Question regarding Castle Rock

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doowopgirl

very avid fan
Aug 7, 2009
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But I can order the audiobook and Ebook in English from the major online retailer here, but not the hardcover, which seems strange.

I usually wait for the translation though, as I'm used to always having read his books in my own language. I hope they include The Music Room too in it, if it comes out
It's strange, but I always like the way the books look and feel better in my own language, even though I can read English without problems and do with many other writers who aren't translated here at all, or sparingly. It's probably to do with nostalgia, habit or tradition, but I always prefer the editions here over the original English ones...
I don't think that's serange. It's the language you drem in after all.
 

Gerald

Well-Known Member
Sep 8, 2011
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The Netherlands
I finally saw it in a bookstore here. It's quite a short book. Very short chapters, and quite a number of illustrations. Reminded me of Silver Bullet in that sense.

It's still not translated here. It's too bad the writers dicussing it only seems to be on the audio version - it might have been nice if they had printed that too.
 
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Gerald

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Sep 8, 2011
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In an interview in the Entertainment Weekly Ultimate Guide he says that he seldom rereads his own books, but that he read It again before writing 11/22/63. Not so much because he wanted to use characters from It again, but because he had forgotten the geography of Derry.
So, he doesn't have maps and doesn't even seem to make notes of the fictional towns. He just uses them and adds to them as suits his fiction the best. I don't think the Suicide Stairs were mentioned in earlier Castle Rock stories.

He says he also doesn't map out the connections between books, but rather that he just lets them happen.

Actually I think Gwendy happens totally before Needful Things.
I noticed also George Bannerman was mentioned, who was still blissfully unaware he was gonna be eaten by some dog we all know.
 
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Bev Vincent

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Apr 11, 2006
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Does anyone keep track of this?

Is his lay-out of Castle Rock actually the same in all the books or does he keep adding places, roads and streets in a way that suit his stories best?

I've read most of the Castle Rock books, but they never come with a map, so it's kind of hard to tell. I find it hard to visualize all the roads he names throughout his writing to a coherent town (he mainly describes the settings of his books through roads).

Is there actually a map of Castle Rock that sticks close to the description in the stories (there was a map of King's Maine at large at some point - but not the individual towns: Castle Rock, Haven, Derry etc.)?

(It's strange by the way: this book is available in my country as an audiobook and Ebook, but not the hardcover - you would assume these appear at the same time. I'm sure it gets translated though and will appear as a physical book eventually. The audio also includes a conversation with the authors and the Edward Hopper inspired The Music Room.)

In an older interview, he had this to say about the town:

Castle Rock, Maine, which is a town I feel like I know a little bit ... I like that town. I know where a lot of stuff is in that town. I don't have any maps. I don't have all the names categorized, but I like that town. Carbine Street, all those streets.
 

Gerald

Well-Known Member
Sep 8, 2011
2,201
7,168
The Netherlands
He said on Twitter:

'From Bloody Disgusting: "A sign Wendell comes across near the stop indicates that Salem’s Lot is a mere 24 miles away from Castle Rock." That is almost exactly right.'

That means he's got it all quite precisely in his head. Yet there has never been an official map of SK's Maine. Or is that because he keeps adding new places to it?
Sometimes it's helpful to see a map, you imagine the geography differently as you read, and probably it's not always described that clearly. For example I imagined the Drop in Wizard and Glass south of Hambry; then I saw the map (which is in the comics) and it is north of Hambry.
Fans make maps of course, but it is hard to say how correct these are. Why not make an official map of SK's Maine?
 

Marty Coslaw

Low-BDNF Gork
May 19, 2018
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720
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DC
In an interview in the Entertainment Weekly Ultimate Guide he says that he seldom rereads his own books, but that he read It again before writing 11/22/63. Not so much because he wanted to use characters from It again, but because he had forgotten the geography of Derry.
So, he doesn't have maps and doesn't even seem to make notes of the fictional towns. He just uses them and adds to them as suits his fiction the best. I don't think the Suicide Stairs were mentioned in earlier Castle Rock stories.

He says he also doesn't map out the connections between books, but rather that he just lets them happen.

Actually I think Gwendy happens totally before Needful Things.
I noticed also George Bannerman was mentioned, who was still blissfully unaware he was gonna be eaten by some dog we all know.
[ISPOILER]Aw he shoulda called it in on the radio when he saw the Trenton's car in the driveway.[/ISPOILER] He knows it, we know, the whole town of Castle Rock knows it.
 

Marty Coslaw

Low-BDNF Gork
May 19, 2018
177
720
37
DC
He said on Twitter:

'From Bloody Disgusting: "A sign Wendell comes across near the stop indicates that Salem’s Lot is a mere 24 miles away from Castle Rock." That is almost exactly right.'

That means he's got it all quite precisely in his head. Yet there has never been an official map of SK's Maine. Or is that because he keeps adding new places to it?
Sometimes it's helpful to see a map, you imagine the geography differently as you read, and probably it's not always described that clearly. For example I imagined the Drop in Wizard and Glass south of Hambry; then I saw the map (which is in the comics) and it is north of Hambry.
Fans make maps of course, but it is hard to say how correct these are. Why not make an official map of SK's Maine?
Maybe to get from Castle Rock to 'Salem's Lot you have to take Mrs. Todd's Shortcut.