Rereading The Dead Zone

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Kurben

The Fool on the Hill
Apr 12, 2014
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I read this book first in the early 80-ties. I was still a teenager then and thought it was good but not great. It wasn't my first King but perhaps my third or so. Now when i after many years are picking it down and reading in its original language it is astonishing that i have forgotten some parts of it. I remembered the sad love story and i remembered the really good bad guy politician but i didn't appreciate him at all in the same way as I do know. He has definitely become scarier with age. Perhaps I have matured but he leaves a heavier mark on me today then all those years ago. John Smith himself i found myself liking just as much now as then. The serialkiller and his deeds i had practically forgotten strangely enough. Even if it isn't my fave King (think IT has probably taken that place forever) it is a much better King than i remembered. I remembered thinking when i read this book again that several times King mention an earlier Psychic named Hurkos (i think) and wondered if he is fact or fiction? Was there a real Hurkos or someone like him that King is thinking of?. I don't know but couldn't help thinmking the thought when he is mentioned by name at least twice, probably more.
 

skimom2

Just moseyin' through...
Oct 9, 2013
15,683
92,168
USA
I read this book first in the early 80-ties. I was still a teenager then and thought it was good but not great. It wasn't my first King but perhaps my third or so. Now when i after many years are picking it down and reading in its original language it is astonishing that i have forgotten some parts of it. I remembered the sad love story and i remembered the really good bad guy politician but i didn't appreciate him at all in the same way as I do know. He has definitely become scarier with age. Perhaps I have matured but he leaves a heavier mark on me today then all those years ago. John Smith himself i found myself liking just as much now as then. The serialkiller and his deeds i had practically forgotten strangely enough. Even if it isn't my fave King (think IT has probably taken that place forever) it is a much better King than i remembered. I remembered thinking when i read this book again that several times King mention an earlier Psychic named Hurkos (i think) and wondered if he is fact or fiction? Was there a real Hurkos or someone like him that King is thinking of?. I don't know but couldn't help thinmking the thought when he is mentioned by name at least twice, probably more.

I had the same experience with DZ. When I read it as a teen, I thought, "Okay," shrugged, and moved right along. Re-reading it as an adult was a much different experience. It resonated in a way that it hadn't as a kid, maybe because before as as adult I'd experienced love, and loss, and been passionate about politics and seen what power could do to a person. Now it's one of my favorite King books--in fact, this made me want to read it again :)
 

Blake

Deleted User
Feb 18, 2013
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I've noticed that King mentions 'Fate' magazine in the Dead Zone. Never read the magazine but I have read the English one 'Fortean Times'. I loved that show with William Shatner in the 1970's. I wonder if Stephen King was at a Fraternity at University. I doubt it. What's L.L. Beans?
 

RichardX

Well-Known Member
Sep 26, 2006
1,737
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DZ may be the most underrated of all King's books. In large part because it may be his best written book. For some reason, the scene early on where Johnny and his girlfriend visit the county fair and play the wheel of fortune always stands out to me as one of King's very best scenes. It ranks up there with the trip to room 217 in the Shining.
 

signals2112

Well-Known Member
May 30, 2015
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DZ may be the most underrated of all King's books. In large part because it may be his best written book. For some reason, the scene early on where Johnny and his girlfriend visit the county fair and play the wheel of fortune always stands out to me as one of King's very best scenes. It ranks up there with the trip to room 217 in the Shining.
The car accident, and John's near death, brought me tears. Then him waking up and realizing his girlfriend is married and has a child, also brought me to tears.
First time I've cried while reading a book since Harry Potter And The Half Blood Prince.
 
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Blake

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Feb 18, 2013
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Camping supplies, I looked it up on the internet. Open 24/7. I don't like Dr, Brown, one of the neurologists. LL Beans, open 24/7, camping supplies. I like the boot. I agree with someone that said that 'Wheel of Fortune' chapter in the book is a great piece of writing, very atmospheric.
 
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Blake

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Feb 18, 2013
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The Dead Zone. (Chronological).

The items with a (?) behind I don't get. I also added one item that wasn't in the book. Try to guess it.


Margaret Chase Smith; Stride King airtip shoes; Patti Page; Greg Stillson ( sorry my mistake spelling it wrong) wasn't lieing about another woman trying to run me down.; Ramon Navarro; Tibbets' Garage in Hampden; Homeroom Friday(I don't get it?); Delta Tau Delta; Bangor's Brass Rail(?); Was Stephen King in a Frat at Uni?; Torchy songs(?); Flagg Street in Veazie( you ever lived there?); Henry Youngman; 'Hey-hey-hey,' the pitchman chanted.; Carson's Bog; Carson's Hill on Route 6; as e.e. cummings said about the balloon man; Castle Rock; she had made him wear a clothespin?; Serenity Hill in Naples; Four Roses bottle; Billy Humbarr; hoss-thief; Gene Sedecki; Arnie Tremont; New Hampshire beach riots(?); Edmund Muskie; Cotton Hawes; The American Society of the Last Times; St. Johnsbury; Concord; Ozzie Smith; Freddy Coltsmore; Charlie Norton and Norm Lawson of Otisfield, Maine; Flair pen; Oral Roberts; Sunkist ( I like Fanta); Salem Kirban; W.W. Jacobs; (I don't like Dr. Brown); Dan Blocker; Vera Smith( not Auntie Vera from Corrimal); 'God works His will through the mind of man as well as through the spirit of man.'; Hush Puppies; Eileen Magown; Cumberland General; Old Orchard Beach; Allamagoosalum; Universe Book Club; Allagash; S. Hazlett, 12 Pond Street, Bangor; Jeanne Dixon; Edgar Cayce; Alex Tannous; Roto-Rooter; Frederick Remington prints; Longley(politician in Maine?); Franco-American Spaghetti; Black Label beer; Bannerman; Red Ryder cowboy boots; Lord Buxton( wallet?); Carbine Street in Castle Rock; Robert Browning; Miss Ringgold; Albert DeSalvo; Willian Loeb's Union Leader; Sam Weizak ( he came earlier); Frank Dodd; Pauline Toothaker; Gorham; Peter Hurkos; Max Brand; Ngo Phat; Chuck; BMOC; Kittery; The Unlearning Reader; Michael Carey Jackson; Chatsworth( nothin succeeds like success); not nothing sucks seeds like suck Cecil; laurel maryland; Harrison Fisher; Walter Cronkite; Charlene MacKenzie; Red Sox at Fenway Park; The Harder they Come; Ridder's Mill; Laughing Tiger; STILLSON'S GOT EM' IN A FULL-NELSON; Edgar Lancte; Hake Jamieson; Rainmaker's Association; TruthWay Bible Company; Wayne Hays; Sinclair Lewis; If you could jump into a time machine and go back to 1932, would you kill Hitler?( remember that episode of 'Tales of the Unexpected' episode where the same notion was put forward. I always like how Dahl did that at the start.)



And the annotations end on page 385. I haven't listed all the great passages I think are in the book. I'll do that in a few days time. (1989, Futura edition.) Excuse if spelling errors, did it last night after a few beers.
 
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Doc Creed

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The Dead Zone. (Chronological).

The items with a (?) behind I don't get. I also added one item that wasn't in the book. Try to guess it.


Margaret Chase Smith; Stride King airtip shoes; Patti Page; Greg Stillson ( sorry my mistake spelling it wrong) wasn't lieing about another woman trying to run me down.; Ramon Navarro; Tibbets' Garage in Hampden; Homeroom Friday(I don't get it?); Delta Tau Delta; Bangor's Brass Rail(?); Was Stephen King in a Frat at Uni?; Torchy songs(?); Flagg Street in Veazie( you ever lived there?); Henry Youngman; 'Hey-hey-hey,' the pitchman chanted.; Carson's Bog; Carson's Hill on Route 6; as e.e. cummings said about the balloon man; Castle Rock; she had made him wear a clothespin?; Serenity Hill in Naples; Four Roses bottle; Billy Humbarr; hoss-thief; Gene Sedecki; Arnie Tremont; New Hampshire beach riots(?); Edmund Muskie; Cotton Hawes; The American Society of the Last Times; St. Johnsbury; Concord; Ozzie Smith; Freddy Coltsmore; Charlie Norton and Norm Lawson of Otisfield, Maine; Flair pen; Oral Roberts; Sunkist ( I like Fanta); Salem Kirban; W.W. Jacobs; (I don't like Dr. Brown); Dan Blocker; Vera Smith( not Auntie Vera from Corrimal); 'God works His will through the mind of man as well as through the spirit of man.'; Hush Puppies; Eileen Magown; Cumberland General; Old Orchard Beach; Allamagoosalum; Universe Book Club; Allagash; S. Hazlett, 12 Pond Street, Bangor; Jeanne Dixon; Edgar Cayce; Alex Tannous; Roto-Rooter; Frederick Remington prints; Longley(politician in Maine?); Franco-American Spaghetti; Black Label beer; Bannerman; Red Ryder cowboy boots; Lord Buxton( wallet?); Carbine Street in Castle Rock; Robert Browning; Miss Ringgold; Albert DeSalvo; Willian Loeb's Union Leader; Sam Weizak ( he came earlier); Frank Dodd; Pauline Toothaker; Gorham; Peter Hurkos; Max Brand; Ngo Phat; Chuck; BMOC; Kittery; The Unlearning Reader; Michael Carey Jackson; Chatsworth( nothin succeeds like success); not nothing sucks seeds like suck Cecil; laurel maryland; Harrison Fisher; Walter Cronkite; Charlene MacKenzie; Red Sox at Fenway Park; The Harder they Come; Ridder's Mill; Laughing Tiger; STILLSON'S GOT EM' IN A FULL-NELSON; Edgar Lancte; Hake Jamieson; Rainmaker's Association; TruthWay Bible Company; Wayne Hays; Sinclair Lewis; If you could jump into a time machine and go back to 1932, would you kill Hitler?( remember that episode of 'Tales of the Unexpected' episode where the same notion was put forward. I always like how Dahl did that at the start.)



And the annotations end on page 385. I haven't listed all the great passages I think are in the book. I'll do that in a few days time. (1989, Futura edition.) Excuse if spelling errors, did it last night after a few beers.
Is it Kittery? I know he mentions the Maine coastal town in several books but not sure about this one. If you get the chance put the answer in SPOILER.
 

Blake

Deleted User
Feb 18, 2013
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Is it Kittery? I know he mentions the Maine coastal town in several books but not sure about this one. If you get the chance put the answer in SPOILER.
Ozzie Smith(baseball player, not mentioned in The Dead Zone)
 
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