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sean_kennelly 's review for:
The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon
by Stephen King
This book was recommended to me years ago by my friend Elle. I had been trying to read King books in order, but faced with The Stand, I decided to give that up (I’ll get round to it when I’m retired). So now I am free to pick and choose any King book that might interest me.
The story is simple: Nine year old Trisha is hiking a small section of the Appalachian Trail with her brother and recently-divorced mother, whose incessant arguing is making her unhappy. Feeling ignored, she ducks off the trail for a whizz and quickly becomes lost. She veers further away from the trail, and deeper into the woods, all the while walking away from any chance of being found. The rescue efforts quite sensibly centre around the area she was last seen, but she has doggedly trudged far away from this perimeter. All the while her thoughts are occupied by her favourite baseball player and heartthrob Tom Gordon, pitcher for the Red Sox. She struggles with falls, insect bites, wasps and hunger, eventually succumbing to a state of surviving that gives her only a loose grip on reality. Tom Gordon becomes more real to her, as does the presence of some malevolent beast that appears to be stalking her...
One thing I found quite interesting about this book was the flipping of what we should expect from our hero. In stories such as these the protagonist usually gets by on their wits and guile, and considerately calculating their moves is what keeps them alive. Well our hero is only nine, and as intelligent as she is, more often than not she makes the wrong decision. Chiefly in that she consistently chooses to walk the wrong direction, almost at every juncture. Her saving characteristics though are her strength, fortitude, and humour in the face of bleakness.
I got this as part of a big haul of books at Brisbane’s Lifeline Bookfest for only $2.50! This will be the first of many that I’m getting through now.
The story is simple: Nine year old Trisha is hiking a small section of the Appalachian Trail with her brother and recently-divorced mother, whose incessant arguing is making her unhappy. Feeling ignored, she ducks off the trail for a whizz and quickly becomes lost. She veers further away from the trail, and deeper into the woods, all the while walking away from any chance of being found. The rescue efforts quite sensibly centre around the area she was last seen, but she has doggedly trudged far away from this perimeter. All the while her thoughts are occupied by her favourite baseball player and heartthrob Tom Gordon, pitcher for the Red Sox. She struggles with falls, insect bites, wasps and hunger, eventually succumbing to a state of surviving that gives her only a loose grip on reality. Tom Gordon becomes more real to her, as does the presence of some malevolent beast that appears to be stalking her...
One thing I found quite interesting about this book was the flipping of what we should expect from our hero. In stories such as these the protagonist usually gets by on their wits and guile, and considerately calculating their moves is what keeps them alive. Well our hero is only nine, and as intelligent as she is, more often than not she makes the wrong decision. Chiefly in that she consistently chooses to walk the wrong direction, almost at every juncture. Her saving characteristics though are her strength, fortitude, and humour in the face of bleakness.
I got this as part of a big haul of books at Brisbane’s Lifeline Bookfest for only $2.50! This will be the first of many that I’m getting through now.