The Talisman by Stephen King, Peter Straub Summary and Reviews
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Book Reviews of The Talisman
Book Review: Classic adventure
Summary: 5 Stars
This is a great adventure story of a young boy on a quest faced with really bad bad-guys and mysterious good-guys. I have read it twice now and look forward to reading to my son when he is old enough.Book Review: Critical Acclaim For The Talisman
Summary: 3 Stars
I am on the last page of this book right now pg 735. but before i finish readingthe final page i must pause, perhaps... chuckle, then cough lightly under my breath before i lift my head to say that
no matter what lies on this final page there is no "turning back" from the lack of
consideration and total lack of regard towards anytype of art in storytelling which took place unabashedly throughout chapters
34-40.
These chapters were so shallow i suspect there was not only one thing more important on the writers mind (see below) but perhaps two or three.
Up until then the story had enough to it i thought it to be surely more worthy
to be held higher for all to see because the story was enthralling.
It is my opinion as a professional amateur (smiles) that the reason why this book
is not a legend of sorts was because of these discrepancies as such becoming preventative measures in themselves which in turn dislocated this book from being heralded as one with much more acclaim than it gets.
Instead we are left not with what should have been a novel regarded as one of
the most important works in fantasy/horror genre but in truth what could have been.
Lets face it how many people have heard of The Talisman?
The Talisman had its begginings in 1978-79 when both Stephen King and Peter Straub
where living in london. although each of them had binding contractual obligations
to fill with other books and it would take them a few years to be free
this is when they first came up with the idea of a joint venture
Being a collarabative effort between
world renowned master of horror Stephen King and a sometime bestselling author Peter Straub, The Talisman was written mostly (long distance) via modem on computers bought especially for the project.
The ball was whipped through the ether between
Maine and Connecticut handed back and forth Stephen writing pages,
not to any preset plan but simply until he felt like stopping,
then sent them to Peter at which point he picked up the thread and wrote until he
felt ready to hand it back. The book was released in 1984 and was a success.
Im not arguing with this my point is that this book could have been better.
just because a book is a New York Times Best Seller does not
mean all these books cancel all the ones that werent out.
It is the content of a book which almost on its own becomes immortal.
A true story lives on after we have read it if its told right.
It strikes at something close to immortality itself, because the story was Much
more than fake and Nothing less than believable.
This is where the real tales can be found and the separation from the fray begins.
It was obvious
to me what had happened only a child might have missed the change.
Stephen handed the drafts back to the other guy the man in question
one mister Peter Straub.
Perhaps the child that could have missed
the change was the same age as the one that took over Peters brain at that moment.
It was as if there was a young man with a little wooden hammer in his hands was tring
to hammer the square in where the round hole is in some childrens toy where
you have to knock the shapes in their corresponding holes.
The clumsiness begins specifically around page 496 (post interlude) and comes
to a end around page 627 again another interlude.
(...)
petey boy makes it so that jack is suddenly talking and acting as if he
were an grown man stephen king didnt do that Stephen King made the characters
that were kids kids. jack sawyer is not 21 42 or even 48 Mister Straub hes 12
years old.
Thats not the point though old petey boy made things a chore for me to fit in with
not only the style but the content of what was written before. Up until this
point Peter Straub at least was better than this i dont know what happened.
Only thing i can guess is this Peter decided it would be pertitnent to "get jiggy"
with snack foods while writing this all the while feeding us
a diet of his memories from his jumbled television experience. come to think of it when
did Rambo come out?
I mean common just because its fantasy doesnt mean that it has to be
unbelievable
It wasnt the amount of instances in which he completely failed to come across
as believable,
it was the flatness the lack of character in his work that i had trouble with.
I can compare it to missing the landing in a parachute drop because
was the take of time off but landing was in the wrong place.
When you pick a book somewhere along the way you hope that
writer somewhere along the way does not lose his way. It isnt very trendy to be careless
with lines in this buisness.
Perhaps that why hes Peter Straub and Stephen King is Stephen King.
Despite the letdowns i still must recommend this book just be in denial
when you get to the chapters i spoke of not so much unlike jack sawyers partner
(...).
cheers.
Book Review: Dark Tower Prequel
Summary: 4 Stars
Stephen King probes the depths of human imagination in this dark yet beautiful novel. He introduces the reader to the first visitings of the world in which the Dark Tower is apart of. King and Straub are excellent at sweeping the reader into the story and placing them at its very heart. The character development is wonderfully displayed and the world(S) that are described come alive before the readers very eyes. A must read for people who are fans are for people looking for an entertaining and excellent read!Book Review: Dazzling Adventure
Summary: 5 Stars
I first started this book when I was around 10 years old and didn't get far in it at all. I don't know the reason (actually, there were a few Stephen King books I started back then but never got around to finishing....maybe my brain just wasn't ready yet), but I picked it up again a few weeks ago and the ride has been awe-inspiring and a real testament of the imagination.
Meet Jack Sawyer, a 12-year-old boy who's tall for his age. At the age of 6 he had to deal with his father's death and now cancer is eating away at his once-Hollywood-star mother. In a hotel in New England he knows that his mother is waiting to die, and it seems like there is nothing in the whole damn world that he can do about it. Until he discovers that there is this other world waiting for him. This world where his mother is someone important and her death would be mean destruction and chaos. A world where Jack is the only one with the power to be the hero.
The Talisman is one boy's quest to find, well, a magical talisman to save his mother's life. He must do this by traveling from coast to coast while discovering horrors both in the world and the next--the Territories. The novel really shines in its imagination. Nothing is spared here--King and Straub bring out all the sparks. Every environment Jack encounters (and there are a lot) is rich in originality and just as scary in it grimy detail. And, surprisingly, some of the scariest things are found in this world rather than the next. And that is where the writing really hits home, when it's not some dark wizard, demented ghoul, or led astray werewolf that is terrorizes the town, but rather the good 'ole, reliable stench of human nature. The characters that Jack meet are all colorful and wholly distinguishable. From the bordlerline cowardly cousin who just can't for the life of him accept magic and parallel universes and all of the crazy stuff happening in front of his eyes, to the werewolf we come to have more of an emotional connection to than most humans we meet in novels, to the main villain, whose evil persona has no redeeming qualities: anything that was ever good in him died a long time ago. Even characters that are just passing by have memorable qualities and little unique quirks that show both the horror and glory of the human spirit.
This brings me to a point about characterization that I notice in a lot of King's works. His world is bad. And what I mean by this is humanity's ugliness exists in a lot of King's characters, and this book is no different. While in other novels/movies it seems that the majority of people a main character meets has more good than bad, it is backwards with King. Along the way, Jack comes across child molesters, crooked cops, men who beat their wives, their children, drug addicts, religious zealots that kill in the name of the lord, etc, etc, etc. Even other kids around Jack's age seem to have deep-rooted inherent evil. A typical character in this world is rough around the edges, has seen some pretty f'ed up things in their lives, and most likely looking out for themselves. This makes it so that the main villains have to REALLY do some crazy stuff to stick out in the reader's mind and anyone that is a genuinely good person/being also has a last effect. It comes to a point where the child molesters and wife-beaters almost become forgettable because they are the status-quo. It makes for an interesting read, but it makes me wonder about the King's background. I don't know how much this is attributed to Straub, but it's something I notice in a lot of King's works.
Or maybe the world isn't as sugar coated as I see it.
The writing is fantastic, as always. King has a way of going deep into his characters, sometimes veering off right at a heart-wrenching part to relate to some part of the character's past, often shedding a brand new light on what is happening in the present. Also, even though the book follows Jack Sawyer, it has little interludes where it switches to the perspective of other characters, sometimes the main villain himself.
One thing that I didn't care for so much was the use of time. King/Straub would often start a new chapter 3 or 4 days from where the last chapter (just a turn of a page) left off, with the main character in a completely different mindset because of the harrowing and yet-to-be-known events of the last few days. This makes for some heightened interest from the reader, but I often found myself confused and having to backtrack as the authors would almost go backward to catch the reader up. A lot of times during these points in the story I didn't know exactly at what point in the time lines the things that I was reading had happened. Fortunately, though, telling events in this fashioned wasn't used too much and were more so in the middle of the novel. Now that I think about it, it was almost like an experiment that the authors decided wouldn't be good for the whole book but decided to leave remnants of anyway.
All in all, without spoiling too much, The Talisman is a great read. The things that you will see in this book (and trust me, you WILL see them) will stretch and fold your imagination, sometimes making you cringe, sometimes making you laugh, and sometimes making you just have to take a break from reading for a moment, not because it's bad, but because your brain may need to recover from the overload. I'm glad I was able to finally finish the journey that I started some 10 years ago and my only regret is that it's over.
Book Review: Derivative, but so what?
Summary: 4 Stars
I just wolfed (!) down this supermarket paperback over the week-end and enjoyed it thoroughly. An old English professor of mine used to say that there were only 7 plots in literature, and this King/Straub novel takes advantage of them all, and even points out a few, in case you missed them. Yes, Wolf is a brunette Wookie. Yes, the Talisman is the Holy Grail. And yes, Jack/Jason is every kid in every Grimm brothers fairy tale. The villains are out of central casting.But so what? It's a timeless story; so put away the lit-crit book, heat up some cocoa, and enjoy!