I wanted to read this book for a while, and started it for the new year. I enjoyed it so much, that I wound up reading it almost in one sitting.
Now, of course my fondness for the writing style of Stephen King is known to those who know me, so his co-writing this would alone have gotten me to read this work, which he co-wrote with Richard Chizmar.
The writing style here is familiar to all fans of Stephen King, even though the format, and brevity, is more similar to some smaller projects, like "Cycle of the Werewolf," than it is to his bigger books, where he has more room to operate on hi specialty, which is character building.
Yet, since this book focuses on one main character, a girl named Gwendy Peterson. There are other characters, but for the most part, we see them through the eyes of Gwendy, so they are, in many respects, an extension of the world that we see through her eyes, and her character has room the develop. Typically of Stephen King characters, it is done to great effect.
Another thing that this particular book, which is more like a novella, reminded me of was an old Twilight Zone episode. Had to look up the episode name, because my memory is not quite that strong. But the name of the episode is "Button, Button," which itself became the inspiration for a 2009 movie which came to be called, "The Box." The idea in this episode, in short, is that a couple receives a box which simply has one button inside, and nothing more. There are no wires, and no connection to anything. However, a strange and rather eerie man comes along, and explains the rules, as it were. The woman would get a large sum of money (it was $100,000, if memory serves correctly) simply for pushing the button, but someone who she did not know would die, somewhere in the world.
She argues with her husband, they debate if it's some kind of sick hoax, and they wonder if it's some poor child in Africa. And they keep looking at the box, keep turning it and examining it from every angle. But it is simply a box, nothing physically attached, no means of actually seeming to communicate if the button has been pushed or not.
Of course, eventually, they go ahead and push the button, because the curiosity is killing them. When they do, it seems at first that nothing has happened. They simply pressed the button, and that is it. However, sure enough, they do receive a lot of money from the strange man, who returns to collect the box button. But the kicker, of course, is that he reveals that he will be bringing the box to someone else, someone who this woman does not know, which implies, of course, that she will be the next to die when the button is inevitably pushed.
I mention all of that not as a spoiler, because this short story actually is quite different from this Twilight Zone episode, although I have to wonder if it was at least partially inspired by that episode. For me, that episode was one of the most memorable episodes of the 1980's version of Twilight Zone that resonated with me for years. Indeed, something similar to it would be a great story idea.
Indeed, as stated before, this is a book that you can read in one sitting, and I would highly recommend that you do read it.
Now, as mentioned before, despite similarities to that Twilight Zone episode, it actually goes in a very different direction. But if you plan to read this short book, or novella, or whatever you want to classify it as, then now is the time to stop reading this review, because the rest of it will be filled with spoilers, so do not say you were not warned!
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Okay, last chance not to read, before I delve into the book with far more details, which would include spoilers, so stop reading if you intend to read the book at some point. Last warning!
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Okay, so, here goes:
Indeed, there are similarities to that episode of The Twilight Zone, but there are major differences, as well.
We first meet Gwendy when she is just twelve years old, and running up a steep hill, scaling what locals refer to as the "Suicide Stairs." She is exhausted, sweating, and doing this as a strict exercise regimen, because she is overweight. Specifically, one mean boy, Frankie Stoner, has given her the nickname of blimp, short for Goodyear Blimp. But since she is switching from elementary school to the middle school, she is trying to lose all of that excess weight, because she is intent on making sure that particular nickname does not travel to the next school with her.
During the past week that she has taken this run, she has seen a somewhat bizarre man sitting at the top of the stairs, reading an intimidating looking book. On this particular day, this man finally begins to talk to her. This man's name is Richard Farris, and if you are a Stephen King fan like me, that should set off alarm bells, as should some other things. He is not dressed for the weather, wearing black on a very hot day. Also, his initials, "RF," have been used in other King works to signify n ongoing character in his works, who always plays the villain. Usually, he has the name of Randall Flag, although he is also known as "The Walking Dude," or "The Man in Black."
Gwendy feels some alarm, yet the conversation continues. Before long, Richard Farris brings out a box, and right upon seeing it, Gwendy knows that she wants it. It is a strange box, but beautiful. There are a whole bunch of levers and buttons, and the man explains that they are color coordinated, with each continent being represented. Another button dispenses chocolates, but these are special chocolates. They taste wonderful, and they are just what Gwendy needs, because somehow, they make her feel not hungry for more. She can control her appetite.
Ultimately, as the name of the box implies, Gwendy takes the box. Mr. Farris disappears, although the strange hat that he is wearing she spots later, halfway down the Suicide Stairs, which he has somehow descended with inhuman speed.
She continues to eat the chocolates from this box, which also gives her these strange silver coins. They are 1891 Morgan silver dollars, worth over $700, and this is supposed to take place back in the 1970's, which means that they are worth far more in our current monetary value system. Somehow, this box - which is surprisingly light - keeps producing more chocolates, and more silver coins, even when the coins produced start to clearly outweigh the box that they came from to begin with.
Strange.
In any case, things begin going remarkably well for Gwendy, at least at first. Those chocolates are not only delicious, but they indeed help her to keep from overeating. She loses a lot of weight, amazingly quickly, and she indeed loses the hated nickname of "Blimp." She also notices that her grades are getting better and better, and with less effort. In fact, in almost every way, her life is visibly improving. Her best friend, Olive, notices that Gwendy is growing very pretty, and getting better looking every day. Far from weight issues, before long, she reminds herself of a model, quite literally. And the box is apparently behind it all, because it gives her power, and seems to exude a certain power on it's own. It begins to rub off on her parents, who were bordering on alcoholism in the beginning of the story, and there were signs of a rocky patch in the marriage. But they drop alcohol cold turkey, just like that, and they begin to show visible signs of strong romance once again.
Gwendy is happy, at least at first. But as she grows older, she begins to feel that things are going a little too perfectly, that it cannot be natural. Her grades are literally perfect, and even when she makes a point of writing wrong answers on her tests, they still wind up being right. By now, she is drop dead gorgeous, and every guy in the school wants her, including her former tormentor, Frankie Stone.
Hesitantly, she looks into selling some of the coins that she has continued to get through the years. She finds that they have increased in value, but she is also smart enough to disguise how many of these coins she actually has, and also provides a plausible back story, involving a recently deceased grandfather who has passed these incredibly valuable coins to her. Smartly, she only takes a couple of coins with her, so as not to raise eyebrows with bringing a ton of very valuable and very scarce coins, which she understands would be certain to raise eyebrows and questions.
Little by little, things keep getting better and better. Her grades are perfect, she had very realistic hopes of getting into top colleges, and it seems like her future is incredibly bright. Her family life had never been better. Every now and then, she has to deal with the harassment of Frankie Stone, but this, too, she feels she handles fairly well, under the circumstances.
But the box begins to bother her. The success that she is enjoying in her life feels a little inauthentic, and she begins to wonder if it actually is her life, or if somehow, the box is responsible for all of the good things that have happened to her.
The only thing that has really gone wrong that she can see is with her friendship with Olive. They used to be best friends, but have since lost their friendship. Olive is not very popular, and she remembers when Gwendy was not really popular, as well. They have not only drifted apart, but outright tensions have popped up. And one day, when her friend Olive jumps off the Suicide Stairs, Gwendy feels responsible, and begins to hate the box.
She reduces her usage, almost stops eating the chocolates altogether. She stows it away in her closet, hidden, she thinks, from everyone else.
Still, things go swimmingly well for her. She meets the perfect guy, and slowly but surely, they grow closer. He is her first sexual experience, and everything feels good, feels right. However, Frankie has watched and grown jealous. He has become completely obsessed with Gwendy, and before long, he literally loses his mind. He breaks into her house, and hides in the closet - where the box is. She discovers him accidentally, and for a while, her boyfriends seems like he has handed the threat. But Frankie uses the box to smash his head in, and then seems on the verge of threatening Gwendy with it, until she is able to outsmart him. She tricks him, and using the power of the box, is able to eliminate him as a threat forever.
We see many years pass after this. Gwendy, by now, is an adult. And she has learned how to store away the box in such a way that she no longer feels tempted. She rarely even ever eats the chocolates that still come from it, after all of these years, and she no longer gets the coins, by choice. She begins almost to feel like it was all a dream.
Almost.
But it was not a dream, and a meeting with Richard Farris is still inevitable. And so when he shows up to take the box away once again, as suddenly and mysteriously as he when he first gave it to her, she is not really surprised.
Yet, he is not Randall Flagg. Either that, or this is a very different side of him than we have ever seen before. He commends her for the restraint that she has shown, and tells her that her watching the box has been exemplary. He can only hope that the next person will be even close to as good as she been. He gives her explanations about all that has happened, and reassures her that she is basically not at fault for any of the things that have gone wrong, including Olive's suicide, and including the incident with Frankie.
Little by little, things keep getting better and better. Her grades are perfect, she had very realistic hopes of getting into top colleges, and it seems like her future is incredibly bright. Her family life had never been better. Every now and then, she has to deal with the harassment of Frankie Stone, but this, too, she feels she handles fairly well, under the circumstances.
But the box begins to bother her. The success that she is enjoying in her life feels a little inauthentic, and she begins to wonder if it actually is her life, or if somehow, the box is responsible for all of the good things that have happened to her.
The only thing that has really gone wrong that she can see is with her friendship with Olive. They used to be best friends, but have since lost their friendship. Olive is not very popular, and she remembers when Gwendy was not really popular, as well. They have not only drifted apart, but outright tensions have popped up. And one day, when her friend Olive jumps off the Suicide Stairs, Gwendy feels responsible, and begins to hate the box.
She reduces her usage, almost stops eating the chocolates altogether. She stows it away in her closet, hidden, she thinks, from everyone else.
Still, things go swimmingly well for her. She meets the perfect guy, and slowly but surely, they grow closer. He is her first sexual experience, and everything feels good, feels right. However, Frankie has watched and grown jealous. He has become completely obsessed with Gwendy, and before long, he literally loses his mind. He breaks into her house, and hides in the closet - where the box is. She discovers him accidentally, and for a while, her boyfriends seems like he has handed the threat. But Frankie uses the box to smash his head in, and then seems on the verge of threatening Gwendy with it, until she is able to outsmart him. She tricks him, and using the power of the box, is able to eliminate him as a threat forever.
We see many years pass after this. Gwendy, by now, is an adult. And she has learned how to store away the box in such a way that she no longer feels tempted. She rarely even ever eats the chocolates that still come from it, after all of these years, and she no longer gets the coins, by choice. She begins almost to feel like it was all a dream.
Almost.
But it was not a dream, and a meeting with Richard Farris is still inevitable. And so when he shows up to take the box away once again, as suddenly and mysteriously as he when he first gave it to her, she is not really surprised.
Yet, he is not Randall Flagg. Either that, or this is a very different side of him than we have ever seen before. He commends her for the restraint that she has shown, and tells her that her watching the box has been exemplary. He can only hope that the next person will be even close to as good as she been. He gives her explanations about all that has happened, and reassures her that she is basically not at fault for any of the things that have gone wrong, including Olive's suicide, and including the incident with Frankie.
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