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A review by saritaroth
The Drawing of the Three by Stephen King
3.0
I would have given this book a 4-or even 5-star rating, except for one very specific thing that annoyed the hell out of me.
Before I say what irked me about this book, I would like to say that the writing was very well done. So far, this series encompasses my favorite Stephen King books. I am currently systematically reading through the whole of the Stephen King franchise, in chronological order, and I haven't been that impressed . . . until now. Maybe it is because it is a break from his usual fare, as he himself readily admits, but I am really enjoying this series.
That being said, the thing that annoyed me so much is his improper use of the word "schizophrenia." Now, in this, I can't tell if Stephen King doesn't know what being schizophrenic truly means or if he meant to imply that the characters are uninformed. When he is describing Odetta/Detta's symptoms, they do not sound like schizophrenia at all. For the most part, it sounds more like dissociative identity disorder (D.I.D.), considering the character has two distinct personalities within one mind, complete with two separate names. That is not schizophrenia; I know that D.I.D. is often mistaken for schizophrenia and has for decades. Schizophrenia is marked by delusions, such as a fear that someone is out to get you (paranoid schizophrenics often experience this) and hallucinations, whether it be auditory, visual, or even olfactory. Yet there are no symptoms of schizophrenia that include a "split personality." I believe people often get confused because "schizophrenia" literally means "split mind."
There are a couple of instances where it seems that Odetta/Detta is experiencing hallucinations, so it is almost as if the author were combining symptoms from two separate mental disorders. Granted, I could not figure out if the hallucinations she was experiencing were a dream and the character was asleep or if she was in fact awake at the time. It is one thing if Stephen King intended to show that the other characters were uninformed or misinformed; even then, his intended purpose is still problematic, because he never notes the errors of the characters. It might be one thing if he were to, at some point, explain how the characters are, in fact, wrong, thus raising awareness of how uneducated so many people are regarding these disorders. However, he doesn't do this. In addition, if this was not his intention, then King should have researched more thoroughly, even without the internet (as it was published in '87).
Before I say what irked me about this book, I would like to say that the writing was very well done. So far, this series encompasses my favorite Stephen King books. I am currently systematically reading through the whole of the Stephen King franchise, in chronological order, and I haven't been that impressed . . . until now. Maybe it is because it is a break from his usual fare, as he himself readily admits, but I am really enjoying this series.
That being said, the thing that annoyed me so much is his improper use of the word "schizophrenia." Now, in this, I can't tell if Stephen King doesn't know what being schizophrenic truly means or if he meant to imply that the characters are uninformed. When he is describing Odetta/Detta's symptoms, they do not sound like schizophrenia at all. For the most part, it sounds more like dissociative identity disorder (D.I.D.), considering the character has two distinct personalities within one mind, complete with two separate names. That is not schizophrenia; I know that D.I.D. is often mistaken for schizophrenia and has for decades. Schizophrenia is marked by delusions, such as a fear that someone is out to get you (paranoid schizophrenics often experience this) and hallucinations, whether it be auditory, visual, or even olfactory. Yet there are no symptoms of schizophrenia that include a "split personality." I believe people often get confused because "schizophrenia" literally means "split mind."
There are a couple of instances where it seems that Odetta/Detta is experiencing hallucinations, so it is almost as if the author were combining symptoms from two separate mental disorders. Granted, I could not figure out if the hallucinations she was experiencing were a dream and the character was asleep or if she was in fact awake at the time. It is one thing if Stephen King intended to show that the other characters were uninformed or misinformed; even then, his intended purpose is still problematic, because he never notes the errors of the characters. It might be one thing if he were to, at some point, explain how the characters are, in fact, wrong, thus raising awareness of how uneducated so many people are regarding these disorders. However, he doesn't do this. In addition, if this was not his intention, then King should have researched more thoroughly, even without the internet (as it was published in '87).