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3.35 AVERAGE
3.35 AVERAGE
Where the hell to begin! I gave myself almost a week to collect my thoughts for this review, and I’m still not entirely sure I even know how to give it a proper one.
This book was something... That I know for sure. I read that King wrote it mostly high on opioids from his accident. That is very apparent from the writing and storytelling. It is a MESS and honestly, it is oftentimes confusing and/or jumbled. It’s a 600 page book and books that are that long and not throughly planned out have a tendency to derail. King, who admits he often doesn’t truly know where a story is heading, seems to be all over the place, veering off the road before righting the course.
There are of course some of King’s biggest strengths present; his ability to build strong characters, making you care about them, despite the story not being the best. I did, however, find the dialogue to be corny at times. This isn’t something new with King, I’ve always struggled to not roll my eyes at some of the things his characters say, but this book is at a whole new level. These characters say things that no one, at any point in time, has ever said. What made it a bigger problem with this one is that the cheesy dialogue his characters often spew flowed into the actual narrative, something that isn’t usually the case with Stephen King.
I know it seems I’m bashing King with a criticism bat here. But let me say this; If anyone else had written this story, it would have been lucky to get 1 star, but because of King’s talent as a writer, he managed to make it far more interesting than any other author could possibly have. With that being said... I would not recommend this book to anyone outside these whose goal is to read all of Stephen King’s work.
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
First off, I read this book back in 2001 when it was released and I was only 14. I still remember my English teacher not necessarily believing that I had read it because it was such a large book. I loved it then and with my track record of the last two Kings that I used to love, I was fully prepared to be disappointed. Reader, I was not disappointed. It was a 5 star in 2001 and its a 5 star in 2023.
At it's core Dreamcatcher is a book about friendships. How they change, how they grow, how they are the glue that holds us together and the fuel that keeps us going. A solid friendship can be the difference between life and death and can certainly shape who you grow up to be. Dreamcatcher builds on this idea and grows outward, spinning the webs in different directions to discuss all kinds of relationships and interactions. There is a storyline of how we, as humans, deal with control, corruption and authority. There is a storyline about how we deal with cruelty and another about how we treat those that are different from us. Finally, there is a storyline about how we deal with our place in the world. Would we sacrifice ourself for the greater good? How about our best friend?
I can go on, and on. But in short this book brought me to tears, there is something about positive male relationships that always does that, more than one time. It made me laugh, it made me think and it made me really want a damn bacon sandwich.
As always my favorite part is how King starts with an idea of a person, just a blank idea, and builds them out. He populates the world around them to make them whole and interesting. They become part of the world rather than just existing inside of it.
At it's core Dreamcatcher is a book about friendships. How they change, how they grow, how they are the glue that holds us together and the fuel that keeps us going. A solid friendship can be the difference between life and death and can certainly shape who you grow up to be. Dreamcatcher builds on this idea and grows outward, spinning the webs in different directions to discuss all kinds of relationships and interactions. There is a storyline of how we, as humans, deal with control, corruption and authority. There is a storyline about how we deal with cruelty and another about how we treat those that are different from us. Finally, there is a storyline about how we deal with our place in the world. Would we sacrifice ourself for the greater good? How about our best friend?
I can go on, and on. But in short this book brought me to tears, there is something about positive male relationships that always does that, more than one time. It made me laugh, it made me think and it made me really want a damn bacon sandwich.
As always my favorite part is how King starts with an idea of a person, just a blank idea, and builds them out. He populates the world around them to make them whole and interesting. They become part of the world rather than just existing inside of it.
Haters gonna hate. One of the first King books I read and still one of my favorites. I liked him better on the coke lol.
dark
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
My feelings on this novel can be summed up by a shrug of the shoulders and non-committal "Eh."
Having recently read The Shining, I was somewhat disappointed with Dreamcatcher. The premise was certainly an intriguing one; I like the general idea that Stephen King had with this novel, I just think it was shoddy execution.
There were some thrilling and frightening moments, especially in the first half of the book, but the whole novel was unnecessarily long. There could have been more thrilling and frightening moments in the second half if King hadn't felt it necessary to drag out the action as much as possible, and try and establish a deeper theme and complex theme by repeating himself over and over in different ways. By the time I finally got to the three-quarter mark, I found myself thinking, When will this book end?.
I certainly appreciate novels that make you think, and novels that have more to them than simply surface-level action. However, I think Stephen King missed the mark in attempting to make this about more than just the aliens and the action there. I think the whole dreamcatcher metaphor was a shaky one at best, and while I appreciate that King creatively weaved in the backstory of the five boys throughout the novel, it simultaneously resulted in a novel that became repetitive and clogged up toward the end. I just wanted to tell Stephen King "OKAY, WE GET IT, I SEE WHAT YOU'RE SAYING, CAN WE PLEASE MOVE ON?"
Overall, the plot was an entertaining and interesting one. But for such an intriguing plot to work with, King managed to make it crawl at a snail's pace toward the end rather than wrapping it up in a powerful way. If he had cut out at least half the novel and condensed it, it would probably be way better.
Having recently read The Shining, I was somewhat disappointed with Dreamcatcher. The premise was certainly an intriguing one; I like the general idea that Stephen King had with this novel, I just think it was shoddy execution.
There were some thrilling and frightening moments, especially in the first half of the book, but the whole novel was unnecessarily long. There could have been more thrilling and frightening moments in the second half if King hadn't felt it necessary to drag out the action as much as possible, and try and establish a deeper theme and complex theme by repeating himself over and over in different ways. By the time I finally got to the three-quarter mark, I found myself thinking, When will this book end?.
I certainly appreciate novels that make you think, and novels that have more to them than simply surface-level action. However, I think Stephen King missed the mark in attempting to make this about more than just the aliens and the action there. I think the whole dreamcatcher metaphor was a shaky one at best, and while I appreciate that King creatively weaved in the backstory of the five boys throughout the novel, it simultaneously resulted in a novel that became repetitive and clogged up toward the end. I just wanted to tell Stephen King "OKAY, WE GET IT, I SEE WHAT YOU'RE SAYING, CAN WE PLEASE MOVE ON?"
Overall, the plot was an entertaining and interesting one. But for such an intriguing plot to work with, King managed to make it crawl at a snail's pace toward the end rather than wrapping it up in a powerful way. If he had cut out at least half the novel and condensed it, it would probably be way better.
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
4.5 stars*
Dreamcatcher is the first book i've read from Stephen King and honestly, i am pleasantly surprised!
The story was quite fun to read through and so were the characters portrayed. I don't understand all the hate for this book. There was only one part that i thought went on for too long but that's about it. I really felt like these characters were good friends and i felt their struggles and pain and i wanted them to succeed.
I would definitely give this book a chance if you're considering to read it.
Dreamcatcher is the first book i've read from Stephen King and honestly, i am pleasantly surprised!
The story was quite fun to read through and so were the characters portrayed. I don't understand all the hate for this book. There was only one part that i thought went on for too long but that's about it. I really felt like these characters were good friends and i felt their struggles and pain and i wanted them to succeed.
I would definitely give this book a chance if you're considering to read it.
what a strange (not so) little book. it's so off the walls, but at the same time, i've never found a king book that i didn't like at least a little bit.
adventurous
dark
lighthearted
mysterious
sad
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
The one about the shit-weasels.
2023 Re-Read
Even when drugged up on Oxytocin, King still manages to slay! In the Author's note, King expands on having to take Oxytocin as pain relief after an accident, and also enlightens us to how the whole book was originally written in cursive. Like, fair play 😳 6 months of that would make my hand fall off 😂
I can never fault King on his capabilities to write deep storylines and characters. The dreamcatcher is an important symbol that ties together the themes of friendship, protection, and psychic power in the novel. It serves as a powerful reminder of the characters' shared past and their unique abilities, which are ultimately put to the test in the face of a terrifying alien invasion.
Another reason I enjoyed Dreamcatcher is due to its many references to IT. I'm going to have to go and re-read IT again some point soon as now I'm getting cravings for it!🎈😂
3.25★
Although I love a lot about this novel, I don't think it's one of his finest pieces of work. I have read elsewhere that even King doesn't think its one of his best, and I'm going to have to agree. A lot of it felt a bit too dragged out, and for nearly 700 pages, it probably could have been better if it were more like 500.
Some parts felt very repetitive, and there was a lot of chasing which perhaps wasn't needed. For me, it's the back-story of the friendships which pulls this book through, rather than the main alien invasion plot.
'The years of 1984 and '85 were bad ones in Derry. In the summer of 1984, three local teenagers had thrown a gay man into the Canal, killing him. In the ten months which followed, half a dozen children had been murdered, apparently by a psychotic who sometimes masqueraded as a clown.'
2023 Re-Read
Even when drugged up on Oxytocin, King still manages to slay! In the Author's note, King expands on having to take Oxytocin as pain relief after an accident, and also enlightens us to how the whole book was originally written in cursive. Like, fair play 😳 6 months of that would make my hand fall off 😂
I can never fault King on his capabilities to write deep storylines and characters. The dreamcatcher is an important symbol that ties together the themes of friendship, protection, and psychic power in the novel. It serves as a powerful reminder of the characters' shared past and their unique abilities, which are ultimately put to the test in the face of a terrifying alien invasion.
Another reason I enjoyed Dreamcatcher is due to its many references to IT. I'm going to have to go and re-read IT again some point soon as now I'm getting cravings for it!🎈😂
3.25★
Although I love a lot about this novel, I don't think it's one of his finest pieces of work. I have read elsewhere that even King doesn't think its one of his best, and I'm going to have to agree. A lot of it felt a bit too dragged out, and for nearly 700 pages, it probably could have been better if it were more like 500.
Some parts felt very repetitive, and there was a lot of chasing which perhaps wasn't needed. For me, it's the back-story of the friendships which pulls this book through, rather than the main alien invasion plot.
'The years of 1984 and '85 were bad ones in Derry. In the summer of 1984, three local teenagers had thrown a gay man into the Canal, killing him. In the ten months which followed, half a dozen children had been murdered, apparently by a psychotic who sometimes masqueraded as a clown.'
adventurous
dark
tense
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot