Misery Review

Review

Stephen King. A famous author with an enormous fan base. He is someone I have always regarded to be an excellent writer; however, I do not connect with his works—at least for most of what I have read—until I have read Misery.

There is no denying that I have a sort of admiration for the way King writes. Despite the fact that it does not really work well for me, I see the specialty in it. The way he uses words to convey the emotions he wants his readers to feel. In light of that, I had an epiphany with trying his work in the form of audiobook. Suffice it to say, I gobbled it up and lived in the dreadful story of Paul Sheldon.

An immense portion of why I enjoyed this novel extremely is all thanks to its narrator—Lindsey Crouse. Doing such a phenomenal job in showcasing the mania of our secondary main character, Annie Wilkes.

Annie is more than just a reader. She is a psychopath willing to do anything to get the ending she wants for her favourite book. And given the chance, she did what any normal people would do when they stumble upon their favourite author in the midst of a snow storm where he’s been in a car accident…she kidnaps and nurses him back to health and have him rewrite the ending of his book.

The gruesome terror Paul has to go through in this novel is absolutely horrendous. He spirals from one emotion to the next. Losing hope and getting it back all over again. It provided a kind of fervor to the reader. An excitement as to what might happen. Will he let himself be consumed by his fear? Of the knowledge that there might not be anything left for him? Or, will he come up with a plan? What will Annie do to him? Will she let him go after he writes his nove? Or, will she kill him after? No one knows but the ending.

King did a marvelous job in executing this novel. He abruptly put chapters to a stop, giving you the dissonance in the events that is happening. A huge contributor to the dread the book offers. He paced the book well enough to not lose you in your train of thoughts. Instead grasping you and propelling you to a feat of horror.

Misery is such a powerfully written novel. For horror and thriller fans, this is really something to look out for. I have been meaning to read this for the longest time and I am so glad I finally did it. A huge thanks to Ross (@dublin_book_review). If not for him, I would not have had the energy to subscribe back to Audible. He is an instigator with my reading of this novel.

About the Author

Stephen Edwin King was born the second son of Donald and Nellie Ruth Pillsbury King. After his father left them when Stephen was two, he and his older brother, David, were raised by his mother. Parts of his childhood were spent in Fort Wayne, Indiana, where his father’s family was at the time, and in Stratford, Connecticut. When Stephen was eleven, his mother brought her children back to Durham, Maine, for good. Her parents, Guy and Nellie Pillsbury, had become incapacitated with old age, and Ruth King was persuaded by her sisters to take over the physical care of them. Other family members provided a small house in Durham and financial support. After Stephen’s grandparents passed away, Mrs. King found work in the kitchens of Pineland, a nearby residential facility for the mentally challenged.

Stephen attended the grammar school in Durham and Lisbon Falls High School, graduating in 1966. From his sophomore year at the University of Maine at Orono, he wrote a weekly column for the school newspaper, THE MAINE CAMPUS. He was also active in student politics, serving as a member of the Student Senate. He came to support the anti-war movement on the Orono campus, arriving at his stance from a conservative view that the war in Vietnam was unconstitutional. He graduated in 1970, with a B.A. in English and qualified to teach on the high school level. A draft board examination immediately post-graduation found him 4-F on grounds of high blood pressure, limited vision, flat feet, and punctured eardrums.

He met Tabitha Spruce in the stacks of the Fogler Library at the University, where they both worked as students; they married in January of 1971. As Stephen was unable to find placement as a teacher immediately, the Kings lived on his earnings as a laborer at an industrial laundry, and her student loan and savings, with an occasional boost from a short story sale to men’s magazines.

Stephen made his first professional short story sale (“The Glass Floor”) to Startling Mystery Stories in 1967. Throughout the early years of his marriage, he continued to sell stories to men’s magazines. Many were gathered into the Night Shift collection or appeared in other anthologies.

In the fall of 1971, Stephen began teaching English at Hampden Academy, the public high school in Hampden, Maine. Writing in the evenings and on the weekends, he continued to produce short stories and to work on novels.