The Langoliers

I was 11 and carting round Four Past Midnight in my blazer pocket ended up popping the stitching. Since then, I must have read it another twenty times.

In my reviews I try to be vaguely analytical about the merits of the book, but with this one I just can't - the nostalgic sense of the build and atmosphere, contrast of quite hero and obvious hero (Engle and Hopewell), the pressing concern versus the existential concern (Toomey and the Langoliers) and every other character contrived as a perfect plot device (blind girl with preternatural vision, love interest, insightful wise old author); they are all unuanced writing that I love none-the-less.

“That was when Brian felt something—something like a bolt—starting to give way deep inside his mind. That was when he felt his entire structure of organized thought begin to slide slowly toward some dark abyss.”

The four past midnight collection starts off with a bang! Or a rip I should say. A rip in the time space continuum. This novella is one of Stephens longest novellas, page count wise. It sort of drags in the middle but it sets up the characters very well. Would have really enjoyed this as a full fledged novel. This is very weird Stephen King, but for me, the weirder the better. The movie adaption is very cheesy, as are the majority of his movies of the time. The special effects are shockingly terrible but it was nice to show more see this novella brought to life. Heavy Dark Tower connections due to my opinion that the rips in time are thinnies (in my opinion).

The Langoliers will always be one of my favorite all time novellas. Not just a top King Novella. It has a very neat take on time travel. It will keep you guessing until the very end.

My biggest complaint is it slows down in the middle but I felt this way because of the character Dinah. She is even more annoying in the mini-series. Its a King Novella so of course there is a writer, Bob Jenkins. He was a very big highlight for me in this Novella. I give it all the stars! show less

Willem Defoe did a very good job narrating this story creeping horror and heroism. The Langoliers is a good story, great suspenseful storyline, amazing characters. It's not really horror but more like science fiction. He has an interesting take on time travel. Interesting story about what might exist just outside our own dimension, in the place where time is born or dies.

Written in 1990, the book may be dated because King uses so much ephemera that sets his writings in a specific time. It is a book about a red eye flight from LA to Boston. When the passengers wake up, they find several passengers are gone. The few that remain fly on. The passengers include a blind girl, a mystery writer, a violinist, a teacher, a Brit, a junk bond manager among others. It involves the supernatural, time travel, and at least one passenger on the edge of psychosis. Bram Stoker Award Nominee (Superior Achievement in Long Fiction, 1990) and Bram Stoker Award Nominee (Best Novellette, 1991)

Wow this took me an eternity to read. I liked the concept but I really didn't like the story.

Willem Defoe did a very good job narrating this story. His "girl" voice ain't great, but what can he do? He's not a girl, right? Either way, I love the story, and I really enjoyed his reading thereof. I'll listen again.

Another well written book by one of my favorite authors. Great characters, some I liked while others not so much. Good solid 4 rating.