The Dune

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Rrty

Well-Known Member
Jun 4, 2007
1,394
4,588
There is a mistake in the story, I think?

King presumably meant the lawyer's name was written in the sand, but on page 87, second paragraph (by that I mean second full paragraph on the page, I'm not considering the incomplete one at the top; is that the universal way of counting paragraphs on a page?), the Judge says that his lawyer, the one he is telling the tale to, can do the legal work for the Sarasota County Beach and Wildlife Preservation Society in regard to one of the requests in the Judge's will, the one pertaining to declaring the island with the dune forever wild (which I assume means it will then be protected and that people will be disallowed from stepping foot upon it?); he says he would like him to do it pro bono, but that it is his choice whether or not he will do it for free. How can he do that if he is dead? Presumably the man will die at any time before a month (I think it is) after his name is written in the sand, so yes, he still could have time to do it, but since the Judge wanted to get the will done quickly, and because of the way the ending was written, this would seem to contradict that paragraph.

Maybe I'm missing something, though, since no one else seems to have mentioned this in the thread (I may do a search to see if there is any commentary on this). Perhaps someone like Bev Vincent would like to offer an opinion, or Ms. Mod? I may very well be wrong and misunderstanding something, or am forgetting something in the narrative that reconciles what confuses me; after all, I believe this story was previously published, and any contradictions would have been caught by the time it was collected.

Still, I loved the story. At one point I thought this was how it was going to end (although the story would need to have been written slightly differently for this conclusion):

The word written in the dune would have been either Mankind, or Earth.

Another thing I thought is that it would have been fun if, somehow, the power of the dune was connected to the "Obits" story. Obviously both of those supernatural occurrences are different in nature -- one tells the future, one can make the future -- but it was something I nevertheless thought, as both of the stories' themes seemed to be similar. I should also say I don't necessarily want the two stories to be connected, as maybe it's best for both of these worlds to exist in their own respective collection of fictional letters.
 
Last edited:

Pucker

We all have it coming, kid
May 9, 2010
2,906
6,242
62
I may very well be wrong and misunderstanding something, or am forgetting something in the narrative that reconciles what confuses me; after all, I believe this story was previously published, and any contradictions would have been caught by the time it was collected.

The judge does mention that "one trip to Tallahassee should do it," in reference to what he wishes the attorney to do; and that the bequest itself should grease the skids. This would appear to indicate that it could be done soon and that what most people have indicated in the thread is probably correct.

Either that ... or I am entirely wrong. :eyebrow:
 

BeverleyMarsh

Well-Known Member
Jul 23, 2010
862
5,374
The Twilight Zone
There is a mistake in the story, I think?

King presumably meant the lawyer's name was written in the sand, but on page 87, second paragraph (by that I mean second full paragraph on the page, I'm not considering the incomplete one at the top; is that the universal way of counting paragraphs on a page?), the Judge says that his lawyer, the one he is telling the tale to, can do the legal work for the Sarasota County Beach and Wildlife Preservation Society in regard to one of the requests in the Judge's will, the one pertaining to declaring the island with the dune forever wild (which I assume means it will then be protected and that people will be disallowed from stepping foot upon it?); he says he would like him to do it pro bono, but that it is his choice whether or not he will do it for free. How can he do that if he is dead? Presumably the man will die at any time before a month (I think it is) after his name is written in the sand, so yes, he still could have time to do it, but since the Judge wanted to get the will done quickly, and because of the way the ending was written, this would seem to contradict that paragraph.

Maybe I'm missing something, though, since no one else seems to have mentioned this in the thread (I may do a search to see if there is any commentary on this). Perhaps someone like Bev Vincent would like to offer an opinion, or Ms. Mod? I may very well be wrong and misunderstanding something, or am forgetting something in the narrative that reconciles what confuses me; after all, I believe this story was previously published, and any contradictions would have been caught by the time it was collected.

Still, I loved the story. At one point I thought this was how it was going to end (although the story would need to have been written slightly differently for this conclusion):

The word written in the dune would have been either Mankind, or Earth.

Another thing I thought is that it would have been fun if, somehow, the power of the dune was connected to the "Obits" story. Obviously both of those supernatural occurrences are different in nature -- one tells the future, one can make the future -- but it was something I nevertheless thought, as both of the stories' themes seemed to be similar. I should also say I don't necessarily want the two stories to be connected, as maybe it's best for both of these worlds to exist in their own respective collection of fictional letters.
I think these are fair points Rty as it bothered me too and led me to question whether I was misunderstanding the ending. I'm very curious to hear about others points of view on it.
 

icarus

Well-Known Member
Mar 30, 2011
125
168
I wonderful little twilight zone type story....really enjoyed it and loved the ending....again the ending leaves me wondering if it was definetly the lawyers name that was written in the sand?...and could there be a different meaning to the end?
 

chief4db

When it doubt, run!
Feb 11, 2015
733
2,676
whatsamatteru. usa
I have the hard cover and the audiobook. I read first and then do audiobook later. Sometimes I listen to audiobook and follow along. I know I'm freaking crazy. That's ok, us crazies got to stick together. Any the audiobook has quite a few differences. Not just a word changed here and there. Although there is plenty of that too. But whole sentences omitted and whole sentences added. Anyone know why these are different. There both bazaar of bad dreams. It's not like dune from 2011 compared to dune in bazaar of bad dreams. It's bazaar of bad dreams compared to bazaar of bad dreams audiobook
 

The Nameless

M-O-O-N - That spells Nameless
Jul 10, 2011
2,080
8,261
42
The Darkside of the Moon (England really)
I agree. I thought the same exact thing when I finished. Twilight zone all the way
Add me to you and lowman on the twilight zone list.

I've just read this as I'm between books at the moment (when I finish a book, I usually read a short story or 2). It's the 1st one I've read from bazaar, except blockade Billy and morality which I read as a separate book. I thought it was good, not as good as I'd imagined, alot of you guys hyped it as amongst your favourites. It had a kind of cozy nostalgic feel to it, I guess that's why I thought of the twilight zone.

I must admit, king got me with this one, I was fooled up until the last line.
As soon as I knew the island foretold a death I said to myself "it's going to end with him seeing his own name written in the sand" and kept that feeling until he said "oh no, not mine"

Classic king ending though - a hard cut with an unwritten question "what happened next, you decide"
 

hayley muench

Member
Jun 29, 2016
8
16
29
For some reason I just loved this short story! I love his clever sence of humour, especially when it meets horror. I've started tattooing my entire leg all of Stephen king books, I have pennywise and the Grady girls as well as 'redrum' and 'we all float down here ' , that's just a start but now I want to get a tiny one of a dune on my ankle for this short story. Pure brilliant it was.