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3.49 AVERAGE
3.49 AVERAGE
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Loveable characters:
Yes
Stephen King is really good with his short form writing. I am still shocked as to how quickly he swept me up into this world and made me familiar with the characters. But more than familiarity I was very much invested in the story and how Missy, Deandra, and Scott make amends to become good neighbors to each other. It was such a well written story and I had a strong connect with the characters and their motives.
The main plot of the novel, in regard to Scott losing weight was also quite intriguing and caught my interest but I just wish King spent a little more time developing this and giving us more detail. I don't always complain about circumstances that are more unexplained, but this is one of those things where I wish there was more hints and investigation as to what was going on. It felt like Scott was a tad too comfortable, though not as much as he lot on to Bill.
It would have been nice to see him take another 50 or so pages to flesh our the main plot and give us more drama honestly because King is a King at writing drama and I can read (or listen in this case) his writing all day long.
On the matter of listening, I did listen to the version Stephen King himself narrated and have to say that I was not impressed. It was not a very soothing voice to listen to nor did it set the somewhat eery tone of the novella.
The main plot of the novel, in regard to Scott losing weight was also quite intriguing and caught my interest but I just wish King spent a little more time developing this and giving us more detail. I don't always complain about circumstances that are more unexplained, but this is one of those things where I wish there was more hints and investigation as to what was going on. It felt like Scott was a tad too comfortable, though not as much as he lot on to Bill.
It would have been nice to see him take another 50 or so pages to flesh our the main plot and give us more drama honestly because King is a King at writing drama and I can read (or listen in this case) his writing all day long.
On the matter of listening, I did listen to the version Stephen King himself narrated and have to say that I was not impressed. It was not a very soothing voice to listen to nor did it set the somewhat eery tone of the novella.
I love Stephen King. I love the way he writes. When I started this, I didn’t realize it was a novella. I have very mixed feelings about it. It was an unusual story. At first I thought it was a re-tooling of Thinner but it wasn’t. I was curious to see what happened when Scott eventually went down to a weight of 0. But there was something that felt...unpolished to this story. I’m not quite sure what is the reason for this. I don’t think it could have been a full length novel but maybe the characters all seemed a bit too...stereo-typical and the ending and the characters’ endings/personality transformations seemed too pat. Either way, the best I could give this one was a 3 star.
Unlike any book I've read. Stephen King is known for a scary story, but this was definitely thought provoking. It was pretty excellent. Definitely a short read. Finished in a day (and I'm a slow reader).
I enjoyed this story and wish is was a bit longer.
Stephen king meets a lesbian, battles an eating disorder, and saves Christmas. A really cute lil book to hold and read, flows nicely and keeps you invested. I think it serves mainly as a flipped way to work through the narrative of depression and/or addiction. Where the themes of drowning under inner demons and personal isolation are replaced, supernaturally, with the idea of having people watch you being pulled upwards back to the stars. I tend to roll my eyes whenever someone uses running as an empowerment/metamorphosis metaphor, but it is Stephen King, so it's beautifully done. And the awkward way he tries to write interacting with lesbians, somehow still implying sexual tension, is such a satirical treat if you don't take it too seriously. If you're looking for something different to add to your book count, definitely recommend.
I am a diehard King fan and remain so even after this traipse around the park. The over-arching message was beautiful (if a bit contrived) but I feel like that message got lost in a bland story with bland characters. I was a bit disappointed but c'est la vie.
I was honestly surprised to see that King keeps returning to Castle Rock. I thought he was done with his fictional town, but he keeps coming back. There's some nice callbacks to former novels and to his latest "Gwendy's Button Box" too. The main character in this one, Scott Carey bugs me a bit though (one of the reasons why I gave this just four stars). He decides he is going to force his friendship on a woman that doesn't want it (for good reasons) and there seems to be a slightly messed up message by King here that all things can be resolved when other people see you as human. Okay now I am wondering why I am giving this four stars. I just dropped it to three.
"Elevation" follows Scott Carey that is undergoing a strange change. He is steadily losing weight, but doesn't appear to be. He is not very worried about It (unlike most people) because it seems as if Scott is a bit...bored by life right now. His wife has left him and the cat. He has a big job dealing with reworking a department store and will have a lot of money he doesn't know what to do with it. And he has two neighbors (Missy and Deirdre) living next to him that he fixates on after their dogs keep using his lawn as a 24/7 dumping ground. When Scott takes a photo proving that the dogs are using his lawn, his neighbor Deirdre cold shoulders him even more than possible and Scott decides he is going to do what he can to make people in the town stop treating her and her wife like pariahs because lesbians are okay as long as they don't shove it in people's faces by being married. Yes this is a sentence that is said in this book.
I can't help it, I know I was supposed to like Scott. But he bugged me. It's implied due to what is happening to him, Scott fixates on Missy and Deirdre to help them so he doesn't have to worry about himself. I think it's just because Scott didn't like the idea of anyone disliking him. He defends Missy and Deirdre at the local diner and then goes to their vegetarian Mexican restaurant and has another mini-showdown with Deirdre. At that point I was just wondering where King was going with things. When Scott bets Deirdre he will beat her at the town's race in order once again to try to force an interaction there I started going "well isn't he a NICE guy" to myself. Seriously, I was getting Ted Mobsy vibes from Scott. That wasn't a good thing.
I get why Deirdre was hesitant to even be friends with people in Castle Rock. I really do wish we had an epilogue by Deirdre years later or even had her POV in this book since I thought her voice was more important than Scott's.
Scott's wife is referenced, but never heard from which I thought was a miss by King.
We do have Scott's friendship with Doctor Bob Ellis and his wife though. Eventually King shows that apparently all you need are food and wine and people will sit aside all of their prejudices (sarcasm)
The writing is typical King though there are moments when you can tell he wanted to call Donald Trump a few names. There are references to the latest election and how the town of Castle Rock voted. And to the messed up former Governor of Maine too (that guy was a hot mess). I did like how King was realistic that his fictional town wouldn't just be some liberal sanctuary in the midst of a state of red.
The flow was good, though at times I found my mind wandering. I think having the whole race showdown took something out of the story.
The ending was sad though. I felt a bit lonely and marveled a bit at what happens. I think if King had kept it to straight fantasy with some horror mixed in, this would have been a strong five star short story.
"Elevation" follows Scott Carey that is undergoing a strange change. He is steadily losing weight, but doesn't appear to be. He is not very worried about It (unlike most people) because it seems as if Scott is a bit...bored by life right now. His wife has left him and the cat. He has a big job dealing with reworking a department store and will have a lot of money he doesn't know what to do with it. And he has two neighbors (Missy and Deirdre) living next to him that he fixates on after their dogs keep using his lawn as a 24/7 dumping ground. When Scott takes a photo proving that the dogs are using his lawn, his neighbor Deirdre cold shoulders him even more than possible and Scott decides he is going to do what he can to make people in the town stop treating her and her wife like pariahs because lesbians are okay as long as they don't shove it in people's faces by being married. Yes this is a sentence that is said in this book.
I can't help it, I know I was supposed to like Scott. But he bugged me. It's implied due to what is happening to him, Scott fixates on Missy and Deirdre to help them so he doesn't have to worry about himself. I think it's just because Scott didn't like the idea of anyone disliking him. He defends Missy and Deirdre at the local diner and then goes to their vegetarian Mexican restaurant and has another mini-showdown with Deirdre. At that point I was just wondering where King was going with things. When Scott bets Deirdre he will beat her at the town's race in order once again to try to force an interaction there I started going "well isn't he a NICE guy" to myself. Seriously, I was getting Ted Mobsy vibes from Scott. That wasn't a good thing.
I get why Deirdre was hesitant to even be friends with people in Castle Rock. I really do wish we had an epilogue by Deirdre years later or even had her POV in this book since I thought her voice was more important than Scott's.
Scott's wife is referenced, but never heard from which I thought was a miss by King.
We do have Scott's friendship with Doctor Bob Ellis and his wife though. Eventually King shows that apparently all you need are food and wine and people will sit aside all of their prejudices (sarcasm)
The writing is typical King though there are moments when you can tell he wanted to call Donald Trump a few names. There are references to the latest election and how the town of Castle Rock voted. And to the messed up former Governor of Maine too (that guy was a hot mess). I did like how King was realistic that his fictional town wouldn't just be some liberal sanctuary in the midst of a state of red.
The flow was good, though at times I found my mind wandering. I think having the whole race showdown took something out of the story.
The ending was sad though. I felt a bit lonely and marveled a bit at what happens. I think if King had kept it to straight fantasy with some horror mixed in, this would have been a strong five star short story.
Decent feel good story from “the master”...not like his “typical” work, but definitely a worthy short read.
An enjoyable, short read! I’m sure there’s some symbolism I’m missing, but I liked it a lot more than expected!