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A review by shauny_32
Four Past Midnight by Stephen King
2.0
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