A surprisingly sad and frustrating read, this wasn’t what I expected—for good and bad. Guess I should’ve paid more attention to the synopsis. I thoughA surprisingly sad and frustrating read, this wasn’t what I expected—for good and bad. Guess I should’ve paid more attention to the synopsis. I thought this would be more a story about modern life in an office job (probably the cover gave me that idea), but the focus is instead on a doomed situationship between two people who aren’t particularly likable, or brave, or smart. But they feel so real and this novel hit me in places where it really hurt. I was often undone by the sheer beauty of the prose, the way it captures so eloquently the pain and danger and euphoric highs of illicit affairs. I docked a star not because of the novel itself, but the feelings it stirred in me. I might come back and give this a 5, but for now it’s a 4. I was often frustrated while reading, I wanted these people to do things I wouldn’t do. But we are human, and we are imperfect. And life is often tragic....more
Torn between a 4 and 5, so I’ll go with 4.5 rounded up. What a beautiful little book! And what a shame I’ve owned this since 2016 but am just reading Torn between a 4 and 5, so I’ll go with 4.5 rounded up. What a beautiful little book! And what a shame I’ve owned this since 2016 but am just reading it now. Perhaps I should work through my backlog more often. :) ...more
Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the early review copy!
I’ve seen Cinema Love often described in reviews as ‘soft’ and ‘tender’ and I would aThanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the early review copy!
I’ve seen Cinema Love often described in reviews as ‘soft’ and ‘tender’ and I would agree - it feels delicate. It’s ornate crystal that could easily shatter. But it has a lot of power, hidden power, and the end result is a smart and touching look at a cinema in rural China in the ‘80s that was a cruising spot for (mostly) closeted married men. And the women they married. And the ways these women deal with their men deceiving them.
Were the deceits malicious? It can be a hard question answer.
This is a novel that deals in shades of gray.
I was reminded of last year’s Monstrilio as far as the writing style went: short and punchy and so smart, exploring the lives of characters the reader might not necessarily love but can understand. Whereas that book was horror (or, at least, horror-adjacent), Cinema Love is not so grotesque and fits best in the literary genre.
Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the review copy!
My prior Paul Auster reading experience was 4321, a tome of grand size and scope, a sprawliThanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the review copy!
My prior Paul Auster reading experience was 4321, a tome of grand size and scope, a sprawling and inviting chunk of a book. Baumgartner isn’t that. It’s short and chilly and not particularly friendly. Instead of being driven by plot (and character work!) like 4321, this is more of a vibes-only thing. Plot? We don’t really know her . . . maybe we saw her once, in a dream. Or maybe in a false memory.
And that’s what this book feels like: a dream, a memory, a rumination, an incomplete sentence. It gives what you give to it. It won’t satisfy every reader, but it satisfied me. In fact, I loved it—some of the prose required highlighting.
I have just finished You Like It Darker, a collection of short stories. Stephen King’s first since 2015. And here I am again. How has it been almost aI have just finished You Like It Darker, a collection of short stories. Stephen King’s first since 2015. And here I am again. How has it been almost a decade? I’m still fully forming my thoughts about this book as a whole. I have decided to throw out some quick thoughts on and ratings of each story. I am avoiding spoilers, of course, as I know many are still reading this or haven’t started yet.
Two Talented Bastids 5 ⭐️- Vintage King in the best way. King revisits (rewrites?) one of his most infamously reviled novels, and … the results are nothing short of stunning. A gorgeous rumination on writing, talent, and luck. Lots and lots and lots of reference to King’s other works. Marvelous opener!
The Fifth Step - 5 ⭐️ A throwback to Night Shift. To say much of anything about this would give the game away, and I’d hate to do that. What an ending.
Willie the Weirdo - 5 ⭐️ Maybe my favorite in the collection? If not my favorite, it’s close. Say, top 3. Another throwback in tone and vibe to Night Shift. Feels like King is hinting at a lot here, leaving things unsaid. He doesn’t often muddy the waters in this way.
Danny Coughlin’s Bad Dream - 2 ⭐️ A snooze, I fear. Overly long and frustrating, it’s a chore. It’s not terrible—no story in this collection is terrible—but I found myself counting pages while reading.
Finn - 3 ⭐️ Suffers from a lot of the same issues as Danny Coughlin, but thankfully this one is much shorter—and weirder. 3 stars it is. Also, has King ever set a story in Ireland before?
On Slide Inn Road - 3 ⭐️ Maybe go read Flannery O’Connor’s “A Good Man is Hard to Find” instead. But for what this is, it ain’t half bad.
Red Screen - 5 ⭐️ The shortest in the collection, this feels like another throwback to—you guessed it!—Night Shift, with an undertone of distrust in modern technologies a’la Cell. I’m finding myself comparing each of these stories to previous King works, but that isn’t a bad thing. As a collection, You Like It Darker feels like it’s in conversation with many of the themes and ideas King has been exploring for the last several decades. It’s interesting to see where he’s at in the here and now.
The Turbulence Expert - 3 ⭐️ I’d read this one before, back in 2018 or 2019, but had forgotten almost everything about it. Not hard to see why. It’s a good idea that I would’ve liked to have seen expanded further, and I felt the ending we got was a little unnecessary. A good idea that makes for a flat (but enjoyable enough) story.
Laurie - 4 ⭐️ Florida!!! I told one of my best friends, a fellow Constant Reader, before this collection released that I wanted more Florida stories from King, and with Darker I got my wish. This is maybe the most Florida-centric King book since Just After Sunset. I have a deep love for the Gulf Coast, I am a southerner to my core, and I’m always on board when King explores that area of the country. This is a sweet, slice-of-life story. Until it isn’t. Alligators—that’s all I’ll say. Ugh!
Rattlesnakes - 5 ⭐️ More Florida!!! And my favorite story here. Coming in at a hundred pages or so, this is a perfectly paced, well-written treat. Maybe one of my favorite things King has published in the last few years? The sequel to Cujo was worth the wait and the hype and I truly didn’t think it would be as good as this. It hurt me, it scared me. I won’t say anything more for risk of spoilers.
The Dreamers - 4 ⭐️ I need a little more time with this one. Maybe I need to reread it. I know I’ll come to love it, and I love it now … but I need more time with it.
The Answer Man - 5 ⭐️ If “Rattlesnakes” weren’t in this collection, The Answer Man would be my favorite. I might have shed a tear or two. King’s great at doing that to me! Thank God he didn’t finish this in the ‘70s, no way could he have pulled off a story such as this, a tender and knowing one that required an older man’s hand.
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Adding these ratings together and dividing by 12, that gives me a 4.08. So 4 stars for this collection it is. That feels fair. King has blessed us with yet another stunning collection, one that gives the reader lots to think about … and one with lots of Florida!!!...more
This book is weird as fuck and gorgeously written and will break your heart again and again and again, always before repairing it once more. I didn’t This book is weird as fuck and gorgeously written and will break your heart again and again and again, always before repairing it once more. I didn’t think Shark Heart could possibly live up to the hype, but it did, and I hope it wins all the awards. Probably my favorite novel of 2023 thus far. Can’t wait to see if it is topped. ...more
BREAKING: outspokenly liberal author Stephen King pens a novel about COVID and takes jabs at Trump’s inadequate handling of the crisis.
King has NEVERBREAKING: outspokenly liberal author Stephen King pens a novel about COVID and takes jabs at Trump’s inadequate handling of the crisis.
King has NEVER mentioned politics in his books before, and I am outraged! How dare he cover a time period (2020-2021) in which politics was everything and everywhere all at once and actually mention *gasp* Trump by name! Not to mention the vaccines and mandates!
(Seriously, the 1-star reviews on Amazon are fucking gold. Since when has politics NOT seeped into King’s fiction? It’s been there since ’Salem’s Lot, at least. I have no love or patience for those “offended moderates” who just want to escape the “real world” into … an art form that often reflects the real world? Because authors are real people living in the real world? The math ain’t mathin’.)
And fuck it, I love Holly. The character and the novel. King’s caught some crap lately for his output, especially the crime stuff, and that’s valid. I get why it isn’t for everyone. But I love it, it’s always a fun ass time. I didn’t expect this one to get as dark as it does, sitting very comfortably with one foot in the crime-mystery genre and the other in the horror genre. This book even gave me a few bad dreams, something not all (or even many) of SK’s other releases have done.
I won’t go into specifics because spoilers, but yeah, if you’ve liked Holly’s previous adventures you’ll like this too. Reading the Hodges trilogy, The Outsider, and “If It Bleeds” is necessary. Otherwise you’ll be as lost as I was when I tried reading Insomnia before the Dark Tower series. (That’s a hint at what I’m about to reread with my best friend.)
King still has it. And it’s OK to love his new releases....more
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