Book Review - 11.22.63 by Stephen King

If you'd told me there was a new book out in which a teacher has to travel back in time to try and stop the assassination of President John F. Kennedy on the 22nd of November 1963, I would have bought it regardless of the author. From Back To The Future to Mad Men, I've long had a great affection for late 50s / early 60s Americana, and I've also always been fascinated by the way the Kennedy assassination has been absorbed into pop culture, from Oliver Stone's epic, star-studded and wildly paranoid JFK to one of my favourite Manic Street Preachers songs, I'm Just A Patsy. And it goes without saying that I'm a sucker for time travel stories too. So, like I say, I'd have bought this book whoever wrote it. But Stephen King? My favourite author in the whole world ever, ever? Could it get any better?

Well, yes, it could. Because not only is this Stephen King, but it's also the best Stephen King I've read in 20+ years. I've been more positive about King's recent works than many of his longtime fans, but I've still been aware of its flaws: self-indulgent rambling and anti-climatic conclusions being his greatest crimes of late. But at no point during 11.22.63 did I feel that King was dragging his feet: indeed, for a novel that's 734 pages long I could happily have read another 734. Unlike many novels, I wasn't racing to get to the end so I could move on to the next book on my stack, I was pacing myself, slowing down my reading, trying to relish every page, not wanting it to end. That said, I was glad when it did - and, more importantly, how it did. This was perhaps the most satisfying climax King has ever written, and it was interesting to see him tip his hat in that regard towards his son, Joe Hill, who "thought up a new and better ending".

The most impressive thing about 11.22.63 is the plot. Time travel stories are notoriously tricky to navigate, especially ones which involve changing history. Add to that the conspiracy legends that surround JFK and Lee Harvey Oswald and there were a plethora of predictable twists that could have sunk this story. That said, there are also certain time travel tropes which are essential, and to ignore them would have led to a hugely unsatisfying read. King's answer to this dilemma is two-fold: firstly to cleverly hoodwink readers who were expecting a shlocky conspiracy thriller into enjoying a far more satisfying romantic drama. To the point that once the Oswald chase finally takes centre stage, we're screaming at the author to take us back to the comforting diversions of young high school teachers in love. Secondly, there's King's ingenious solution to the book's true protagonist and antagonist. Despite what you might expect, this is not one man from the future versus history's most infamous assassin. Instead, it's one man from the future versus time itself. Time is the bad guy in 11.22.63, because time does not want to be changed. And time will do anything to stop history being meddled with. 'How does one man defeat time itself?' is the novel's central question, yet we're ever aware that a second question lurks in the background: 'What are the consequences if he does?'

The best thing I can say about 11.22.63 is that it's taken top place on my list of Stephen King novels I'd recommend to people who don't read Stephen King novels. If it's true that King has spent his entire career trying to shed the clumsy genre labelling and write that elusive "Great American Novel", then I'll be damned if he hasn't finally done it. Whether or not the sniffy critics will be able to get past the fact that this is a story in which an English teacher travels back half a century through a food pantry in a roadside diner... well, screw 'em if they don't have the imagination.

Book Review - Harbour by John Ajvide Lindqvist

Anyone who's read John Ajvide Lindqvist's previous novels, Handling The Undead and Let The Right One In will know that he's an author hugely influenced by Stephen King at his best. We see this again in the opening chapters of Harbour as Lindqvist introduces us to a strange community who make their home on Domarö, a haunted island in the Stockholm archipelago. There's Anders, whose six year old daughter disappears into thin air on a walk to the lighthouse. There's Simon, an old magician and escapologist who keeps a spooky insect in a box that gives him supernatural abilities. There's Anna-Greta, Anders' grandma, a former smuggler who knows far more about the terrible history of Domarö than she's letting on. And there's Elin, a former Reality TV beauty who's determined to make herself ugly. All great characters, given plenty of back-story while the mystery of Domarö deepens, long before the horror begins.

Anders' daughter Maja isn't the first person to disappear on Domarö, and she won't be the last. But what happens when the missing start coming back? Harbour builds to an exciting and shocking first act climax involving two old ghosts called Henrik and Bjorn, homicidal Smiths fans who ride the island on a spooky moped, quoting Morissey lyrics and causing panic wherever they go. Unfortunately, the novel loses much of its momentum in the second half and drags towards an unsatisfyingly metaphysical ending. It's just like Stephen King... at his worst. But don't let that put you off. Harbour remains a fascinating, engrossing and emotionally gripping read, and you may have more time for the climax than I did. It's worth reading for page 347 alone, where Anders breaks down while listening to a cassette of an old Swedish comedian. Lindqvist has a powerful understanding of how pop culture affects us even at the lowest points of our life, and how sometimes it's all that keeps us going.

Furnace

Josh Spiller is a long distance truck driver whose girlfriend is pregnant but has just told him she's not keeping their baby. After a furious argument, Josh heads out on the road and drives non-stop for 36 hours. In desperate need of a break, he pulls off the highway into the small mountain-town of Furnace. Looking for somewhere to park and rest, he instead finds tragedy when a prominent local politician pushes a pram directly under Josh's truck. Everyone in Furnace believes the baby's death is an accident and nobody can accept that Councillor Nelly McFarlane could be responsible for such a heinous crime. Even Josh begins to doubt what he saw... until he eventually leaves Furnace only to discover something scary is following him.

I think it was Pip who recommended this novel to me, knowing we both share a great love of Stephen King. This is one of the best non-King Kings I've read: gripping, inventive, surprising and packed full of well-researched detail into the life of a long-haul trucker stateside. Not at all what I'd have expected from intellectual TV presenter / former Scottish punk singer Muriel Gray. While it's not quite up there with the master at his best, it's easily the equal of many of his recent works and a damn sight more entertaining than Dreamcatcher.

Although the pedant in me would have expected those American truckers to be transporting aluminum, rather than aluminium...

The Passage

My opinion of Justin Cronin's The Passage would vary depending when you asked me. Catch me during the first 250 pages and I'd have told you it was a gripping, character-led page-turner reminiscent of Stephen King at his very best (in particular, The Stand). 50 pages later I might have appeared alienated as Cronin turned everything upside down, leaping 100 years into a post-apocalyptic unknown with a whole new cast and little obvious continuity from the story before. Give it another 50 pages and once I'd warmed to the new setting I'd be singing Cronin's praises all over again as he led his straggler band of survivors on an epic cross-country quest... so epic, in fact that he really didn't know when to call it a day, throwing obstacle after obstacle in the way of his protagonists till the final two hundred pages became an never ending Lord of the Rings succession of climaxes, twists, further climaxes, further twists and late-in-the-day exposition (plus a vicious sting-in-the-tail epilogue) that proved almost as wearying to the reader as trekking across America on foot must have been to the heroes. And this, it turns out, is merely book one of a proposed trilogy - 766 pages, with many, many more to come.

The frustrating thing is, when its good, The Passage is better than just about anything I've read this year. Cronin has that rare ability to make you care deeply about a large cast of characters, and his plot - at least in the first three-quarters of the book - is riveting and well-paced. There's a sense towards the end that the author has his eye on Hollywood, particularly in a huge, gratuitous set-piece involving a runaway train being attacked by vampires - sadly, action lets him down. As is often the case with End of the World thrillers, the set-up is by far the most enthralling sequence... and I wonder how the second and third novels will stand up without such a seductive entry point. But despite my criticism, I will be there to find out.





If you want to read more online book reviews or discuss your favourite books with fellow readers, Hanan of Music Induced Euphoria has now set up her own online book club called Illuminated Anglophiles. Pop over and join in the debate - tell them I sent you!

Full Dark, No Stars

The latest Stephen King collection tells four stories, three of which involve violence against women - though King, always a hugely sympathetic writer, avoids sensationalism, while also providing bitter comeuppance for each of the perpetrators. Vengeance and just desserts is a recurring theme throughout.

1922 is a first person account of the life of Wilfred Leland James, a Nebraska farmer who, together with his son Henry, murders his wife to stop her selling off his land. But Arlette James does not go quietly into the night - nor, indeed, the well into which her body is dumped - and memory of their crime drives both husband and son to madness. The Steinbeckian detail is rich, and the tragic fate of Henry and his girlfriend Shannon is straight out of Badlands. The story is strong enough I could easily have done without the more traditional horror elements - notably the rats that haunt, plague and eventually seal Wilf's fate - and it was good to see King tackling a period piece again.

In Big Driver, we find a more typical King protagonist, a mystery novelist called Tess, raped and left for death in a roadside ditch on her way back from an author appearance in backwoods America. King shows admirable restraint when dealing with the crime itself, then sets his heroine on a surprising, twist-filled path to vengeance. None of the stories in this collection take the route you expect, and I kept on rooting for Tess, even when her quest for retribution led to a potentially suicidal fate. Revenge fantasy at its most satisfying.

After that, we need a little light relief. Fair Extension is the story of a terminally ill man given a second chance... at the expense of his best friend. Reminiscent of Richard Matheson's Button Button (filmed as The Box), the shortest story in this collection once more confounds expectations to darkly comic effect. Let's just say that Harry Street ain't big on guilt or regret.

The book closes with A Good Marriage, in which a faithful wife stumbles upon a dark secret about her husband that changes her life. Based on those accounts of the wives of serial killers who remained blissfully ignorant of their husband's crimes, this paints a vicious moral dilemma, gracefully avoids making the husband into a predictable cartoon threat, then executes an elegant solution I didn't see coming.

Top Twenty Horror Films (Part 2)

(Click here for 20-11.)

OK, we're back with my Top Ten... and I'm sure it'll have you screaming at your computer screens. "WHAT - NO DRACULA 2001? ARE YOU AN IDIOT?" Etc. Etc.



10. Paranormal Activity

9. The Amityville Horror

I still remember watching this on TV late one night when I was a kid and not being able to sleep afterwards. For a long time. I became obsessed with the Amityville story and read the three novels and anything else I could find on it. Marketed as a true story, I still hate the idea that it was all a giant scam. I want to believe!

The movie doesn't have a great reputation among horror fans, but I think it stands up well, with excellent performances from James Brolin, Margot Kidder and (especially) Rod Steiger and a creepy score by Lalo Schifrin. The sequels are a waste of time and the remake misses the point, despite a half-decent cast... but then, it does suffer the stench of Michael Bay.

8. The Exorcist

Another movie that could have sunk under the weight of expectation once I was finally allowed to watch it, but thankfully didn't. A much better film than Texas Chainsaw Massacre, though not quite as shocking. Still, it's Mark Kermode's favourite flick, so it deserves its position here.

The sequels are drivel, particularly the recent, supremely dreary prequels.

Your mother cooks socks in hell.

7. The Descent

Crammed with twists, claustrophobic tension and genuine jumpy bits, Neil Marshall's best film delivers - as long as you're watching the original UK version. The "it was all a dream, happily ever after" ending grafted onto the US version was a kick in the horror-nads. And it led to the sequel, which was worse than pointless.

6. The Haunting

The movie that showed Paranormal Activity how frightening a few slamming doors could actually be, this is essential viewing for anyone who ever plans to direct a horror flick.

The Jan De Bont remake from the 90s is essential viewing for anyone who ever plans to ruin a horror flick. Truly ghastly.

5. Jaws

Part of me didn't want to include Jaws in this list, because part of me doesn't think of it as a horror film. Part of me thinks it's too good a movie to be considered horror. Which is snobbish and silly. Chief Brody rules.

I actually like Jaws 2. 3D and The Revenge are bobbins though. Were there any more? I'm sure they were offal too.

4. Halloween

Ah, John Carpenter. The man responsible for two of my top five horror flicks. The man who invented the handheld camera following you down the street routine. The man whose weird, self-composed synth music was more effective at delivering shivers than any big orchestral score. The man who created one of the truly great screen monsters... using a William Shatner mask.

Jamie Lee Curtis, Michael Myers, Donald Pleasence... what's not to like?

I think I probably liked more of the Halloween sequels than any other horror franchise. H20 was particularly good. Rob Zombie's remake was bobbins though.

3. Psycho

Alfred Hitchcock. Anthony Perkins. Janet Leigh. Bernard Herrmann. Who's the bigger star of Psycho?

Actually, the thing that impresses me most about this film is the way it changes direction in such a startling manner midway through. I guess that's down to Robert Bloch, who wrote the original novel, and Joseph Stefano who did the screenplay.

She wouldn't even harm a fly.

I like the sequels purely for Perkins' hammy performance. The Vince Vaughan / Anne Heche shot-by-shot remake was an exercise in utter futility though.

2. The Shining

Which is better, Stephen King's novel... or the vastly different Kubrick movie? The author obviously believes the former, but as much of a King fan as I am, and as much as I can take or leave just about everything else Kubrick's ever committed to celluloid... the atmosphere of this film is unrivalled. Jack's just-the-right-side-of-mental performance, Shelly Duvall's wonderfully insipid support, the creepiest horror movie kid ever, the scene in room 237, Scatman Crothers' botched rescue attempt, all that snow and isolation, Delbert Grady and Lloyd the bartender... a horror movie I never grow tired of. Hoping to watch it again this weekend on the big screen.

Heeeeere's Johnny!

1. The Thing

For anyone wondering why there's no room for Alien in this list, the answer is simple - everything Alien can do, The Thing can do better. All the crimes against horror committed by John Carpenter in the latter half of his career matter not one whit. This movie is perfect, I won't hear a word said against it.

I have low, low hopes for the upcoming prequel.


This week's Thoughtballoons strip features my tribute to The Thing, starring its more Fantastic namesake. You can read it here.

Under The Dome

It seems the pattern these days that a new Stephen King novel will be greeted by two wildly differing reactions from longterm fans. It's either "great - a real return to form" or "SO disappointing - not a patch on his old stuff!"

The problem is that I generally wait to read King's novels in paperback, so by the time I got round to Under The Dome I'd already read loads of reviews - by people whose opinions on such things I respect - telling me how much they either loved or hated it. And because I'm such a lily-livered milksop when it comes to voicing my own opinions, I'm filled with trepidation at the prospect of writing this review.

Ah, sod it.

I liked it. I'd almost go so far as to say 'loved'. If it was written by anyone other than King. It's just that after so many years as one of SK's biggest fans, we always expect a little more.

The high concept plot involves a small town in Maine (surprise!) that one day finds itself sealed off from the outside world by an impenetrable dome that appears from nowhere. While the US army tries to find a way to break through and rescue the townspeople trapped inside, the politicians and policeforce set up an independent state and refuse to co-operate with the outside world in an attempt to cover up their own crooked dealings.

Those who loved the book talked about King's mastery with a large cast of characters, and how fast and exciting he keeps the narrative - "whizzing from one cliffhanger to the next" says the Telegraph. I'd mostly agree. I felt the 800+ story sagged a little around the page 600 mark, but it certainly rallies for an explosive finale.

Those who hated it complained about the characters being far too black and white, and the rather heavy-handed nature of the allegory - the town becoming a microcosm representing the state of US politics in the 21st century. Well, yes, but I didn't feel it was any more clunky than many other sci fi metaphors, and more importantly it didn't hinder my enjoyment one bit. As to the lack of grey - hell, I read Dean Koontz novels, compared to him, King's got a million different shades in his palate.

Ah, make up your own mind. Opinions are like arseholes - everybody's got one. Mine rarely resembles anybody else's.

This week's Thoughtballoons character is Araña, the new Spider-Girl. I'm not too familiar with this character, although I was a big fan of Tom DeFalco's recently concluded "Daughter Of Spider-Man" incarnation. Still, give Anya a chance. Spidey is.

You can read my one-page Spider-Girl story here. I named it after a My Chemical Romance song, for any emo-kids in the audience.

I Write Like...

There's an online oojamaflip I've discovered which purports to examine any writing you paste into it and tell you which famous author you write like. Obviously I was eager to play along...

Firstly I submitted Chapter 1 from my current in-progress novel...

I write like
Cory Doctorow

I Write Like by Mémoires, Mac journal software. Analyze your writing!

Really?

I've never read any Doctorow, but I understand he's well-regarded. I wonder if Chapter 2 will bring the same assessment...

I write like
Kurt Vonnegut

I Write Like by Mémoires, Mac journal software. Analyze your writing!

Oh.

I suppose I should take that as a compliment, but it's not really what I was aiming for. A little less mindbending, I think.


How about my previous novel, Imaginary Friends...?

I write like
James Joyce

I Write Like by Mémoires, Mac journal software. Analyze your writing!

Bwahahaha! So you're basically saying my writing is complex to the point of being impenetrable, right? Jeez... no wonder I can't get an agent.

Let's try a short story instead. How about From The Crack Of The Vinyl To The Hiss Of The Tape?

I write like
William Gibson

I Write Like by Mémoires, Mac journal software. Analyze your writing!

What? Gimme a break - that was hardly cyberpunk.

Let's try Shooting People Is Good...

I write like
Chuck Palahniuk

I Write Like by Mémoires, Mac journal software. Analyze your writing!

You know, that's the first one I can see. I do sometimes go for a Palahniuk vibe on my short stories.

Let's try I Can Read You Like A Book, one of the most Palahniuk-influenced stories I've written...

I write like
Arthur C. Clarke

I Write Like by Mémoires, Mac journal software. Analyze your writing!

Open the pod bay doors, Hal, I smell a rat.

Let's try something with no literary pretensions whatsoever. How about a radio ad script from my day job...?

I write like
David Foster Wallace

I Write Like by Mémoires, Mac journal software. Analyze your writing!

DFW is turning in his grave.

It's not complete bollocks though. When I fed in the opening chapter from Stephen King's Bag Of Bones, it identified him straight away. Likewise it was spot on Bram Stoker, Jonathan Swift and Arthur Conan Doyle. But a chunk of Nick Hornby's Juliet, Naked was tagged as Foster Wallace again (sorry Nick, you apparently write radio ads too) while it also confused Douglas Coupland with King, Joseph Heller with JD Salinger, Emily Bronte with Joyce and Dean Koontz with Dan Brown ('ouch!' for Koontz).

As for yesterday's blogpost about the wrong knickers...?

I write like
James Joyce

I Write Like by Mémoires, Mac journal software. Analyze your writing!

Quite.

Test your own writing and let me know who you write like.



This week's Thoughtballoons character is Oswald Chesterfield Cobblepot, The Penguin - waugh! You can read my one-page story here. According to I Write Like, it's very HP Lovecraft...!