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Book 3 Review

Misery by Stephen King

Jacob Steinhauer

Although almost everyone has seen the movie, Stephen King’s horror story, Misery, is King at his finest, doing what he does best:  Psychological horror. This thrilling story tells us about Paul Sheldon, an author of the best-selling Misery series. When Paul finishes his new novel, he gets very intoxicated and has an impulse to drive west. He is then met head-on with a terrible blizzard and wrecks his car off the side of the road. When he comes to, his legs are crushed, and he is in the guest bedroom of Annie Wilkes, his number-one fan. When Paul first wakes up, he slowly recalls his car accident and the completion of his novel, Fast Cars. His legs are in crucial pain, but he doesn’t know of the kind of pain Annie Wilkes will bring him in this dark time of his life.

The plot of Misery is focused on Annie torturing Paul and keeping him captive. King does a perfect job of blending horror, with just the right amount of suspense. The beginning starts fantastically, not boring the reader or keeping it too short. The first moment when Paul breaks out of his room for the first time is so suspenseful. It really keeps the reader hoping for Paul to hurry up and get back to his room before Annie catches him. It’s complete genius. The entire plot of this thriller is very well thought out. The first police officer showing up at Annie’s house was a glimpse of hope, then a cloak of despair when Annie beast him with a wooden cross, then runs his half-dead body over with a lawnmower. It was really a moment of triumph, because Paul had the chance to be saved, but it was all taken away with just a few mere paragraphs.

Stephen King does a fantastic job building characters in his book. Annie Wilkes is such a terrifying “goddess”, and it’s all thanks to King. She really gives the feeling that she is totally unpredictable and will snap at any moment. She is psychotic and intelligent at the same time, and that is a twisted combination. It works perfectly. It builds up fear in the reader, which is exactly what Paul Sheldon is feeling. That really helps the reader feel closer and more connected to his character. The reader hopes that Paul will make it out alive, and pay back Annie for all that she’s done to him. At times, Paul seems to be a bit cocky, which readers might not like, but at other times, he just comes off as a guy who is desperate to live, and to escape Annie Wilkes’s farmhouse of horrors. The two highway police who show up at Annie’s are also great characters. They give the readers more hope that Paul will be saved, especially since Annie did not kill them.

The writing style of Misery single-handedly takes the cake. The author has such a unique style that Almost all readers will love. All the hidden meanings behind some of the phrases are magnificent.  Annie’s harmless catch phrase, “Cockadoodie”, makes Annie seem even more threatening. This phrase gives off an unsettling innocence that builds a great amount of suspense. It makes the reader say “This is messed up”. Annie forces Paul Sheldon to write another one of his books, and some may say that adding excerpts from the manuscript was a great idea. The reader may find him/herself skipping those sections, wanting to get back to the main plot. The imagery at the beginning of the book about the tide rising up over the rock, and how you know the rock is still there really sticks with readers. Later, we find out that the meaning behind this is the pain in Paul’s legs. When he was unconscious, sometimes, he could really feel the pain in his legs. Other times, he knew the pain was there but didn’t feel it. This comparison is very intelligent writing.

There were many underlined themes that could be discussed in this book. One of the themes is to never give up. When Paul was faced with a desperate situation, he started to give up, but then something deeper in his mind made him keep going. He had a lot of determination to escape Annie’s clutches and the reader could really admire that about him. Paul has a very strong will to live, and that’s something everyone can admire about anyone. This really drives the whole story because since Paul wants to live so badly, it rubs off on the reader, making him/her want Paul to live also. It’s yet another reason the book’s plot is so strong. Stephen King is very good stirring up the reader’s human side in this way. On the surface, Misery may not look like a book with really deep themes and morals, but if you take a closer look, what you find may surprise you.

  In conclusion, this book is an outstanding piece of literature, and the best of the best in the horror/thriller genre. This book will make your heart pound, make you suspenseful, and make you turn the page to see what happens next. King is well, the king of this genre, and for good reasons. He knows how a write a great, heart pounding novel, and he knows exactly what to do, and when to do it. This book has stood the test of time, and it will continue to as long as the genre of horror exists. Misery contains many very believable characters, and clearly depicts the psychopath that everyone fears. It will continue to be a cult classic that a lot of people will enjoy.

#7: How True Books Need To Be

I think it is definitely okay for authors to blend truth with non-truth, but they should certainly tell us when they do. People seem to really love stories filled with drama and intense action, but life isn’t always like that, so authors make up details to make the book a better experience for readers. People really love real stories because the events actually happened, making them really think about what could happen to them. Blending truth and made up things is okay to a certain extent. If an author wants to write a book that is entirely true, then they should really tell the press, publisher, and readers that information. When blending truth and fiction becomes not okay is when the author lies about it. Authors should always be true to the millions of readers who love their books, and the press. They shouldn’t take shortcuts to get their work published like Frey did. While his book is said to be a very good one, it also has a lot of controversy, because he called it a memoir. If readers picked up a memoir, they would automatically assume it’s all factual. But he decided to call it a memoir with it having certain things that aren’t true about it. While it’s very alright for authors to mix fiction and non-fiction, it’s not alright for them to call it a memoir if some of the things in it are made up. He only called it a memoir so that he could get it published. Unfortunately, I think this negatively affected people’s opinions on the book. This shows that a fantastic piece of literature can be forever tainted with the author’s stupid mistakes of making an untrue claim.

#6: Who Decides What Good Writing Is?

I think when it all comes down to it; the people who decide what good writing is are critics and scholars. They usually get to decide because critics review and pick apart things for a living, so why would it be any different with books? Scholars get to decide what good writing is because they’ve gone through years of school and are supposedly very educated on writing. While there are scholars who’re educated exclusively on writing, many of them are not. They expect everyone to agree with their opinions on books, but we all have different tastes and interests. We as readers should decide what a good piece of writing for many reasons: One being that we are the majority. Since we are the ones who are reading books, it’s up to us to decide whether or not it’s good. I think it’s seriously wrong for us to believe everything critics spew out of their mouths. Another reason we should decide because one person can’t decide if a book is good enough. For every person who thinks the writing in a book is good, there is one who thinks it is not. Like I said, we all have different opinions. That is what’s so great about reading. It is up to you to decide to read a certain book or not, and it’s up to you to either love the style of writing, or hate it. We as a whole will never all have the same opinions on a book. Many of us do, but many of us don’t. For example, The Hunger Games; I know that many, many people really love this book. I for one really do enjoy it. But the beginning starts out way too fast for my taste. I like books that slowly build up anticipation, but I’m sure other people like books that just dive right into the main plot. This further proves my point on how everyone has different tastes. We as readers should most definitely decide what’s good, and what’s bad.

#3: Book One Project

The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky

Merchandise Idea

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The Idea:

I think that we could make shirts that just say “Infinite” on the front with the book title on the back. The shirts would be available in many different color schemes and styles. Im thinking that we could also sell these with the copy of the books, and a free poster as well. They would be available in any size. You would also be able to customize the shirt through special order.

Where it comes from:

This would definitely attract fans of the book because it at one point, Charlie says “And in that moment, I swear we were infinite.” He says this because he was having such a great time driving around with Sam and Patrick that he felt that they were on top of the world. This is a changing day in Charlie’s life.  I think that this is definitely the moment where all three of them became best friends.

Why this would sell:

These shirts would sell very well because if you’ve read the book, you would know that this is a very important theme that recurs throughout. ” Not caring if I saw downtown. Not even thinking about it. Because I was standing in the tunnel. And I was really there. And that was enough to make me feel infinite.” Also, this book is already very popular with teenagers so I think a lot of them would buy the shirts. I think it would attract new fans because they would want to know what the quote on the front means. They would see the back of the shirt and keep the book in mind. This would increase the book sales as well. The shirts would help old fans stay connected to the book because they would know what the writing on the shirt meant, and they would love the idea of having a shirt with what could be one of their favorite quotes from what could be one of their favorite books.  A great reason for these shirts to be made is because when Charlie says stuff about being infinite to his two best friends, they show that they feel that Charlie has said something smart and creative. They seem to really be impressed by what he says and really love the quote. The fans would see this and this would make them want to buy the shirts even more because if the characters like it in the book, it may make them want to like it in real life. If we included the book with the shirt, they would sell more because someone might want an extra copy to give to a friend. The poster would be very eye catching with a bunch of quotes straight from the actual book. This would improve sales for the book, and it would also draw more attention to the author. I think that fans would love this idea.

#4: Adapting "Shutter Island" Into Movie Form

From what I have read so far, there are both things that we could keep, and things that we should cut out in Shutter Island. One scene that is essential to keep is when Teddy and Chuck meet each other and share their stories. This is important because we need some background on the two main characters to understand them better. Another scene that should be kept is when they first get on the island and walk up to the main building. The viewers of the movie would need to get a feel for the setting of the story. They would also need to know that McPherson took both their guns because they aren’t allowed on the island for some suspicious reason. This event occurs when they are making their way to the building. One last scene they should really keep is when McPherson is describing what the island is and the history behind it. He also talks about how successful Cawley is and all of his school accomplishments. This is important because it helps deepen our knowledge about the island and how unique it is compared to anything else in the United States. It also helps us understand a little bit about Cawley. I’d have to say that when it talks about Teddy’s dad and how he died at sea could definitely be cut out. This hasn’t been really important to the plot so far and I think we could do without that information. Another scene that should be cut out is the some of the prologue. Most of the prologue just talks about Dr. Lester Sheehan studying rats on the shore. I don’t think this important to the plot of the book. I think that they should keep the part where the Dr. talks about how two people wreaked havoc on him and Teddy. That part was definitely important.

#2What A Book Is To Me

To me, a book is a friend. I mean figuratively, not literally. I think of a book as friend because reading about a thrilling adventure is always worthwhile.  A book will always be there even through the toughest times in your life. I think that books can definitely help some people cope with their problems, whatever they might be. Another reason that I think of a book as a friend is because a lot of the time, I get very attached to the characters that are likeable to me. For example, in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, when a Death Eater kills Lupin, I was pretty shocked. I also felt very depressed partly because Lupin was one of my favorite characters, and Harry felt like it was his fault for a lot of his companions being killed. This is one of many moments that I felt emotion for characters in the Harry Potter series. Books are also like friends because sometimes you’ll love them and other times, you won’t. If you pick the wrong friends, then you might not be very happy with your life. The same goes for books. If you pick the wrong books, you’ll resent it and not want to read it. It’s all a matter of figuring out what you really like and what you really dislike, and going from there. Personally, when it comes to the whole E-Reader vs. Real book battle, I think it depends. If I really liked a book enough to read it, I’d prefer to go out and buy a real life copy. If I wanted to read something without others knowing what I’m reading, it’d be nice to have an E-Reader. Also, if you are a book fanatic and you absolutely have to read almost every book you hear about, you’d probably want to get and E-Reader, so you don’t have to have hundreds of books lying around. Going back to the “Books Being Friends” idea, I think that some people may agree, and some may disagree. That’s just what books are to me, and that’s how it will probably stay.