Category Archives: Challenges

I’m not even going to try and make a comparison between the movie and the book. Partly because, like I mentioned before, when I decided to take part in the Stephen King Project challenge, I’ve read the book years ago and many details are lost in the depths of my memory – I do remember the main idea of the story and I remember liking the book.

Now, back to the movie.

Michael Noonan is a writer about to finish a novel. Just before he types out the last sentence, he goes downstairs and asks his wife to come with him. He sits her down at the computer and he tells her what to write. I can’t write without you, Jo – these words will reverberate through the story, just one of the threads that will tie everything up into a coherent and believable tale.
But then Jo dies and Mike discovers she had been pregnant at the time of her death. Plagued by doubts and depression, he decides to go to a house that was left to him and his brother by their late father, a house in a town called Dark Lake Score, where Jo had spent a lot of time in the year before her death. There, hard at work on his next novel, Mike is also trying to find out if his wife had been unfaithful to him. Piecing together the clues he gets (messages spelled with magnets on the fridge door, a bell, songs, dreams, books and even his own writing) Mike is starting to unravel the mystery that seems to hang above the small town like a threatening cloud. A little girl that is the cause of a custody battle, an old man that had apparently committed suicide and another one that is living his last days in a nursing home, they all are crucial characters. In time Mike finds out about the tragedy that played out in the small town, a horrific death going back to 1939 and a curse spoken with a dying breath. A curse that also affects his family. The end is open, teetering between hope and despair, an ending worthy of a King book.

I liked the movie a lot. I thought it was well made, the actors’ performance very good – I’ll give it extra points for casting Pierce Brosnan (one of my favorite actors) as Mike – the action fast paced and the story well put together. There are dreams within dreams within dreams, songs from the 1939 (fictional, of course) and visions of dead people. There was also a scene at the beginning of the movie that made me jump and want to turn on all the lights in the house.
There is a reference to Misery, another one of King’s novels, and one of the songs played in the movie, Motherless Child, was also recorded by Martin Gore (songwriter of Depeche Mode). A movie based on one of my favorite author’s books and a song that led me back to Depeche Mode. How can I not like this movie?

Have you watched the movie or read the book?

Coming soon: two reviews, 11.22.63 by Stephen King and Sudden Flash Youth – 65 Short-Short Stories, and a giveaway!

Having read a fair amount of Stephen King books over the past ten years or so, I was pleasantly surprised when I discovered this reading challenge and decided to take part in it. I had already started on 11/22/63, the latest King novel, which found its way under my Christmas tree last month, and so far it’s been an amazing read. I’m nearly halfway through and enjoying every page so far.

Here are the rules:

The Stephen King Project Overview

1. This will run from January through December 2012
2. Anyone can join. But you should have a blog OR an account with Goodreads, Shelfari, etc., so you can write your reviews and we can visit via the link at The Stephen King Project.
3. The Project will be hosted at The Stephen King Project. Participants should link their reviews to the Linky there.
4. Audiobooks count.
5. E-books count.

What Are the Commitment Levels?

* A King Novice: 1 book
* A Lil Bit of King: 3 books
* A King to Balance It All: 6 books
* A King Legend: 9 books
* A King for All Seasons: 12+ books

What About the Movies?

Hell. YEAH. Same rules from the above apply, except…
* You can mix and match but you should have more books than films in your end-of-year total tally.

What Should You Do Now?

1. Write an announcement post on your blog.
2. You don’t have to put a list of books together in your announcement post. Or you can.
3. Use one of the blog buttons from the sidebar.
4. Enter the link to your announcement post here at The Stephen King Project at the appropriate post.
5. Every time you write a review, enter the link to it for the appropriate month at the review site. (On the 1st of each month, a new entry will be posted at the review site, and you can link up your reviews there).
6. At the end of each month, one participant from that month will be selected via random.org and will win a book from either Kathleen or I (or we may both have a book to give you). The book may or may not be King-related.
7. At the end of the year, one participant from the year will win a $50 gift card!

Maybe you’d like to join and be a part of the reading adventure. If you’ve read any King before you’ll love it. If not, now’s a good time to start. For more information, click here:

The Stephen King Project