This is a nearly 900-page book written by Joe Hill, the son of famed horror writer Stephen king. At such a length, this is longest book yet in his ever-growing body of work.
In past readings, it was not hard to see some resemblances and obvious influences in writing styles with his father. That seemed especially true in this book. It feels like a mixture of a number of different things. Indeed, the young people we meet right at the beginning of the book do bear some resemblance to the fictional cast of the "Friends" sitcom. That much is true. Yet, this also reminded me of other things, including Stephen King. It felt a bit like a mixture almost of Firestarter mixed with the vampires who feed on sorrow and suffering and, ultimately, death in Doctor Sleep. Also, just a touch of a more recent King book, Fairy Tale.
Hill compared the six young people we meet and follow through the years in this book as being similar to the show "Friends" in certain respects, only with a horror setting. Indeed, there is a case to be made that there are some similarities, particularly when this group of six are young. That said, we watch them grow older, and they feel a lot less like "Friends" by that point in time.
However, before I get more into it, let me now do the usual warnings.
SPOILER ALERT
SPOILER ALERT
SPOILER ALERT
Okay, so by now if you are still reading this, I have to imagine that you either are familiar with this story already, or perhaps you do not mind the spoilers. Please just don't say that you were not given advanced warning.
DIS MEM BER - Rowan Billiet is the cousin of a teenaged girl. This young man is very attractive, and all of this girl's friends seem jealous of the attention which Rowan gives her. Yet, he is not nearly as charming as he seems. In fact, he is dangerous, and not in any charming sense. There is something deeply wrong with him, and she begins to suffer from it. Yet, when he suddenly disappears, she feels like she wants him back, and tries to understand why he left. The story ends in a somewhat surprising, and certainly brutal, fashion.
The Crawl Space - A woman who's husband recently passed still lives near her old house. She seems still completely taken by it, missing the happier days when her husband was still alive. Yet she suspects the new owners are a bit creeped out by her. One day, they invite her into the crawl space to gather some of the remaining stuff which belonged to her husband. Once there, the woman finds herself afraid of the dark confines and all of the small noises she hears. But worse yet, she fears the silence.
Heartbreak - This is a story of a girl named Stephanie, although she is often called Steff . She hated that nickname. She has a sister, Caitlin, who seems perfect by comparison. They are both taken by their new brother-in-law, Hunter. Hunter seems to treat Stephanie with some respect, and she is drawn to him. Yet it becomes clear that he seems, quite predictably, to be more drawn to Caitlin. They almost seem to hide from her as they go off on their own. Then Stephanie reaches them at a lake, surprising them (perhaps meaning to entertain them) with a gun. But the gun goes off, perhaps accidentally, perhaps not. Hunter is shot, and everyone's life changes. Stephanie then becomes one of those girls that everybody always felt was a little weird.
The Drowned Girl - This story takes place on a college campus. A lonely and almost anonymous, at least overlooked and misunderstood girl is having all sorts of difficulties. As those difficulties mount, she identifies more and more with a recently murdered girl, a former college student. She begins to think she sees and almost feels the ghost of this poor girl, feels herself being drawn to her. Even moves into her old room, and feels less alone and isolated there. In fact, it seems like she might just share the same fate. However, she does something right at the end which alters this fate.
The Situations - A seemingly bizarre series of writings which, at first, seem disconnected. Yet, they do wind up tying together. Nevertheless, this did feel a bit strange, and certainly is not really anything like a short story. Just a bit of writing snippets. That is not to say that it is bad, however. Just the most unusual thing in this collection of short pieces by Oates.
Great Blue Heron - A very recently widowed woman can no longer take the constant, incessant greed and borderline sexual predator conducted of her brother-in-law, or disrespectful kids whom she chases away after she catches them tossing rocks and harming birds during a walk. The woman is just trying to live in peace, and finds herself increasingly fascinated by the methodical, machine-like efficiency of the killings of a great blue heron. Her anger and impatience towards some of the outside pressures by people in her life grows until, at the end, she herself becomes a heron and kills the brother-in-law and those obnoxious kids in the same manner as the blue heron.
Welcome to the Friendly Skies - This was an amusing piece to conclude the book. Not exactly a short story, but rather a spoof announcement regarding the exaggerated dangers and inconveniences of flying the friendly skies of a made-up airline.
A decent collection of stories and writings by Joyce Carol Oates, who I am becoming familiar enough to consider myself a fan.
Highly recommended.
No comments:
Post a Comment