Hope you are feeling better Doc. I'm working on The Talisman now and will get my head in the game, pull up my granny panties and pay attention to important dates!
Discussion Group for March 5th- The Talisman (King/Straub)
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March 26th Part 3. Ck your clocks as the time change will have happened.
Doc Creed -- healing vibes.
Thanks, guys. This is my second time reading this and from the very first chapter I was hooked again. It is a slow build (in a good Straub-ian way) and we get excellent visuals of The Alhambra Inn and the amusement park. One of the things this book has going for it, like others have said, is the vivid details and how the reader is totally immersed into this universe. Did anyone else think of The Tommyknockers when Morgan Sloat was talking about exploiting the resources of The Territories (what Sloat and Jack's father call "the Daydreams") and his abuse of power? Some of my favorite moments are the death of Jerry Bledsoe, the carousel scene and Speedy Parker's tour of the amusement park, and the scenes at the Oatley bar. I'm recalling a lot of pedophilia in this book. Anyone else?
Wolf and Jack's mother are the heart of this book, in my opinion. I could read a book about nothing but Lily's Hollywood career and the college days of Philip and Morgan.
Here is a beautiful description of the Inn:
"The Alhambra hung out over the water, a great Victorian pile on gigantic granite blocks which seemed to merge almost seamlessly with the low headland- a jutting collarbone of granite here on the few scant miles of New Hampshire seacoast. The formal gardens on its landward side were barely visible from Jack's beachfront angle- a dark green flip of hedge, that was all. The brass cock stood against the sky, quartering west by northwest. A plaque in the lobby announced that it was here, in 1838, that the Northern Methodist Conference had held the first of the great New England abolition rallies."
We are in the lobby, in the hallways, in the scenic rooms. King achieves a similar effect when describing The Overlook Hotel in The Shining. It takes him several chapters (cleverly done through Ullman's tour) and all other details are layered upon layers until we can draw a picture of it. In both books, it's done well, I think.
There is another paragraph describing the amusement park against the ocean, but I can't find it.
Wolf and Jack's mother are the heart of this book, in my opinion. I could read a book about nothing but Lily's Hollywood career and the college days of Philip and Morgan.
Here is a beautiful description of the Inn:
"The Alhambra hung out over the water, a great Victorian pile on gigantic granite blocks which seemed to merge almost seamlessly with the low headland- a jutting collarbone of granite here on the few scant miles of New Hampshire seacoast. The formal gardens on its landward side were barely visible from Jack's beachfront angle- a dark green flip of hedge, that was all. The brass cock stood against the sky, quartering west by northwest. A plaque in the lobby announced that it was here, in 1838, that the Northern Methodist Conference had held the first of the great New England abolition rallies."
We are in the lobby, in the hallways, in the scenic rooms. King achieves a similar effect when describing The Overlook Hotel in The Shining. It takes him several chapters (cleverly done through Ullman's tour) and all other details are layered upon layers until we can draw a picture of it. In both books, it's done well, I think.
There is another paragraph describing the amusement park against the ocean, but I can't find it.
Okay, I finally got those first 2 sections read. This read through has been difficult. The words were even more personal and poignant to me this time around. The story catching in my chest.
I was crying much sooner this read through.
Again, who wrote what here? At times I think I could give a pretty good guess and be right. Straub and King have a sound unique to them. Every once in a while, that sound would build and suddenly draw back so as not to totally give away its secrets. But, I still think I knew at times.
The character development is so patient and lovely. Quietly introducing us and building the dread. Building the story. If I could give one word on the most important thing about this story, it would be Patience.
My mom died of cancer many years after my first read. So, to read this quest to save his mom, I was walking with our Travellin' Jack and my feelings are raw.
I would've gone to hell and back to save my mom.
I did what I could which wasn't enough. But, I helped fight the dragons. I was there. I was present. And I was conquered. We were conquered, mom.
I was crying much sooner this read through.
Again, who wrote what here? At times I think I could give a pretty good guess and be right. Straub and King have a sound unique to them. Every once in a while, that sound would build and suddenly draw back so as not to totally give away its secrets. But, I still think I knew at times.
The character development is so patient and lovely. Quietly introducing us and building the dread. Building the story. If I could give one word on the most important thing about this story, it would be Patience.
My mom died of cancer many years after my first read. So, to read this quest to save his mom, I was walking with our Travellin' Jack and my feelings are raw.
I would've gone to hell and back to save my mom.
I did what I could which wasn't enough. But, I helped fight the dragons. I was there. I was present. And I was conquered. We were conquered, mom.
...your poignant comments about your Mom, echo how I felt when-despite my best efforts, my mom passed away in my arms....I can't beat the Reaper.....
I'm late to the show. I just read the first two chapters last night so I'll be a little while catching up. It's always fun reading the first couple of chapters of a book I read long ago. I'm always amazed at how much long forgotten detail comes bubbling up from the dusty area of my brain by just reading a couple of chapters.
I'm a few weeks late. I finished parts 1 & 2 Sunday and I thoroughly enjoyed this. I forgot how good this book is. Mark Twain is quoted in the beginning and The Talisman is about a journey and has elements of Huck Finn and Tom Sawyer. I think Jack and Wolf (sounds like a drink 
) are a bit like Jim and Huck.
I'm trying to figure my timelines out and am wondering was this was our (SK readers) first exposure to parallel worlds? I know The Gunslinger has a publication date of 1982 but I think that was a limited release. I'm pretty sure I didn't read the gunslinger until the trade paperback version was released. In The Gunslinger, the story took place in another world but I don't think the parallel worlds were clear until the next book.
In one of Jack's made up stories he was telling while hitchhiking, he said a stepfather named Aubrey beat him up. James Aubrey played Ralph in the 1963 Lord Of The Flies movie. I wonder if James Aubrey was the inspiration for that name?
I also noticed that the Academy award Lily was nominated for was for a movie called Blaze.
) are a bit like Jim and Huck.I'm trying to figure my timelines out and am wondering was this was our (SK readers) first exposure to parallel worlds? I know The Gunslinger has a publication date of 1982 but I think that was a limited release. I'm pretty sure I didn't read the gunslinger until the trade paperback version was released. In The Gunslinger, the story took place in another world but I don't think the parallel worlds were clear until the next book.
In one of Jack's made up stories he was telling while hitchhiking, he said a stepfather named Aubrey beat him up. James Aubrey played Ralph in the 1963 Lord Of The Flies movie. I wonder if James Aubrey was the inspiration for that name?
I also noticed that the Academy award Lily was nominated for was for a movie called Blaze.
....I think you're right Joe....I can't recall anything of novel length before that to usher in the concept of "worlds other than these"......I'm a few weeks late. I finished parts 1 & 2 Sunday and I thoroughly enjoyed this. I forgot how good this book is. Mark Twain is quoted in the beginning and The Talisman is about a journey and has elements of Huck Finn and Tom Sawyer. I think Jack and Wolf (sounds like a drink
I'm trying to figure my timelines out and am wondering was this was our (SK readers) first exposure to parallel worlds? I know The Gunslinger has a publication date of 1982 but I think that was a limited release. I'm pretty sure I didn't read the gunslinger until the trade paperback version was released. In The Gunslinger, the story took place in another world but I don't think the parallel worlds were clear until the next book.
In one of Jack's made up stories he was telling while hitchhiking, he said a stepfather named Aubrey beat him up. James Aubrey played Ralph in the 1963 Lord Of The Flies movie. I wonder if James Aubrey was the inspiration for that name?
I also noticed that the Academy award Lily was nominated for was for a movie called Blaze.