Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1842852 in Books
• Published on: 2003-04-09
• Binding: Paperback
• 684 pages

Customer Reviews

An uninspired tale of nothing.
I attempted to read this book. While I do admire Stephen King and believe he is a unique storyteller, and I emphasize story teller, some of his work seems to be rather lackluster in presentation. I have heard that he has admitted on several occasions that he does not write good literature, but writes good stories. I can agree with that assessment and I myself, being an author, will likely never write what will be considered good literature.

But unfortunately this book did not fall into either category. The story is much the same in formula to many of his other works, a group of adults that were very close as children and teenagers have become estranged and some supernatural force or experience that they have all been involved with for the greater portion of their lives, pulls them back together. While it is said that authors write what they know, this is too much like many of the stories he has told before, and he has certainly done it better. While there was one idea that I REALLY liked and thought was very much worth reading, (the store room of ideas and filing system that one of the characters had) I couldn't really grasp why I should care about any of them. Obviously it was difficult because I can't remember a single name. And crapping out deadly aliens, c'mon, give me a break. How is that scary?

I don't usually stop reading a book because I don't like it. It's rare, but I had to put this book down. I just couldn't bring myself to finish it. I do have a general idea of what happened as I saw the film version, although there is much to be said between the art of cinema and literature, in that they are two completely different art forms and cannot be judged on the same criteria as one another. Oh, and while I'm at it I should mention that you should skip the film too, unless you want a good laugh as it's unintentionally funny.

I don't recommend this to anyone. I would be lying if I claimed that I've read a whole gamut of his work, but I have read bits and pieces and what I have read, I did enjoy. While I have read only one other Stephen King book, which I actually loved and will be reviewing here shortly, I would suggest people pick up some of his other work. He is talented, but this is not one of his better moments.

Stephen King's version of sci-fi alien thriller.
The best thing about Stephen King is that he is so random. This book isn't just an alien contact story. There is so much more to it. The extra-terrestrials are totally King's. He defines his own version of an alien race. It's definitely not scary but more what I'd call trippy. The way King describes the world of Jonesy's brain and the conflict between he and Mr. Gray for control is brilliant. His dreamlike scenes of this were my favorite parts of the book.

Yawn.
I usually give the book a good chance, but after 300 pages and it still isn't good?? I had to donate it to the library !!