Really struggling with this one

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Sliced Bread

Well-Known Member
Jan 6, 2011
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From Scotland, live in Ireland
This is my first time reading Dreamcatcher and boy... it pains me to say it but I don't know if I'm going to be able to finish it. I've taken a break and gone back to it twice and I'm still only half way through. That's a bad sign on its own - when I'm reading something I love I absolutely devour it, but this I'm finding really slow and plodding and I really don't care about any of the characters. Anyone care to defend it? Does it get better?
 

Spideyman

Uber Member
Jul 10, 2006
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Just north of Duma Key
Dreamcatcher is a multilayered novel. Not every book is meant for every reader, but I would suggest continuing. The plot does accelerate and you might be surprised by the ending. There is a lot of King within this novel. A lot happens within the pages, take your time and let it sink in.
 

do1you9love?

Happy to be here!
Feb 18, 2012
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Virginia
I'll be honest. This is not one of my favorites and the sh!t weasels really turned me off. I did keep reading and, like Spideyman said, there are things buried under that layer of sh!t (friendship, for instance), that are worth it, if you can make it through. Good luck!
 

GNTLGNT

The idiot is IN
Jun 15, 2007
87,651
358,754
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Cambridge, Ohio
This is my first time reading Dreamcatcher and boy... it pains me to say it but I don't know if I'm going to be able to finish it. I've taken a break and gone back to it twice and I'm still only half way through. That's a bad sign on its own - when I'm reading something I love I absolutely devour it, but this I'm finding really slow and plodding and I really don't care about any of the characters. Anyone care to defend it? Does it get better?
....it does work it's way out of the "doldrums"......and it does take some more rumination than his more straight forward action/suspense/insert favorite adjective here novels.....
 

Sunlight Gardener

Well-Known Member
Jul 22, 2013
375
1,273
I struggled a lot with it in my first time through as well, so I can understand. However I did a re-read about 5 years later and liked it a lot better the second time around. I guess I got a better feel for the characters on the re-read and that helped a bunch. I found that on the first reading, I was getting all the characters confused with each other, which no doubt contributed to my initial apathy. Once I got them sorted out the second time, I got into it a lot more.
 

prufrock21

Well-Known Member
Jun 2, 2011
2,956
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The Caribbean
It's multifaceted, which may throw some readers off. For example,
There's the sh_t weasels to contend with and the alien theme, the friendship angle, the Duddits character, the insane army colonel, ET as parasite, and this is just the surface
I found it fascinating, the way Mr. King could blend so many themes and keep it interesting. Consider also that he wrote it longhand while convalescing from his unfortunate accident. Therefore, it's well worth the read.
 

do1you9love?

Happy to be here!
Feb 18, 2012
9,284
70,566
Virginia
It's multifaceted, which may throw some readers off. For example,
There's the sh_t weasels to contend with and the alien theme, the friendship angle, the Duddits character, the insane army colonel, ET as parasite, and this is just the surface
I found it fascinating, the way Mr. King could blend so many themes and keep it interesting. Consider also that he wrote it longhand while convalescing from his unfortunate accident. Therefore, it's well worth the read.
Good perspective and reminder! Nice to see you posting again! How are things with you and your community?
 

grin willard

"Keep the change, you filthy animal!"
Feb 21, 2017
1,144
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"Can't you just let a man take a good poo?"

Or words to that effect, as the creature was exploding thru his anal cavity. :) I liked it pretty well. There was a bit of "Stand By Me" retreading, and I thought Duddits was probably, in the final analysis, a bad idea. I have however always liked King's mistrust of the militaire. I've seen it reviewed as a "bloated, vacuous, dreadful piece of self-indulgence" -- certainly I would not go that far. It was written during King's convalesce after being run on the highway down by an idiot, so that might account for some of the novel's repetition of themes and oddness. And parts of it, it was as if it had been co-written by Whitley Strieber! But it stayed engrossing. I never stopped wanting to find out what happened. The movie, I think, has damaged the book irrevocably.
 

doowopgirl

very avid fan
Aug 7, 2009
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dublin ireland
I struggled a lot with it in my first time through as well, so I can understand. However I did a re-read about 5 years later and liked it a lot better the second time around. I guess I got a better feel for the characters on the re-read and that helped a bunch. I found that on the first reading, I was getting all the characters confused with each other, which no doubt contributed to my initial apathy. Once I got them sorted out the second time, I got into it a lot more.
That's me exactly. While not a top favorite, still I do like the varying layers and stories that make up the whole thing.
 

prufrock21

Well-Known Member
Jun 2, 2011
2,956
12,657
The Caribbean
Good perspective and reminder! Nice to see you posting again! How are things with you and your community?
Thanks. Slowly things are getting back to normal. Sadly a small percentage of the population, the ones living in areas which were the hardest hit, are still without electricity. Sadder still, the start of hurricane season is just around the bend.