Tuesday, March 18, 2008

A different point of view

I always imagined Stephen King to be this creepy, scary freak who should be locked away never to be heard of again. This was thanks to watching "The Shining" and a ABC miniseries "The Langoliers". Both of these had scared me senseless. A sensation that I don't enjoy the least bit.

That's why I stayed away from his books and stuck to happy happy joy joy stories like robots taking over the world, man made killer viruses, and botched lobotomies. But then I was given "The Long Walk" as a gift. Since it was a gift it would have been rude not except it so I did. Only recently did I finish reading it and let me tell you it changed my perception Mr. King.

He no longer seems that freaky. He has a genuine understanding of the human condition. It's just that he is able to find humor where others can only see horror. This is an important trait to have, it can help us keep our sanity in an insane world. The story itself was masterly written I kept my attention the whole way through. Because I wanted to learn what happens next to the main character. However I still don't understand what purpose the Long Walk serves society.

2 comments:

Nathan said...

You should read "Rita Hayworth and the Shawshank Redemption". It's a novella that shows up in a small collection. Sorry I can't remember the name of the collection but it should be easy to track down.

I'm a big Stephen King fan and I think this is his absolute best.

Unknown said...

Didn't they make a movie out of "The Shawshank Redemption"? Maybe I'll watch that first.