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3.32 AVERAGE
3.32 AVERAGE
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
This is my second time around with this one and I honestly could not remember the story at all. I am unsure why. A seemingly simple story within a story about state police in Pennsylvania who find an abandoned Buick at a gas station. The suspense slowly builds, very subtly, through the telling of the tale of the Buick, culminating in the electrifying climax. One of Kings' strengths is in the fascinating characters he draws. Including the character of a Buick that looks like a Buick, what our brains comprehend is a Buick (with modifications), but is not a Buick.
Sometimes Kings' stories are set in another dimension, of which there are many. The multiverse. Sometimes the world is similar to ours but not exactly ours. Sometimes the multiverse coexist. Sometimes the dimensions overlap. And other times, the story takes place in our world and King gifts us with a glimpse of the other. And all things serve the Beam.
Sometimes Kings' stories are set in another dimension, of which there are many. The multiverse. Sometimes the world is similar to ours but not exactly ours. Sometimes the multiverse coexist. Sometimes the dimensions overlap. And other times, the story takes place in our world and King gifts us with a glimpse of the other. And all things serve the Beam.
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I wish I wrote a review right after I finished this book. So it has been almost a year and I can’t get the idea of something mysterious and dark and gooey out of my head. Thanks, Stephen.
The book took me awhile to get through and I think because it was such a casual mystery. By a certain point I realized that I may not be able to solve every mystery in this book just by completing it. I enjoyed the writing though and would recommend as a slow casual read.
The book took me awhile to get through and I think because it was such a casual mystery. By a certain point I realized that I may not be able to solve every mystery in this book just by completing it. I enjoyed the writing though and would recommend as a slow casual read.
A book about how no matter how much we want to make sense of the vagaries of life, we usually can't. And while that is a truism, it doesn't make for much of a story.
Essentially, a kid named Ned is trying to make sense of his dad's, a state trooper in PA, death and starts hanging out and doing odds and ends around the troop barracks where his dad worked. Eventually he notices an old Buick stored in the back shed and wants to know about it. Round Robin story telling ensues about its strange appearance and the weird things that sometimes happens around it. Like Ned, we never really learn exactly what the Buick is or where it came from.
Essentially, a kid named Ned is trying to make sense of his dad's, a state trooper in PA, death and starts hanging out and doing odds and ends around the troop barracks where his dad worked. Eventually he notices an old Buick stored in the back shed and wants to know about it. Round Robin story telling ensues about its strange appearance and the weird things that sometimes happens around it. Like Ned, we never really learn exactly what the Buick is or where it came from.
got bored to the point where there were 50pages left.. no interest in finishing
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
From a Buick 8 is definitely one of King's worst novels. It tells the story of what looks like a car but actually seems to be a conduit between our world and a terrifying alternate dimension. The storytelling is fine by King, and the book isn't all that long, but it feels long. There simply isn't much story in the novel and it feels like half the content could be cut without hurting the plot. Even cutting out the boring parts of the novel wouldn't make this a good read, though maybe an average one. The characters are stellar but there is a profound lack of action in the book. Even the ending is dull, though it manages to explain some of the mystery in the plot. This book should be a novella at most, maybe a short story. I'm not really sure what King was thinking on this one. It feels like someone else wrote this.