The next set follows:
4. People Love Dead Jews: Reports from a Haunted Present by Dara Horn
This nonfiction book is really a collection of essays by the author exploring anti-Semitism and its expression in modern forms. Her thesis is that people are more comfortable with Jewish tragedy than actual expressions of Judaism. A fascinating read, and given the recent events in Colleyville, TX and the media coverage of these events, sadly prescient.
5. - 10. The Green Mile 1: The Two Dead Girls, The Green Mile 2: The Mouse on the Mile, The Green Mile 3: Coffey's Hands, The Green Mile 4: The Bad Death of Eduard Delacroix, The Green Mile 5: Night Journey, and The Green Mile 6: Coffey on the Mile by Stephen King
So this may be a "cheat" but I am claiming each one of these as a separate book. For those that remember (or those who have seen them), the original release of The Green Mile was in monthly chapter books from March 1986 to August 1986. Each book was between 80 to 130 pages, and each one ended in a cliffhanger, leaving you waiting for the release of the next book the next month. I remember buying each one as they were released, rushing to the bookstore to get the next section. If you don't know, the story is about a convict on death row, and the guard who prepares him for death by electric chair. But this story is really so much more. The movie (with Tom Hanks and Michael Clarke Duncan) is wonderful, but the story as told in these short novellas is even better!
Continuing my Stephen King re-readthrough:
11-12.
Desperation by Stephen King and
The Regulators by (Stephen King writing as) Richard Bachman
I'm reviewing these two together because they deserve to be read together. Both stories feature the same villain, a mysterious entity named Tak who might be a demon, might be an alien force, or might just be an ancient spirit. Both books also feature characters with the same names (although not necessarily playing the same roles). Both books also profile aspects of the Southwest, namely Nevada (one in the "real world" and one in the "pretend world"). Somewhere I saw these two books described as a religious-themed horror story, and a secular one. It isn't a bad description.
Desperation is really a battle between good and evil with a young boy hearing the literal voice of God.
The Regulators tells of another young boy, autistic, but brutally smart and wildly good who fights with the evil spirit trying to inhabit him. Both novels were fascinating but in this case I preferred the Bachman story over the King one. Maybe it is the overtly religious tone of
Desperation, or the length of the book (over 700 pages) but it just didn't have the same appeal as
The Regulators did for me. Again I love Stephen King's work (if you hadn't figured that out by now), so I would still give
Desperation 4 out of 5 stars, but to me
The Regulators was the better book (and shorter, about 450 pages). If you've read both, I would love to hear your thoughts.
13.
The Dark Tower IV: Wizard and Glass by Stephen King
Oh I just love the Dark Tower series. I am not a fan of westerns generally, but with Stephen King I make an exception. Of course, others may not think it is a western, but in this fourth novel in the series, we finally get more of Roland's (the Gunslinger) backstory, and it is a wonderfully constructed tale of young love, honor, betrayal, and revolution, all played out in a true Western style. What makes this extended flashback even better is that it is surrounded by sections set in the "present day" of the story, with an opening that resolves the "Blaine the Train" story of novel III and "exposes" our heroes to the world of
The Stand, and an ending that begins to show how all of King's work is really tied together through this universe (and - best of all - Randall Flagg is revealed). Can't wait for more Dark Tower novels to come during this re-read.
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