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Ladies and gentlemen, attention, please!
Come in closed where everyone can see!
I got a tale to tell, it isn't gonna cost a dime!
(And if you believe that,
we're gonna get along just fine.)
-Steve Earle
"Snake Oil"  I have heard of many going astray even in the the village streets, when the darkness was so thick you could cut it with a knife, as the saying is . . .
-Henry David Thoreau, Walden | |
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This is for Chris Lavin,
Who doesn't have all the answers-
Just the ones that matter. | |
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Sure you have. | |
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▾Common Knowledge (short form) | Canonical title | Needful Things | | Original publication date | 1991 | | People/Characters | Leland Gaunt, Brian Rusk, Danforth "Buster" Keeton, Alan Pangborn, Polly Chalmers, Nettie Cobb (show all 33), Hugh Priest, Myra Evans, Cora Rusk, Sally Ratcliffe, Sonny Jackett, Slopey Dodd, Lucille Dunham, Myrtle Keeton, Everett Frankel, Ricky Bissonette, Babs Miller, Ace Merrill, Norris Ridgewick, Wilma Jerzyck, Lester Pratt, Sheila Brigham, Nettie Cobb, John LaPointe, William Tupper, Henry Beaufort, Eddie Warburton, Melissa Clutterbuck, Lenore Potter, Stephanie Bonsaint, Frank Jewett, George T. Nelson, Norris Ridgewick | | Important places | Castle Rock, Maine, USA (fictional), Junction City, Iowa, USA | | Awards and honors | Bram Stoker Award Nominee (Novel, 1991), New York Times bestseller (Fiction, 1991) | | Epigraph | Ladies and gentlemen, attention, please!
Come in closed where everyone can see!
I got a tale to tell, it isn't gonna cost a dime!
(And if you believe that,
we're gonna get along just fine.)
-Steve Earle
"Sna... (show all)ke Oil", I have heard of many going astray even in the the village streets, when the darkness was so thick you could cut it with a knife, as the saying is . . .
-Henry David Thoreau, Walden | | Dedication | This is for Chris Lavin,
Who doesn't have all the answers-
Just the ones that matter. | | First words | Sure you have. | | Last words | (Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)Anything at all. |
▾LibraryThing members' description ▾Book descriptions Amazon.com Product Description (ISBN 0451172817, Paperback)
A new store has opened in the town of Castle Rock, Maine. It has whatever your heart desires...if you're willing to pay the price. In this chilling novel by one of the most potent imaginations of our time, evil is on a shopping spree and out to scare you witless. (retrieved from Amazon Fri, 24 Apr 2009 07:57:54 -0400) ▾Open Shelves Classification The first test round has been closed. Visit the Open Shelves Classification group for details. |
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That is the moral of the story along with its warning: the consequences of pride. At first, it seems like a tale of greed and possession, but I have to heed that is, much like the storefront of Needful Things, a mere façade. The greed of keeping in tow what on possesses is the initial catalyst for the mayhem that ensues within the little town of Castle Rock, but it is the pride of defending one's self against those who offend that sends people to their deaths within this allegory.
Here is a story that dictates what King does best: he casts a group of characters as large as a fisherman's net and includes the background to each of them, allowing us some depth within their lives that has the reader understand perfectly well why they act in the manner that they do. In many ways, the reader ends up relating very well with the denizens of Castle Rock, which, in turn, makes them the real monsters rather than Mr. Gaunt's (a reference to a being within the works of H. P. Lovecraft) not-so subtle persona.
This is a reread for me, but a reread that is about 15 years apart. I read this during my summer job that took place between my 8th grade exeunt and my high school entrance. Before Needful Things, I had read other books by King. At the time, I did not enjoy Needful Things all that much. I think my prior experience with King involved Pet Cemetery and The Shining, both books I really enjoyed. The big cast was something I was not used to and became very confusing in my young age. I am glad I choose to do the reread, because I see the novel's strengths, references, and allegory now. Before, it was just a tale of revenge gone awry. Needful things is much more than that. It is a reflection back of our own monsters; and what those monsters would do to keep the things we think we need most. (