Take a photo of a barcode or cover
3.5 AVERAGE
3.5 AVERAGE
dark
tense
Not one I'd remember or revisit much. Pretty average King story that could have been trimmed.
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
dark
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
This was the scariest King book I've read, but not for the reason you'd think. The horror came from the blatant racism and tone deafness that littered almost every page.
We have a case of another magical minority, but this time it's not a black person with magical abilities who drops everything to aid our white hero, but a Romani great grandfather with a rotting nose who curses the main character.
The Romani were the villains in this because? Because they were Romani. But I'd say they were not Romani, they were fake Romani. Fake because they had nothing to do with actual Romani people or their culture. King simply created this group of people and then hung the label on them.
When I saw the "Romany" or "Rom" language as King called it, my jaw dropped to the floor. They were speaking Norwegian. King couldn't even be bothered to make them speak their actual language and just called Norwegian Romany. And the icing on the cake: Lemke was also the last great Magyar leader.
So just to summarise: we have a group of people who have nothing to do with being Romani but they are Romani, they speak Norwegian and they are Hungarian. Maybe King was speedrunning offending as many nations as he could, as fast as he could.
As a Hungarian, I have no idea whom he meant by the Hungarian leader and I don't want to find out either. I don't think he really though it through, he probably threw Magyar in there because it sounded good or mysterious. Taduz Lemke isn't even remotely a Hungarian name and Hungarian people are not the same as Romani people.
Throughout the book there were so many racist and insulting things said about the Romani that it's hard to only mention a few. He referred to them as animals multiple times: vultures, hyenas and a nest of hornets. It wasn't enough that they were the other, he brought them down to the level of the animal other, barely human. They were dirty, dumb, smelled bad, uneducated, thieves and leaches on society.
The only time anything positive was said about them is when he sexualized and exoticized a Romani woman (who might have been underage as well). He called her a jaguar, she had exotic olive skin and she was wild and free. She'd move like the see before a storm while making love. Absolutely disgusting.
Speaking of, King didn't even shy away from sexualizing the main character's fourteen year old daughter. I don't think I have to explain why that is wrong.
I could go on listing all the bigoted things that can be found in this book (there's misogyny and fat phobia among many other things), but I think I've made my point.
I am really disappointed that people don't see anything wrong with this book and they keep defending King. He is racist, or at least was.
We have a case of another magical minority, but this time it's not a black person with magical abilities who drops everything to aid our white hero, but a Romani great grandfather with a rotting nose who curses the main character.
The Romani were the villains in this because? Because they were Romani. But I'd say they were not Romani, they were fake Romani. Fake because they had nothing to do with actual Romani people or their culture. King simply created this group of people and then hung the label on them.
When I saw the "Romany" or "Rom" language as King called it, my jaw dropped to the floor. They were speaking Norwegian. King couldn't even be bothered to make them speak their actual language and just called Norwegian Romany. And the icing on the cake: Lemke was also the last great Magyar leader.
So just to summarise: we have a group of people who have nothing to do with being Romani but they are Romani, they speak Norwegian and they are Hungarian. Maybe King was speedrunning offending as many nations as he could, as fast as he could.
As a Hungarian, I have no idea whom he meant by the Hungarian leader and I don't want to find out either. I don't think he really though it through, he probably threw Magyar in there because it sounded good or mysterious. Taduz Lemke isn't even remotely a Hungarian name and Hungarian people are not the same as Romani people.
Throughout the book there were so many racist and insulting things said about the Romani that it's hard to only mention a few. He referred to them as animals multiple times: vultures, hyenas and a nest of hornets. It wasn't enough that they were the other, he brought them down to the level of the animal other, barely human. They were dirty, dumb, smelled bad, uneducated, thieves and leaches on society.
The only time anything positive was said about them is when he sexualized and exoticized a Romani woman (who might have been underage as well). He called her a jaguar, she had exotic olive skin and she was wild and free. She'd move like the see before a storm while making love. Absolutely disgusting.
Speaking of, King didn't even shy away from sexualizing the main character's fourteen year old daughter. I don't think I have to explain why that is wrong.
I could go on listing all the bigoted things that can be found in this book (there's misogyny and fat phobia among many other things), but I think I've made my point.
I am really disappointed that people don't see anything wrong with this book and they keep defending King. He is racist, or at least was.
This was not a favorite of mine. I wasn’t rooting for anyone and the story felt too tame & predictable.
Ohh Stephen King.... you got me again! I didn't see that one coming.
-Completes 2015 Reading Challenge Book Released Year I Was Born :1984
-Completes 2015 Reading Challenge Book Released Year I Was Born :1984
