In Which We Discuss Pet Sematary

I've read Pet Sematary before, but this time, reading it in context of King's other published novels, I found it kind of adorable.  Firstly, in the introduction he talks about Owen and Naomi, his youngest and eldest children.  He tells a story about Naomi that is later echoed by the daughter in Pet Sematary; of when their cat died, and he explained to Naomi that god had taken the cat to be with him.  Naomi had screamed "God can get his own cat!".

He also told a story that more directly influenced the story; that of Owen's near miss with a giant truck.  If I recall correctly, this is the same road where King would later be hit by a car.

Finally, at one point, Louis muses on twins, one of whom dies in the womb and is absorbed by the other, later showing up as a tumour of teeth or hair in their sibling.  This later shows up in The Dark Half.  Rachel also drives past Jerusalem's Lot, musing on the name.

James Smythe comments on the pace of the book, something I noticed.  It's very much a slow burn, like The Dead Zone, but it comes to fruition rather than being lanced.

The book is genuinely scary, not just creepy.  We can see ourselves making the same decisions Louis does.  The story is born of a pretty straightforward adult fear, and King also mentions in the introduction that he hid the book away for several years before allowing it to be published because he felt like he'd gone too far.

I also read Cycle of the Werewolf over the past few days.  Very short little novella; 12 chapters, with illustrations.  I admit, I skimmed it a bit.

James Smythe draws a link with King's addictions, and also points out that this sort of thing exists for serious collectors.

In Which We Discuss Christine

I first read Christine in 2008.  Since then, I have described it as 300 pages of plot in a 700 page novel.  I'm not totally sure if I feel that way any more.  A second read through has allowed me to take my time and absorb the plot more without being so impatient to get to the end.  I enjoyed it more, but it's still not in my top ten.

The book reminds me a little of my grandfather; he named his car Christine.

I started making a playlist using the songs quoted in the book, but accidentally returned the book to the library before I finished it.  It's a very good playlist; I particularly enjoyed Woody Guthrie's Take You Ridin' in my Car.

James Smythe seems to have had a similar opinion to myself on this one, though, as always, he's expressed it rather better.

I finished Christine almost a week ago, and it's taken me this long to write this much.  The next book is Pet Semetary, which I've also read before, probably about the same time as Christine.  I picked that up from the library a few days ago and still haven't started - it's been a busy week.