I treated myself to a movie today and picked Paul. It was a good laugh actually.... I needed that. Was not in the mood for a serious movie or something award winning but just wanted to go and watch something non serious for a little while. Paul was a good choice. It is a movie about two friends who pick up and alien on their travels through America. The alien Paul is a real character! He is wild and loves to party. Some of the jokes in the movie are hilarious -there is this Man in Black guy who is called Zoil... Lorenzo Zoil. For those who have seen it, the scene in the comic book shop is great!
I have to confess that I did buy two books today but before we all get crazy and threaten to run off and call Bookaholics Anonymous, they were not for me and I will not be keeping them! One of them is a present for my sister and the other one is a present for my best friends. And... it is not as if I have not exposed myself to temptation. I went to Northampton for a little shopping trip yesterday and went into a book shop. I nearly caved but then remembered that even on a 3 for 2 offer the books I wanted would most likely be cheaper online! Fortunately for me I managed to stay out of an actual book shop today and just wandered into John Lewis and found my presents.
#### SPOILER ALERT ####
Dreamcatcher - Stephen King
I went to see the movie made of this book several years ago. I remember going on a bit of a whim and not even realising that it was a Stephen King book that the movie was based on. I remember the movie being good, entertaining and tension filled. I do not remember all the minute details of the storyline but some bits are still with me. However, when I mentioned reading the book to my friend B I did find out that my mind had successfully blocked out the creepy, alien, wormy thing.. Thanks brain!
The book seems to be a story made up of several spokes on a wheel, several stories woven into one. There is the friendship between the main characters as boys and men. There is the influence of Duddits on them and their lives. Then we have the alien "invasion" and all the weirdness that comes with it - red fuzzy stuff on faces and the telepathic abilities. Oh, and let us not forget the army represented by main madman Kurtz. It seems that these are all smaller parts of the whole experience of the book and in a way they are like the threads of the dreamcatcher, all connected. Initially I was not quite sure why the book has the title it has. There are several other titles that King could have chosen and that wold perhaps be more fitting to the main bulk of the book. However, hang in there till the end as it does get explained and it does make kind of sense.
Initially, we meet the four friends at snapshot moments in their lives. Each of them is sketched out by King so you instantly know what to expect from them later on in the book and you also immediately get the feeling that something is up with each of these guys. They seem to know things, are able to do things and have developed a friendship that has lasted over time. There is a deep connection between them because of some shared experiences they had when they were kids and they have managed to hang on to some remnant of that connection. The four main friends are Jonesy, Henry, Pete and Beaver. Jonesy is a professor of history, smart guy. He's got the wife and kids and picket fence although it has some slats missing. Henry is the shrink of the pack. Spends his life getting into people's heads but is really looking to leave this life as soon as possible. Pete is the youngest one and has a knack for finding things. Not so handy when you are a car salesman but handy when people lose things. Especially handy when trying to impress pretty women. Then there is Beaver. He is the loose cannon, the "screw up", the one who has not really ended up in any kind of career but wanders through life having fun and chewing toothpicks. And.... then there is Duddits. He is the one that may be the most important one of them all. He is the one that connects them. The boys all united against a common enemy to defend him when they were kids and now that they are all grown up and the situation with the aliens reaches Defcon 3 they unite again. Duddits is a boy with Down syndrome and he has a very special link to the boys. They do not really realise quite how special when they are young and the link fades away somewhat as the boys grow into men and move away from he place they grew up but it is the link that saves them in the end.
It starts out innocently enough, four friends meet up for a hunting trip like they have for years. However, this time not all of them will go home again after a week hunting in the woods. I will not spoil to much of the plot and the aliens but there are lights in the sky, strange noises and people get "invaded" in various ways. Naturally the army is called in to contain the situation and it turns out they have been aware of an aliens threat for years and have a plan all worked out. The nutter in charge of implementing it is Kurtz (not his real name). He is a brutal man who demands loyalty but is not playing the game of life with a full deck or several sandwiches short of a picnic, a few sticks short of a bundle.. you get the idea. You also already know that when you meet him he will probably not make it to the end of the book. His sheer un-likeability is going to get him killed and King could not possibly let someone so ruthless live. Anyway, the boys get exposed to the aliens in different ways but Jonesy seems to be the one to be able to withstand them. He gets invaded by the alien in the shape of Mr Gray but part of his mind manages to survive. I like the way that King has described this, it was good in the movie as well. Jonesy is in a little office and he can see out to see what Mr Gray is doing in/to his body, the good the bad and the ugly. There is a big warehouse which is Jonesy's mind and it is filled with boxes. Mr gray uses these boxes to find what information he needs to be able to drive cars and get where he needs to go. Jonesy is trapped in the office and he knows he has to stay away from Mr Gray to keep from completely losing himself. However, Jonesy realises there are some memories he has to keep safe so he gets them away from Mr Gray when he is busy killing. This delays matters somewhat but Mr Gray is not one to be thwarted and with the help of Jonesy's files manages to think of an alternative plan to try and wipe out the human race. Whilst Jonesy is possessed Henry and his new army friend Owen race after to prevent the world from ending. There is some chasing, some killing, there is people smelling like a chem lab and distended bellies, we have the capturing of infected people and there is even time for a small revolution in the prison camp and the development of a bacon fetish. Beaver buys it in the first half of the book -of ever there was an advert for not chewing toothpick he is it. Pete lasts a little longer but once he has shown Mr Gray where to go he is finished off. Henry makes it to the end of the book as does Jonesy. I am sorry to say that Duddits does not.
Duddits is the one who is the central link in this story. He is the one that unites the boys in the first place, back when they were kids growing up. He is an innocent who cannot even get his shoes on the right way round some days. The boys come round to see him regularly when they are young but they have not been to see him for a while before the hunting trip of the story. They did not go to his father's funeral and they do not even know that he is ill. Yet the connection as far as Duddits is concerned has not changed from those early days. He feels it when Beaver dies and Pete as well. He is able to tap into this alien mind thing and uses it against them. Although he is weak and dying he is able to help Henry and Jonesy defeat Mr Gray and thus save Jonesy. It is interesting that King chooses someone who has such an innocent and childlike mind as the one who is the strongest in the entire story. He is the one who knows how get Henry and Jonesy to defeat Mr Gray. Duddits is the one that is portrayed as someone who needs protecting from harm, needs to be cared for and he would be lost if exposed to the harshness of the real world and yet he saves the world.
There is a lot in this book, there is 690 pages of it. Lots of people are involved, lots of things happen and I could write much more about all the goings on but in the end to me the book seems mostly a story about friendship.
Title: Dreamcatcher
Author: Stephen King
692 pages
New English Library
ISBN nr 0-340-77072-4
Books bought: 2.. but they are not for me so they do not go onto my count!!!! Although I cannot deny that I had a little shudder of excitement when holding them. But no.. must not cave, doing so well...
Books to be read: 66
Now reading a Ghost story one again, it has been ages since I read one of them.
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