Dreamcatcher by Stephen King Summary and Reviews
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Book Reviews of Dreamcatcher
Book Review: Back to the old King
Summary: 5 Stars
When I read Dreamcatcher, I was so excited to find that it was more in his old style, a style that made me begin reading his books so many years ago. It seemed that in a few previous books, King seemed to be losing what had always made his stories so enjoyable. I read this book as quickly as I did The Stand and It and will continue waiting patiently for more.Book Review: Below par by normal 3 Stars
If you are a die hard fan of King's work, then this book will be familiar and well trodden ground with plenty of humour and well paced, well plotted action.If not, you might find this a bit of an anodine hit. Many of the themes and ideas are old ones resprayed as new. Missing teeth smack of The Tommyknockers, and the "Big childhood secret revisited in later life" is hardly a diversion for him. Kurtz may be a name that King admits his military pantomime villain borrowed from Apocalypse Now, but that doesn't change the fact that it is a silly, infantile choice.
Having said all that, it's still light years better than most sci-fi horror you'll pick up in the bargain bin of your local bookstore. It's certainly very funny (I laughed out loud at least three times) and the end is fast, violent and philosophical.
It's not in the same league as The Shining, Firestarter and some of his other seminal stuff, but then they were a pretty high bar to have to clear every time.
Maybe he's getting old, and losing it.
I sincerely hope not.
Book Review: Better Than the Books it Rips Off
Summary: 4 Stars
At first glace, Stephen King's "Dreamcatcher" is an amalgam of "It" and "The Tommyknockers." A group of friends who fought evil in childhood (It) must band together to ward off invading, mind-controlling aliens (Tommyknockers). Neither of those books are King's best work, and neither is Dreamcatcher - but it manages to one-up most of King's old works. It's amazing how much his style has matured here, and the reader can tell what King admits to in his afterward: Dreamcatcher was written on a slower pace, by hand, with an inkpen, in notebooks. No typewriter, no computer. Take that, John Grisham.The story follows four hunting buddies: Beaver, Pete, Jonesy, and Henry. When they were young, they prevented a Down's syndrome child from a beating at the hands of the local football star, and in doing so, they managed to form a bond that goes beyond normal human understanding and friendship. Now, they are in the woods and an alien ship a quarter of a mile wide has crashed. To make matters worse, another hunter shows up disoriented, farting and burping ethyl alcohol and suffering from a bad case of alien trichinosis. When his body erupts and a worm starts attacking the friends, things get bad. When a crazed government agent named Kurtz (a nice reference to "Heart of Darkness") shows up, things get worse.
King has crafted a tale that, while not original, warrants more praise than It or Tommyknockers. The prose isn't on the same level as "Bag of Bones," and the story isn't as sweeping as "The Stand," but Dreamcatcher is a fine page-turner, and one fans of King will no doubt enjoy. His ability to create believable characters with realistic histories is where King truly shines, and he doesn't fail to please in Dreamcatcher. It seems he's become obsessed with telepathy and psychic powers lately, although he manages that topic far better in this book than he did in his recent miniseries, Rose Red.
He doesn't pretend to be writing snotty literature, and that's what makes King's books so enjoyable - they aren't self-conscious. For alien invasion, pseudo-horror, psychological page-turners, you can do worse than Dreamcatcher.
Grade: B
Book Review: Brilliant
Summary: 5 Stars
The book was brilliant. Not that I'd expect less from Mr. King. I couldn't put the book down. That was, until the end. I feel the end was a little lackluster. It had me feeling that I had missed something somewhere, but where I'm still unsure of. Still a must read.Book Review: Catch a Great Read
Summary: 5 Stars
I put off reading this novel for almost a year after I bought it. Shame on me. I was expecting a snoozer a la Bag of Bones. What I got was a book that took me back to the days of It, The Stand, and Needful Things.Mr. King tells us in the Afterword that he wrote this novel longhand rather than using a word processor. I think it made a difference. His love for the art of writing shows on each page. The rhythm and flow of the words are unforced and natural.
Dreamcatcher is bravura storytelling. I highly recommend this book.