I've been thinking about John D. quite a bit lately, and how very much he loved Lisey's Story. Being superstitious as hell about going with your gut and the messages it wants to give you, I pulled it off the shelf after a very long time. And now I remember why I've only read it once before: I was up all night, teary a great deal of the time. With no sleep and eyes that feel like boiled onions, I realized that as hard as the book was to read at 16 years of marriage, it's even harder at 23. To me, the core of Lisey's isn't the hugger-mugger of time/space travel and the long boy (though he is definitely shudderworthy); the real meat of the thing is that inner language and how you can never, never, never know everything about anybody.
I'm 46, so I've been married literally half of my life. HALF MY LIFE. And we were together for a couple of years before marriage, so... yeah. Yet still, surprises pop up from The Man just about every week--random bits and pieces of memories, childhood experiences, thoughts--that make me go. "Well crap! NOW I understand where (XYZ) is coming from. I never knew that!" And we forever mystify our kids/friends/ family with odd phrases that mean nothing to anyone outside our cocoon of two.
Lisey's Story is one of the truest books about a long-term relationship that I've ever read. From the moments when Lisey remembers the times you just have to put your head down and muscle through it (had a few of those) to the highs of being absolutely in sync (and some of those, too), they feel right and painful and joyous and absolutely REAL. This is Mr. King's most 'literary' book, as well. He does things with language and time and pacing and style that are a wonder to behold. I have no idea how in hell they plan to film it (that's another thread, I guess), but I'm glad John D led me back to it (boiled onion eyes and all). I was talking to BH about it last night, the interior language of marriage, and he got got the quirkiest smile... then picked up the book and started reading (a shocker, since he usually reads nothing but non-fiction).
I predict some interesting conversations to come
I'm 46, so I've been married literally half of my life. HALF MY LIFE. And we were together for a couple of years before marriage, so... yeah. Yet still, surprises pop up from The Man just about every week--random bits and pieces of memories, childhood experiences, thoughts--that make me go. "Well crap! NOW I understand where (XYZ) is coming from. I never knew that!" And we forever mystify our kids/friends/ family with odd phrases that mean nothing to anyone outside our cocoon of two.
Lisey's Story is one of the truest books about a long-term relationship that I've ever read. From the moments when Lisey remembers the times you just have to put your head down and muscle through it (had a few of those) to the highs of being absolutely in sync (and some of those, too), they feel right and painful and joyous and absolutely REAL. This is Mr. King's most 'literary' book, as well. He does things with language and time and pacing and style that are a wonder to behold. I have no idea how in hell they plan to film it (that's another thread, I guess), but I'm glad John D led me back to it (boiled onion eyes and all). I was talking to BH about it last night, the interior language of marriage, and he got got the quirkiest smile... then picked up the book and started reading (a shocker, since he usually reads nothing but non-fiction).
I predict some interesting conversations to come
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