I had this book with me ever since its publication last year and when I saw it trending for several weeks in a row on the NYT bestseller list,I knew it was time to pick it up.
The King of horror is on a roll in this book.He gives us not one or two but twenty creepy stories which get weirder by the minute.However there are only three previously unpublished stories in this one-Bad Little Kid,Mister Yummy and Obits.The rest have been previously published at some time or other.Each story begins with a small note by him explaining just what led him to write it.I love his irreverance when it comes to writing.How everything about it just shocks you and Im talking about much more than the plot here.I find his stories always toe the line between the impossible-but-could-happen-sometime to completely bizarre-but-maybe-could-happen-sometime.And of course theres no time like the night to read the books when you are free to internalize those screams.
So lets get started!I will try and not reveal what the plot lines are and just say what I felt after I read them.
Mile 81:Did I mention that he writes weird stuff.This story is about a station wagon which is not a station wagon at all.Stephen King fans will probably know what Im hinting at but the rest of us will have to read this story.I waited for a bit after reading this one and found myself thinking that something like this could happen.
Premium Harmony : So all the stories need not be macabre and bloody to evoke the feelings of horror.This one disturbed me and made me rethink what marriage can really turn into sometime.
Batman and Robin Have an Altercation: I liked it.Life continues to throw surprises and we just have to deal with them.
The Dune: Loved it!I didnt see it coming so was appropriately shocked.Should have guessed.But I am not usually at my alert best on weekends.
Bad Little Kid: Loved it!Downright Eerie.Sometimes you are so sure about things that you do not entertain any other possibility.What was he thinking?What was I thinking?We definitely werent thinking the same thing.This one kind of creeped me out.
A Death: Awesome!Totally unexpected yet expected,if you know what I mean.Classic King.Continues to shock.
The Bone Church: Didnt work for me.
Morality: Was weird but makes you just sit still and think.
Afterlife: Totally loved it.I had so many questions after this.And some things just made so much sense.The only time I ever wished Stephen King was a friend.
Ur: Strictly OK.Kindle users ,Beware!
Herman Wouk is still Alive: Sad.Just random stuff happening to everyone around.Thats another thing I like about his books.The randomness in them mimics life sometimes.Predictable but not entirely.
Under The Weather: Figured it out as soon as I started reading this.Not a novel plot at all.Old wine in new bottle.
Blockade Billy: Good.But not in the same league as the ones I really liked.
Mister Yummy: Stranger things are known to happen and when its Mr King we expect nothing less.
Tommy: Didnt work for me.
The Little Green God Of Agony: This one was stretching it a bit too far.Totally over the top.Lots of eyerolls from me while reading this one but nicely written.
That Bus is Another World: Bizarre!Could really happen sometime,somewhere.Or maybe it already has.
Obits: Whoa!What a mean little story.Feel horrible to even think about it.But what if.....
Drunken Fireworks:Enjoyed this one!What a story!
Summer Thunder: Scary to contemplate.The end of the world ,Stephen King style!
You need to read this book to see what Im really talking about.Its surely worth a shot.Read it when you are missing a nightmare.
I rate it a 4 out of 5.
My first book for the year!and I am absolutely thrilled to have chosen it.I berated myself for not having read it earlier.
This one was top priority in my TBR pile and was waiting to be read.And what better time than now to pick it up.I read it through the weekend and have just finished reading it today.
This is a true account of the Durrell family narrated by naturalist Gerald Durrell telling us of a part of his childhood spent on the Greek island of Corfu between 1935 and 1939.The Durrell family consisting of the mother and her three sons,Larry,Leslie, Gerry and a daughter Margo are all eccentric and unconventional in a totally endearing way ,when they can no longer endure the damp cold English climate,they sell their house and relocate to the sunny Greek isle of Corfu.The island is wonderfully rich in flora and fauna.This is a delightful account of Gerrys uninhibited interest in all living thing be it puppies,toads,geckoes,scorpions,snakes,ladybugs,gloworms,octopuses,bats,magpies,gulls,pigs and calmly getting them home
My Views:
This book had my undivided attention ever since I started reading it.It is a delightful account of Gerry Durrell and his family during their stay in Corfu.This is a non-fiction novel and memoir and honestly I had not expected non-fiction to be so much fun.Gerald Durrell has impeccable comic timing.His life and time there is so vividly described that I was transported to Corfu along with his family.
I loved his fearlessness and uninhibited nature,the ability to keep an open mind while trying new things and just being so nature and animal friendly.His wit just shines through.The descriptions had me totally enraptured.This account was full of vivid descriptions about the island,the animals he caught and about his family.
Its such a mad family,the battle of wits amongst the brothers,especially Larry had me in splits.There is a cast of very interesting local characters and friends who are completely eccentric as well.
The moonlight picnic which eventually turns into a moonless midnight swim,with the flickering fireflies,the porpoises shimmering in the phosphorescence and the starlit sky was so incredibly beautiful,I read it twice and enjoyed it immensely.
Who wouldnt love a faithful companion like his dog Roger!He comes up with names for all his pets,so the pigeon is Quasimodo,the gecko is Geronimo ,the Owl named Ulysses and Widdle and Puke are the names of the puppies for obvious reasons.
And if thats not enough theres Spiro the local who is their guardian for the duration of their stay and who speaks the most outrageous English and his tutors Theodore and Kralefsky who have their strange ways as well.Im so glad he included the part about Kralefskys mother.I thoroughly enjoyed that bit too.
What do I say about this book!Im still basking in its afterglow having just finished reading it.I cannot find a single thing I did not like about it.It will be so hard to find another one as good now.I feel doomed.This is one of those books that will go at the very top on my shelf and someday when I am old and wrinkled,hopefully I will read it again and remember this day and all that I am feeling right now.I feel happy.I havent laughed like this in ages.I laughed out loud so many times unexpectedly even to myself that I had to stifle it when there were people around lest they thought im mental.
This book is simply awesome.
Of course I rate it a 5 out of 5.
