One Gutsy Broad

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Haunted

This is my favorite place
Mar 26, 2008
17,059
29,421
The woods are lovely dark and deep
I remember having some time before an appointment stopping by the bookstore; my life was very complicated at the time and I was very distracted. There in the very front of the store was a display of Dolores Claiborne! What a surprise for me, I had not heard of a new King book!! I grabbed it up and soon devoured the story.

This book with its strong heroine, Dolores, proved those lousy critics that said that Mr. King did not know how to write women were wrong, wrong, wrong.

The movie was one of my favorites too, not too much variation from Mr. King's words either.
 

skimom2

Just moseyin' through...
Oct 9, 2013
15,683
92,168
USA
I remember getting that for Christmas the year it came out :) I spent all Christmas day reading, and when I got to the end, I started it all over again (my husband is the most patient man alive). Anyone who would say Mr. King can't write women is not to be trusted. As one of 'them' (lol), I feel confident to say that he's spoken my heart more times than I can count.
 

Autumn Gust

Well-Known Member
Sep 20, 2012
3,360
15,346
The Dolores Claiborne character reminds me a lot of my grandmother, except my grandma never did away with anyone! For twenty years, my grandma was the maid of one of the richest families in our little town and she developed that same kind of down-to-earth, sister-like relationship with her employer like Dolores had with Vera. Like Delores, she was worked really hard at her job and at her own house when she got home from work.

And I agree, Kathy Bates was great in the movie!
 

rudiroo

Well-Known Member
May 20, 2008
474
1,898
London, England
I just re-read DC after 3-4 years - it's powerful & real & the older I get, the more I appreciate it.

SK writes believable female characters, with depth & ambiguity.
You could go crazy (or just get high blood pressure) reading lousy critics.
We just have to accept that (most) critics don't see the point of popular fiction, no matter how wonderfully written.

PS. Hello one & all - I went off the grid for a while, came back & what do I find? The message board has an upgrade - outstanding!
 

FlakeNoir

Original Kiwi© SKMB®
Moderator
Apr 11, 2006
44,082
175,641
New Zealand
I just re-read DC after 3-4 years - it's powerful & real & the older I get, the more I appreciate it.

SK writes believable female characters, with depth & ambiguity.
You could go crazy (or just get high blood pressure) reading lousy critics.
We just have to accept that (most) critics don't see the point of popular fiction, no matter how wonderfully written.

PS. Hello one & all - I went off the grid for a while, came back & what do I find? The message board has an upgrade - outstanding!
Welcome back... :)
 

kingricefan

All-being, keeper of Space, Time & Dimension.
Jul 11, 2006
30,011
127,446
Spokane, WA
Delores Claiborne is one heck of a novel! Entire thing told from one person's point of view, with no chapter breaks at all. King has been quoted as saying that he modeled Delores' 'voice' after his own Mother. So, what we have is a story that King's Mom is telling us. Pretty cool! Delores doesn't hold back either. She tells it like it is, can ya dig it? Outstanding novel, one of my favorites. As for the film, I have always been a great fan of both Kathy Bates' performance and Jennifer Jason Leigh's. Both of the actresses did an outstanding job with their roles. Leigh especially gives a very understated performance. Alot of people don't like her turn as the perscription pill popping Selena, but to me she gives a subtlely benign performance- she IS this role. She owns it. She might be over-the-top (as some here have stated in the past) but that's because of her addictions. Bates should have recieved an Oscar for her portrayal as the title character. I don't think King has written a stronger female role before or since. She is the epitome of good ol' Yankee strength. She is one tough broad and takes no crap from anyone (at least anyone outside the family). The film made some changes from the book, but it was done very well. The story had to be 'opened up', to show what Selena's life was like after she left Little Tall Island. It shows that history has a way of repeating itself. In the film, all of the flashback scenes are in vivid color, while the scenes of the 'present' are all washed out in bleary tones. This refects Delores' soul. Something I wouldn't have really noticed if it wasn't pointed out to me in the past. Christopher Plummer is great as the detective who has been after Delores since her husband went missing years ago. He and Bates have some great scenes together, just crackling with tension. Delores gives as good as she gets. Now writing this makes me want to go and watch it again!
 

EMTP513

Well-Known Member
Oct 31, 2012
503
1,923
Gutsy. I like that term better than the one someone told me. They said she was "crazy."
I thought I must be too because I could think of someone I fantasized about doing that to him. But I'd never do it. It actually does help dissipate anger to think of those things, even though according to my pastor, you've committed murder if you fantasize about doing it. I've never seen anyone go to prison for their thoughts though. Only their actions.
 

Neesy

#1 fan (Annie Wilkes cousin) 1st cousin Mom's side
May 24, 2012
61,289
239,271
Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada
Gutsy. I like that term better than the one someone told me. They said she was "crazy."
I thought I must be too because I could think of someone I fantasized about doing that to him. But I'd never do it. It actually does help dissipate anger to think of those things, even though according to my pastor, you've committed murder if you fantasize about doing it. I've never seen anyone go to prison for their thoughts though. Only their actions.
Your pastor must think all men have committed sexual sins then too, because I heard men think about sex a lot. I think it is only a sin if you act on those thoughts.
 

EMTP513

Well-Known Member
Oct 31, 2012
503
1,923
Your pastor must think all men have committed sexual sins then too, because I heard men think about sex a lot. I think it is only a sin if you act on those thoughts.

Unfortunately, he had a different set of rules for men - at least until his wife found out about it and must have talked to him because he never made comments like that again, even when she wasn't there. Someone must have told her, but it wasn't me. I just remember being fascinated that she could get a man to change the way he does things. I never could but fortunately, most of the men I knew weren't like that.