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Desperation by Stephen King
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Desperation

by Stephen King

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3,83932631 (3.56)99
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Viking Adult (1996), Edition: First Printing, Hardcover, 704 pages

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Showing 1-5 of 30 (next | show all)
So, I dropped the pretention and read a Stephen King novel. True, I read several of King's works...in middle school...but I thought that it was time to give him another chance. After all, King's popularity is eclipsed only by, oh, I don't know...Jesus? Well, not Jesus...but someone popular.I'll admit, the story was engaging. King has a way with propelling his story-lines over hundreds of pages without taking a breath. Or so it would seem. Unfortunately, the mediocrity of his prose is, at best, distracting and at worst infuriating. How many internal monologues can one author insert haphazardly into a single paragraph? I don't know, but King sure does: twenty-seven. Seriously though, King's writing suffers from a lack of ingenuity. Metaphors are ham-fisted and cliched, character development is superficial at best, and the dialogue is trite and unconvincing. The upshot to King's fast-paced, yet uninspired, novel? It only took a few hours to be finish. ( )
1 vote lanewilkinson | Dec 4, 2009 |
One of his best! I loved it, and felt emotionally attached to the characters, as I do in all of King's books! AWESOME ( )
  spaz2011 | Nov 21, 2009 |
Once again Stephen King creates a frighteningly, twisted landscape in a small town. Only this time he decides to use Nevada as the backdrop.

I enjoyed how King captured that sense of fear we all get when stopped by a cop in an unfamiliar place. We aren't sure what is going on and then our worst fears come true. He taps into an almost universal fear among travelers - what happens when we fall off the grid during our travels. Who will help us? Who will know?

The book was an enjoyable read - sometimes it was a bit over the top. I did enjoy the historical background on the primary "bad guy". I also liked the twist connection between the writer and the boy.

It wasn't one of his best book but it was a good read. ( )
  drlake66 | Nov 17, 2009 |
Great story! The sister novel, The Regulators, isn't that good. Read this novel by itself, and you will love King. ( )
  Anagarika | Oct 30, 2009 |
Creepy and engaging, but suspiciously like IT. ( )
  gwentastic | Oct 28, 2009 |
Showing 1-5 of 30 (next | show all)
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Awards and honors
Epigraph
The landscape of his poetry was still the desert . . . Salman Rushdie, The Satanic Verse
"The landscape of his poetry was still the desert..." Salman Rushdie, The Satanic Verses
Dedication
For Carter Withey
For Carter Whithey
First words
"Oh! Oh, Jesus! Gross!"
Quotations
Yes, that was pretty much the bottom line, wasn't it? And if that meant following orders, so be it. This little interlude, which had started off being funny in a nice way, had suddenly gotten funny in a way that wasn't so nice...
Last words
(Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)
Disambiguation notice
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Wikipedia in English (1)

Desperation

Book description

Amazon.com Amazon.com Audio Review (ISBN 0451188462, Paperback)

Kathy Bates, the award-winning actress who has starred in two film adaptations of King's work (Dolores Claiborne, Misery) showcases her storytelling talent in the audio version of Desperation. In nine chilling hours of narration, Bates brings to life the story of two doomed travelers headed down Highway 50, a.k.a. the loneliest highway in America, in the brutal Nevada desert. Her even, full-bodied voice has the remarkable ability to sound monotone, sinister, and inviting all at once--a marvelous, engaging match to King's prose. (Running time: nine hours, six cassettes)

(retrieved from Amazon Fri, 24 Apr 2009 07:58:16 -0400)

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