Stephen King – Lisey’s Story | Review

Title: Lisey’s Story

Author: Stephen King

Type: Fiction

Page Count/Review Word Count: 690

Rating: 8/10

 

Stephen King - Lisey's Story

Stephen King – Lisey’s Story

 

Lisey’s Story was the final book that I picked up during my Dyslexia Action charity readathon – in fact, I started it in the last hour, after I’d already been reading for 23 hours. You’d forgive me, then, if I struggled to enjoy it.

But I didn’t. I was hooked already after the first hour, a mere 70 pages in to what I will admit is a hell of a chunky book – when I started it, I even worried that the weight of the book or the amount of space that it took up might act against it, but it was comfortable enough to read and if it took up some extra space in my rucksack then it was worth it.

The novel, which is one of King’s more recent publications, tells the story of Lisey Landon and her struggle to deal with the death of her husband, a writer with a mysterious past that he never really talked about. He kept it quiet for a reason, because it turns out that the Landons are very fast healers. I’ll say no more than that, on the subject.

 

Stephen King

Stephen King

 

As if dealing with her feelings about her husband’s death wasn’t enough, Lisey has some other problems to contend with – there’s a killer on the loose, and he’s after her, and after her husband’s manuscripts. On top of that, one of her sisters is having a mental breakdown, and her madness is somehow interlinked with her past.

The story is a complicated, intricate one, and I haven’t even started to talk about the fictional world of Boo’ya Moon. I don’t want to go in to too much detail because I don’t think I could do it justice, but let’s just say that King has a gift for creating a story that’s self-referential, and which seems to continue to evolve throughout.

It means that even though it’s a long, long novel, it continues to grip you, and after King spends a couple of hundred pages filling the reader with questions, he ends it on a grand unveiling which reveals everything. Or at least, almost everything.

 

Stephen King Quote

Stephen King Quote

 

One of the most impressive aspects of the novel, though, is the way in which Scott Landon manages to be a major character, despite dying before the novel begins. It reminds me a little bit of how Chuck Palahniuk highlighted Rant in the novel of the same name – it’s an interesting experience, to get to know a character well even though you only discovered them after their death.

The ending has a bit of a twist to it, too – this isn’t exactly a typical Stephen King novel, because it’s nowhere near as scary or intense as some of his others, and it also has an experimental side that he’s touched on before in other stories. That’s good though, and you’re going to get hooked by this novel even if you prefer his more traditional horror – personally, I found that it made for a refreshing change, and it allowed me to see King in a different light.

You see, it turns out that he really is a cracking writer, and that he’s earned the success that’s been thrust upon him. Not many writers achieve a level of skill that allows them to match the hype – most seem distinctly underwhelming when you read more and more of their work, but King is constantly surprising. He has a knack for building his own legend with stereotypes, and then breaking those stereotypes for literary effect.

All in all, while this might not threaten Stephen King’s more iconic books, notably The Green Mile and The Shining (the sequel is even better), and so you should probably get those out of your system first. Then move on to Lisey’s Story as soon as you get a chance, because it’s well worth it and you’ll enjoy it, for sure. Especially if you’re interested in how writers work, because in the character of Scott Landon you get a glimpse at a reflection of Stephen King through his mannerisms and attitudes.

 

Stephen King Quote

Stephen King Quote

 

Click here to buy Lisey’s Story.


John Lloyd and John Mitchinson – The Q.I. Book of the Dead | Review

Title: The Q.I. Book of the Dead

Author: John Lloyd and John Mitchinson

Type: Non-Fiction

Page Count/Review Word Count: 435

Rating: 8/10

 

John Lloyd and John Mitchinson - The Q.I. Book of the Dead

John Lloyd and John Mitchinson – The Q.I. Book of the Dead

 

I should preface this review by pointing out that this was the book that I started my 24-hour Dyslexia Action charity readathon with – for the first two and a half hours, I was finishing this off. It certainly isn’t a book that you’d want to read over and over again, nor a book that you could sit down and whizz through in one sitting, unless you were trying to raise money for charity by trying to read for 24 hours straight.

That said, it is a reasonably long read, but try not to be fooled by the blurb of the book which makes it sound as though it only talks about a dozen historical figures. It’s true that the book is broken up in to sections, and certain key figures like Isaac Newton and Benjamin Franklin take up more than their fair share of the manuscript, but it would be unfair to say that the book is all about them.

In fact, Lloyd and Mitchinson, the two writers who are behind the creation of Q.I. and a bunch of other well-known TV shows, have clearly done their research – more than that, they’ve done so much research that this book is brimming with the fruits of their labours, and I personally can’t see any way in which they could’ve improved it. There’s only so much you can fit in, with a given amount of words.

 

John Lloyd and John Mitchinson

John Lloyd and John Mitchinson

 

Theoretically, the book is split in to seven different sections, which focus on a different aspect of existence from bad starts in life to the relationships we have with our contemporaries and the eternal question of ‘what happens next?’ It makes for a fascinating read, the kind of book that you learn from all the way through despite it never setting out a formal agenda – the two authors dip from subject to subject with a natural ease, and despite it being a book of facts and historical figures, it seems to follow a consistent journey from start to finish.

If you’re fan of the Q.I. television series then you’re going to be a fan of this book, as well as the rest of the books that have been released since the show achieved mainstream recognition. They all follow a similar theme, focusing on anything that could conceivably be classified as ‘quite interesting‘. This book passes the test for sure, and I’d recommend it if you’re a keen reader and a pursuer of knowledge.

 

A Q.I. promo from god knows how long ago...

A Q.I. promo from god knows how long ago…

 

Click here to buy the Q.I. Book of the Dead.