April's SK Flavor of the Month - The Dead Zone

Okay guys. Tomorrow is the first.

The Dead Zone is the book for April. I'm looking forward to these next couple of months, because I have never read the books from this period.

I've seen the David Cronenberg movie of The Dead Zone and wonder if I'm going to be picturing Christopher Walken as John Smith...

More than halfway through already - withdrawal symptoms set in when I couldn't finish The Stand.

Won't say too much yet but I'm enjoying it very much. Never read it before but thought the film was great.

I'm still plugging away at The Stand but I will be picking up The Dead Zone from the library. Maybe tomorrow! I can't remember reading The Dead Zone but I think I did. Christopher Walkin was great in the movie. He is a wonderful actor!

Hello, just joined the group. Have every king book he wrote love him! The Stand is my fav. I read it at least once a year. TV movie did not do it justice.

Welcome Curley!

Hope you'll read a monthly King book along with the rest of us nuts.

Will start this book in the next few days. I'm a huge King fan and I hope I can join you guys on most of these monthly reads.

Unfortunately we don't have this book at home and my library doesn't seem to have it either.. Will ask my mom about it later, but I think I'll have to skip this one at the moment, because I don't have any money to buy it either.

Ooh. Dead Zone. Memories of my first reading are so strong. I was 15 or so and read most of it while floating on an inner tube in the pool in the backyard. It's one of my favorite Kings. Like Firestarter it follows a more thriller blueprint than the rest of his work. I'll crack it soon.

OK so April we read The Dead Zone and have it done by May? Some one tell me how you guys do this.

just take a look at past threads and you'll get the gist.

thanks I'll do that

Anyone reading it yet?

Finished it and here are some thoughts (I'll try to be as spoiler-free as possible):

- Haven't read this before, only other early book I haven't read yet is The Shining.

- This came across to me like SK's first "grown up" book. Slower paced, thoughtful, less in-your-face.

- Felt he wasn't done with the themes of destiny and faith he covered in The Stand (and here I think he nailed what he was trying to say re: man's questioning nature and attempts to find a meaning to life in the face of tragic, inexplicable events over which he has no control - thoughts, jseger?).

- Plodding in places (wheel of fortune and fire in bar parts weren't as dramatic as they could have been), but the crime bit in the middle was gripping. I love crime books and I'd love to see King tackle straight crime (with no supernatural elements), even true crime.

- Again, his characterization in John Smith was amazing and what lifted this book.

- "Notes From the Dead Zone" at the end wasn't necessary and seemed like the tying up of loose ends for morons.

- Enjoyed the Carrie reference, and another which escapes me now (mind's gone blank and notes have gone AWOL). Edit - the Marsten and Pillsbury reference (notes still AWOL, brain now working).

Will say more when others have read it, as I don't want to ruin it for anyone.

I just finished it today.

I really enjoyed it considering I hadn't heard anything about it and didn't know what to expect going in.

It was a little slow in the beginning but not too bad.

I thought he did a good job making it possible for the reader to buy into the super-natural bits. I imagine that's the hardest part of including those aspects in a story and sometimes he doesn't always pull it off, but he certainly did here...at least for me.

I loved all the characters...well almost. For some reason I didn't really like Sarah all that much. She was just too much of an emotional wreck throughout the entire book.

I liked the letters from the "Notes from the Dead Zone" section but the rest of it was very much a "let's just make sure everyone got it" part like you said and really wasn't necessary.

I really enjoyed it.

Well I finished it on 1 April and it's still staying with me, always a good thing in a book. The more I dwell on it, the more the slowness in parts suits the bleakness of John Smith's life after the accident. It is such a sad book, very depressing but perfectly captures the loss of those years and what his life could have been. I wouldn't say it's a weepy, but you really ache for the man.

I just picked it up today. I'm intrigued about this book. It is rarely mentioned when King readers talk about their favorites or the most hated. It seems like it is overlooked. It is one of the few that I don't think that I have read. I guess I will find out soon.

Man, I haven't even started it yet! (I'm hoping to later tonight or tomorrow though.)

I have to finish this PD James book and then I'll hit it. It's one of my favorites, pool non-withstanding.

I started today! I've read the prologue and up to where John and his girl (blanking on her name) were smooching at the top of the Ferris Wheel.

Here is an off topic coincedence. While I was reading jseger's post, I glanced at the TV and there was a couple riding a ferris wheel, smooching.

Ohhhhhhh! Maybe I got some sort of premonition from... The Dead Zone!

Oh man, I made the mistake of reading the Wheel of Fortune section while I was on my break! I had to quit right as John bet $54 on number nineteen. Jeeze, King can write. I was enveloped in that and was angry that my break was over.

Not a lot has happened so far, but Stephen King has me turning the pages anyway. I almost wish I hadn’t already seen the very good movie version of The Dead Zone. I wonder what it would be like to read the book with no idea where it was heading.

I just finished the dog stomping scene. The dog licking his shoe then going back to the business of dying still gets me.

#23 - Oh man, I hated that scene. Well, hated isn't the right word. But man, I just can't stand cruelty to animals. It really gets under my skin.

I've read up to John's car crash. Did you catch that his girlfriend (why does her name keep slipping my mind?) lived on Flagg street?

Alice, yup I caught that too.

I still haven't started this one. I will start this weekend.

>24 jseger9000::
Forgot about that one (the Flagg reference).

Done the latest PD James (excellent...better than The Lighthouse) and so will start TDZ today. It will be like visiting an old friend. And a lot of it takes place in my home state, so there's always that funny level of fictional intimacy.

Now I'm a little more than 1/2 way through. Part II. Frank Dodd just offed himself and the cards and letters just keep coming. John's one pupil just had a breakthrough and they've hit the pool.

I forgot how many sniping references there are to the local newspapers in NH. Bitter much, Steve? It's sort of funny to read about real places like Durham and ManchVegas (Manchester) alongside Ridgeway which is completely fictional. It is also dated to the point that folks younger than say, 35, will be a bit lost among the flotsam and jetsam of the 70s.

The overall tone is roller-coastery though manageable and I think that those who "hate" King would be hard put to say he's a hack after reading this. The moments with the criminal element are as coldly disturbing as the barn scene with Sarah and John are heartwarming.

I'm a bit behind Bookmarque. Johnny just told Sarah where to find her ring.

I probably should have finished the book this weekend, or at least a chunk of it, but we went to a concert (Morrissey was in Houston!) and then there was Easter…

Anyway, at least now I know why the book is called The Dead Zone. I don’t remember it being explained in the movie.

and I think that those who "hate" King would be hard put to say he's a hack after reading this

I agree. The book is slower paced and more thoughtful than his previous books.

Reading about Johnny’s recovery shows me why Stephen King is so highly regarded by me. He puts in enough detail to show that he has done his research and knows what he is talking about. He doesn’t bog down in useless trivia, but there is enough detail of medical procedure given to give the book a sense of verisimilitude that is often missing from horror stories.

Of course his characterization is top-notch, but he's been good at that since 'Salem's Lot.

I just read the dog beating section. Yuck!

King is a master of description. When I read his books I can see the movie (so to speak) playing in my head.

Johnny just had a run-in with Richard Dees. That was pretty funny. I found myself wondering if he kicked him with his good leg or his bad one.

I notice that The Dead Zone seems to be the first novel where SK starts building his universe. Connecting his works I guess. Carrie, 'Salem's Lot, The Shining and The Stand all stand sort of solo. But in The Dead Zone, there’s been offhand mention of Jerusalem’s Lot, Flagg Street, Richard Dees has shown up and of course we paid our first visit to Castle Rock. I know someone mentioned a reference to Carrie (though I haven’t read that far myself).

What do you mean by "Richard Dees shows up", and what has that to do with the SK universe?

The scene with him was really funny, a bit of light relief from John Smith's unrelenting misery. Really enjoyed it and was almost cheering him on.

What do you mean by "Richard Dees shows up", and what has that to do with the SK universe?

Richard Dees and/or The Inside View has been in other SK stories, most notably The Night Flier (Miguel Ferrer did a really good job as Richard Dees in the movie of The Night Flier.

Thanks for that, I didn't remember him from any of the SK books I've read before (I haven't read a lot of his later stuff).

Okay, Johnny's just fainted at a Stillson rally. I'm hoping to finish the book this weekend.

But something has been nagging at me: What did the lightning rod seller have to do with this book?

I've read the bulk of the book on breaks at work, so maybe I haven't been paying enough attention, but I don't remember the seller or the barman turning up again (unless they do near the end?). Mostly it just seemed like a quote from Something Wicked This Way Comes, but maybe I missed something?

You'll see the significance of the lightning rod seller at the end. I finished it a couple days ago. No review yet. Digesting and building my new workbench!!!

Cool. I was wondering what that was all about. It seemed very un-Stephen King-y to leave a dangling plot point like that.

Speaking of un-Stephen King-y, one thing that seems a little off here is the whole structure of the novel. To me it seems really weird. It isn't the sort of linear, straight forward thriller I'm used to. In this one a guy wakes up with enhanced psychic powers and then random stuff happens.

I mean, the whole Castle Rock section of the book was pretty interesting and all, but really it could have been cut and the book probably wouldn't have felt vastly different, you know?

In the beginning we follow Johnny and we follow Stillson and then there's a series of murders in Castle Rock that takes up the middle of the book and goes away again. Then we follow Johnny and Stillson again.

I don't necessarily mean that as a criticism, but this book does feel sort of odd to me. I think I can see why it isn't mentioned as often as The Shining or The Stand.

Oh yeah, so Johnny has started to obsess over Stillson and I think I know what the blue thing with yellow tiger stripes is. I'm excited to see if I'm right. I remember when I was younger and reading his books, I rarely ever got ahead of Stephen King. When he would be purposely vague about something it could be maddening to me as I was never able to guess before it was revealed.

I put the haphazard and random plot structure down to mimicking the way things happen in the universe. Why Johnny? Why twice? It's unexplainable. It's a good device (assuming it is one) to put the reader in as uncomfortable a place as possible to create empathy with the main character.

He is getting ready for his surgeries on his legs after waking up. I thought I would be further along but I got sidetracked by another book I was reading.

>36 jseger9000::
I found myself wondering about the lightning-rod salesman as the book went on. Did get a feel that it was going to have something to do with Johnny eventually, and when it does it adds to the whole fate/"what if?"/missed opportunities issue that the book tackles.

>37 Bookmarque::
How do you digest a workbench?

I have to hit the hay, but I wanted to say that my guess from #39 was wrong.

I've finished Part Two (The Laughing Tiger) and the story seems pretty well wrapped up. I'm going to polish off Notes From the Dead Zone tonight (I hope. It's midnight!), but I'm getting the feeling that section will be sort of like the psychologist section at the end of Psycho... an unneeded explanation tacked on at the end.

I'm almost done with Part Two. I feel like the serial killer section was put in to convince (for lack of a better word) the reader of his 'power' or to add some sensationalism to a, while interesting, mundane storyline. Don't get me wrong. It's interesting but John hurts, John struggles, John overcomes, John is depressed, John is stalked (by the desperate people), John is confused, John, John, John. I think it mixes up the book some.

I have no idea about the blue and yellow thing. A local sports team's colors are yellow and blue and I just keep visualizing their mascot. (a bulldog)

I finished the book last night.

Perhaps slight spoilers, nothing major
I actually liked Notes From the Dead Zone. I do think it could have maybe been cut, but it was nice for the characters to have that closure.

What's funny is that what probably should have been cut were the notes themselves. The testimony was important as it brought up the tumor and as I said the closure for Herb and Sarah was nice, but I think a scene of them reading the notes would have been better than reading the notes myself.

Also, now that I've finished it, I don't think the lightning rod seller was necessary in any way. It never really tied back in in any meaningful way.

Sorry to sound so down on the book. It's just that as I read it I felt like I was reading a novella that had been uncomfortably expanded into a novel.

Did anyone else get that feeling?
End of spoilers

I finished last evening. I liked it overall but it wasn't one of my favorites.

MINOR SPOILERS------------------------------------------------------------I liked the Notes From the Dead Zone. I liked the testimony and letters better than if it was a scene. It added character, IMO.

I think the lightning rod seller solidified the events leading up to the fire at Cathy's, but it wasn't necessary.

The serial killer segment was needed to cement in John's mind his ability to change the things he sees. Without it the only major thing that happened with John's abilities was the fire and it seems that King wanted to give more concrete examples so John could better make such a drastic decision.

I agree with the stretched out novella feel. I like King's attention to details and I think his mastery of that showed in this book a lot.

ok, the most fun thing about rereading these books are the little cameos he tosses in from other books. John Smith has been buried in the graveyard with a whole family of Marstens, the Marsten house from Salem's lot. I also noticed the song "Stand by your man" gets played a lot in his books as well.

I think the lightning rod seller solidified the events leading up to the fire at Cathy's, but it wasn't necessary.

Maybe it would have worked better if there weren't hundreds of pages in between. Maybe if the lightning rod seller were fifty or so pages before and then Johnny shows up claiming that his restaurant was going to burn down because it will be hit by a bolt of lightning.

#37 - No review yet.

Very good review Bookmarque! I just posted my own review and had to put off reading yours for fear of subconciously swiping from it.

Hey thanks jseger9k. It took me a bit to get my thoughts organized, but then it just put itself together.

I've been giving the stretched novella idea time to percolate and I tend to agree, but put it down to an inexperienced writer experimenting with style and abstruse elements. It's like he had this great idea of foreshadowing with the lightning rod guy, but then sort of forgot about it and then worked it in awkwardly when he remembered it.

Agreed about the serial killer in Castle Rock being a solidifier for Johnny. Up until then, we don't have anything truly momentous for him. None of his visions gave him something to do; a choice, a way to get involved. Bannerman brings the situation to him and he can't avoid it or be removed from it. So he acts. And it makes him feel good. He and his gift finally has a purpose. It builds the confidence he needs to act again.

Agreed about the serial killer in Castle Rock being a solidifier for Johnny.... Bannerman brings the situation to him and he can't avoid it or be removed from it. So he acts... He and his gift finally has a purpose.

I guess so. But immediately after Castle Rock he goes back into the 'I don't want to be a freak, so I'm gonna hide and cover it up' shell that he was in before Castle Rock.

I don't remember him meditating on the purpose of his gift until after the fire at Charlies. That's when he realizes that he can change things. That's when he decided he'd better do something about that candidate. That's when his mothers words come back to him.

Imagine cutting all the Castle Rock stuff. So after his run-in with Dees, he can't get a job as a teacher (because of the hoopla surrounding the press conference at the hospital instead of the hoopla surrounding his investigation), is a tutor for Chuck, saves some of the class from the Charlies fire... we'd be in the same place, only with a more focused book I think.

As I was reading it, I got the feeling that he had the whole Smith/Stillson dynamic all planned out and as he was working his way through it he thought 'Crap! My book is only two-hundred pages! I've got it! A murder investigation!'

It's not that the Castle Rock section is bad. It's not at all. But all of a sudden we have a whole new cast and crew and location that then disappears right afterwards. Kind of like when you watch a long running sitcom and they have that episode that was obviously a pilot for another series.

Maybe it would have been better if he grew up in Castle Rock or maybe if he decided to go after Stillson in Castle Rock or something. Then there would be more connection.

BTW: I wish all of our 'Flavor of the Month' threads had conversations like this! This is what is cool about a bunch of people reading the same book at the same time.

I wish all the folks reading along would jump in to defend me or tell me I'm full of beans or come up with some other observation entirely.

You're right that it could be cut, but I think the difference between Castle Rock and Cathy's fire is John's direct interference. It might be an indulgence, but I like it. If it were cut, how else could we flesh out the story to novel length. It might have been buried for decades if it hadn't been and I don't think the Castle Rock storyline detracts enough for that.

And of course he wavers & has bouts of self-doubt...wouldn't you? I think it adds to his humanity and makes him less of a super-hero type figure.

It might be an indulgence, but I like it. If it were cut, how else could we flesh out the story to novel length.

That's true. And hey, it introduced Castle Rock. That justifies the inclusion right there.

I might have come off as hating that section because I've talked about it so much. I don't mean that. Just, as I read the book it kind of pulled me out of the story and made me start thinking 'What's this doing here?' I've never had that with a Stephen King book before because he is a much better novelist than that.

I guess that's the point of revisiting all these early works. Seeing Stephen King before he was Stephen King - the King of Horror.

I think everyone makes valid points. My biggest gist of the whole book is what if you could go back in time. I think he took that premise and built the book around what if you could go back and kill Hitler, would you?

I agree with Bookmarque. That section and it's results add to John's humanity.

I think that the conversation surrounding this book is great. I have read all of our group reads so far, (Still working on The Stand) but I am a chronic lurker. I enjoy reading the views and opinions of everyone. Sometimes I don't think that I have anything to add that hasn't already been said so I lurk. Keep up the good work.

>52 jseger9000::
The discussion has been great. Hopefully it grows with each book we cover.

I didn't have a problem with the murder section. The real horror of this book, for me, is how bad John Smith's luck was - just as he'd adjusted to one lot of bad news, life threw something else at him. Nothing in this book was inconsistent with that. Each event shaped him and narrowed his options until he felt he had only one decision to make regarding Stilson.

Where the problem lies, I think, is that for the most part, SK likes to (over)explain things, especially thought processes and motives, but he didn't do it too much with the murder. John Smith had been ignoring all sorts of requests for help before he was approached about it; another murder took place before he agreed to help with that investigation; during his time in Castle Rock, he comes face-to-face with someone who knew who the murderer was, but did nothing. This raises all sorts of issues, especially for a very moral, good man like John Smith, but there wasn't any conversations, inner dialogue, etc, to suggest he was beating himself up about it. In a lot of this book, the reader is left to get on with it, except for certain places (most notably, Notes From The Dead Zone). I think it's a more grown-up book for it, although it would have been a lot better if SK had been more consistent. You either leave the reader to fill in the gaps, or you don't, if you see what I mean.

Going back to the theme of unrelenting bad luck - if The Stand was his early-Old-Testament inspired book, The Dead Zone has got to be his Book of Job. He doesn't seem to have the Bible out of his system at this point.

I may be too emotionally detached or something, but I just don't see a large connection between Johnny Smith and Job.

I mean, aside from the coma and losing Sarah (which is kind of one single thing), I just didn't see him having such unrelenting bad luck.

He had his ups and downs through the book, but I do think that he would have been better off and happier if he would have just accepted his gift. It seemed like a lot of his trouble stemmed from him not accepting what he could do.

I was wondering why he didn't attempt to work with the police more*. There was an area where he could have used his talents in a good and legitimate way.

*Which is part of what I mean when I say that the Castle Rock section seemed jammed in. Once he left that town you didn't really hear more about it. It seemed like there weren't lasting effects on his life from something that for most people would be a life-changing experience.

I didn't get Job = John either, but whatever. We all get different things out of a book.

And jseger9k, that's what the TV series is for! : D

Speaking of the TV series, did anyone ever watch it? I admit, I skipped it because aside from Monk, I don't think that the USA network has much quality.

But I have heard good things about it...

Nope, never watched it. Movie either, despite Walken's presence. Against my rules.

Me, either. I did like the movie, not the best but still good. The book is always better.

>58 jseger9000::
Well, it seemed to be all bad luck for John Smith. I suppose some people could have seen his gift as an opportunity, but he didn't want it, and wanted his old life back.

>59 Bookmarque::
If you mean, did God and the Devil get together and have a conversation, then no. But I was thinking more of the concept of taking a good man, giving him one hell of a time that doesn't let up, and seeing if he still has faith - in God, in people, in life, in being responsible and good despite all the crap.

>62 cal8769::
Enjoyed the movie, but then I haven't seen anything yet by David Cronenberg that I didn't enjoy on some level.

but then I haven't seen anything yet by David Cronenberg that I didn't enjoy on some level.

I agree there. One movie of his that I just never 'got' but watch now and again just for the sheer creativity of the whole mess is Videodrome. If you know what in the world was going on there, please fill me in. (Okay, just checked out the preview Netflix has up. That is just as weird and creepily arty as the movie itself.)

It's been a long while since I saw his take on The Dead Zone. From what I remember, it was pretty different from the movie.

Oh! I need to move Eastern Promises up in my queue!

Eastern Promises was pretty damned good so I can't argue nudging it to the top.

Really enjoying reading the posts even though I'm only about halfway through the book. I've read it before though so I'm not too lost. I just wanted to jump in and say that I've watched some of the TV series and you're right Bookmarque, in the show Johnny's mainly helping the police solve crimes. There are a lot of liberties taken with the story of course, but if I remember correctly the pilot pretty much covers the Castle Rock murder and the Stillson storyline figures in as an overall arc for the show. Anyway, I don't have much to comment on for the book yet but I can (somewhat) recommend the TV series!