Book 3 of 2012
Jan. 19th, 2012 12:38 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
thistlechaserBeing only 19 days into the year, finishing my third book might sound impressive. (Or might not, depending on how much free time you have in your life for reading.) Unfortunately it sounds more accomplished than it is. Book #1 I read most of in 2011, just finished in 2012. Book #2 was that horrible Thrall self-published book, which I deleted off the Kindle app a few pages in. And this book, #3, turns out to be a novella instead of a book (though that it's by the verbose Stephen King pushes it to nearly book length).
This was sort of a reread. I read it when it first came out(? long long ago), so it really might as well be a first time reading. I didn't remember hardly anything going into it.
What I did remember was the movie, which turns out to be a rare example of me liking a movie better than the book. I didn't hate the book at all, but I did have some issues with it:
1) Most of the women acted like children and were treated like one. Especially in the beginning of the book, most especially with the main character's wife.
2) The use of alcohol was unrealistic. Men drinking cases of beer all night long and it having no effect because they were scared. Or drinking multiple beer (whole cans in one gulp) while using a chainsaw and not feeling any effects because they're sweating it out. (King was an alcoholic during the time he wrote this, which I suppose explained that.)
3) I didn't like the ending. I bet I liked it more on first reading, before I saw the movie. I generally love open-ended stories, but the movie ending was just so perfect (if you like dark endings) that the book's ending seemed flat.
I still loved the idea of the story. (Things in the mist.) I like that we got the hints of where they came from but that we never learned for sure. The characters didn't do much for me, and while usually that would be something of a deal-breaker, but the story was strong enough to carry it for me.
All in all, the book makes me want to watch the movie again.
I have no idea what book #4 will be. I poked briefly through all my unread ones, but nothing caught my eye. Will probably decide tonight!
This was sort of a reread. I read it when it first came out(? long long ago), so it really might as well be a first time reading. I didn't remember hardly anything going into it.
What I did remember was the movie, which turns out to be a rare example of me liking a movie better than the book. I didn't hate the book at all, but I did have some issues with it:
1) Most of the women acted like children and were treated like one. Especially in the beginning of the book, most especially with the main character's wife.
2) The use of alcohol was unrealistic. Men drinking cases of beer all night long and it having no effect because they were scared. Or drinking multiple beer (whole cans in one gulp) while using a chainsaw and not feeling any effects because they're sweating it out. (King was an alcoholic during the time he wrote this, which I suppose explained that.)
3) I didn't like the ending. I bet I liked it more on first reading, before I saw the movie. I generally love open-ended stories, but the movie ending was just so perfect (if you like dark endings) that the book's ending seemed flat.
I still loved the idea of the story. (Things in the mist.) I like that we got the hints of where they came from but that we never learned for sure. The characters didn't do much for me, and while usually that would be something of a deal-breaker, but the story was strong enough to carry it for me.
All in all, the book makes me want to watch the movie again.
I have no idea what book #4 will be. I poked briefly through all my unread ones, but nothing caught my eye. Will probably decide tonight!
