Discussion Group Read for June 17, 2020.......The Library Policeman by Stephen King

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fljoe0

fljoe0

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This is a very good story but also one of Stephen's very darkest ones with one very graphic and hard to read section. This was published in 1990 and if I'm remembering correctly it was a time when people were just starting to speak publicly about assaults they suffered as children. A repressed memory of an assault is the theme of this story. At first, the reader is probably wondering why Sam is so scared of the library policeman. Then the reader gets bits and pieces of the repressed memory as the story goes along as the character Sam is getting them. I think Stephen does a good job here with some tough subject matter. Stephen is not one to shy away from disturbing subject matter.

Did anyone see some similarities to It? The librarian disappearing and reappearing for periods of time and be strengthened by the fear (mainly of children).
 
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Neesy

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fljoe0 said:
This is a very good story but also one of Stephen's very darkest ones with one very graphic and hard to read section. This was published in 1990 and if I'm remembering correctly it was a time when people were just starting to speak publicly about assaults they suffered as children. A repressed memory of an assault is the theme of this story. At first, the reader is probably wondering why Sam is so scared of the library policeman. Then the reader gets bits and pieces of the repressed memory as the story goes along as the character Sam is getting them. I think Stephen does a good job here with some tough subject matter. Stephen is not one to shy away from disturbing subject matter.

Did anyone see some similarities to It? The librarian disappearing and reappearing for periods of time and be strengthened by the fear (mainly of children).
Click to expand...
Good synopsis - I am afraid I will have to bow out tonight after all - we are all going out to the seafood restaurant for Andy's birthday tonight.

Will finish this story later tonight and come back tomorrow :teapot:
 
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Dana Jean

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fljoe0 said:
This is a very good story but also one of Stephen's very darkest ones with one very graphic and hard to read section. This was published in 1990 and if I'm remembering correctly it was a time when people were just starting to speak publicly about assaults they suffered as children. A repressed memory of an assault is the theme of this story. At first, the reader is probably wondering why Sam is so scared of the library policeman. Then the reader gets bits and pieces of the repressed memory as the story goes along as the character Sam is getting them. I think Stephen does a good job here with some tough subject matter. Stephen is not one to shy away from disturbing subject matter.

Did anyone see some similarities to It? The librarian disappearing and reappearing for periods of time and be strengthened by the fear (mainly of children).
Click to expand...
There are also similarities to Joe Hill's Nos4A2 -- a bit twisted but the dynamics of getting something from children is there.

I am woefully behind on these and I might not get them made up, so I will soak up what you all say. Life just keeps stickin' its foot out and trippin' me up!
 
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fljoe0

fljoe0

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Spideyman said:
Upon t he re read found a few Easter Eggs I had missed-
The man Dave draws in all his scary posters he refers to as the dark man (Randall Flagg?!?).
Paul Sheldon is mentioned as a romance novelist--Misery
Stephen King's name is mention in the list if authors.
Click to expand...

I noticed Paul Sheldon too.

This story takes place in Iowa. This is kind of an unusual location for Stephen.

Stephen used my favorite Hawaii Five 0 phrase in the story, Be there, Aloha :)


Here is the quote that made me think of It (page 709 on kindle)

But I think there was a real Ardelia Lortz at one time . . . in Pass Christian, Mississippi . . . or Harrisburg, Pennsylvania . . . or Portland, Maine . . . and the it took her over and put her on. Now she wants to do it again. If we let that happen, I think that later this year, in some other town, in San Francisco, California . . . or Butte, Montana . . . or Kingston, Rhode Island . . . a man named Sam Peebles will show up. Most people will like him. Children in particular will like him . . . although they may be afraid of him, too, in some way they don’t understand and can’t talk about. “And, of course, he will be a librarian.”

King, Stephen. Four Past Midnight (p. 709). Scribner. Kindle Edition.
 
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fljoe0

fljoe0

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I discovered something in the past couple of weeks with the kindle app that's pretty cool. If you notice in my 2 posts above, I was able to pull a quote from the book and when I paste it and the quote is attributed to Stephen with the page number. The way I do this is when I'm reading on my ipad, using the kindle app, I highlight something I may want to come back to. After I'm done reading the story, I open up the book on my desktop kindle app and all my highlights are lined up on the right side of the screen. I click a highlight and the page is displayed. I can highlight the text on the book portion and copy it and then paste it right on my message board post. When I do this, the author, book and page number are automatically put under the quote. This is going to be very handy in further discussions.
 
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Dana Jean

Dana Jean

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fljoe0 said:
I discovered something in the past couple of weeks with the kindle app that's pretty cool. If you notice in my 2 posts above, I was able to pull a quote from the book and when I paste it and the quote is attributed to Stephen with the page number. The way I do this is when I'm reading on my ipad, using the kindle app, I highlight something I may want to come back to. After I'm done reading the story, I open up the book on my desktop kindle app and all my highlights are lined up on the right side of the screen. I click a highlight and the page is displayed. I can highlight the text on the book portion and copy it and then paste it right on my message board post. When I do this, the author, book and page number are automatically put under the quote. This is going to be very handy in further discussions.
Click to expand...
cool
 
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Out of Order

Out of Order

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Seriously though....a very scary story. The lisp always bothered me and I’m not one to be bothered by such things. Always felt sorry for Dave too. The scene fljoeO mentions above possibly eliminates this from ever seeing the big screen...probably for the best. Lots of IT Easter eggs, but being set in Iowa I guess you could debate that.

Oh and all my library booksth areth returned on time...
 
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