You need to sign in or sign up before continuing.
Take a photo of a barcode or cover
m_allardyce 's review for:
Misery
by Stephen King
dark
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
In Stephen King's Misery writer Paul Sheldon wakes up after a car accident in an unknown place with an unknown woman and an unknown number of injuries. Fortunately for him, his number one fan Annie Wilkes found him by the side of the road and brought him home to save his life. She uses her nurse training to care for Paul and bring him back to health. That is, until she learns he has killed off the titular character of his 'Misery' novel series and now this dirty birdy will find out just who Annie Wilkes really is.
This is the second time I've read this novel, and in my first reading I don't think I fully realised just how vitriolic King is about Annie. She is, of course, the villain of the story: violent, vindictive, and with her own warped sense of justice. I wouldn't expect any novel published in the 80s to treat the subject of mental ill health especially well, so it isn't all that surprising that psychosis is emphasised as the primary cause of Annie's actions. However, in the way King emphasises Annie's size, her unattractiveness, her piety - it goes beyond just establishing the character and shows a real sense of King's misogyny passed off as Paul Sheldon's own. Annie is unsexed, therefore she is evil. It's a gross stereotype, and only more apparent now I've read more of King's attempts at writing female characters (like Carrie).
I also didn't pick up on how unnecessary the inclusion of the Misery story is. Paul is forced to write a new Misery novel, bringing Misery herself back from the dead. He can't cheat it. It has to be fair even is unbelievable. Paul's growing obsession with the novel adds an interesting layer of development in the general story of his attempts to escape, but it really feels like half the book is taken up with chapters of Misery's Return. The focus on writing feels masturbatory, like King was really working himself up to write On Writing rather than fleshing out the story of his fictional author. The book could be half the length with the same amount of tension by getting rid of the meta-chapters.
The final, false ending also feels unnecessary.I can understand the desire to put a question mark over whether Annie Wilkes is dead, or whether she's waiting to enact her revenge. I actually, contrary to form, quite like the idea of an ambiguous ending. Having the "he opens the door and Annie kills him! But only in a dream..." chapter adds nothing to the story. It doesn't imbue the final ending where we learn she actually is dead, nor does it give us any sense of who Paul is after the trauma he has experienced. It just feels like King had a word count to reach, and this was a cheap way to do it.
None of the characters are massively likeable. Annie, for obvious reasons. Paul, too, is clearly an arrogant, user of a man. You hope his time with Annie will humble him, and to an extent it does, but he still feels like the same slimy, conceited, walking God-complex by the end of the story than the character we meet at its beginning.
King is very good at building tension. As much as I don't like Paul enough to pity him for the treatment he receives, it is edge-of-your-seat reading to see him try to outsmart and eventually get-out of Annie and her house of horrors.The descriptions of the drug usage, amputations, and generally abuse are harrowing and powerful as well. It's not an easy book to read, or listen to.
The narration of this particular edition was a little monotone. I had to listen on 1.5 speed so as not to lose the tension of the writing, and the music fading in and out made the whole thing feel quite dated. I definitely think I enjoyed the experience of reading the first time more than listening more recently.
Overall, I think this novel is archetypal King, blending skillful writing and atmosphere with casual misogyny and racism - all trauma and tension without sensitivity.
This is the second time I've read this novel, and in my first reading I don't think I fully realised just how vitriolic King is about Annie. She is, of course, the villain of the story: violent, vindictive, and with her own warped sense of justice. I wouldn't expect any novel published in the 80s to treat the subject of mental ill health especially well, so it isn't all that surprising that psychosis is emphasised as the primary cause of Annie's actions. However, in the way King emphasises Annie's size, her unattractiveness, her piety - it goes beyond just establishing the character and shows a real sense of King's misogyny passed off as Paul Sheldon's own. Annie is unsexed, therefore she is evil. It's a gross stereotype, and only more apparent now I've read more of King's attempts at writing female characters (like Carrie).
I also didn't pick up on how unnecessary the inclusion of the Misery story is. Paul is forced to write a new Misery novel, bringing Misery herself back from the dead. He can't cheat it. It has to be fair even is unbelievable. Paul's growing obsession with the novel adds an interesting layer of development in the general story of his attempts to escape, but it really feels like half the book is taken up with chapters of Misery's Return. The focus on writing feels masturbatory, like King was really working himself up to write On Writing rather than fleshing out the story of his fictional author. The book could be half the length with the same amount of tension by getting rid of the meta-chapters.
The final, false ending also feels unnecessary.
None of the characters are massively likeable. Annie, for obvious reasons. Paul, too, is clearly an arrogant, user of a man. You hope his time with Annie will humble him, and to an extent it does, but he still feels like the same slimy, conceited, walking God-complex by the end of the story than the character we meet at its beginning.
King is very good at building tension. As much as I don't like Paul enough to pity him for the treatment he receives, it is edge-of-your-seat reading to see him try to outsmart and eventually get-out of Annie and her house of horrors.
The narration of this particular edition was a little monotone. I had to listen on 1.5 speed so as not to lose the tension of the writing, and the music fading in and out made the whole thing feel quite dated. I definitely think I enjoyed the experience of reading the first time more than listening more recently.
Overall, I think this novel is archetypal King, blending skillful writing and atmosphere with casual misogyny and racism - all trauma and tension without sensitivity.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Animal death, Body horror, Body shaming, Cursing, Drug abuse, Fatphobia, Gore, Mental illness, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Suicide, Blood, Medical content, Kidnapping, Car accident, Injury/Injury detail