MISERY // Excuse Me While I Hide

 

Rating: Five Stars—ajklsdflk (when words fail to describe how wonderful a book is)

MISERY is my first Stephen King book, and I came into it with a little trepidation, because I wasn’t sure what to expect. (Fun fact: I used to live about two hours away from where Stephen King lives in Bangor, Maine, and I’ve been to Bangor multiple times. To my knowledge, I never ran into him though, so that’s depressing. My new claim to fame, now that I’ve moved, is that I live approximately forty-five minutes away from Maggie Stiefvater.) 

The Plot. When Paul Sheldon’s legs are shattered in a terrible car accident, Annie Wilkes rescues him and gives him medical care. Unfortunately, Annie is Paul’s number one fan, and she is furious when she learns that Paul kills off her favorite character, Misery Chastain, in his latest novel. Soon Paul realizes he has only two options—write a new book bringing Misery back to life, or die horribly at the hands of the increasingly psychotic Annie. 

The Writing. Having never read any of Stephen King’s work before, I wasn’t sure exactly what his drawing power was, but now I understand why so many people love his books. From the tangible details to the well-rounded characters, his writing is hypnosis. Through some strange writing magic, he manages to create just the right balance of tension, suspense, and reality. In fact, I think the scariest thing about this story is the feeling that it could actually happen outside of fiction, or rather, that it has already happened. 

The Setting. I’m listing the setting before the human characters, because the setting is a character in and of itself. I felt like I too was trapped in Annie’s house, living through the horrors alongside Paul Sheldon. And I don’t typically get absorbed in a book’s setting quite like that. Normally I can get a good idea of the layout of a fictional world, but in this case, I could see all the rooms, the halls, the locked doors and the furniture, as well as all the surrounding landscape. I felt the horror of the place. Again, in keeping with how real the plot is, I almost felt like I could grab a map, hop in my car, and drive to visit Annie’s house to see for myself how it looks. 

Paul Sheldon. While I wouldn’t say that Paul is my favorite main character of ever, or that he would be a person I’d love to meet in real life, I think he’s perfect for the story. He is the most well-written writer I’ve encountered thus far—the most convincingly real fictional writer. Often I think authors romanticize their work when they write about writers, that they get carried away and overly idealistic. But I related to Sheldon on so many levels, it wasn’t even funny. And because I could connect, as a writer, with his own thoughts about writing and struggles with writing, I felt he was the perfect narrator. 

Annie. *checks closet* *checks entire apartment* *hides all sharp objects* I know she’s fictional. I know. I’m repeating that over and over from the back of the aforementioned closet, as I rock back and forth with my knees tucked to my chest, listening for the sounds of footsteps in the kitchen. But she feels so real, I kept half expecting to look up from my Kindle to find her staring down at me with an axe in her hand. 

Now, I love reading about characters with mental illnesses of all sorts, ranging from mild autism to psychopathy, but I would have to say Annie is my favorite one yet. Her disjointed, child-like and sadistic insanity is so well-written and so chaotically understandable, I found myself wishing she was a real person so I could interview/observe her and do up a whole psych profile on her. (All this with a lot of bullet proof glass and steel bars between us, naturally.) And if I haven’t managed to sell you on the idea of her yet, let me put it this way: She takes rabid fangirl to a WHOLE new level. 

Content Warning. I loved this book, and I would recommend it to anyone with a strong stomach who doesn’t mind strong language and mild sexual content. Again, I stress, if you are at all bothered by violence and disturbing elements, this is NOT the book for you (and there’s no shame in that). BUT, if you aren’t bothered by these things, then I will gladly shove MISERY in your face because IT IS SO GOOD. 

In Conclusion. I haven’t read anything quite like this before, and it surprised me in the way that I like to be surprised. I mean, come on, it’s a book about a guy writing for his life, for crying out loud. What’s not to love? I definitely plan to read more from Stephen King (although cautiously, because he’s so good at scaring me it scares me, and I don’t scare easy when it comes to books). I’m thinking of reading UNDER THE DOME next (along with ON WRITING and one of his co-written short story/novella things), but I would appreciate your recommendations if you happen to have a favorite Stephen King book. I feel like he’s written a small library, so it’s rather difficult to choose. 

What about you, my little coffee beans? Have you read MISERY? Have you seen the movie version? (I haven’t seen it yet, but I’d be curious to know if you think it’s any good.) Who is your favorite fictional writer? Who is your favorite fictional insane person? Also, if you're curious about my DIVERGENT discussion, I will be continuing that next week.