's Button Box by Stephen King →
Gwendy is 12 years old and lives in Castle Rock, Maine. In 1974 every day, she climbs to the top of the stairs referred to as Suicide Stairs. One day she meets a stranger, Richard Farris, waiting for her at the top of the stairs. The man is wearing a small black hat, and even though she has never met him, he seems to know a lot about her and some of the things she wants.
Farris gives her a special wooden box with a lever attached; when you pull it, you either get unique chocolates that help you lose weight or silver dollars. The box has eight buttons. Using some of them causes good things, even losing weight which she needed to do.
When she eventually pushes one of the other buttons, terrible things happen. She also learns that one of the buttons, which is black, when pressed, will cause cancer. The story takes us through Gwendy’s childhood, high school, and beyond; the story tells of the time she spends protecting this box and how she learns of its positive and negative influences on the world she lives in.
Bazaar of Bad Dreams by Stephen King →
Bazaar of Bad Dreams is a collection of 20 short stories and an introduction; King tells us, “You’d be surprised- at least, I think you would be at how many people ask me why I still write short stories. The reason is simple: writing them makes me happy because I was built to entertain.”
He explains, “Short stories require a kind of acrobatic skill that takes a lot of tiresome practice.”
When King tells you that a novel is more forgiving because your mistakes don’t stick out quite as much, it resonates with you if you have tried to write short stories.
The story themes cover a broad range, and King introduces some of the ideas by talking directly to his “constant reader,” and you are left anxious to explore what he offers.
He summarizes his introduction by saying: “I made them, especially for you………… Feel free to examine them, but please be careful. The best of them have teeth.”
The book does not disappoint.
See more about Stephen King and all the books of his reviewed on this site
Quotes from this Book
“Faith is, by its very definition, belief without proof.”
“Such grave matters as sin and forgiveness should remain between man and God”
“When a long book succeeds, the writer and reader are not just having an affair; they are married.”
“And do come a little closer. I don’t bite. Except . . . we’ve known each other for a very long time, and I suspect you know that’s not entirely true. Is it?”
“Winnie, but I don’t believe in sin.” He smiled. It was a benevolent smile. Also unpleasant: sheep lips, wolf teeth. “That’s fine. But sin believes in you.”
The Body, by Stephen King
Gordon Lachance is an adult telling this story in the first person, looking back to 1960 when he was 12 years old, living in the fictional town of Castle Rock, Maine.
A boy from a nearby town is missing and Gordie, Chris, Teddy and Vern decide that the boy has been missing so long that he must be dead, and they suspect he was hit by a train along the rail tracks between the towns. They tell their parents they are camping out and begin the quest to find the corpse.
The idea of finding a dead body excites them but they start out their trip not clearly understanding death. They each come from abusive or dysfunctional families with challenges and stories that are revealed and become clear as the trip proceeds.
When they see the boy's body the reality of death hits them and become clear. "The kid was dead. The kid wasn't sick, the kid wasn't sleeping. The kid wasn't going to get up in the morning anymore or get the runs from eating too many apples or catch poison ivy or wear out the eraser on the end of his Ticonderoga No 2 during a hard math test. The kid was dead."
Gordie's, even as a boy is a writer and storyteller, and the trip gives him time to tell some of his stories and they are written out in the book in the form that it is suggested they apparently later appeared when published in magazines. Gordie’s first person comments on writing can connect with the reader with them recalling Stephen King’s own life story which might be considered a little confusing.
In the final chapters the future fate of the coming years for the boys is discussed. This short novella was made into the movie, Stand by Me, and the book is another example of how very effective Stephen King is in taking us back to this time period
See the Literary Favorite Section for more on Stephen King
Quotes From This Book
“Speech destroys the function of love, I think-that's a hell of a thing for a writer to say, I guess, but I believe it to be true. If you speak to tell a deer you mean it no harm, it glides away with a single flip of its tail. Love has teeth; they bite; the wounds never close. No word, no combination of words can close those love bites. it's the other way around, that's the joke. If those wounds dry up, the words die with them.”
“I never had any friends later on like the ones I had when I was twelve. Jesus, did you?”
“Gordie: Do you think I'm weird?
Chris: Definitely.
Gordie: No man, seriously. Am I weird?
Chris: Yeah, but so what? Everybody's weird”
The Shining by Stephen King
The Shining, Stephen King’s third novel, published in 1977, established him as the preeminent author in the horror genre. The key character is Jack Torrance, a teacher and aspiring writer. Wendy is Jacks wife and Danny is their five-year-old son. Jack has a drinking problem, even worse, he becomes violent and can’t control his temper, even at times when he is sober.
Jack hurt Danny, breaking his arm, when he was drunk and then with other problems he stopped drinking. Just going on the wagon wasn’t enough to stabilize him, and at school he lost his temper with a student, hit him, and has lost his job.
A past drinking partner, who has influence at school and owns part of a winter resort, helps him find a job where he can get away from his problems. The Overlook Hotel, in the high mountains in Colorado, closes each winter and a job is open to stay at the hotel taking care of it’s sensitive boiler heating system and the hotels other needs. Jack gets the job.
He can take Wendy and Danny and they feel Jack will have the winter to have the time to do some writing and stay sober. The hotel is where the real trouble starts. Danny meets a Hallomann who is working on the hotel staff for the summer.
Hallomann recognizes that Danny has “the shine”, like he does but much stronger. The “shine” is the ability to see what other are thinking and see the future. Hallomann also knows that the hotel is evil, and that Danny will likely need him, so he tells him to send a message in the coming months if that happens and he leaves for Florida.
Everyone leaves, and the real problems begin. It is the hotel itself that is evil. In the decades of it’s history many people have lost their lives in the hotel and terrible things have happened. All the events seem to be coexisting in one place and time and the hotel wants Danny and his powers. Jack is influenced to help them, and he is taken over by them, or probably more accurately stated, by the hotel itself.
It is no surprise that King brings a variety of scary situations to the plot. In the end Danny reaches out for Halloman’s help and evil is confronted.
Quotes
Stephen King said that "When he went home from the hospital he watched the Titanic and he knew his IQ had been damaged" No one can say that King's Horror Genre doesn't make you think. The problem is often what you wind up thinking about! .... (this quote used in the essay on Stephen King a Literary Influence in that section)
“Sometimes human places, create inhuman monsters.”
“This inhuman place makes human monsters.”
“Monsters are real. Ghosts are too. They live inside of us, and sometimes, they win.”
