[Comments] Fairy Tale by Stephen King

[Fillyjonk]

February I discovered Stephen King when I was way too young to be allowed to read him, doing the old FLASHLIGHT COVERS routine to inhale Salem's Lot. I have been his dedicated fan since that day. No one does horror better, but I especially love his forays out of Genre-- Eye of The Dragon remains a huge favorite of mine. It's a little like if SK was channeling Neil Gaimon... I am hoping to get the same sort vibe out of February's pick: FAIRY TALE What it's about: Charlie Reade looks like a regular high school kid, great at baseball and football, a decent student. But he carries a heavy load. His mom was killed in a hit-and-run accident when he was ten, and grief drove his dad to drink. Charlie learned how to take care of himself—and his dad. When Charlie is seventeen, he meets a dog named Radar and her aging master, Howard Bowditch, a recluse in a big house at the top of a big hill, with a locked shed in the backyard. Sometimes strange sounds emerge from it. Charlie starts doing jobs for Mr. Bowditch and loses his heart to Radar. Then, when Bowditch dies, he leaves Charlie a cassette tape telling a story no one would believe. What Bowditch knows, and has kept secret all his long life, is that inside the shed is a portal to another world. The NYT says, So “Fairy Tale” is a multiverse-traversing, genre-hopping intertextual mash-up, with plenty of Easter eggs for regular King devotees. Thankfully, it's also a solid episodic adventure, a page-turner driven by memorably strange encounters and well-rendered, often thrilling action. I will be doing the audio version, which is a full 24 hours of listening. HOO! Are you already a fan? Do you read horror? What is your favorite SK book? I am, I do, and hands down THE STAND.

[lostcheerio]

Hooray! I listened to the first few chapters this morning and the audiobook narrator is great. The character, Charlie, is just typical enough as a regular teenager that you believe it, but just atypical enough that you can contemplate reading a whole book in his POV. Very happy with it so far. If a Cujo reference counts as an Easter egg for Stephen King fans, I found it! Or maybe it's just that King is that guy whose characters are such household names that his own novel is the most obvious reference when someone characterizes a dog as scary. Maybe the Easter egg was that the kid said, "From that movie" instead of "From that book." Hehe.

[AnotherDragoon]

Oh, Eye of the Dragon was great. Read that as a young teen/tween and loved it. The first Stephen King I picked up as "a child too young to read it" was Christine. I had no idea why a car would smell like a cat...

Anyway, started listening to the audiobook a couple of days ago but had to put it down for a bit because it starts out pretty heavy and I was already having a case of the morbs, as I sometimes do. It's the weekend and I'm in a better headspace now so I expect to dive back in. Agree that the narrator is fantastic tho.

My Favorite is probably the Dark Tower series but, if I had to pick one it'd likely be Wizard and Glass which is chock full of references to his other works. Although, The Talisman with Peter Straub is an all-time favorite that I also read as a young teen.

[lostcheerio]

Ohh, I forgot about The Talisman! I have a clear, clear memory of a spiraling descent into some kind of awful pit, but I don't remember really anything else about it.

 

This is a slow burn, wow. Really taking his good ole time to illustrate this character, and build context. Really want to know what's in the shed.

[lostcheerio]

 

FINALLY GOT INTO THE SHED YOU GUYS. Omg that may be the slowest burn ever. King has the authority to command that kind of patience from readers, surely, but wow that is a lot of intro. Granted he builds a very detailed and believable world during the waiting period. But also, isn't it kind of odd for King to not have some kind of raunchiness going on, or at least some bad guys, or marginally bad guys at least? Questionable guys?? This story seems to be able nice people being nice to each other.

[AnotherDragoon]

 

First, I'm absolutely loving Charlie. A boy scout without the BS as Mr. Bowditch put it. Their dynamic, and Radar too, has been perfect. Anyway, I just finished the tape recording A.B. left detailing the Well of the Worlds and wow, now I Have to know more. Is it a passage to Midworld? The Field of Flowers and Sleeping God have definite Dark Tower vibes and I know Mr. King loves to tie his stories to that in small, or sometimes very big ways. It could be a Beam too I suppose or just any other way into an alternate reality or other realm. And who the heck is the weird little man with the funny walk who says "Righto!" and "Ha Ha!". The slow burn has set my imagination ablaze but I only listen to the audiobook while driving ;_; first world problems.

[lostcheerio]

I'm at like 90% on the audiobook and I will admit I have it on 1.5 speed.

AM I THE WORST?!

[Fillyjonk]

Me: The worst.

In this month I completely listened to one audiobook and just started another and NONE ARE THIS BOOK.

[Acathala]

I actually enjoyed it mostly. I wouldn’t say it’s a classic of his work, but it’s nice he can crank out a decent book.

[lostcheerio]

Finished it! I needed that extra day of February to get those last chapters in yesterday, but it's done.

What I have to say about it: That was a very likable main characters. The end.

[lostcheerio]

Our March pick is Legends and Lattes by Travis Baldree. Come discuss on the new thread!

As always, you can keep talking about Fairy Tale here for as long as you like.

[Sprite]

I'm generally not a fan of horror. The only book by Stephen King I've read is "On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft" which is excellent.

[Fillyjonk]

Firm agree, I have read almost everything he ever wrote, and I WILL one day get to this even though I blew it for book club.

If you want to read EXCEPTIONAL King works that are not Horror, I suggest:

The Eye of the Dragon -- fantasy/fairy tale

Other good ones:

Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption (a novella in a collection called Four Seasons) non-supernatural great story.

The Body, (Another novella in the collection Four Seasons) -- coming of age tale

MAYBE

The Green Mile, a serial that I would call speculative fiction

MAYBE The Stand, which I think is apocalypse fiction, not horror, and is probably my favorite of his books.

[Sprite]

I saw the 1994 tv miniseries adaptation of The Stand when it came out... and regretted watching.

But I will check out those other Steven King titles. Thank you for the recommendations!

[AnotherDragoon]

The mini series was rather disappointing. Four Seasons is great, would recommend for anyone. Also just remembered Insomnia had a strong connection to the Dark Tower and might still be a bit topical today, but still leans more horror than fantasy.

Edit: recently finished the audio for Fairy Tale and thoroughly enjoyed even if I felt the climax could've been more climactic. Still great characters and an interesting world that left me wanting to know more.