New Book!

This isn't really a blog, just an update.

I got my new book, it's called "The Turn of the Screw" by Henry James.
Here's a quicke:
An unnamed narrator listens to a male friend reading a manuscript written by a former governess whom the latter claims to have known and who is now dead. The manuscript tells the story of how the young governess is hired by a man who has found himself responsible for his niece and nephew after the death of their parents. He lives in London and has no interest whatsoever in the children. The boy is at a boarding school whilst his sister, Flora, is living at the country home where she is cared for by the housekeeper, Mrs. Grose. He gives the governess full charge of the children and makes it clear he never wants to hear from her again regarding them. The governess travels to her new employer's house and begins her duties. Shortly thereafter, the boy, Miles, turns up after being expelled from his school. The governess infers that the headmaster feels that Miles is a threat to the other boys.

The governess begins to see and hear strange things. She learns that her predecessor, a Miss Jessel, and her lover Peter Quint (another former servant of the household), a clever but abusive man, died under curious circumstances. Gradually, she becomes convinced that the pair are somehow using the children to continue their relationship from beyond the grave. The governess takes action against the perceived threat, eventually culminating in the death of Miles.

(taken from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Turn_of_the_Screw)

Should be good! Origianlly published in 1898. dang.
I'll be back soon, with a true blog about it.

Finished!

Okay, so admittedly I finished the book, the "Shining" a while ago, but I've finally caught my breath and decided to pay attention to my blog again.... The end of this book was awesome. Scariness level was raised so much. And although, I did know the gist of what was going to happen at the end, the way King developed it was nice. Halloran, the old cook, who also possesses the shine came back just in time and he managed to save Danny and Wendy. On his way up there, those creepy hedge-animals came and attacked him though. I the end he lit them up with the gasoline from his snow Mobile and went on to save the day. What was the best, was that it was actually Danny who managed to save the day. In the final moments, where the book could go either way-Jack could succeed and kill Danny, or Danny cold manage to find a way out. It turns out, Danny gets trapped in a corner and there is no escape, he prepares himself for his death. Yet in the end, he manages to talk Jack out of it. He helps to wake Jack up, screaming "You're not my daddy!" Which King managed to make super emotional, though i made it sound...corny. Anyway, Jack, for the briefest moment, is woken up and gives Danny the chance to run away, before the evil desires of the hotel overtake his weakened and vulnerable mind. Danny runs, finds Wendy and Halloran and runs our of the hotel just before the damned boiler explodes in an ironic twist of fate-that is, one of Jack's most important jobs was to watch the boiler, if it went past a certain heat, it may blow. In its desire to kill Danny, the hotel neglected Jack's responsibilities, and allowed for it's own demise. Clever.

What's interesting is this idea-Jack is a normal guy, susceptible to the weakness of alcohol and literature, yet he is a good father and loving husband. In the end, he is the only family member taken over by the hotel. Because of his weakness towards alcohol the hotel was able to take advantage of him. jack's own addiction led to his eventual death. Still, Jack is the average-Joe, so my question is- was King trying to portray that this hysteria, paranoia, and sick twist of fate happen to anyone. The turn about in Jack was so fast. He lost all control and almost killed the two most important people in the world to him. It seems that King is commenting on our society's proneness to addiction, how easily traded over to the "evil" or "dark" side. it seemed that in the end Jack was all for his own survival and happiness because of the weaknesses. Yet the innocence of Danny is what saves them all, even Jack, for in the last few moments of his life, he is returned to his sound mind and let's Danny get away. Also Wendy, because of her love for Danny, was willing to sacrifice her lover and life to save him. It seems, that even though his harsh criticism of jack's character, King redeems us by imploring that we listen to our humane side, our loving and motherly tendencies, rather than our jealous and greedy sides.

P.S
I watched the movie...so unimpressed, granted i did watch it the same night that I finished the book. But still, it was scary in it's own way-yet hardly followed the plot. but jack Nicholson as Jack Torrance, okay that was amazing. I know about the whole, well Movies have to be in a certain time limit, and how the book is always better. But the only similarities between these two, were the title and character names.
Also, kind of funny. During the movie (my sister and I were watching it.) my mom decided she was going to go to bed, and so she turned on the alarm. Later, when the movie ended, I went and took the movie our of the player, it was like 11:30 at night, and I was telling my sister that the movie was so NOT scary. And right after i did that and shut off the DVD player, the alarm suddenly started going off,like screaming and flashing loudly. My sister and i both screamed like little girls and my mom had to come out of the room running. I was so scared.

Almost There

So, I'm almost at the end of the first book, The Shining, for those of you who forgot. I want to talk about style for a second. So as Mrs. Clapp said, King isn't exactly famous for his stylistic techinque, yet I feel that there is one important aspect that i should adress as far as his style goes-that of his ability to foreshadow. Now granted, some of his foreshadowing is rather obvious, but some of it is also to a point, subtle.

In the beginning of the novel Danny has his vision about the chase/murder that will occur at the end of the book. At first, we don't know who it is that is going to commit this crime

we just now it will be BAD. In this way the reader is hooked. We are constantly looking for its actaul occurance, and unitl it happens, as a reader i can't let it go. It stays in my mind and keeps me on my toes. Because I know it'll be coming I'm going mad waiting for it! it'll probally be the pinnacle of the story, ultimate climatic moment, and i can't wait.

[later on] okay i saved that post, and now I've come back to it. I finished the book, and in retrospect, that scene was everything i wanted it to be. Jack went mad and almost killed Danny and it was definilty the ultimate climax of the story. Because i'd been waiting for it for so long and it was finally delivered the intensity was even greater. And i wasn't dissapointed, it was an awesome scene :)