paperback, 160 pages
English language
Published Nov. 12, 2019 by Scribner.
Although Scott Carey doesn't look any different, he's been steadily losing weight. There are a couple of other odd things, too. He weighs the same in his clothes and out of them, no matter how heavy they are. Scott doesn't want to be poked and prodded. He mostly just wants someone else to know, and he trusts Doctor Bob Ellis. In the small town of Castle Rock, the setting of many of King's most iconic stories, Scott is engaged in a low grade - but escalating - battle with the lesbians next door whose dog regularly drops his business on Scott's lawn. One of the women is friendly; the other, cold as ice. Both are trying to launch a new restaurant, but the people of Castle Rock want no part of a gay married couple, and the place is in trouble. When Scott finally understands the prejudices they face - …
Although Scott Carey doesn't look any different, he's been steadily losing weight. There are a couple of other odd things, too. He weighs the same in his clothes and out of them, no matter how heavy they are. Scott doesn't want to be poked and prodded. He mostly just wants someone else to know, and he trusts Doctor Bob Ellis. In the small town of Castle Rock, the setting of many of King's most iconic stories, Scott is engaged in a low grade - but escalating - battle with the lesbians next door whose dog regularly drops his business on Scott's lawn. One of the women is friendly; the other, cold as ice. Both are trying to launch a new restaurant, but the people of Castle Rock want no part of a gay married couple, and the place is in trouble. When Scott finally understands the prejudices they face - including his own - he tries to help. Unlikely alliances, the annual foot race, and the mystery of Scott's affliction bring out the best in people who have indulged the worst in themselves and others.
2.5 interesting premise but fails to fully deliver, with a story that feels somewhat lacking in depth and character development. It’s an okay read but doesn’t quite live up to the author’s usual standards.
Una storia leggera, in tutti i sensi. A tratti anche poetica, un ritaglio di esistenze che si incontrano e che ricavano l'una dall'altra qualcosa di buono.
I was so into the book, I listened to it in one day. He narrated his own book and I must say, I love his voice. I anticipate more from him in my future drives to and from work.
That was...weird. And I've pretty much read everything SK has ever written.
Not a bad weird, mind you. I would have liked another hundred or so pages with these characters.
But it just ended, and that was all (s)he wrote.
I was weirdly touched by both stories here, I think because I had no idea what to expect and because I learned so much about King from [b:On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft|10569|On Writing A Memoir of the Craft|Stephen King|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1436735207i/10569.SY75.jpg|150292]. I think it's evident from his fiction work and his memoir that he's gone through many dark periods, but he isn't about having them.
On the primary story, Elevation: I understand finding the characters a little thin here, but I also felt like I could mostly round them out well enough in my imagination (except for Missy, oddly). I also felt like the mentions of Trump as a means of gesturing to the town's conservative nature detracted from the place, because that isn't necessary for a small town to be homophobic and broadly suspicious of outsiders, and it situates the protagonist's motivations in opposition to something needlessly. …
I was weirdly touched by both stories here, I think because I had no idea what to expect and because I learned so much about King from [b:On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft|10569|On Writing A Memoir of the Craft|Stephen King|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1436735207i/10569.SY75.jpg|150292]. I think it's evident from his fiction work and his memoir that he's gone through many dark periods, but he isn't about having them.
On the primary story, Elevation: I understand finding the characters a little thin here, but I also felt like I could mostly round them out well enough in my imagination (except for Missy, oddly). I also felt like the mentions of Trump as a means of gesturing to the town's conservative nature detracted from the place, because that isn't necessary for a small town to be homophobic and broadly suspicious of outsiders, and it situates the protagonist's motivations in opposition to something needlessly.
That said: There are so many lovely little details, like the particular details of his affection for his cat; his interactions with other runners; his casual acknowledgment of how helpful it would be to send the money from his work to his ex-wife. Maybe it boils down to my identification with Carey, and being in his mind as he deals with his inexplicable condition. I believed entirely in King's portrait of Scott Carey, and it was nice to be credulous for a bit.
This and the second story, an admittedly tidy vignette, feel true to what I imagine King is thinking about lately, and the combination of those factors introduced a welcome tenderness today.
I was weirdly touched by both stories here, I think because I had no idea what to expect and because I learned so much about King from [b:On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft|10569|On Writing A Memoir of the Craft|Stephen King|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1436735207i/10569.SY75.jpg|150292]. I think it's evident from his fiction work and his memoir that he's gone through many dark periods, but he isn't about having them.
On the primary story, Elevation: I understand finding the characters a little thin here, but I also felt like I could mostly round them out well enough in my imagination (except for Missy, oddly). I also felt like the mentions of Trump as a means of gesturing to the town's conservative nature detracted from the place, because that isn't necessary for a small town to be homophobic and broadly suspicious of outsiders, and it situates the protagonist's motivations in opposition to something needlessly. …
I was weirdly touched by both stories here, I think because I had no idea what to expect and because I learned so much about King from [b:On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft|10569|On Writing A Memoir of the Craft|Stephen King|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1436735207i/10569.SY75.jpg|150292]. I think it's evident from his fiction work and his memoir that he's gone through many dark periods, but he isn't about having them.
On the primary story, Elevation: I understand finding the characters a little thin here, but I also felt like I could mostly round them out well enough in my imagination (except for Missy, oddly). I also felt like the mentions of Trump as a means of gesturing to the town's conservative nature detracted from the place, because that isn't necessary for a small town to be homophobic and broadly suspicious of outsiders, and it situates the protagonist's motivations in opposition to something needlessly.
That said: There are so many lovely little details, like the particular details of his affection for his cat; his interactions with other runners; his casual acknowledgment of how helpful it would be to send the money from his work to his ex-wife. Maybe it boils down to my identification with Carey, and being in his mind as he deals with his inexplicable condition. I believed entirely in King's portrait of Scott Carey, and it was nice to be credulous for a bit.
This and the second story, an admittedly tidy vignette, feel true to what I imagine King is thinking about lately, and the combination of those factors introduced a welcome tenderness today.
This felt like a short story rather than a novel. I feel like I blinked and it was over. The plot was kind of thin: man with a death sentence decides to use his remaining time to help a lesbian couple become accepted by their community. Shrug.
What a fun little novella. To anyone who can't realize this is an author using their publishing power to release a 'Dr. Who'/BBC-esque 'Holiday Special', yer over analyzing it.
First the good:
As a picture of a small town in the years of Trump, and people with very different lives finding common ground and some mutual respect, it's a good one. I liked the characterisation and the humour and the descriptions. Also the ending, whereby the protagonist sacrifices himself in order to, as he suspects, save the world from some kind of sentient alien lifeform, is low-key and strangely optimistic compared with previous stories with a similar theme (it's one he likes) by the same author.
Now the rest of it:
- This uses the same idea as a story by HG Wells and while a simple idea is not copyright, I could but wonder if there was a Terry Pratchett-style concealed pun in there somewhere. I mean, who ate all the pies? Maybe his suddenly revealed cooking skills could lead him to open a craft pie shop and …
First the good:
As a picture of a small town in the years of Trump, and people with very different lives finding common ground and some mutual respect, it's a good one. I liked the characterisation and the humour and the descriptions. Also the ending, whereby the protagonist sacrifices himself in order to, as he suspects, save the world from some kind of sentient alien lifeform, is low-key and strangely optimistic compared with previous stories with a similar theme (it's one he likes) by the same author.
Now the rest of it:
- This uses the same idea as a story by HG Wells and while a simple idea is not copyright, I could but wonder if there was a Terry Pratchett-style concealed pun in there somewhere. I mean, who ate all the pies? Maybe his suddenly revealed cooking skills could lead him to open a craft pie shop and what would he call it? For it does read like Edward Lee (in one of his gentler moments, as this is far from horror) had rewritten "The Truth about Pyecraft."
- As we know from our Star Trek, "ye canna defy the laws of physics, Captain!" Just because someone has lost a lot of weight and even if they have the same strength they had before does not necessarily mean they can run faster. Admittedly as the syndrome develops Scott does lose the ability to maintain traction on slippery ground - this is well done. But I wasn't convinced by it as it applied to the run. Years ago there was a tyre advert that had a well-known athlete (Linford Christie?) wearing very unsuitable footwear. The tagline: "Power is nothing without control." I thought of that when I read this. Newton's. Third. Law.
The author doesn't get running. You have a former Olympic-class distance runner in a town which is going to host a 12k (I don't mind this being an odd distance. One of the regular races around here is a 7k, which is also a peculiar distance. This year it sold out months ahead). She is probably going to be heavily involved and if the race is such a big deal that no local has won it for years, it will probably be sold out some time in advance. In the same way that writers write, runners run. It's what they do.
She placed fourth female in the New York Marathon, which if it was this year's race would give her a time of 2:26:21 - the time achieved by the Kenyan Nancy Kiprop. Using the Race Time Predictor she would do a 12k in 38:55; and a 5k in 15:23 which would net her the women's parkrun record by 27 seconds. Running, even a middle-distance race like a 12k (and this one involves at least one big hill), isn't just a matter of having extra strength (that is arguably more the case in the sprint). It involves training and tapering, technique, pacing, breath control, and a host of other factors. I don't think Scott can do a 12k in 38:56. I just don't.
I didn't even mind the 'phenomenon' being unexplained, because it's actually fantastical, but so much else made me think 'what?'
👍🏾
Not really "horror" but I pretty much put all of King's books there. It was an okay concept, but one that definitely led itself to be short. I knew this was a short book to begin with, but I had no idea until I picked it up that it would be so small too. Not bad, but one you should only pick up if you're like me, and you need to own ALL of King's works in hardcover if possible. I wouldn't be surprised if this ended up in a King anthology at some point in the future...
