When I heard Stephen King, my favorite author, was coming out with a new novel, I quickly put a hold on it at my public library...eventually they got around to me on the waiting list. It's Fairy Tale, at least partially set in the present time on Earth in America...and the author does try to make this typically dark Stephen King book conform in a number of ways to the elements of fairy tales. Charlie Reade is the protagonist, a 17-year-old whose father is a recovering alcoholic after the accidental death of Charlie's mother...all this comes out very early in the story, so I'm not giving anything away here. But to go much further in describing the sequence of events and characters might be a little over the edge for prospective readers, and I hope that you're one of them. I will say this much: I saw a parallel in this novel's structure and characters to his earlier book 11/22/63, especially with regard to how Fairy Tale's cantankerous, colorful Howard Bowditch is very similar to 11/22/63's Al Templeton, not only with regard to their respective personalities but also the very special roles they play in sending the protagonist down the proverbial rabbit role into adventure and peril. Since I'm a big Al Templeton fan and 11/22/63, which I've read at least five times (I've lost count), is one of my all-time favorite novels, that resemblance worked for me. One other thing: this is a dog lover's book as well...and I'll just leave it at that. For me, Stephen King is to fiction as Regina Spektor is to music...I can't wait to see what they have lined up next. Don't wait for the TV or movie adaptation to Fairy Tale: just get the book even if you have to put it on hold at your public library...
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment