Big Driver

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jarvi

Member
Jul 19, 2011
22
93
43
Damn, dude. Big Driver is awesome. Not the character, obviously. The story. How has this not been adapted into a movie yet? I see that it's on the list of dollar babies, so Hollywood's asleep at the wheel on this one. Get someone like Bridgett Fonda, Winona Ryder, or Lauren Graham and you have a hell of a revenge thriller. Maybe Helena Bonham Carter. She likes the darker stuff. I kind of hope no one dollar-baby's it. Oh, okay. Thanks, Google. I see that several people have gone and kickstarter'ed Big Driver shorts. Well, good for them. I hope they turn out well. But I feel like this is a feature length film. It needs to play slow and quiet. Kind of like that new Redford movie, All is Lost, this is the chance for some great actress to do a mostly silent film. Internalize all of the
projected conversations she has with Tom, Fritzy, and Doreen and make the camera and the edit do all the exposition work.
I digress. Maybe someday someone will tackle this as the awesome revenge flick it could be.

Unlike 1922, we have a great character to root for. I love that Tess is a woman of simple pleasures and we have to sit in the passenger seat and follow her through the worst couple of days ever. I rooted for her every step of the way.

The assault is so so so so awful horrible terrible. It was rough. And her descriptions of tending to herself afterward. Good grief. It's all straight-up curl-into-fetal-position stuff. But then following her through the aftermath is riveting. Everything she thought and did felt so real and immediate. I've read elsewhere that some people thought she had too easy of a time dispatching the Driver family, but I think it makes perfect sense. She goes into each situation looking to kill somebody and every one of those people was pretty much in TV-watching mode, not expecting what's coming. I think they'd be pretty easy pickings. Plus, the struggle isn't supposed to be a physical one.
The best revenge stories are about the internal struggle. The balancing act. This one is too. Although, the mechanics are what pulled me through and kept me so rapt. It's what King's so good at. The logical step by step process of a normal person adapting to crazy situations and giving us the cathartic blow by blow that reality never provides.

Another shocking thing as I was cruising through online reviews is how many really in depth summaries of the story leave Betsy, the woman from the Stagger Inn, out completely.
For me, the most horrifying thing in the entire story was her glass eye revelation. It just made me feel sick. It was so ultimately brutal that I wanted Tess to go kill that son of a bitch too. I didn't realize until a few minutes ago how it was a literal representation of the revenge story credo--an eye for an eye. Although, in that case I would have only been satisfied with a life for an eye. But after hearing Betsy's tale, Tess became more than just a woman who sought bloody justice to appease her own sense of shame and humiliation. She was the woman taking revenge against every rapist, every person who condoned it, and everyone who looked the other way. And I loved her for it.

I love a good revenge tale. And this is a great one.

My only complaint with the audio book is that the narrator gives Tess a really weird voice. Fragile, almost childlike. I think the voice she used for Betsy would have been a more appropriate Tess.
 

rudiroo

Well-Known Member
May 20, 2008
474
1,898
London, England
Most of the characters in this story (except Betsy) are scary, on some level - including Tess.

Tess is so. . self-contained & controlled.
It's never crossed her mind that The Real Bad Stuff could ever happen to her.
That truly scares me.
It doesn't stop me cheering her on, every step of the way, though.

But I think SK's message in this story (and the rest of the collection) is expect the unexpected.
Just be aware that it's out there, yeah.

Hello darkness, my old friend
& all that stuff. .
 

kingricefan

All-being, keeper of Space, Time & Dimension.
Jul 11, 2006
30,011
127,446
Spokane, WA
Big Driver is a very brutal and graphic story. I did like it! I think it asks the question of how far can/could you go to have your revenge? I'd like to see a sequel done so we can see how much Tess changes from this horrific occurance. Now there's a story that only SK could do.....
 

charmed_one3

Well-Known Member
Jul 10, 2012
266
104
US
I love Big Driver, it is my favorite from Full Dark, No Stars. As a woman, I found it a difficult read. It made me think of what I would do if I were in Tess' situation, such a scary thing!

And I agree, it would be a great film. I love the idea of Lauren Graham as Tess. Lauren Graham is awesome. I also think Kate Beckinsale would be a great Tess too.
 

ghost19

"Have I run too far to get home?"
Sep 25, 2011
8,926
56,578
51
Arkansas
I love Big Driver, it is my favorite from Full Dark, No Stars. As a woman, I found it a difficult read. It made me think of what I would do if I were in Tess' situation, such a scary thing!

And I agree, it would be a great film. I love the idea of Lauren Graham as Tess. Lauren Graham is awesome. I also think Kate Beckinsale would be a great Tess too.
Kate Beckinsale would be perfect. Kate Beckinsale IS perfect. Kate Kate Kate Kate Kate....sigh.........:lurve:
 

KiddDizz

Active Member
Jan 12, 2009
29
35
43
Denver
I'm working on Big Driver now as a Dollar Babies film and I WISH Kate Beckinsale would just drop by and volunteer! Auditions are tomorrow night, so maybe if someone has a magic Genie around they can give the ol' lamp a rub and send Kate my way? Thanks!!
 

Neesy

#1 fan (Annie Wilkes cousin) 1st cousin Mom's side
May 24, 2012
61,289
239,271
Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada
I'm working on Big Driver now as a Dollar Babies film and I WISH Kate Beckinsale would just drop by and volunteer! Auditions are tomorrow night, so maybe if someone has a magic Genie around they can give the ol' lamp a rub and send Kate my way? Thanks!!
Welcome back to the new board at SKMB @KiddDizz
 

Neesy

#1 fan (Annie Wilkes cousin) 1st cousin Mom's side
May 24, 2012
61,289
239,271
Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada
Thanks!! I stop by to read a bit from time to time, just haven't posted in a while.

I think this new board (since October 31, 2013) is a big improvement over the old one.

Of course, I was not heavily involved in the "little boards" behind the scenes, so I do not miss those. I guess it is just a case of learning to adapt and not be "set in our ways".
 

ghost19

"Have I run too far to get home?"
Sep 25, 2011
8,926
56,578
51
Arkansas
I'm working on Big Driver now as a Dollar Babies film and I WISH Kate Beckinsale would just drop by and volunteer! Auditions are tomorrow night, so maybe if someone has a magic Genie around they can give the ol' lamp a rub and send Kate my way? Thanks!!
Be sure and let me know if she shows up, 'cause I'm immediately heading your way.:)
 

KiddDizz

Active Member
Jan 12, 2009
29
35
43
Denver
Just finished this story. Very good. Gotta love a nice revenge caper, and this would make a good movie. You could pretty much leave everything in and it would work out at a good length.
I agree, when I finished the first draft of the script it wound up right around a hundred pages, but the contract states it can't be longer than 45 minutes. So I have had to cut some things and combine others. Really hoping to give the story it's due. Not gonna lie, pretty nervous.
 

Leif

Expose yourself to your deepest fear.
Aug 11, 2015
450
2,260
Just finished the story. This was one of those short stories that you fly through. The first few pages grabs you and pulls you along for the ride. No dozing off on this one. Beautiful flow and realistically descriptive with a smattering of words to look up definitions for.

Once again, the scariest stuff to me is the stuff that can be true. This was no exception. The subject matter is more than disturbing, but Mr. King once again brings to life the reality pertaining to the evil that men do, humans ability to survive and the suffering women endure.

Leif
 
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melmo672

Member
Aug 25, 2015
9
62
51
Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
I loved all of the stories in Full Dark, No Stars (it's replaced Nightmares And Dreamscapes as my favourite of King's anthologies), but Big Driver was the best. The movie adaptation with Maria Bello was fantastic, although for me it didn't go as deep into the character as the story. That's probably more a comment on me as a movie goer than on the film itself, because I know books and movies are two different mediums and that films have limitations.
 

Owenk

Well-Known Member
Nov 13, 2014
351
2,060
62
Damn, dude. Big Driver is awesome. Not the character, obviously. The story. How has this not been adapted into a movie yet? I see that it's on the list of dollar babies, so Hollywood's asleep at the wheel on this one. Get someone like Bridgett Fonda, Winona Ryder, or Lauren Graham and you have a hell of a revenge thriller. Maybe Helena Bonham Carter. She likes the darker stuff. I kind of hope no one dollar-baby's it. Oh, okay. Thanks, Google. I see that several people have gone and kickstarter'ed Big Driver shorts. Well, good for them. I hope they turn out well. But I feel like this is a feature length film. It needs to play slow and quiet. Kind of like that new Redford movie, All is Lost, this is the chance for some great actress to do a mostly silent film. Internalize all of the
projected conversations she has with Tom, Fritzy, and Doreen and make the camera and the edit do all the exposition work.
I digress. Maybe someday someone will tackle this as the awesome revenge flick it could be.

Unlike 1922, we have a great character to root for. I love that Tess is a woman of simple pleasures and we have to sit in the passenger seat and follow her through the worst couple of days ever. I rooted for her every step of the way.

The assault is so so so so awful horrible terrible. It was rough. And her descriptions of tending to herself afterward. Good grief. It's all straight-up curl-into-fetal-position stuff. But then following her through the aftermath is riveting. Everything she thought and did felt so real and immediate. I've read elsewhere that some people thought she had too easy of a time dispatching the Driver family, but I think it makes perfect sense. She goes into each situation looking to kill somebody and every one of those people was pretty much in TV-watching mode, not expecting what's coming. I think they'd be pretty easy pickings. Plus, the struggle isn't supposed to be a physical one.
The best revenge stories are about the internal struggle. The balancing act. This one is too. Although, the mechanics are what pulled me through and kept me so rapt. It's what King's so good at. The logical step by step process of a normal person adapting to crazy situations and giving us the cathartic blow by blow that reality never provides.

Another shocking thing as I was cruising through online reviews is how many really in depth summaries of the story leave Betsy, the woman from the Stagger Inn, out completely.
For me, the most horrifying thing in the entire story was her glass eye revelation. It just made me feel sick. It was so ultimately brutal that I wanted Tess to go kill that son of a bitch too. I didn't realize until a few minutes ago how it was a literal representation of the revenge story credo--an eye for an eye. Although, in that case I would have only been satisfied with a life for an eye. But after hearing Betsy's tale, Tess became more than just a woman who sought bloody justice to appease her own sense of shame and humiliation. She was the woman taking revenge against every rapist, every person who condoned it, and everyone who looked the other way. And I loved her for it.

I love a good revenge tale. And this is a great one.

My only complaint with the audio book is that the narrator gives Tess a really weird voice. Fragile, almost childlike. I think the voice she used for Betsy would have been a more appropriate Tess.

See I am sure I have heard her reading other stuff and I think she ahs a great voice - I really enjoyed it.

And what a story - fantastic and a brave one to write for a man. Tough to write a rape story line which is graphic but avoid the danger of tipping into the gratuitous. Amazingly well done - I am loving this collection.
 

GNTLGNT

The idiot is IN
Jun 15, 2007
87,651
358,754
62
Cambridge, Ohio
See I am sure I have heard her reading other stuff and I think she ahs a great voice - I really enjoyed it.

And what a story - fantastic and a brave one to write for a man. Tough to write a rape story line which is graphic but avoid the danger of tipping into the gratuitous. Amazingly well done - I am loving this collection.
...it certainly is a reach back to his "grab you by the throat and rub your face in it" sort of stories....