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3.49 AVERAGE
3.49 AVERAGE
I never thought I'd call a Stephen King novel cute, but it's a nice, though melancholy, story based around an original idea. If you haven't read it, I'd recommend it.
An existential (and odd) change in a man’s life. And because of it, he goes on to change the lives of others. Interesting concept, but this novella missed its mark by making pretty much everything work out well.
p18 "Hands on a clock, numbers on a bathroom scale, weren't they only was of trying to measure invisible forces that had visible effects? A feeble effort to corral some greater reality beyond what mere humans thought of as reality?"
p119 Scott's thoughts on giving away his cat to a friend as he contemplates his end: "Scott hung up, thought about what giving things away meant--especially things that were also valued friends [his cat]--and closed his eyes."
p18 "Hands on a clock, numbers on a bathroom scale, weren't they only was of trying to measure invisible forces that had visible effects? A feeble effort to corral some greater reality beyond what mere humans thought of as reality?"
p119 Scott's thoughts on giving away his cat to a friend as he contemplates his end: "Scott hung up, thought about what giving things away meant--especially things that were also valued friends [his cat]--and closed his eyes."
A beautiful and tiny book. Just a lovely story and what I needed right now with the world as it is.
Stephen King has written better.....much better. Although he managed very good character and plot development in this short tale, he lacked an explanation as to why this happened to Scott. I was left wanting more.
A nice little story but not the Castle Rock type story I was hoping for. Also his extreme left political views and jabs at Trump are not a good look for him. Seems like he has a little Trump derangement syndrome. In general it just seems to me that entertainers should refrain from extreme political views, at best they alienate 50% of the audience. Either stick to writing or become a politician.
I’m not going to judge Stephen King based on this very short novella but this was boring.
Three and a half stars.
Two things I’ll say up front about Stephen King: He is a fine writer, and his heart is in the right place. But while “Elevation” is worth the read, it’s not his best work. The writing is brisk and engaging, but it doesn’t have his usual richness. And while the book’s message of tolerance is welcome in our contentious times, the way it’s done is very overt. He’s telling us as much as he’s showing us.
Still, there are worse things than a quick, diverting read with a positive – dare I say uplifting? – theme. And if it persuades even a few people to treat others more kindly, it’s done its job.
Two things I’ll say up front about Stephen King: He is a fine writer, and his heart is in the right place. But while “Elevation” is worth the read, it’s not his best work. The writing is brisk and engaging, but it doesn’t have his usual richness. And while the book’s message of tolerance is welcome in our contentious times, the way it’s done is very overt. He’s telling us as much as he’s showing us.
Still, there are worse things than a quick, diverting read with a positive – dare I say uplifting? – theme. And if it persuades even a few people to treat others more kindly, it’s done its job.
A little bit of “enlightenment” in today’s political divisiveness.
The plot of Stephen King’s novella, Elevation, is straight out of the Twilight Zone playbook. Scott Carey - the quintessential King everyman - resident of Castle Rock asks his local Doctor, Bob Ellis, - the quintessential King wise man - to check his weight. Carey is not a small bloke, Ellis thinks he probably weighs about 240 pounds, but when Scott steps on the scales his weight is 212 pounds. The weird thing though isn’t that Scott is thinner than he looks, it’s that when he’s fully clothed, his weight is exactly the same when he’s wearing his socks and jocks. What’s more, Scott is losing weight every day. It’s a neat idea and King, as you’d expect, makes plenty of hay from it.
But Scott and his weight loss take a back seat to King’s real focus, which is having a crack at the narrow-minded prejudices of a small town. Apparently, King’s fictional Castle Rock love a bit of Trump, having voted for him. What they don’t love is a couple of lesbians running a fine dining, Mexican vegan restaurant on the main drag. Scott also clashes with Deirdre and Missy - they’re his next-door neighbours - over their dogs regularly shitting in his front yard. But because he’s a King everyman, and because Scott always takes people as they are and never judges (well, only a little), he not only tries to make friends but also save the vegan restaurant from the town’s awful homophobia.
I’m struggling to recall King ever dealing so directly with LGTBQ issues, he’s always been a very heterosexual writer. With Elevation, it’s well meant, but it does read like your vaguely conservative, aw-shucks Uncle suddenly realising that “homosexuals” are people too. It’s also a shame that it’s taken the insanity of Trump and his crazy supporters for King to address this issue. As a result, and coupled with the cutesy premise, it has the depth of a shallow pond.
But Scott and his weight loss take a back seat to King’s real focus, which is having a crack at the narrow-minded prejudices of a small town. Apparently, King’s fictional Castle Rock love a bit of Trump, having voted for him. What they don’t love is a couple of lesbians running a fine dining, Mexican vegan restaurant on the main drag. Scott also clashes with Deirdre and Missy - they’re his next-door neighbours - over their dogs regularly shitting in his front yard. But because he’s a King everyman, and because Scott always takes people as they are and never judges (well, only a little), he not only tries to make friends but also save the vegan restaurant from the town’s awful homophobia.
I’m struggling to recall King ever dealing so directly with LGTBQ issues, he’s always been a very heterosexual writer. With Elevation, it’s well meant, but it does read like your vaguely conservative, aw-shucks Uncle suddenly realising that “homosexuals” are people too. It’s also a shame that it’s taken the insanity of Trump and his crazy supporters for King to address this issue. As a result, and coupled with the cutesy premise, it has the depth of a shallow pond.