Joyland by Stephen King

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I reviewed another Stephen King book just a couple of days ago. That was "The Wind Through the Keyhole". And I mentioned that, perhaps for the first time, I really struggled to finish a fictional book by Stephen King. That is not to say that it was a bad book, or had no good points. Not by any stretch. Only that it did not quite grab me like almost all of his other works grab me. It happens.

But that said, seeing Stephen King at the Bushnell this past Thursday (you can see the review I wrote about that event, which I posted on Friday, July 18, 2013) put me in the mood to read more of his works. He is, after all, among my very favorite authors. So, I thought, why not read the latest book, and the one that he was more or less promoting for that event?

So, I started Joyland. And it should be revealing to any reader of this blog at this point that this book did what the previous one did not. This one had me hooked. It is 283 pages, and I read it in five days. There were points where I could not put the book down. Points where, on one of the rare nights off, I flirted with insomnia in order to read more of it (I didn't, though, ultimately simply going back to sleep). And, as the end came, I wanted it to slow down, not to come to an end. As with any book that you really enjoy, I was reluctant for this one to end.

The thing about Stephen King, and I may have said this before, is that the way that he writes is so absorbing. Yes, he is known as a writer of horror, and on some level, I guess this is true. But his true genius is in breathing life into the characters, and this he does by not only describing them in every day, real life situations, and doing so very convincingly, but also doing so in a very entertaining and reader friendly manner. If reading takes some work, you hardly feel like you are working at all. I might have said this before, but it still rings true: I almost feel like I am on a vacation from myself while reading his works. Whatever the problems of the moment are more or less forgotten, at least for those times while I am reading the book. This may sound corny or cliche, but as a constant reader, I almost feel like I become one with the book, in a manner of speaking. He not only makes the world of his fiction believable, but he makes you want to live in that world, to boot.

I can hardly be the only one, for that matter, because this is a man that has sold millions upon millions of books. He is a highly prolific writer, having written over fifty books, many of them quite thick. I have not read literally all of them, although there are now very few that I have not read. It is a testament to his writing ability that he remains so phenomenally popular.

Pick this book up, and you will probably find out why. It is very readable, and has a sweet quality to it, through and through. That is kind of rare for Stephen King, because his works, infamously, often delve into dark matters. He frequently writes about death, about insanity, about violence, about abuse, about all sorts of things that are generally the polar opposite of sweet.

Of course, here I should mention that Joyland has a bit of that dark stuff, too. There is some violence, and there is death. There are points where this novel is incredibly sad, too. Yet, somehow or other, this book remains very positive and, yes, beautiful, throughout. It was an absolute pleasure to read.

King mentioned this book at the Bushnell the other night. I remember him saying that he had a vision of two people on a beach, and one of them was a troubled kid in a wheel chair. He kept having this vision, and ultimately, worked with it. The result was Joyland.

This book is about a young man, a college student, who goes to the North Carolina coast for a summer job. At the time that he takes this job, he is the middle of having his heart broken by a girl, Wendy. He lives mostly in solitude, and goes through a lot of pain on his own. But slowly and surely, with some new friends that he had gotten, he begins to recover. The simmer begins to feel special, and he actually begins to recover from the crushing depression of his first truly broken heart.

For some reason, as the end of the summer approaches, he decides to stay on, rather than return to college. He cannot explain it, but he feels that he needs to do something there. Joyland has been good for him and to him, but it is more than this. There had been a murder years before at the Haunted House at the theme park, and he somehow feels some kind of obligation, or a sense of duty, towards this, although he is not entirely sure what that is.

Ultimately, I cannot go much further into the book without revealing too much, but i can say that he meets a little boy in a wheelchair. And he meets the boy's mother, an attractive "older woman" in her early thirties. Eventually, they all become good friends.

The boy had a condition, and not only is he relegated to the wheelchair, but he is a terminal case. It is not a question of if, but when.

Yet, there is something else about the boy, as well. He has a gift, you see. He can hear things in other people's minds. Things that they might be thinking, but did not actually say. Also, he has the ability to see ghosts, to be in touch with what we might call the supernatural world. Finally, the boy possesses a sweet wisdom that inspires.

Joyland is a must read for any Stephen king fan, of course. That goes without saying (and yes, I have said it - ha-ha!). But it is also a great read for pretty much anyone else, too! It is not nearly so dark as many of his other works, which tends to scare away some people. I have met people who will not open a book of Stephen King's, due to his dark reputation. One of them kept calling him a "bad man", based solely on the reputation that his writing on horror has garnered.

But Joyland is different. This one has a bit of the same quality that some of King's more highly acclaimed and beloved works have. Works like "The Shawshank Redemption", "The Body" (Which might be better known to the uninitiated as the movie "Stand By Me"), or "The Green Mile", or "Hearts in Atlantis". There are some parts that perhaps give you some small chills, and there are other points where you might be a bit afraid, but no more than an average suspense, action or thrill kind of book will.

Stephen King has written a book that should prove accommodating to a wide audience. And, as always, he has done so brilliantly, with a book that I picked up but could hardly put down, and was reluctant to put down when I came to the end.  If you are not a Stephen King fan, I would still strongly recommend this one, because it is special. Who knows? Maybe it might even help you to join the ranks of those who number among his fans. But if not, this is a pleasure to read, and since this is still summer, this is perfect beach reading! Take a look at this book, read a little bit, and see if you like it. And don't be surprised if you find yourself suddenly quite taken by it, and getting into it. Just don't say I didn't warn you. This is the magic of Stephen King's writing at it's best!