The Mist by Stephen King

‘Stephen King is one of the bestselling writers in the world. A master of the short narrative form, King knows how to write stories that draw you in and are impossible to put down. His story collections have been described in the Sunday Telegraph as mysterious, gripping and satisfyingly scary.’
‘A short story is a different thing altogether – a short story is like a quick kiss in the dark from a stranger. That is not, of course, the same thing as an affair or a marriage, but kisses can be sweet, and their brevity forms their own attraction’ Stephen King.

PLOT

‘The Mist’ is a horror novella and has recently been adapted into a major movie. Written in 1980, it was not until 2007 that his short story was turned into a film- however King’s short narratives have always proved to be best sellers!

‘The Mist’- like the majority of King’s novellas- is set in Maine. King introduces us to the landscape and beauty of Maine, first the lake house and setting is described following Billy, his father (David) and mother (Steffi).

The formidable first sentence sets the scene of horror that is to continue …

‘This is what happened. On the night that the worst heat wave in northern New England history finally broke- the night of July 19 – the entire western Maine region was lashed with the most vicious thunderstorms I have ever seen’.

King’s style and form never fails to hook his readers- directing his story from the first line he invites his audience to immerse themselves into his very realistic stories…

Rating 5* -King captured my attention from the very first line. Finishing the novella in a few short hours I could not put it down! I have never seen the film adaptation but I had a very realistic image of the white mist finding its way through my bedroom window…

n Stephen King’s words… ‘Welcome aboard. Enjoy the ride.’

The Running Man by Stephen King

As you can probably tell by now, I love Stephen King. Although I am trying to limit the amount I review in a short space of time, The Running Man is just too good to keep to myself!

PLOT

Written under the pseudonym of Richard Bachman, The Running Man is a science fiction novel set in dystopian America. During the year of 2025 the nation is in ruins, split between the rich and poor.

Ben Richards is a citizen of Co-op city, the poor side of the town. Richard’s is unemployed and he is in desperate need of money, his daughter Cathy, needs medicine for her illness. In his desperation Ben resorts to the Games Network. The network offers people money in exchange for their participation on one of their many popular reality TV shows.

After a rigorous health and mental examination Richards is accepting onto ‘The Running Man’, the most dangerous and popular programme on TV.

Richards must run for his life. The rich people of the cities in American watch out for Richards in their towns and neighbour hoods he must keep off the radar- and away from the hunters.

The aim of the game? To stay alive for 30 days. The purpose of the hunters? To kill.

 

RATING 5* - Stephen King really had me hooked from page one. The chapters start off a count down and even in the small 241 pages that this book holds, there is so many twists and unexpected plot divisions.

Stephen King is renowned for the suspense in his novels, but The Running Man takes this to another level. As the whole nation watches Richards on the run- the reality of 2025 in America is a possibility. King investigates the prospects of what life will really be like in future.

White Noise by Don Delillo

This week’s review was a novel I read in my first year of university, although they do give me books I both love and hate- this is one of my favourites. Not to be confused with the film ‘White Noise’, this novel is not  terrifying as the film!

White Noise is the eighth novel by Don Delillo and was published in 1985. White Noise is considered as Delillo’s ‘breakout’ work as it brought him a larger audience. The Time has included him in their ‘100 Best English-Language Novels from 1923-2005’. It also won the ‘US National Book Award for Fiction’.

 

PLOT

The novel’s protagonist Jack Gladney is a professor of Hitler studies and the plot follows the life of Gladney family, which includes Henirich, Denise, Steffie, Wilder and his current wife, Babette. The first part of White Noise is called ‘Waves and Radiation’ where the novel follows the contemporary family life, which mainly serves to introduce the characters that lead the rest of the novel. Another key character introduced, outside of family life, is Murray who links his theories to the themes in the second half of the novel.

The second part is titled ‘The Airborne Toxic Event’, which follows the family’s lifestyle after a chemical spill near their neighbourhood. Faced with his exposure to the toxic event, Gladney is confronted by his fear of death.

The final part of the novel- ‘Dylarama’ follows Gladney’s discovery that his wife, Babette had been cheating on him, in order to acquire a fictional drug called Dylar. This is revealed later on, to be an experimental drug treatment for the fear of death. Gladney continues to obsess over death, until Murray suggests a hypothesis that killing someone could perhaps alleviate this fear…

However will Gladney go as far as killing someone to cure his own fear of mortality?

Rating 4* -The first part of the novel seems to be slow moving with little plot development; however the second and third part of the novel relate to the everyday fear that the human being is surrounded by danger.  The novel focuses on the lives of an ‘ordinary’ family, which is easily relatable. This postmodern novel makes you think and question the type of world we live in and the life we take for granted…

 

The Sun Also Rises by Ernest Hemmingway

‘The Sun Also Rises’ was Ernest Hemmingway’s first novel, published in 1926. Hemmingway was born in Illinois in 1899 and his work was considered to have a strong influence on 20^th century fiction.

Hemmingway began writing the novel on his birthday in 1925 and his first manuscript was finished two months after this, in September. The basis for the novel was on Hemmingway’s trip to Spain in 1925. Although the novel also visits Paris, the settings described in the novel are memorable, possibly based upon Hemmingway’s experience of living in Paris- when he was a young writer himself

PLOT

The main storyline follows a group of American and British expatriates, who travel from Paris to the Festival of San Fermín in Pamplona, to watch the running of the bulls and the bullfights. This was an early modernist novel and received mixed reviews upon its publication.

The novel follows an underlying love story between Jake Barnes, the protagonist- and Lady Brett Ashley, a divorcée. Brett’s affair with Jake’s friend Robert Cohn upsets the protagonist and their friendship is broken off. Brett continues a long set of affairs with her seduction of Romero, a bullfighter- whom Jake introduces Brett to whilst they are in Pamplona for the fiesta. This leads Jake to lose his good reputation whilst he is in Spain and once the fiesta is over the characters finally take off on their own journeys. Jake begins to regret turning down Bill’s invitation to join him when he receives a telegram from Brett, telling him she is in trouble and to meet her in Madrid. The novel comes to an end when Jake finds that Lady Ashley has sent Romero away. The novel ends with a sense of dѐjà vu from the beginning as Brett and Jake get into a taxi and Jake finally gets to put his arm around Brett once again.

Rating 4*- This was the first Hemmingway novel that I have read so I did have high expectations. The novel was not quite what I expected although it was thoroughly engaging- the bullfights and fiesta in Spain being an exciting highlight of the book. The descriptions of the café’s around Paris and wine shops in Pamplona created an atmosphere and culture which added to the novels plot.

I was expecting the novel to have slow moving chapters but as soon as I read the first page I was hooked! Definitely worth a read, this novel has underlying gender topics- as Brett is described her feminine aspects are rarely mentioned she is shown to have more masculine features and always enters the scenes with her line ‘hello chaps’. Brett is by far one of the most interesting characters to pay close attention to when reading this novel.

Bared to You by Sylvia Day

‘If you enjoyed Fifty Shades of Grey you’ll love Bared to You’

‘Bared to You’ was declared Penguin Book’s fastest selling paperback of the decade

 

PLOT

Replace Ana for Eva and Christian for Gideon and you’ve got ‘Bared to You’ in a nut shell.

Gideon is a self-made millionaire and bachelor living in New York. When he meets Eva he soon learns he is not the only one who has commitment issues- and although Eva wants more, her past is holding her back.

As the beautiful and brilliant Gideon attempts to wow Eva, he realises he steps over a line he was unwilling to cross… can he and Eva get over their mysterious pasts and move on together?

This is the first novel in a trilogy by Sylvia Day, with the final Crossfire novels titled ‘Reflected to You’ and ‘Entwined with You’ –which are due to be realised in the future.

Rating 3* -Compared to ‘Fifty Shades’ the novel’s style is more sophisticated. The writing style is not quite as repetitive as E.L James- although it does have some aspects which are very alike. The tag line ‘if you enjoyed fifty…’ is very true. ‘Bared to You’ very similar, in fact it has the exact same story line- minus and adding a few details.

I did enjoy the novel, it was a better read than ‘Fifty Shades’, however I wasn’t prepared for it to be exactly the same. I have a feeling this genre has run its course and it won’t be until the film adaptation of ‘Fifty’ comes out for the hype to return.

Daughters of the House by Michele Roberts

The award winning novel ‘Daughters of the House’ by Michѐle Roberts won the WH Smith Literary award in 1992.

PLOT

Set in France, Daughters of the House begins with Lѐoni waiting on the arrival of her cousin Thѐrѐse. The stunning narrative sets the scene of the house, as each chapter is devoted to the tiniest detailing including ‘the writing table’ and ‘the buffet’.

After setting the scene of the present, the book skips back to when Lѐoni and Thѐrѐse were children. Living in post-war Normandy, the novel explores the children’s past and how they perceive the world around them. The idea that Lѐoni is half French, half English (like Michѐle Roberts) allows her to discover the past and shape her future as she develops into adolescence.

However, when both children have a vision of a woman in the woods, the children are faced with who is going to be believed and who is telling the truth. The novel invests itself in discovery of the truth and will this break the relationship that Lѐoni and Thѐrѐse have formed?

The children use the house to uncover dark secrets that surround their parent’s past…

Rating 3*- Robert’s novel is beautifully written; however, the plot is slightly unusual in comparison to many other novels. Although there is a ‘revealing’ towards the end, the plot seems to drift off and does not have the impact you would normally expect. Robert’s novel is a little disappointing in this aspect, although it does make up for this in other senses (through its interesting contrast of characters perspective), it does not have the disclosure you normally receive from finishing a book.

Nevertheless Michѐle Roberts presents a thought provoking novel, which introduces you the Lѐoni and Thѐrѐse past. The award winning novel includes an interesting set of events throughout and Robert’s use of language produces a powerful piece of writing. 

Fifty Shades of Grey by E.L James

Fifty Shades of Grey has not only topped the charts in the UK but around the world. So what exactly is all the hype about?
 

Originally Fifty Shades of Grey was published on a website under the pen name ‘Snowqueens Ice dragon’. Titled, ‘Master of the Universe’ it was a piece of fan fiction based on the ‘Twilight’ characters- Bella and Edward. After concern was raised due to its sexual content it was later removed from the website.

 PLOT

Part of a trilogy that is sweeping the nation, Mr. Grey appears to be capturing the attention of millions of women readers around the world.

Set in Seattle, Fifty Shades of Grey is the first novel which follows the relationship between student, Anastasia Steele and the mysterious Christian Grey. Steele is to sign a contract allowing Mr. Grey to have complete control over her life. The novel follows the sexual relationship between Anastasia, Mr. Grey and his ‘Red Room of Pain’…

 

Rating 3* - It is like marmite. You either love it or hate it. With many mixed reviews circling the web and television, the novel has been criticised by many. However, one thing everyone appears to agree on- is the reader will be unable to put this novel down!

This author pushes the boundaries literature sets for what is considered inappropriate- but with great success the trilogy reached the top of the book charts. However the novel’s writing style is poorly worded- still, this does not seem to be putting thousands of readers off!

 

In spite of this, I was unable to put the book down. I shall let you make your own opinion- like many thousands of readers around England and the rest of the world…