10-19-2019 03:17 PMHunchback Jack 10-19-2019 03:24 PMMerlin1958Quote:Fair points indeed.With regard to issue (A) I just thought it was a logical next step, but maybe I assumed too much. As far as issue (B) Oh I see what you mean, but if that had happened perhaps the ensuing press and trials would have done more harm than good in the end? Just spitballing there.
WB
Spoiler: 10-19-2019 03:37 PMHunchback JackRe: Spoilers. Fair enough. It was just such a massive ending spoiler that I thought I should be cautious, nonetheless. :)
HBJ 10-19-2019 04:27 PMMerlin1958 10-19-2019 04:46 PMGarrellLoved the book but I did want a little revenge/blood at the end. 10-19-2019 06:11 PMMerlin1958 11-16-2019 04:49 AMur2ndbiggestfanI finished the book yesterday.
I am lousy at detailed analyses, because I don't consider myself a critic, I am just a reader.
I liked the book a lot.
To nitpick, what I don't like are King's abbreviations, which to me sound silly, probably because I have never heard people use them. This doesn't mean people don't use them, it's just that I personally have never heard these terms used:
uni for uniform
caff for cafeteria
walkie instead of walkie talkie (this really bugs me, can't say why)
and so on and so forth
And a lot of King's dialog between characters just sounds phony to me. Do people really talk that way, with the 'high fives' and all that stuff? Not in my personal experience, which I admit, is limited. It seems these are more movie and TV cliches than real life. I think that's why The PASSAGE trilogy resonated so well with me, the conversations between the characters seemed real, like normal people in extraordinary situations would actually talk and interact with each other. The same goes for 95% of Richard Matheson's work.
Just my 2 cents worth, which probably is not even worth a quarter cent. Give me a high five! 11-16-2019 11:09 AMRoseannebarr 11-17-2019 07:59 AMRichardXMy guess is that because of King's success he has mostly led a sheltered existence for the past couple of decades that limits his contact with regular people. He is also an older guy who has certain stereotypes. His black characters, for example, are like something out of The Jeffersons. Some of this still works in book form but is downright embarrassing in movies. It is not how real people talk or act but in a book those kinds of simple stereotypes are effective - when not overly annoying - at character development for the reader as they play into behaviors that the masses can easily process. 11-17-2019 08:40 AMur2ndbiggestfanYup, that sounds about right!
I fell right on my face trying to return that high five, by the way! Like, ouch! 11-17-2019 11:12 AMM_O_O_N 11-21-2019 12:20 AMPicklemaniacI finished the book 2 days after it came in, most in one sitting. I really liked it!
But one thing I noticed in this story was that Stephen King still thinks it's the 50's. I mean, even if it's just a nightknocker job, it should pay more than 100$ a week. And I agree with Garrel, I would have also loved to see some more revenge near the end.
The book didn't disappoint me or anything, but I was secretly hoping for some more Dark Tower references, I know there are a few here and there, but when I originally read the description, [SPOIL ] I thought this would be some sort of first experiment for the breakers. [/SPOIL] 11-25-2019 10:50 AMCyberGhostfaceOne thing I didn't really get was how cruel the Institute was. Even taking into consideration that the children ultimately dying was inevitable, their general mindset was that the children were heroes sacrificing themselves for the greater good. So why not make the place more like Blue Heaven (which had far less benevolent intentions) which was a prison but more relaxed? 11-25-2019 11:10 AMM_O_O_N 11-25-2019 03:27 PMHunchback JackI think the general mindset was that the children were a resource to be used until they ran dry, at which point they were discarded.
The children weren't there by choice, did not submit to the tests by choice, and ultimately didn't fulfill the Institute's purpose for them by choice. The difference between Blue Heaven and the Institute was that the administrators of the latter didn't feel the need to even try to gain the children's consent; rather, they dehumanized the children so that, in their minds, consent wasn't needed.
HBJ 11-25-2019 06:02 PMur2ndbiggestfanIf they were treated like national treasures, the book would have been insufferably boring. Without conflict, there is no story, and therefore, no interest in reading further...to see what happens next!
And to find out what the sweet, sweet revenge will be, served cold, hot, or lukewarm as the case may be. 11-26-2019 08:51 AMCyberGhostfaceWell you'd still have kids being kidnapped with their parents murdered plus the mystery of where the other kids are being taken to and what ultimate purpose the Institute has for them. The conflict would still be there. 11-26-2019 11:05 AMur2ndbiggestfanYes, that's true. 11-26-2019 02:39 PMPicklemaniacI mean, I get the parent killings and the slapping of kids (because some kids are resistant as hell) but the cruelness in the back half was so weird. 11-29-2019 03:59 PMCyberGhostface 03-05-2020 12:16 PMSt. TroyFinally got around to reading this last month.
As for tie-ins to other works, I prefer his novels be stand-alone, unless there's a genuine reason for it.
Some responses inside the spoiler tags:
Quote:
Overall I liked The Institute, but I agree with this.
Although that picture (heroes) was painted, I don't for a minute believe that anyone working at the Institute viewed the children that way; they viewed them as tools, weapons, batteries - anything but fellow humans. 06-02-2020 01:21 AMJeanThat was exactly what I found so relentlessly and horrifyingly true. History, alas, proves it: when some people have absolute power over other people, it necessarily brings about the worst in them. In nazi camps they didn't have to be cruel to their material, either. This attitude is a function of a) absolute power; b) establishment (the whole institute, its purpose, its methods) that by a person brought up in a largely humanistic society has to be perceived as deeply wrong, thus bringing about an inner conflict. The conflict can be resolved by either dropping out of the system, or, in case of staying there, of accelerating and exaggerating what one did previously. The guiltier you feel, the harder you get, and the tougher - the crueller - the less human - you are, the less access this guilt has to your consciousness.
I loved the novel. The only problem I had with it was that the last part was not really written, but rather plotted; reading it was like looking through a synopsis, or jotted notes for another couple of volumes. I wish these volumes had been written instead.