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+--- Thread: Two Journey’s, One Adventure (/showthread.php?tid=4278)
- Arthur Dent - 11-25-2002
Two Journey’s, One Adventure
Recently, I read two books that surprised me with how good they were. The collaboration between Stephen King and Peter Straub has produced two excellent novels, “The Talisman” and “Black House”.
I’ve read several of King’s novels. The “Dark Tower” series is one of my all time favorite books. But, we’ll come back to that later. On the other hand, I’ve found the endings of many of his novels to be a little anti-climatic, even disappointing. This fault is entirely missing in these two novels, possibly do to the talented input of Peter Straub.
“The Talisman” can best be described as a modern, darker, and mystical version of “Tom Sawyer” and “Huckleberry Finn”. It’s the story of a 12 year old boy named Jack Sawyer and his b-movie star mother hiding in New Hampshire and the cross-country quest Jack must undertake to save the life of his mother and much more. It’s a story that captures the magic of a child’s imagination, the cruel reality of the world we live in and the loss of innocence that comes inevitably to us all.
“Black House” is the much anticipated sequel to “The Talisman”. Enough back story is given, that a person can read it without first reading “The Talisman”, but a lot of flavor and attachment to the characters would be lost. “Black House” reunites us with Jack, now in his early 30’s and a retired Los Angeles homicide detective living in small town middle America. A small town called La Riviere, on the shores of the Mississippi, is plagued by a child killer…and something even darker. It’s hard to tell you what this story is about without ruining the surprises.
Now, I promised I’d explain why I mentioned the “Dark Tower” series above. Well, it’s because the last half of “Black House” ties in directly with the “Dark Tower” series. Once again, you don’t have to read the “Dark Tower” to enjoy “Black House”, but the references and very unexpected revelations will leave fans of the series with chills. While, I’m sure these revelations will be mentioned again in the next, eagerly anticipated installments of the “Dark Tower” series, this story is a must read for fans of the series.
I can’t say much more without spoiling the stories for you, but for those who have already read them, I’d be happy to join you for a discussion.
- Sloatsburgh - 11-25-2002
Lemmiwinks
- Arpikarhu - 11-28-2002
the talisman= great!
black house= disappointment
god pounds his nails
- LyricalGomez - 11-28-2002
King=Overrated
I really have never seen the appeal of any of his books, or his writing. Somehow reading 300 pages before anything interesting happened never appealed to me. Not to say the actual stories he's written are bad, because some of them are quite good, but I just feel like the books could easily be trimmed down and would be twice as good without all the fluff around it.
- Sweet Angel - 11-28-2002
I've read almost all of King's books, with the exception of "The Shining" and the Dark Tower series. I just finished "Everything's Eventual" and I'm working on "From a Buick 8". What I gleaned of the Dark Tower books through some of his others, I haven't really had an interest in, but I didn't pick up on the references in "Black House" until you mentioned it.
I've read a few Straub books, and found them much harder to get into.
I would say the most gripping of all King's books (to me) was "Misery" -- it was the only one that actually made me cringe and be afraid to turn the page.
I'd be happy to discuss any of his books. The only problem is, I tend to read them too quickly and not have much of a recall of what they're about.
- The Sleeper - 06-18-2003
Two Journey's, ONE ADventure. that was inspiring! :4: