Stephen King's Needful Things reviewed by jseger9000

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Stephen King's Needful Things reviewed by jseger9000

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1jseger9000
Mar 24, 2011, 3:40 pm

Here's a very rough draft for a review of Needful Things.

I tried to keep it short (for me).

How is it as a review? Please be as merciless as you need to be.
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Needful Things is claimed to be King’s ‘last’ Castle Rock story (though he would return there at least one more time) and it’s a corker.

Leland Gaunt is a dapper gentleman from Akron, Ohio; newly arrived in Castle Rock to open a glorified junk shop. His new shop seems to have something for everybody and he doesn’t ask much. A tiny bit of money, and perhaps he will ask for a prank to be played on another person.

King is very comfortable with his fictional Maine town and that is one of the strengths of the book. It felt like King took the template of Peyton Place to the point of absurdity, using these small town character's petty scandals to undo them.

He is so intimately familiar with the characters and their relationships that he is able to describe them to us in a fairly easy manner. Most of the characters are on stage for only a short time, but while you spend time with them you are aware of who they are and what their relations are with various other townspeople.

Over the course of the book, Gaunt builds a web of tensions, using his ‘pranks’ to stir up long simmering tensions among the various residents of The Rock. Reading Needful Things is kind of like watching a master lay out one of those elaborate domino patterns, piece by carefully placed piece.

Then, King knocks the first piece down. The last couple of hundred pages fly in a white-knuckled fury as Castle Rock unravels before our eyes. It might have been King’s ‘home town’ but you can tell there was real glee in its destruction.

The ending gets a little silly, though you can see how the whole book was building towards it.

A seven hundred (plus) page book that never feels like a slog. Needful Things is not King’s very best, but it lives in the same neighborhood.

2Samantha_kathy
Editado: Jul 31, 2016, 9:25 am

Este mensaje fue borrado por su autor.

3jseger9000
Mar 24, 2011, 10:53 pm

Thanks for the feedback Samantha.

On point one: I went to http://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/corker and had fun looking up synonyms for corker. Here's a few I liked: crackerjack, doozie, humdinger or lulu. I wouldn't be against using a simpler phrase, like and it's a good one. It just lacks the fun I had with the earlier word.

On point two: Paragraphs 2 and 5 were originally back-to-back. But I thought paragraphs 3 and 4 worked better where they are now rather than towards the end. I didn't think about how they would flow.

I've reworked them below, trying to correct my references. Now both paragraphs 3 and 4 start with references to King, which normally I wouldn't do, but I thought it would provide clarity. Does it work any better, or does it require heavier editing?

I didn't correct your point one yet because I could use some help picking a word:

Needful Things is claimed to be King’s ‘last’ Castle Rock story (though he would return there at least one more time) and it’s a corker.

Leland Gaunt is a dapper gentleman from Akron, Ohio; newly arrived in Castle Rock to open a glorified junk shop. His new shop, Needful Things, seems to have something for everybody. And he doesn’t ask much. A tiny bit of money, and perhaps he will ask for a prank to be played on another person...

Stephen King is very comfortable with his fictional Maine town and that is one of the strengths of the book. It felt like he took the template of Peyton Place and pushed it to the point of absurdity, using these small town character's petty scandals to undo them.

King is so intimately familiar with his characters and their relationships that he is able to describe them to us in a fairly easy manner. Most of the characters are on stage for only a short time, but while you spend time with them you are aware of who they are and what their relations are with various other townspeople.

Over the course of the book, Mr. Gaunt builds a web of tension in the town, using his ‘pranks’ to stir up long simmering enmity among the various residents of The Rock. Reading Needful Things is kind of like watching a master lay out one of those elaborate domino patterns, piece by carefully placed piece.

Then, King knocks the first piece down. The last couple of hundred pages fly in a white-knuckled fury as Castle Rock unravels before our eyes. It might have been King’s ‘home town’ but you can tell there was real glee in its destruction.

The ending gets a little silly, though you can see how the whole book was building towards it.

A seven hundred (plus) page book that never feels like a slog. Needful Things is not King’s very best, but it lives in the same neighborhood.

4Samantha_kathy
Editado: Jul 31, 2016, 9:25 am

Este mensaje fue borrado por su autor.

5readafew
Mar 25, 2011, 10:12 am

Other than some interest in the Dark Tower series I've never had any desire to read King, but this review makes Needful Things very temping.

6jseger9000
Editado: Mar 25, 2011, 1:54 pm

#4 - I've changed that word. As an experiment, I've also combined what were paragraphs 3 and 4 into a single one and moving the tail end to the new paragraph 4. Does it read better now, or is the new third paragraph problematic?
---
Needful Things is claimed to be King’s ‘last’ Castle Rock story (though he would return there at least one more time) and it’s a doozie.

Leland Gaunt is a dapper gentleman from Akron, Ohio; newly arrived in Castle Rock to open a glorified junk shop. His new shop, Needful Things, seems to have something for everybody. And he doesn’t ask much. A tiny bit of money, and perhaps he will ask for a prank to be played on another person...

Stephen King is very comfortable with his fictional Maine town and that is one of the strengths of the book. He is so intimately familiar with his characters and their relationships that he is able to describe them to us in a fairly easy manner. Most of the characters are on stage for only a short time, but while you spend time with them you are aware of who they are and what their relations are with various other townspeople.

Over the course of the book, Mr. Gaunt builds a web of tension in the town, using his ‘pranks’ to stir up long simmering enmity among the various residents of The Rock. It felt like King took the template of Peyton Place and pushed it to the point of absurdity, using his small town character's petty scandals to undo them. Reading Needful Things is kind of like watching a master lay out one of those elaborate domino patterns, piece by carefully placed piece.

Then, King knocks the first piece down. The last couple of hundred pages fly in a white-knuckled fury as Castle Rock unravels before our eyes. It might have been King’s ‘home town’ but you can tell there was real glee in its destruction.

The ending gets a little silly, though you can see how the whole book was building towards it.

A seven hundred (plus) page book that never feels like a slog. Needful Things is not King’s very best, but it lives in the same neighborhood.

7Samantha_kathy
Editado: Jul 31, 2016, 9:25 am

Este mensaje fue borrado por su autor.

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