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3.8 AVERAGE
3.8 AVERAGE
The Langoliers is still the best and most memorable story, but don't miss the chilling story of plagiarism either.
Four Past Midnight
The Langoliers: This one seems to be really hit or miss for readers. I wanted to like it but unfortunately, it was more annoying than enjoyable.
The idea of a commercial flight flying theough a rift in space and venturing some strange land is a cool one, and I was looking forward to learning more about the events that occur.
Unfortunately, none of the characters are fully realised. Once again, King uses a minority character as a “gifted one with superpowers”. Someone else uses a toaster as a weapon. In a way, it reminds me of The Tommyknockers. The silly dialogue, the obnoxious style, even the origins of the name is similar.
Also, one of the aspects of post-apocalyptic, survival, or zombie stories that I find grating is how a psychotic human messing everything up for the survivors can sometimes shift the story too much towards their direction when all I want is to get back to the supernatural monsters etc. The Langoliers falls into that trap.
Fortunately, it’s pretty entertaining. The concept is very cool, and I can see how King wanted to emulate his previous success with The Mist, even if it does fall massively short compared to his best short story/novella. I wish the story had more to say. Overall, it’s fine but it feels too recycled.
2.5/5
Secret Window, Secret Garden: Once again, I can’t help but feel this is “been there, done that”. There’s a twist but it’s not particularly surprising. It’s like a cross between The Dark Half and Misery. To give it some credit, it starts off slow but it does becomes quite compelling towards the end.
2.8/5
The Library Policeman:
The first chapter did nothing for me. I wasn’t interested in the characters or their lives. Fortunately, as soon as the main character enters the library, things improve.
The villain reminded me of Pennywise. In fact, I’m starting to see a pattern emerge with this collection. They all seem to be retreads of previous stories. I’m not sure if it’s intentional or if he was just out of ideas. Either way, it makes the book feel inferior.
I also hate the inappropriate jesting during a traumatic event. A character is fighting for his life. He’s racing across the country. Then he’s fooling around with a friend, laughing and flirting with each other. It makes no sense and takes me right out of the story.
Anyway, overall, this story is at least better
written than the first two, and it was mostly entertaining. I was curious to see where it was heading. Overall, I hated the ending. Maybe if it was half the length and featured in one of his short story collections I would like it a lot more.
2.8/5
The Sun Dog:
The only story that was genuinely creepy and made me feel uncomfortable in a good way. Apart from the fact that a dog is an antagonist, this story has no resemblance to Cujo.
The Sun Dog is the most original of the four stories in this collection. It didn’t feel recycled like the others. It reminded me of the sort of thrills and scares one gets with J-horror. It’s also nice to be in Castle Rock with some familiar faces. Pop Merrill was a great character.
Despite enjoying it, The Sun Dog isn’t groundbreaking in any way, and comes across as a moderately successful short. Amongst all of King’s shorts and novellas I’ve read it fits firmly in the middle. Still, it annoyed me far less than the others in this collection. It’s also strange that this one is considered the worst of the bunch. Sometimes I worry people think I’m intentionally being a contrarian but it’s how I honestly feel.
3/5
Overall Review:
Not the start to the 90’s I was hoping for. Easily my least favourite King book so far, with little in the way of originality or spark of ingenuity. King himself stated he was having trouble at the time with “nothing felt like it stuck” and it shows. I only enjoyed the last story but not enough to redeem the overall experience. IT is finally bumped up the list as Four Past Midnight sits firmly at the bottom of King’s oeuvre so far.
King Ranked:
1. The Stand
2. Pet Semetary
3. Salem’s Lot
4. The Dead Zone
5. Misery
6. The Shining
7. The Long Walk
8. Night Shift
9. Different Seasons
10. The Eyes of the Dragon
11. The Drawing of the Three
12. The Dark Half
13. Cycle of the Werewolf
14. Thinner
15. Christine
16. Roadwork
17. Skeleton Crew
18. Cujo
19. Firestarter
20. The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon
21. Carrie
22. Rage
23. The Tommyknockers
24. The Running Man
25. Hearts in Atlantis
26. The Gunslinger
27. The Talisman
28. IT
29. Four Past Midnight*
https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/199698.King_Ranked
The Langoliers: This one seems to be really hit or miss for readers. I wanted to like it but unfortunately, it was more annoying than enjoyable.
The idea of a commercial flight flying theough a rift in space and venturing some strange land is a cool one, and I was looking forward to learning more about the events that occur.
Unfortunately, none of the characters are fully realised. Once again, King uses a minority character as a “gifted one with superpowers”. Someone else uses a toaster as a weapon. In a way, it reminds me of The Tommyknockers. The silly dialogue, the obnoxious style, even the origins of the name is similar.
Also, one of the aspects of post-apocalyptic, survival, or zombie stories that I find grating is how a psychotic human messing everything up for the survivors can sometimes shift the story too much towards their direction when all I want is to get back to the supernatural monsters etc. The Langoliers falls into that trap.
Fortunately, it’s pretty entertaining. The concept is very cool, and I can see how King wanted to emulate his previous success with The Mist, even if it does fall massively short compared to his best short story/novella. I wish the story had more to say. Overall, it’s fine but it feels too recycled.
2.5/5
Secret Window, Secret Garden: Once again, I can’t help but feel this is “been there, done that”. There’s a twist but it’s not particularly surprising. It’s like a cross between The Dark Half and Misery. To give it some credit, it starts off slow but it does becomes quite compelling towards the end.
2.8/5
The Library Policeman:
The first chapter did nothing for me. I wasn’t interested in the characters or their lives. Fortunately, as soon as the main character enters the library, things improve.
The villain reminded me of Pennywise. In fact, I’m starting to see a pattern emerge with this collection. They all seem to be retreads of previous stories. I’m not sure if it’s intentional or if he was just out of ideas. Either way, it makes the book feel inferior.
I also hate the inappropriate jesting during a traumatic event. A character is fighting for his life. He’s racing across the country. Then he’s fooling around with a friend, laughing and flirting with each other. It makes no sense and takes me right out of the story.
Anyway, overall, this story is at least better
written than the first two, and it was mostly entertaining. I was curious to see where it was heading. Overall, I hated the ending. Maybe if it was half the length and featured in one of his short story collections I would like it a lot more.
2.8/5
The Sun Dog:
The only story that was genuinely creepy and made me feel uncomfortable in a good way. Apart from the fact that a dog is an antagonist, this story has no resemblance to Cujo.
The Sun Dog is the most original of the four stories in this collection. It didn’t feel recycled like the others. It reminded me of the sort of thrills and scares one gets with J-horror. It’s also nice to be in Castle Rock with some familiar faces. Pop Merrill was a great character.
Despite enjoying it, The Sun Dog isn’t groundbreaking in any way, and comes across as a moderately successful short. Amongst all of King’s shorts and novellas I’ve read it fits firmly in the middle. Still, it annoyed me far less than the others in this collection. It’s also strange that this one is considered the worst of the bunch. Sometimes I worry people think I’m intentionally being a contrarian but it’s how I honestly feel.
3/5
Overall Review:
Not the start to the 90’s I was hoping for. Easily my least favourite King book so far, with little in the way of originality or spark of ingenuity. King himself stated he was having trouble at the time with “nothing felt like it stuck” and it shows. I only enjoyed the last story but not enough to redeem the overall experience. IT is finally bumped up the list as Four Past Midnight sits firmly at the bottom of King’s oeuvre so far.
King Ranked:
1. The Stand
2. Pet Semetary
3. Salem’s Lot
4. The Dead Zone
5. Misery
6. The Shining
7. The Long Walk
8. Night Shift
9. Different Seasons
10. The Eyes of the Dragon
11. The Drawing of the Three
12. The Dark Half
13. Cycle of the Werewolf
14. Thinner
15. Christine
16. Roadwork
17. Skeleton Crew
18. Cujo
19. Firestarter
20. The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon
21. Carrie
22. Rage
23. The Tommyknockers
24. The Running Man
25. Hearts in Atlantis
26. The Gunslinger
27. The Talisman
28. IT
29. Four Past Midnight*
https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/199698.King_Ranked
It’s a solid, but unremarkable collection of novellas. There are plenty of King tropes in here: wetting your pants (more than once), hair suddenly turning white (more than once), pedophilia, and eyes like ice chips.
The Langoliers: a cracking good story. It has some silliness (the Langoliers themselves, for example) but it’s a good story so I forgive it. It made me think that this would’ve been a good length for The Tommyknockers.
Secret Window, Secret Garden: Meh. I immediately got off on the wrong foot with this story because I didn’t much like the main character (similar to Gard in The Tommyknockers in that sense) and did not understand why he lied so much (later you find out). I did not understand why his wife was having an affair in motels when the guy had his own house. Further, I felt like I had the story pretty well figured out early, though there is a bit of a twist at the end. Finally, there is an info dump at the very end that would’ve been better sprinkled throughout the story itself to build it up.
The Library Policeman: It’s fine. The beginning is in fact dull, but builds a lot when Naomi and Dave are integrated into the story. There is good tension, though the romance doesn’t feel quite right.
The Sun Dog: It’s fun because it’s Castle Rock, but it’s not very scary and the part with Pop Merrill going around gets slow. The very final part is just kind of dumb. There is a funny Talisman connection that doesn’t actually make a lot of sense. One fun part is that the story leads you right into Needful Things.
The Langoliers: a cracking good story. It has some silliness (the Langoliers themselves, for example) but it’s a good story so I forgive it. It made me think that this would’ve been a good length for The Tommyknockers.
Secret Window, Secret Garden: Meh. I immediately got off on the wrong foot with this story because I didn’t much like the main character (similar to Gard in The Tommyknockers in that sense) and did not understand why he lied so much (later you find out). I did not understand why his wife was having an affair in motels when the guy had his own house. Further, I felt like I had the story pretty well figured out early, though there is a bit of a twist at the end. Finally, there is an info dump at the very end that would’ve been better sprinkled throughout the story itself to build it up.
The Library Policeman: It’s fine. The beginning is in fact dull, but builds a lot when Naomi and Dave are integrated into the story. There is good tension, though the romance doesn’t feel quite right.
The Sun Dog: It’s fun because it’s Castle Rock, but it’s not very scary and the part with Pop Merrill going around gets slow. The very final part is just kind of dumb. There is a funny Talisman connection that doesn’t actually make a lot of sense. One fun part is that the story leads you right into Needful Things.
TW ASSAULT
I liked having 4 shorter creepy stories, the first two were really good.
The third, Library Policeman, did put a bad taste in my mouth. I was very upset about the sexual assault that happened, did not expect it and honestly would've skipped that story if I had known. So warning to others, it's pretty awful. Couldn't finish the last story cause I had such a bad taste in my mouth from the library one.
I liked having 4 shorter creepy stories, the first two were really good.
The third, Library Policeman, did put a bad taste in my mouth. I was very upset about the sexual assault that happened, did not expect it and honestly would've skipped that story if I had known. So warning to others, it's pretty awful. Couldn't finish the last story cause I had such a bad taste in my mouth from the library one.
I love King's first novella collection, [b:Different Seasons|39662|Different Seasons|Stephen King|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1329662611l/39662._SY75_.jpg|2248680], and while this is a mixed bag, it's a worthwhile read.
The Langoliers 4 Stars
I'm fairly certain all most people remember about this one are the crappy CGI monsters from the 90s miniseries; however, this story is a really cool classic-style Science Fiction and Horror mystery. There are some great characters and real surprises.
Part of my love may come from Defoe's great performance of everyone, except Bethany. Now, I want him to do [b:The Dead Zone|11573|The Dead Zone|Stephen King|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1283509622l/11573._SY75_.jpg|2745957] because I think he's a better choice than James Franco.
Secret Window, Secret Garden 2.5 Stars
I've seen the film, and I rather prefer the film's campy performances and ending to the drawn-out affair of the novella. Mort isn't that interesting, and I don't think the plagiarism element connected all that well to the ending.
The Library Policeman 2 Stars
By the time the story got to anything interesting, I was just checked out. This story spends way too long getting to the freakier stuff, and even then, it's mostly stuff that King has done better in other stories. This is a weaker version of other stories.
The Sun Dog 3.5 Stars
This one gets back to the supernatural horror that The Langoliers did so well. It's less good, but the feeling of a kid getting a gift and the torture of debt are well realized. A solid end to a mixed bag.
The Langoliers 4 Stars
I'm fairly certain all most people remember about this one are the crappy CGI monsters from the 90s miniseries; however, this story is a really cool classic-style Science Fiction and Horror mystery. There are some great characters and real surprises.
Part of my love may come from Defoe's great performance of everyone, except Bethany. Now, I want him to do [b:The Dead Zone|11573|The Dead Zone|Stephen King|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1283509622l/11573._SY75_.jpg|2745957] because I think he's a better choice than James Franco.
Secret Window, Secret Garden 2.5 Stars
I've seen the film, and I rather prefer the film's campy performances and ending to the drawn-out affair of the novella. Mort isn't that interesting, and I don't think the plagiarism element connected all that well to the ending.
The Library Policeman 2 Stars
By the time the story got to anything interesting, I was just checked out. This story spends way too long getting to the freakier stuff, and even then, it's mostly stuff that King has done better in other stories.
Spoiler
Side note, King uses a "twisted" version of Goldilocks where the bears brutally eat Goldilocks at the end to demonstrate how evil Ardelia is... Does kind know that in the Bible there is a story where the prophet Elisha sends two she-bears to devour a group of children mocking him. It's especially weird/funny given the religious nature of Alcoholics Anonymous.The Sun Dog 3.5 Stars
This one gets back to the supernatural horror that The Langoliers did so well. It's less good, but the feeling of a kid getting a gift and the torture of debt are well realized. A solid end to a mixed bag.
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
medium-paced
*Audiobook*
"The Langoliers" is a sloppy and weird effort, "Secret Window, Secret Garden" is almost frustratingly predictable, "The Library Policeman" is wildly indulgent but also shockingly frank w/r/t certain aspects of its subject matter, and "The Sun Dog" is perhaps the most successful of the bunch simply by serving as a paint-by-numbers Tales from the Crypt-esque horror tale.
All in, this book is about four or five hundred pages too long, but it's not like King isn't still the King. Even when his characters are annoying, they're still well-drawn and never less than themselves.
"The Langoliers" is a sloppy and weird effort, "Secret Window, Secret Garden" is almost frustratingly predictable, "The Library Policeman" is wildly indulgent but also shockingly frank w/r/t certain aspects of its subject matter, and "The Sun Dog" is perhaps the most successful of the bunch simply by serving as a paint-by-numbers Tales from the Crypt-esque horror tale.
All in, this book is about four or five hundred pages too long, but it's not like King isn't still the King. Even when his characters are annoying, they're still well-drawn and never less than themselves.
These novellas certainly weren't Stephen King's best. All of them are pretty strange and not necessarily in a good way. My favorite was Secret Window, Secret Garden. This was a classic psychological thriller and I enjoyed what happened with Morty and "John Shooter". Worst was The Sun Dog, where a picture of a dog slowly starts emerging from the camera. Yeah, the actual dog. Really weird story. And The Langoliers and The Library Policeman were somewhere in the middle.
This is a monster of a book; about 1,000 pages split into four different stories (hence “Four Past Midnight”). The four stories included in this volume are The Langoliers; Secret Window, Secret Garden; The Library Policeman; and The Sun Dog. None were on par with King’s best work, in my opinion, but they were relatively entertaining stories nonetheless.
One interesting note: As I started reading Secret Window, Secret Garden I had the strongest sense of deja vu. I finally realized that I knew the story because I’d seen the move; apparently Secret Window– the 2004 film starring Johnny Depp– was based on this story. I really enjoyed that movie, but for some reason didn’t connect it to Stephen King at the time I watched it. The book was just as good as the movie, and was probably my favorite of the four stories. Whether or not that’s just because I love Johnny Depp, I don’t know.
I will also say that The Library Policeman was my least favorite of the four. The concept seemed a bit ridiculous to me and although it turned out to be less ridiculous than it sounded, there was still a lot about the story that I wasn’t thrilled about and ultimately it just wasn’t as intriguing as the others.
Overall, I’d say this book is entertaining and worth the read, but definitely not particularly genius or King’s most profound work.
One interesting note: As I started reading Secret Window, Secret Garden I had the strongest sense of deja vu. I finally realized that I knew the story because I’d seen the move; apparently Secret Window– the 2004 film starring Johnny Depp– was based on this story. I really enjoyed that movie, but for some reason didn’t connect it to Stephen King at the time I watched it. The book was just as good as the movie, and was probably my favorite of the four stories. Whether or not that’s just because I love Johnny Depp, I don’t know.
I will also say that The Library Policeman was my least favorite of the four. The concept seemed a bit ridiculous to me and although it turned out to be less ridiculous than it sounded, there was still a lot about the story that I wasn’t thrilled about and ultimately it just wasn’t as intriguing as the others.
Overall, I’d say this book is entertaining and worth the read, but definitely not particularly genius or King’s most profound work.
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes