Summer of Stephen
Title: Firestarter
Publishing Date: 1980 Length: 428 pages Start Date: November 19, 2017 End Date: January 1, 2018 As with several other Stephen King novels, this was my second reading of Firestarter. And, unfortunately, as I’m finding with several other King novels, it doesn’t necessarily hold up on repeat readings. Not to say that it’s not good. I did genuinely enjoy the book. I just felt that, knowing how things were going to end, it took too long to get there. Let me explain. And, there will be some plot spoilers in here, so proceed at your discretion. Firestarter follows Andy and his daughter, Charlie, as they attempt to escape from a government agency called The Shop. They are wanted by this agency because they each possess an unusual ability. Andy can use his mind to “push” people, meaning he can telepathically convince people to do whatever he wants them to do. Charlie can start fires, hence the title of the novel. Andy’s wife was able to move things with her mind, though her ability was significantly less powerful, but she was killed by men from The Shop before the action of the story begins. Andy and his wife met in college when they signed up to take part in a paid experiment. They were given a drug that caused them to hallucinate and which ultimately resulted in their abilities. Many of the others involved in the experiment died under mysterious circumstances, but Andy and his wife believed they’d managed to hide themselves well enough to avoid The Shop. They were wrong. The first part of the story involves Andy and Charlie running from The Shop. Andy has to use his “push” on various people to convince them to help, which causes him unbearable migraines. Charlie’s power stays mostly hidden until the men from The Shop finally catch up to them. They’ve taken refuge on the farm of Irv Manders and his wife, who know nothing about the two’s abilities until they see them in action. Charlie uses her powers to create fire around the house to keep The Shop’s men at bay, and even sets a few of them on fire. This is one of the best parts of the novel, which is why it’s a shame that it takes so long to get to it. Eventually, The Shop manages to kidnap Andy and Charlie and imprison them in their high-security headquarters. While there, Andy becomes depressed and addicted to the drugs he’s given to suppress his “push.” Meanwhile, Charlie is befriend by a janitor, who is actually a ruthless hitman employed by The Shop. He’s obsessed with Charlie and has agreed to manipulate her into using her power for The Shop’s advantage in exchange for the chance to look into her eyes while he kills her. Does that sound weird? It is. It’s a whole thing with him. Anyway, after awhile, Andy gets his act together and starts to use his “push” to convince members of The Shop to do what he wants. Part of this backfires, though, as he accidentally pushes one of the men too far and he ends up going home, putting on his wife’s underwear, and sticking his arm down the running garbage disposal. He dies from the shock and blood loss. (Honestly, this book is the reason I’m slightly terrified of garbage disposals. Seriously. I’ve never used one because of this book.) So Andy pushes the men until he’s able to meet up with Charlie and attempt to escape. But who’s lying in wait? The janitor/assassin. He shoots Andy and tries to shoot Charlie, but she melts the bullet in mid-air and then sets the man on fire. Knowing he’s going to die, Andy essentially tells Charlie to burn the place down, escape, and make sure the world knows their story. She follows his orders in what is the number one best part of the novel. Which is, again, a shame, because it doesn’t happen until the very end of the book. Charlie returns to Irv Manders and his wife and they nurse her back to health. Unfortunately, the surviving members of The Shop have rebuilt the agency and are coming after her, so she has to go on the run again. But this time, her first stop is at the office of Rolling Stone, where she’s prepared to tell her whole story. Overall, the story is good. It just takes too long to get to the exciting parts. As much as I like Andy and Charlie’s father/daughter relationship, it gets tiring to read about after so many pages. I’d prefer the story to start at the Manders’ farm with Charlie setting people on fire and then jump to their imprisonment with The Shop. That would provide the same amount of backstory and atmosphere building, but with significantly more action. If you have a short attention span when it comes to reading, then I can’t necessarily recommend Firestarter to you. But if you don’t mind a slow-burn novel (pun intended), then you’ll probably enjoy this one. Unless you really like using your garbage disposal. Then maybe just skip it.
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Title: The Shining
Release Date: 1980 Length: 2 hours 22 minutes Start Date: November 15, 2017 End Date: November 15, 2017 Director: Stanley Kubrick Starring: Jack Nicholson, Shelley Duvall, Danny Lloyd, Scatman Crothers Let me start by saying that I am fully aware that Stephen King was less than pleased with this adaptation of one of his most famous novels. Let me follow up by saying that I kind of love this movie. Okay, now that that’s out of the way, let’s talk about the 1980’s version of The Shining. In the beginning, this film follows the book fairly closely. Jack Torrance interviews for a job as the winter caretaker of the Overlook Hotel, gets the job, and drags his wife (Wendy) and young son (Danny) up to the hotel to live for the next few months. As they’re settling in, they meet Dick Hallorann, the Overlook’s head cook, who’s on his way to Florida to enjoy his vacation away from the hotel. Hallorann is the one who name-drops the book’s/movie’s title when he reveals to Danny that people like them have a “shining,” which is basically the ability to sense things that others can’t. This also allows Danny and Hallorann to communicate telepathically. Once the Torrances are alone in the hotel, the movie starts to drift away from the book. In King’s book, Jack’s descent into madness is gradual and is basically due to the fact that he feels trapped in this hotel with no means of escape. It’s somewhat unclear whether the hotel is actually harboring some kind of evil or if everything is just a product of Jack’s (and eventually Wendy’s and Danny’s) fragile mental state. The movie, however, makes it abundantly clear that Jack was more than a little crazy to begin with and that the hotel is most definitely fully booked with ghosts and evil spirits all over the place. The movie is populated with people in weird costumes, long-dead partygoers, and the most disgusting zombie-like bathtub nightmare you’ve ever seen. But, honestly, that’s one of the reasons I think this movie works so well. A slow-burn narrative that allows you to speculate on a character’s mental state is fine in a novel. But on screen, you need things to move a little faster. If Kubrick had stayed completely faithful to King’s novel, the film would have ended up running closer to 6 or 7 seven hours at least. Jack takes too long to go mad to hold the attention of a viewing audience. It’s the ending, though, where Kubrick completely tossed aside the novel and forged his own path. Also, just a heads up, we’re heading into spoiler territory here, so proceed at your own discretion. In one aspect, I prefer the book’s ending, but in another, I’m all for the movie. Let me explain. In the book, Danny telepathically calls for Hallorann’s help, the man shows up, he helps save Wendy and Danny, but Jack is left behind as the boiler blows up and the hotel goes down in flames. The book then jumps ahead a few months to show Hallorann, Wendy, and Danny living safe, happy lives. What I like about this: Hallorann saves the day. What I hate about this: The whole “they lived happily ever after” thing does nothing for me. It never has. In the movie, Danny telepathically calls for Hallorann’s help, the man shows up, Jack takes him out with a fire axe, Danny escapes out of the bathroom window, Jack busts into the bathroom door with his whole “Here’s Johnny!” act, Wendy screams her face off (not literally, though that would’ve been awesome), Jack chases Danny out into the snow, Danny leads Jack on a chase through the hedge maze, Danny escapes the maze, and Jack freezes to death. What I like about this: I don’t care how much Stephen King hates it, that hedge maze chase scene is fantastic and, in my opinion, perfect. What I hate about this: Hallorann basically gets cut in half with a fire axe! He’s easily the best character in the whole damn movie and they just chopped him down like it was no big deal! Besides Hallorann’s death, I have one other issue with this film. Wendy. In the book, she does a pretty good job of protecting her son while simultaneously trying to save her husband from his inner demons. But in the movie, her sole purpose is to scream and cry. Kubrick took the strong, determined, female protagonist from King’s novel and turned her into a pathetic scream queen. Not to mention how abusively awful Kubrick was to Shelley Duvall while they were filming this movie. As much as I like this movie, I believe Kubrick to be an all-around garbage human. Well, that pretty much sums up my thoughts on the 1980’s adaptation of The Shining. While I understand King’s dislike of it, I will continue to rewatch it every few years, as I’ve done since my first viewing a decade ago. Oh, wait, I’m actually not finished yet. I feel the need to mention my two absolute favorite things about this movie. 1. The Grady twins. They terrify me and I love them. 2. When Jack is menacingly following Wendy up the stairs and says, “Wendy? Darling? Light of my life. I’m not gonna hurt ya. I’m just going to bash your brains in!” Okay, now I’m done. |
Jacinta M. CarterProfessional Book Nerd Archives
July 2019
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