This book pissed me off.
1.
I loved it - 5
It was good - 4
Average - 3
Only so-so - 2
I didnt like it - 1
Never Read
Why, oh furry pink one? Why did it piss you off? Just because everyone keeps telling you you'll put your eye out doesn't mean you should take your frustration out on a poor defenseless book. Hey look... a pole. I triple dog dare you...
Margaret Emmie Mackey Catoe, you are, have been, and always will be my soulmate, and I love you.
Con todo mi corazon, por todo de mis dias. And I always will, in this life and into the next.
August 2, 1947 - September 24, 2010
Bears would like to know, too...
Ask not what bears can do for you, but what you can do for bears. (razz)
When one is in agreement with bears one is always correct. (mae)
bears are back!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I was so excited when I started this book. It seemed so promising, yet built up to nothing IMO. That's why it pissed me off.
You would be correct, dear bear.
"People, especially children, aren't measured by their IQ. What's important about them is whether they're good or bad, and these children are bad." ~ Alan Bernard
"You needn't die happy when your day comes, but you must die satisfied, for you have lived your life from beginning to end and ka is always served." ~ Roland Deschain
Ask not what bears can do for you, but what you can do for bears. (razz)
When one is in agreement with bears one is always correct. (mae)
bears are back!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Loved it. Lisey's and Duma got King back on track to his "supernatural" roots, imo.
Another favorite. Lived in Florida for a time. Weird hearing rhat cheer coming from King. Lots of images, enough to keep most poets curious. Listened to the audio, as well, only audio book I have.
I agree wholeheartedly and what's interesting is the strong character development in both of these books. Its what makes the fantastical or paranormal work so well for me particularly with King. Horror tropes or archetypes that bore me to no end with other authors, work with King because I get so invested with the characters that I believe its happening. Boo ya moon would have been ridiculous in many ways if it weren't for Scott and Lisey. And as much as didn't like the fall of Perse in Duma Key, I was better able to deal with it because of Edgar and Wireman.
I agree with the sentiment that it was the characters that make a book like Duma Key what it is, especially since the "action" part of it was so, well, lame quite frankly. That said, I didn't really care for Wireman all that much. To me, he was something of a pale imitation of a character type like Henry Leyden. The Wireman-speak just got to be too much after awhile. Nobody talks like that every single time they open their mouths. Still, Edgar was one of the better characters SK created in a long long time.
Jayson, I think that one of the reasons that Wireman clung to that language was because of his continuing grief in regards to his departed wife. He wasn't even hispanic. I can not only "buy that" but empathize with it a great deal. In this way, it was intrinsically related to his character development and not peripheral or annoying, but central and endearing.
I got that aspect of it, and I too thought it touching at first. I just think King overdid it. To have him say things like that every now and again is touching, to have him do so practically every time he spoke was overkill and didn't ring true to me. Just my personal take on it, but after awhile it stopped being endearing and started being annoying.
But remember the severity of his pain:
Spoiler:
If anything, King downplayed it. Coming back from something like that practically necessitates obsessive compulsive behavior when dealing with grief. I never got the sense it was too much and:
Spoiler:
"God punishes us for what we can't imagine" was practically the leit motif of the book.
I don't discount his pain at all. As much as I felt for Wireman, after awhile it no longer seemed like a natural aspect of his character as it did something King just couldn't or wouldn't stop doing. I doubt he spoke like that all the time when he talked to Ms. Eastlake, so it seemed odd to me that he did in nearly every dialog with Edgar.
Chalk it up to personal preference on my part. At least it wasn't all in italics like the "How to Paint a Picture" sections. That physically pained me to read.
Yeah, our personal preferences are different in this regard. I just went through some things a few years ago that caused me to empathize with Wireman's grief. I understand what its like to cling to something that isn't there anymore. I'm not saying that you don't understand that, but just pointing out the reason that his language never got on my nerves. I actually think that he did speak to Miss Eastlake that way, and himself in the mirror or whoever was opposite to him. I bet he even prayed like that.
No way I could pass that one up. It was a fastball right over the plate.
I know. Can't say that I would have been able to help myself.
I enjoy these conversations. I really understand a little more about why I liked Wireman so much. I wish I could change my vote from a 4 to a 5.
Perhaps a mod with power over this part of the forum (like Aaron or Jean) can change that for you. Can't hurt to ask.
I was close to giving it a 5 myself (I took off no points for Wireman), but the wholeSpoiler:thing just rubbed me the wrong way.
I don't know why, but I kept hearing Hulk Hogan's voice in my head whenever I read Wireman's bits, and after a while I even started to confuse the two
Why did you have to ruin that for me Feev?