The Monday evening game between the O's and Yankees in New York was better than expected. Guthrie only gave up 4 runs and the O's scored 1 off of CC Sabathia. I only watched the first few innings of this one. I'm easing in slowly to my new fandom. The Orioles scored first in the third off a Matt Weiters home run. I was pretty satisfied and decided to watch Salo which please don't see that movie. I only got through the first half hour before I got so disgusted I turned it off and sent it back to Netflix.
I was pleasantly surprised by the score. I try to believe they can win every game, but when Sabathia pitching and the Yankees are hitting, it's a little harder to get pumped up. The O's do it again tonight at 7 with Burnett taking the mound for the Yankees.
Tuesday, May 4, 2010
Monday, May 3, 2010
I Bleed Orange and Black
I was inspired yesterday. I'm rarely inspired but seeing the lowly Baltimore Orioles sweep the Boston Red Sox inspired me. I'm a baseball fan and for the past two years I've been following and rooting for the New York Mets. I picked them because there was always the chance that they could go to the playoffs but it wasn't guaranteed like the Red Sox who seem to go every year. Alas the last two years have been disatrous for the Mets. Last summer was the worst summer of my life and watching the Mets lose game after game in a bewildering number of ways didn't help.
Things are slightly better now but the Mets (despite winning nine in a row) are destined for fourth or at worst third place in the division. I actually hate all of the pitchers except for Mike Pelfrey. And I don't have much fondness for any of the hitters. I still root for them and want them to win but I can only do it from afar. I can no longer watch the games. This past weekend was horrible and seeing the Mets lose 10-0 and 11-5 to the Phillies reminded me too much of the horror of last year. So goodbye Mets, for now...
Now on to a new team. I can't root for winners like the Yankees and Red Sox. I can't root for joke teams like the pirates or Royals. I only get two teams on my tv on a regular basis (I like watching at least 80% of the games because that's what a true baseball fan does) Nationals and Orioles. Three years ago I watched most of the Nationals games because I like the National League style of play. I had just started watching baseball and didn't realize that at that point in time the Nationals weren't meant to win. They were just building. Three years on they're getting better but they're still not meant to win. Maybe three years more and they'll be in a position to win.
The Orioles have been bad for the past 4-5 years, never winning more than 74 games in a year. This year they declared they were playing to win. Which is nice to say but hard to do. I think they've won five games so far. I watched the first game where the bullpen gave the game away that they were about to win. It was heart breaking and it was the first game! So it was with great surprise I saw them sweep the Red Sox this weekend and the determination and patience I saw on this team was great. The Mets are fatalistic, they play down to their potential. They have one of the highest payrolls in baseball but win less games than the Marlins who have the lowest payroll in baseball. The Mets have great expectations and fail every time. The Orioles have nothing to lose but want to win.
I would hope that describes myself. I'll be watching the Orioles take on the Yankees on television tonight. My brain says they're going to get slaughtered but my heart says they're going to win.
That's how I feel every day- I know I'm not going to win at this game of life but maybe just maybe if I try and keep trying every single day. I can beat this thing. God I hope so. Go Orioles!
Things are slightly better now but the Mets (despite winning nine in a row) are destined for fourth or at worst third place in the division. I actually hate all of the pitchers except for Mike Pelfrey. And I don't have much fondness for any of the hitters. I still root for them and want them to win but I can only do it from afar. I can no longer watch the games. This past weekend was horrible and seeing the Mets lose 10-0 and 11-5 to the Phillies reminded me too much of the horror of last year. So goodbye Mets, for now...
Now on to a new team. I can't root for winners like the Yankees and Red Sox. I can't root for joke teams like the pirates or Royals. I only get two teams on my tv on a regular basis (I like watching at least 80% of the games because that's what a true baseball fan does) Nationals and Orioles. Three years ago I watched most of the Nationals games because I like the National League style of play. I had just started watching baseball and didn't realize that at that point in time the Nationals weren't meant to win. They were just building. Three years on they're getting better but they're still not meant to win. Maybe three years more and they'll be in a position to win.
The Orioles have been bad for the past 4-5 years, never winning more than 74 games in a year. This year they declared they were playing to win. Which is nice to say but hard to do. I think they've won five games so far. I watched the first game where the bullpen gave the game away that they were about to win. It was heart breaking and it was the first game! So it was with great surprise I saw them sweep the Red Sox this weekend and the determination and patience I saw on this team was great. The Mets are fatalistic, they play down to their potential. They have one of the highest payrolls in baseball but win less games than the Marlins who have the lowest payroll in baseball. The Mets have great expectations and fail every time. The Orioles have nothing to lose but want to win.
I would hope that describes myself. I'll be watching the Orioles take on the Yankees on television tonight. My brain says they're going to get slaughtered but my heart says they're going to win.
That's how I feel every day- I know I'm not going to win at this game of life but maybe just maybe if I try and keep trying every single day. I can beat this thing. God I hope so. Go Orioles!
Saturday, April 3, 2010
The Cat Who Walks Through Walls by Robert Heinlein
I expected this book to be much worse than it actually is. I've never heard many great things about the 80's Heinlein books and as a high schooler I remember being impressed by a few of his 50's and 60's books. I had read Puppet Masters, The Door Into Summer, Farnham's Freehold and Citizen of the Galaxy. I remember being impressed by them but I reread A Door into Summer recently and found it almost unreadable. The dialogue is terrible and the "science" is hopelessly outdated. Also the relationship between the twelve year old and the main protagonist is very odd and creepy. The main character freezes himself to speed up the time when he and the twelve year old can get married (I think he waits until she is twenty-one).
Henry James wrote a book in the 1800's (I've never read it but I've heard the plot described) Roderick Hudson. Hudson takes in an orphan and raises her and marries her when she turns 18 (the old Woody Allen routine).
The Cat Who Walks Through Walls moves at a fairly brisk pace but some of the dialogue between "The Col." and his centuries old (but good looking) wife is sometimes excruciating, especially when it's sexual. And there's a twelve year old girl involved that the Col. is tempted to sleep with (who is his wife's granddaughter). Again very odd and very, very creepy. I'm only 2/3's the way through and I've read many reviews where people say it slows down considerably half way through. I haven't noticed any considerable slow down yet but the plot is getting convoluted.
So far this book is about what I expected but a little better than I thought it would be. Heinlein's grasp of what the Internet can do in 1985 is pretty spectacular. The "terminal" that's in every home handles all news, shopping and personal correspondence and the fact that he is projecting 150 years into the future but we have this technology 25 years after he wrote this shows just how fast we are moving technology wise.
Henry James wrote a book in the 1800's (I've never read it but I've heard the plot described) Roderick Hudson. Hudson takes in an orphan and raises her and marries her when she turns 18 (the old Woody Allen routine).
The Cat Who Walks Through Walls moves at a fairly brisk pace but some of the dialogue between "The Col." and his centuries old (but good looking) wife is sometimes excruciating, especially when it's sexual. And there's a twelve year old girl involved that the Col. is tempted to sleep with (who is his wife's granddaughter). Again very odd and very, very creepy. I'm only 2/3's the way through and I've read many reviews where people say it slows down considerably half way through. I haven't noticed any considerable slow down yet but the plot is getting convoluted.
So far this book is about what I expected but a little better than I thought it would be. Heinlein's grasp of what the Internet can do in 1985 is pretty spectacular. The "terminal" that's in every home handles all news, shopping and personal correspondence and the fact that he is projecting 150 years into the future but we have this technology 25 years after he wrote this shows just how fast we are moving technology wise.
Wednesday, March 10, 2010
Film: Sour Grapes
This is a film written and directed by the great Larry David. Seinfeld taught me everything I know about life from the years I was 12 to 17. I think it permanently warped my view of the world and perception of reality. But it's so damn funny who cares if it made me neurotic? Curb Your Enthusiasm is a little more hit or miss but still one of the best TV shows out there.
I had heard this movie wasn't very good (even in interviews with Larry David) but I figured that it had to have some redeeming qualities because of the pedigree of writer/director. I was wrong. The two main leads are very bad actors. One is the other guy from Wings (not Thomas Hayden-Church) and he's the better of the two. That should show you the level of acting. In another post about this movie someone was talking about the lines and how they are "Davidesque" and looking at the lines on paper they are quite close to Curb Your Enthusiasm but David hadn't developed a way to deliver them yet. The actors just kind of recite the lines and don't know how to emphasize them correctly and they end up just sounding odd, not funny. If you put Larry David in one of these roles it might have been halfway funny.
But as it is the movie is fairly poor. But I think that maybe in the end this movie did a great service to mankind. It let Larry David see that he needed to develop a way to deliver his lines the way he probably said them in his head. Because in this case it didn't translate from paper to actor at all. I know Curb is improvised and that makes it even more clear that Larry David himself is what makes that show funny. If you took David out of Curb and replaced him with an actor who said the exact same lines David said, the show wouldn't be half as funny. And I think he might have learned that from Sour Grapes.
I had heard this movie wasn't very good (even in interviews with Larry David) but I figured that it had to have some redeeming qualities because of the pedigree of writer/director. I was wrong. The two main leads are very bad actors. One is the other guy from Wings (not Thomas Hayden-Church) and he's the better of the two. That should show you the level of acting. In another post about this movie someone was talking about the lines and how they are "Davidesque" and looking at the lines on paper they are quite close to Curb Your Enthusiasm but David hadn't developed a way to deliver them yet. The actors just kind of recite the lines and don't know how to emphasize them correctly and they end up just sounding odd, not funny. If you put Larry David in one of these roles it might have been halfway funny.
But as it is the movie is fairly poor. But I think that maybe in the end this movie did a great service to mankind. It let Larry David see that he needed to develop a way to deliver his lines the way he probably said them in his head. Because in this case it didn't translate from paper to actor at all. I know Curb is improvised and that makes it even more clear that Larry David himself is what makes that show funny. If you took David out of Curb and replaced him with an actor who said the exact same lines David said, the show wouldn't be half as funny. And I think he might have learned that from Sour Grapes.
Tuesday, March 9, 2010
Film: Gun Crazy
This movie was helpfully recommended by the great book, "1001 Movies You Must See." It's a wonderful read with many, many movies that I had no idea ever existed. Some are so obscure even the powerful Netflix doesn't have them, go get yourself this book and a Netflix subscription and enjoy some of these films. It's a treat.
"Gun Crazy" is a film noir from 1949 and begins with a twelve year old boy staring at a revolver in a store window. He's staring lovingly and longingly at it. He immediately takes a brick and smashes the display window to get at it. And that's just the first five minutes.
It gets darker and more intense from that point on. One of my favorite lines (it's corny but it's got flair) is when the main character is talking to his wife (they stick up stores together) and says "We go together like guns and ammunition." Another really dark but great line is when the main character has doubts about his life of crime but his wife drives him to it and he says something like, "This is all so unreal." He turns to his wife, "You're the only thing that's real. The rest is a nightmare." Good quality noir. Check it out.
"Gun Crazy" is a film noir from 1949 and begins with a twelve year old boy staring at a revolver in a store window. He's staring lovingly and longingly at it. He immediately takes a brick and smashes the display window to get at it. And that's just the first five minutes.
It gets darker and more intense from that point on. One of my favorite lines (it's corny but it's got flair) is when the main character is talking to his wife (they stick up stores together) and says "We go together like guns and ammunition." Another really dark but great line is when the main character has doubts about his life of crime but his wife drives him to it and he says something like, "This is all so unreal." He turns to his wife, "You're the only thing that's real. The rest is a nightmare." Good quality noir. Check it out.
Monday, March 8, 2010
The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain
I was initially going to read "Huck Finn," but I opened the first pages and "Huck" makes references to this book and I decided to go ahead and read Tom Sawyer first.
Like most people, I read Huck Finn in High School and remember very little of it. I remember a raft and floating around the Mississippi that's about it. But I thought I remembered the scene where Huck and Tom attend their own funeral as being from Huck Finn, but the scene is actually in Tom Sawyer. There might have been a movie they showed us in school that was a composite of both books, I'm not sure.
"Tom Sawyer" was actually a very good book, and though written for children it's better written than most contemporary books. The language is just as complex (if not more so) than today's literature because of the time it was written, 1876 when writing was a craft unlike today. I'm not going to write that everything was better back in "the good old days" of 1876 but just read this book and tell me that it's not much richer than the last 10 books written after 1980 you've read. Go on, try it.
"Tom Sawyer" brings one back to how boys got along quite well amongst themselves and makes one wonder how the impact our present "upbringing" of boys is hurting them in the long run. We're bringing boys up very differently than what's depicted in this book and I don't think that's a good thing. They had that book "The Dangerous Guide for Boys" or something a few years ago (followed quickly by The Dangerous Guide for Girls) about how to maybe put some of the "danger" back into being a boy that's missing from our feminized America. But read this book to see some real danger: smoking, murder (witnessed not committed), hidden treasure and raft stealing are all here.
Like most people, I read Huck Finn in High School and remember very little of it. I remember a raft and floating around the Mississippi that's about it. But I thought I remembered the scene where Huck and Tom attend their own funeral as being from Huck Finn, but the scene is actually in Tom Sawyer. There might have been a movie they showed us in school that was a composite of both books, I'm not sure.
"Tom Sawyer" was actually a very good book, and though written for children it's better written than most contemporary books. The language is just as complex (if not more so) than today's literature because of the time it was written, 1876 when writing was a craft unlike today. I'm not going to write that everything was better back in "the good old days" of 1876 but just read this book and tell me that it's not much richer than the last 10 books written after 1980 you've read. Go on, try it.
"Tom Sawyer" brings one back to how boys got along quite well amongst themselves and makes one wonder how the impact our present "upbringing" of boys is hurting them in the long run. We're bringing boys up very differently than what's depicted in this book and I don't think that's a good thing. They had that book "The Dangerous Guide for Boys" or something a few years ago (followed quickly by The Dangerous Guide for Girls) about how to maybe put some of the "danger" back into being a boy that's missing from our feminized America. But read this book to see some real danger: smoking, murder (witnessed not committed), hidden treasure and raft stealing are all here.
Wednesday, February 24, 2010
Shutter Island Directed by Martin Scorcese
I guess this blog should be called "The Watching Experience" also but I saw this movie last night and had to comment on it and warn everyone, Do Not See This Movie. It started out very good. It had kind of a noir feel with Leo Di'Caprio in a fedora. It was directed with a heavy hand in the first twenty minutes and when you get to the end you realize why it started out the way it did but it's not worth the wait to get there. The "twist" ending was something out of M. Night Shamalan (I don't know how to spell that sorry) and I don't mean the Sixth Sense ending, I mean like The Village ending. Very, very disappointing. If anyone has seen this and liked it, please let me know.
Libra by Don Delillo and Case Closed by Gerald Posner
I recommend reading these two books together. I read Libra first and then Case Closed. Libra is Delillo's interpretation of the Kennedy assassination. It is written in an impressionistic fashion, good writing but in a 400 page novel dealing with Lee Harvey Oswald and intrigue about mobsters it does get a little wearying at times. It's amazing how many details Delillo uses from the actual incidents in Oswald's life to create a layered personality and he takes the loose ends surrounding Oswald to create a very loose "conspiracy." It's a good way to see Oswald as an actual person and not the cipher that most conspiracy books paint him to be.
Case Closed by Posner is the most detailed account that I've seen to depict Oswald's actions as being consistent with someone who would be capable of killing a president by himself. The only book I've ever read about the assassination of Kennedy was Crossfire by Jim Marrs which the movie JFK was loosely based on. Crossfire read by itself is convincing that Oswald was involved in some sort of conspiracy if only by the evidence that most of his actions the year before the assassination make little sense. But the case that Posner lays out in Case Closed puts all of his actions into context. The context is that Oswald was a delusional and unhappy person who thought it was impossible for him to be happy as long as corrupt governments, whether it be in America or the Soviet Union, existed to oppress him and others like him.
The trouble most people have in accepting the lone gunman theory is that it seems so hard to comprehend that one crazy person can change the course of history in such a large way. But Posner states the facts so clearly and the almost incredible chain of coincidences that lead to JFK's assassination, it's hard to argue with him. For better or worse most of who we are and what are lives consist of (where we work, who we love and the very fact that we exist) exist from chance and being in the right (or wrong) place at the right (or wrong) time. It's difficult to think that world history can change by circumstance and blind chance, but it did.
Case Closed by Posner is the most detailed account that I've seen to depict Oswald's actions as being consistent with someone who would be capable of killing a president by himself. The only book I've ever read about the assassination of Kennedy was Crossfire by Jim Marrs which the movie JFK was loosely based on. Crossfire read by itself is convincing that Oswald was involved in some sort of conspiracy if only by the evidence that most of his actions the year before the assassination make little sense. But the case that Posner lays out in Case Closed puts all of his actions into context. The context is that Oswald was a delusional and unhappy person who thought it was impossible for him to be happy as long as corrupt governments, whether it be in America or the Soviet Union, existed to oppress him and others like him.
The trouble most people have in accepting the lone gunman theory is that it seems so hard to comprehend that one crazy person can change the course of history in such a large way. But Posner states the facts so clearly and the almost incredible chain of coincidences that lead to JFK's assassination, it's hard to argue with him. For better or worse most of who we are and what are lives consist of (where we work, who we love and the very fact that we exist) exist from chance and being in the right (or wrong) place at the right (or wrong) time. It's difficult to think that world history can change by circumstance and blind chance, but it did.
Bag of Bones: Conclusion
Bag of Bones Conclusion:
I stopped posting updates because the plot of this book became so convoluted, while not impossible to post a synopsis of every development it became ponderous to do so. The ending of this book was something only a King lover could appreciate, ridiculous. I still like this book and I also think that the beginning of the novel showed that King could write a very nice “mainstream” work if he ever took the trouble to. His collection of mainstream novellas containing, The Body, Apt Pupil and Shawshank Redemption prove this. I wish he would do more in that kind of vain.
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I also read Under The Dome a thousand pager King recently released. It’s kind of a small scale version of The Stand only dealing with the destruction of small town instead of the entire world. The “villain” in the piece while evil was not a supernatural evil just a very “evil” man but of a human sort of evil not a demon like in The Stand. The ending was worthy of a sub-par Twilight Zone and the two main male characters were so interchangeable that they may as well have been the same person. If you could wade through the mountains of poor dialogue you got a halfway decent story. Slight praise I know, but for a 1,000 page novel it was slight.
I stopped posting updates because the plot of this book became so convoluted, while not impossible to post a synopsis of every development it became ponderous to do so. The ending of this book was something only a King lover could appreciate, ridiculous. I still like this book and I also think that the beginning of the novel showed that King could write a very nice “mainstream” work if he ever took the trouble to. His collection of mainstream novellas containing, The Body, Apt Pupil and Shawshank Redemption prove this. I wish he would do more in that kind of vain.
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I also read Under The Dome a thousand pager King recently released. It’s kind of a small scale version of The Stand only dealing with the destruction of small town instead of the entire world. The “villain” in the piece while evil was not a supernatural evil just a very “evil” man but of a human sort of evil not a demon like in The Stand. The ending was worthy of a sub-par Twilight Zone and the two main male characters were so interchangeable that they may as well have been the same person. If you could wade through the mountains of poor dialogue you got a halfway decent story. Slight praise I know, but for a 1,000 page novel it was slight.
Tuesday, October 20, 2009
Bag of Bones: Chapter 22 (Pages 375-392)
Chapter 22 is mainly devoted to the town's growing dislike of Mike and Mattie. Terrible forces are at work in the town to hurt them or at least drive them away.
Mike awakens from his dream and doesn't know how to describe it. Visions? Time travel? He thinks someone is trying to send him a message, he just doesn't know what that message is supposed to be. Mike's psychic powers are developing too. He can tell when Mattie is going to call and what she's wearing, what her and Kyra are having for breakfast etc.
Mattie calls to tell him that she got her job back. Now that Devore is dead, the librarian doesn't fear his donations stopping. Mike thinks this is a ploy by the unseen spirit in the town to keep her on the TR. Mike is also getting closer to Kyra, Mattie's daughter and she says, "love you" to Mike on the phone. Mike is taken aback but responds in kind. The house wants Mike to help Mattie and says so with the magnets on the refrigerator.
Mike determines that he'll get to the bottom of what's going on in the town and drives to the florist where Kenny Auster's wife works (Mike has decided from the dreams that Kenny Auster is also trying to hurt Mattie). He can't find Kenny's wife and thinks that the whole town has a group unconscious that is trying to get at Kyra and her Mattie.
Next Mike heads to Bill Dean's house to confront him about what's going on. Bill no longer wants anything to do with Mike and tells him to leave town again. Mike says that he is just trying to help Mattie. Bill replies that he's just helping her so he can have sex with her. This weighs on Mike repeatedly after this and he wonders at times whether his motives are "pure."
Mike claims that the townspeople set the trap for Sara Tidwell's son and that's the big secret everyone has. Mike also claims that the town somehow killed his wife, even though she was in Derry, for digging up secrets about the town.
Mike next talks to his housekeeper, Brenda, for information about who Carla Dean was. Brenda tells him that Carla was Bill's twin sister who died in the 1930's from the fires Max Devore set when he left the town.
Mike comes up with the name Kito for the child who may have died in the lake or the one that got caught in the trap. I'm not sure the first time the name Kito cropped up in the book, I think it was one of the names that Mattie saw on her refrigerator. He notices that a lot of people whose names started with K or C have died and he knows that the spirits are planning to get Kyra next. Mike immediately thinks of leaving town, but knows now that Mattie has her job back she won't leave with him. As soon as the thought comes to him to leave the spirits in the house come alive and every noise-making device in the house comes on. The ghosts grab his hand and make him write HELP HER HELP HER. Mike is thus convinced he needs to stay.
Mike goes to get supper at the Village Cafe and gets an anonymous note telling him to leave town.
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The level of hostility and the forces at work are ratcheted up in this chapter. Now we enter the phase where it's almost entirely supernatural forces at work trying to hurt Mike and his people. He knows that right now things aren't strange enough to get Mattie to leave but he fears that it will be too late if they wait much longer. So we have the spirit in the house (we're not sure who's. It's Jo's mixed in with a few other spirits) trying to help Mike but the town itself and most of the townspeople in it (those whose families have been in the town since 1900 or so (the time of Sara Tidwell) are out to get them.
Mike awakens from his dream and doesn't know how to describe it. Visions? Time travel? He thinks someone is trying to send him a message, he just doesn't know what that message is supposed to be. Mike's psychic powers are developing too. He can tell when Mattie is going to call and what she's wearing, what her and Kyra are having for breakfast etc.
Mattie calls to tell him that she got her job back. Now that Devore is dead, the librarian doesn't fear his donations stopping. Mike thinks this is a ploy by the unseen spirit in the town to keep her on the TR. Mike is also getting closer to Kyra, Mattie's daughter and she says, "love you" to Mike on the phone. Mike is taken aback but responds in kind. The house wants Mike to help Mattie and says so with the magnets on the refrigerator.
Mike determines that he'll get to the bottom of what's going on in the town and drives to the florist where Kenny Auster's wife works (Mike has decided from the dreams that Kenny Auster is also trying to hurt Mattie). He can't find Kenny's wife and thinks that the whole town has a group unconscious that is trying to get at Kyra and her Mattie.
Next Mike heads to Bill Dean's house to confront him about what's going on. Bill no longer wants anything to do with Mike and tells him to leave town again. Mike says that he is just trying to help Mattie. Bill replies that he's just helping her so he can have sex with her. This weighs on Mike repeatedly after this and he wonders at times whether his motives are "pure."
Mike claims that the townspeople set the trap for Sara Tidwell's son and that's the big secret everyone has. Mike also claims that the town somehow killed his wife, even though she was in Derry, for digging up secrets about the town.
Mike next talks to his housekeeper, Brenda, for information about who Carla Dean was. Brenda tells him that Carla was Bill's twin sister who died in the 1930's from the fires Max Devore set when he left the town.
Mike comes up with the name Kito for the child who may have died in the lake or the one that got caught in the trap. I'm not sure the first time the name Kito cropped up in the book, I think it was one of the names that Mattie saw on her refrigerator. He notices that a lot of people whose names started with K or C have died and he knows that the spirits are planning to get Kyra next. Mike immediately thinks of leaving town, but knows now that Mattie has her job back she won't leave with him. As soon as the thought comes to him to leave the spirits in the house come alive and every noise-making device in the house comes on. The ghosts grab his hand and make him write HELP HER HELP HER. Mike is thus convinced he needs to stay.
Mike goes to get supper at the Village Cafe and gets an anonymous note telling him to leave town.
*****************************************
The level of hostility and the forces at work are ratcheted up in this chapter. Now we enter the phase where it's almost entirely supernatural forces at work trying to hurt Mike and his people. He knows that right now things aren't strange enough to get Mattie to leave but he fears that it will be too late if they wait much longer. So we have the spirit in the house (we're not sure who's. It's Jo's mixed in with a few other spirits) trying to help Mike but the town itself and most of the townspeople in it (those whose families have been in the town since 1900 or so (the time of Sara Tidwell) are out to get them.
Saturday, October 17, 2009
Bag of Bones: Chapter 21 (pages 356-374)
This entire chapter is a "dream" sequence in which Mike and Kyra travel back in time to the 1900 county fair. I will describe this chapter as "real" because that's the way Mike describes it and at the end of the dream he has a ribbon and pine sap that he picked up from his travels back in time.
The first thing he notices as he wakes up by Dark Score lake is that there is Royce Merrill's gold tip cane laying in the bottom of the pond and by this he knows that Royce has just died. Mike keeps walking until he gets to the county fairgrounds and he hears Sara Tidwell singing and once he enters the fairgrounds everything becomes much more vivid to him and he knows that this is no dream. He walks around the grounds and sees everyone dressed in 19th century attire (including himself). He goes up to the bandstand to see Sara playing and notices that while everyone is dressed in the period, Sara is dressed in Mattie's dress. Kyra appears and she runs to him and it's clear that both of them are asleep but have somehow been transported back in time. Everyone Mike sees he can identify as an ancestor of one of the current townspeople.
Here introduces something that maybe I missed or hadn't been brought up before, that Sara is an evil spirit . Mike gets chills from her and she laughs at him. He tries to leave with Kyra but Devore (we're assuming Max Devore's grandfather although he isn't given a first name) appears with six other people, two of them who appear to Mike to be ghosts, and try to block his way. Mike notices one of the men with Devore looks a lot like him (Mike) and he thinks that this might be the person Max was referring to when he said that his grandfather was from the TR. Perhaps his grandfather was a henchman for the evil Devore. After they get closer to the group, Mike realizes that they are all walking corpses.
Mike and Kyra run away into the Haunted House that's at the fair and after walking through it, they get away from the bad guys and Kyra takes one door back to her house and Mike takes another. Mike awakens with the ribbon and pine sap from the "dream."
A big plot point from this is that the Sara Laughs or Sara Tidwell's spirit is torturing Jo's spirit in the house. At the end of the chapter Mike hears Jo's spirit screaming and Mike implores the other spirits to leave her alone.
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I suppose this will be another plot added to the book. Jo's spirit being trapped in Sara Laughs and Mike trying to free her.
The first thing he notices as he wakes up by Dark Score lake is that there is Royce Merrill's gold tip cane laying in the bottom of the pond and by this he knows that Royce has just died. Mike keeps walking until he gets to the county fairgrounds and he hears Sara Tidwell singing and once he enters the fairgrounds everything becomes much more vivid to him and he knows that this is no dream. He walks around the grounds and sees everyone dressed in 19th century attire (including himself). He goes up to the bandstand to see Sara playing and notices that while everyone is dressed in the period, Sara is dressed in Mattie's dress. Kyra appears and she runs to him and it's clear that both of them are asleep but have somehow been transported back in time. Everyone Mike sees he can identify as an ancestor of one of the current townspeople.
Here introduces something that maybe I missed or hadn't been brought up before, that Sara is an evil spirit . Mike gets chills from her and she laughs at him. He tries to leave with Kyra but Devore (we're assuming Max Devore's grandfather although he isn't given a first name) appears with six other people, two of them who appear to Mike to be ghosts, and try to block his way. Mike notices one of the men with Devore looks a lot like him (Mike) and he thinks that this might be the person Max was referring to when he said that his grandfather was from the TR. Perhaps his grandfather was a henchman for the evil Devore. After they get closer to the group, Mike realizes that they are all walking corpses.
Mike and Kyra run away into the Haunted House that's at the fair and after walking through it, they get away from the bad guys and Kyra takes one door back to her house and Mike takes another. Mike awakens with the ribbon and pine sap from the "dream."
A big plot point from this is that the Sara Laughs or Sara Tidwell's spirit is torturing Jo's spirit in the house. At the end of the chapter Mike hears Jo's spirit screaming and Mike implores the other spirits to leave her alone.
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I suppose this will be another plot added to the book. Jo's spirit being trapped in Sara Laughs and Mike trying to free her.
Bag of Bones: Chapter 20 (pages 331-355)
It looks as though this chapter is the start of Part II in this book. Max Devore and the custody battle seem to be gone. In this part it looks as though Sara Laughs will be the new focus of the novel, but who knows for sure?
Mike goes to the park to meet Mattie and Kyra for lunch. Mattie discusses with Mike that the magnets on her refrigerator have been spelling out words. They've even given a crossword clue, "ninety-two down" which is different from Mike's clue, nineteen down. Mattie says that most of the words are names and one of them is Carla. Mike goes in for this kiss after lunch and Mattie reciprocates and invites him over for (presumably) sex later on that night after Kyra goes to bed. Mike hesitates and "needs some time."
Mike goes home and takes a cold shower (literally) and calls Jo's brother, Frank, for information on what Jo was working on when she came up to Sara Laughs. Frank tells Mike that he was the man Jo was with at the softball game in 1994. Mike is relieved that she wasn't having an affair. Frank also tells him that she took him up to the Sara Laughs but wouldn't let him in because the house was "dangerous." Frank wants to know what's going on but Jo can't tell him. Frank asks if she has told Mike but Jo says that Mike's working on a book and needs to focus on his work. But if he finds out on his own then it's "meant to be." Jo goes into the house, presumably to confront the spirits somehow and after a little while she comes back out looking very relieved. That's when her and Frank go to the softball game. She mentions to Frank that she's been talking to the town's people and mentions Royce Merrill (who is a 95 year old, portrayed as evil by King, who saw Mike with Kyra when they first encountered each other on the highway then went telling the whole town about the incident). Jo says Mike shouldn't talk to him because Royce, "might let the cat out of the bag." Mike thinks this refers to what Max Devore said when he said that Mike's family came from around the TR. Jo also told Frank that Mike had picked out Sara Laughs, that it, "called to him." This "demolished one of the basic assumptions I'd made about my married life." (page 351). Mike always thought that Jo had picked out Sara Laughs and is shocked to remember that he had been one who saw it first and liked it.
Mike gets off the phone with Frank and calls Royce Merrill but he doesn't answer. He finds on the refrigerator the words "Lye still" and associates them with old tombstone sayings. Then proceeds to write until bedtime.
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As I said before, I think this chapter represents the second part of this novel. A number of the plot points have been resolved (seemingly), evil Max and the custody battle and Mike and Mattie's growing affection that they can't express (will they or won't they?) seemed to be cleared up. And Mike's suspicion that Jo was having an affair seems to be explained. What's left? The haunted house, Sara Laughs and the mysteries surrounding the town and it's people (including whether or not Mike's family is from the TR, meaning he might have a different father or grandfather from the one he knows) seem to be what the rest of the book will be about but we'll see as we read along.
Mike goes to the park to meet Mattie and Kyra for lunch. Mattie discusses with Mike that the magnets on her refrigerator have been spelling out words. They've even given a crossword clue, "ninety-two down" which is different from Mike's clue, nineteen down. Mattie says that most of the words are names and one of them is Carla. Mike goes in for this kiss after lunch and Mattie reciprocates and invites him over for (presumably) sex later on that night after Kyra goes to bed. Mike hesitates and "needs some time."
Mike goes home and takes a cold shower (literally) and calls Jo's brother, Frank, for information on what Jo was working on when she came up to Sara Laughs. Frank tells Mike that he was the man Jo was with at the softball game in 1994. Mike is relieved that she wasn't having an affair. Frank also tells him that she took him up to the Sara Laughs but wouldn't let him in because the house was "dangerous." Frank wants to know what's going on but Jo can't tell him. Frank asks if she has told Mike but Jo says that Mike's working on a book and needs to focus on his work. But if he finds out on his own then it's "meant to be." Jo goes into the house, presumably to confront the spirits somehow and after a little while she comes back out looking very relieved. That's when her and Frank go to the softball game. She mentions to Frank that she's been talking to the town's people and mentions Royce Merrill (who is a 95 year old, portrayed as evil by King, who saw Mike with Kyra when they first encountered each other on the highway then went telling the whole town about the incident). Jo says Mike shouldn't talk to him because Royce, "might let the cat out of the bag." Mike thinks this refers to what Max Devore said when he said that Mike's family came from around the TR. Jo also told Frank that Mike had picked out Sara Laughs, that it, "called to him." This "demolished one of the basic assumptions I'd made about my married life." (page 351). Mike always thought that Jo had picked out Sara Laughs and is shocked to remember that he had been one who saw it first and liked it.
Mike gets off the phone with Frank and calls Royce Merrill but he doesn't answer. He finds on the refrigerator the words "Lye still" and associates them with old tombstone sayings. Then proceeds to write until bedtime.
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As I said before, I think this chapter represents the second part of this novel. A number of the plot points have been resolved (seemingly), evil Max and the custody battle and Mike and Mattie's growing affection that they can't express (will they or won't they?) seemed to be cleared up. And Mike's suspicion that Jo was having an affair seems to be explained. What's left? The haunted house, Sara Laughs and the mysteries surrounding the town and it's people (including whether or not Mike's family is from the TR, meaning he might have a different father or grandfather from the one he knows) seem to be what the rest of the book will be about but we'll see as we read along.
Thursday, October 15, 2009
Bag of Bones: Chapter 19 (pages 318-330)
The big news of this chapter is that Max Devore has supposedly committed suicide right after Mike called and agreed to Max's terms about not asking questions about him. Early in the morning Bill Dean calls him up with the news that he has heard on the six a.m. television news.
Rogette Whitmore had called a 2 am press conference, per Devore's orders, to give the world the news of his death. Devore had carefully planned everything out and Mike comes to the conclusion that the letter Max had sent to him was a veiled suicide note because it contained phrases like, "let me rest in peace" and "urgent business I need to take care of."
Mike is relieved and glad that Max is dead but is concerned that the local townspeople might blame him and Mattie. That their custody battle drove him to kill himself.
Bill again warns Mike, but in a friendlier way, to leave town. He says the local townspeople think he is, "shacking up with Mattie" (why this is such a big issue in this book bothers me. I'm not sure what the objection the townspeople would have for them being together. The age difference? They don't like Mattie in the first place. Mattie should never be allowed to be in a relationship again? King should explain the reasoning behind this if it is going to be a huge plot point. I feel like I'm reading The Scarlet Letter here and New England Puritanism is back.)
Mike hangs up the phone and thinks that he and Bill Dean are back on better terms but not really friends again. That had changed when he, "realized what he (Bill) had almost called Sara and the Red-Tops." (Page 323). This again brings up Mike's new psychic ability. He had no way of knowing what Bill was going to say but somehow he has a psychic flash telling him what Bill was thinking.
He calls Mattie and of course Mattie is relieved and upset about Max's death all at the same time. They agree to meet the next day for lunch in the common green so everyone can still see them.
Mike's brother, Sid, then calls. It had been so long since his brother was introduced I forgot he existed. Mike asks him about their father and where he came from and their grandfather etc. A large plot point emerging is that Max said that Mike and his father came from the same background, and since Mike is a different generation than Max, Mike assumes that Max means his grandfather. But Mike's father and grandfather were fishermen, while Max's was a logger so Mike is still wondering. He doesn't get any answers from Sid. Mike ends the conversation and goes back to the kitchen and finds that the magnets have spelled out CARLADEAN. Mike thinks it means Carla Dean, but Mike doesn't know anyone related to Bill Dean named Carla. He only glimpses this for a second before the letters are scattered away. Mike hears the "Oh Mike, Oh Mike" he heard from the tape recorder earlier and now he knows it's Jo's ghost who put the name there but he thinks a different ghosts knocked the letters off because that ghost didn't want Mike to see what was on the fridge.
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Since this is only page 330 of a 530 page book, I doubt we've seen the last of Max Devore. This is probably where the supernatural elements start ramping up. So far this book has been very "normal." We get a nice little 75 pages or so of a man grieving for his dead wife, which was very well done. Then the next 125 pages we deal with Mike getting to know Mattie and her daughter Kyra. Another 100 pages of larger than life (and most decidedly not normal) Max Devore. Mike seems like a nice and decent human being except for his constant obsession of sex with Mattie. Which after a while, does get to be just a little bit creepy. He seems pampered and self-obsessed and maybe throughout the books he'll learn to be a more giving and caring person, who knows?
Rogette Whitmore had called a 2 am press conference, per Devore's orders, to give the world the news of his death. Devore had carefully planned everything out and Mike comes to the conclusion that the letter Max had sent to him was a veiled suicide note because it contained phrases like, "let me rest in peace" and "urgent business I need to take care of."
Mike is relieved and glad that Max is dead but is concerned that the local townspeople might blame him and Mattie. That their custody battle drove him to kill himself.
Bill again warns Mike, but in a friendlier way, to leave town. He says the local townspeople think he is, "shacking up with Mattie" (why this is such a big issue in this book bothers me. I'm not sure what the objection the townspeople would have for them being together. The age difference? They don't like Mattie in the first place. Mattie should never be allowed to be in a relationship again? King should explain the reasoning behind this if it is going to be a huge plot point. I feel like I'm reading The Scarlet Letter here and New England Puritanism is back.)
Mike hangs up the phone and thinks that he and Bill Dean are back on better terms but not really friends again. That had changed when he, "realized what he (Bill) had almost called Sara and the Red-Tops." (Page 323). This again brings up Mike's new psychic ability. He had no way of knowing what Bill was going to say but somehow he has a psychic flash telling him what Bill was thinking.
He calls Mattie and of course Mattie is relieved and upset about Max's death all at the same time. They agree to meet the next day for lunch in the common green so everyone can still see them.
Mike's brother, Sid, then calls. It had been so long since his brother was introduced I forgot he existed. Mike asks him about their father and where he came from and their grandfather etc. A large plot point emerging is that Max said that Mike and his father came from the same background, and since Mike is a different generation than Max, Mike assumes that Max means his grandfather. But Mike's father and grandfather were fishermen, while Max's was a logger so Mike is still wondering. He doesn't get any answers from Sid. Mike ends the conversation and goes back to the kitchen and finds that the magnets have spelled out CARLADEAN. Mike thinks it means Carla Dean, but Mike doesn't know anyone related to Bill Dean named Carla. He only glimpses this for a second before the letters are scattered away. Mike hears the "Oh Mike, Oh Mike" he heard from the tape recorder earlier and now he knows it's Jo's ghost who put the name there but he thinks a different ghosts knocked the letters off because that ghost didn't want Mike to see what was on the fridge.
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Since this is only page 330 of a 530 page book, I doubt we've seen the last of Max Devore. This is probably where the supernatural elements start ramping up. So far this book has been very "normal." We get a nice little 75 pages or so of a man grieving for his dead wife, which was very well done. Then the next 125 pages we deal with Mike getting to know Mattie and her daughter Kyra. Another 100 pages of larger than life (and most decidedly not normal) Max Devore. Mike seems like a nice and decent human being except for his constant obsession of sex with Mattie. Which after a while, does get to be just a little bit creepy. He seems pampered and self-obsessed and maybe throughout the books he'll learn to be a more giving and caring person, who knows?
Wednesday, October 14, 2009
Bag of Bones: Chapter 18 (pages 302-317)
We now have the aftermath of Mike Noonan's little adventure in the lake with Max Devore. Mike stumbles into his house, wondering what to do about the attack that Max launched on him. His first instinct is to call the authorities but after a minute he thinks better of it. He knows that there were no witnesses and it would be hard for most people (especially the reader) to believe that two elderly people almost killed a healthy middle-aged man by pelting him with rocks.
Mike also takes into consideration his "celebrity status" and we get a couple of paragraphs of thought about his feelings about the media. King has always had a pretty decent relationship with the press and a few years ago you could always find him in the front section of Fenway Park watching the Red Sox games. But writers are very small on the celebrity scale and King is one of the biggest authors around. I wonder if he would even get top billing on the Tonight Show over, say, Mathew Broderick? King gives the same old celebrity cliches that just because people are famous that doesn't give the public a right to know every detail of their private lives. King gives the argument very briefly and I think even he doesn't buy it.
Noonan then tries to call his lawyer but his lawyer is away so he leaves a message. He then calls Mattie and is saddened to hear her sound sad and resigned because she was fired from her librarian job. The official explanation was layoff but she knew that Max Devore used the threat of withholding money from the library to get her fired. Mike automatically thinks of making her his private mistress as long as she, "never says no." But thinks better of it. He then tells Mattie that he will take care of her and thinks that, "You'll never take your clothes off when I'm with you. That's a promise." Another instance of Mike lying to himself, all he thinks about with Mattie is having sex with her.
Mattie tells Mike that John called her and they are going to have lunch together soon. Mike immediately invites himself, and Mattie is very excited. Oh, Mike when will you let the girl go?
Mike stares at the refrigerator with the alphabet magnets on it and begins rearranging them, in a trance. I wonder how many thoughts King has while rearranging his fridge magnets? He gets a delivery from Max Devore saying that Max will drop the custody case if Mike, "ceases to ask questions about him, and if you promise to stop all legal maneuvering." A pretty easy deal since, to my knowledge, Mike is not asking any questions about Max Devore except when it comes to Mattie and Kyra. Mike quickly calls Max and gets his assistant, Rogette, and agrees to the deal. At the end of the chapter, Mike goes to the refrigerator and sees that the magnets are rearranged into a message that he thinks means 19 down. Mike then goes to look through his old crossword puzzle books but can find none with any 19 down clues that might apply to him or his current situation.
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Analysis:
This is simple chapter with a quick setup for the next chapter (which I will talk about in the next post). The man delivering Max Devore's message is characterized very weakly and I'm not sure how King wants us to see him. Mike sees that he looks like Woody Allen and is dressed like Woody Allen but then Mike quickly realizes he is just another man, "who sold his soul to the devil." And so can't be Woody Allen at all. The character description falls into one of two categories in this novel. A) You're either totally with Mike Noonan and Mattie or B) You're not with him and are in the pocket of Max Devore and therefore barely human. The only character with any kind gray area is Bill Dean, who we'll see in the next chapter. I thought earlier, when he warned Mike to get out of town, King was putting him simply in the evil category but it looks like he's going to fall into at least a little bit of middle ground and be back on Mike's side somewhat. But we'll discuss that in the next chapter.
Noonan then tries to call his lawyer but his lawyer is away so he leaves a message. He then calls Mattie and is saddened to hear her sound sad and resigned because she was fired from her librarian job. The official explanation was layoff but she knew that Max Devore used the threat of withholding money from the library to get her fired. Mike automatically thinks of making her his private mistress as long as she, "never says no." But thinks better of it. He then tells Mattie that he will take care of her and thinks that, "You'll never take your clothes off when I'm with you. That's a promise." Another instance of Mike lying to himself, all he thinks about with Mattie is having sex with her.
Mattie tells Mike that John called her and they are going to have lunch together soon. Mike immediately invites himself, and Mattie is very excited. Oh, Mike when will you let the girl go?
Mike stares at the refrigerator with the alphabet magnets on it and begins rearranging them, in a trance. I wonder how many thoughts King has while rearranging his fridge magnets? He gets a delivery from Max Devore saying that Max will drop the custody case if Mike, "ceases to ask questions about him, and if you promise to stop all legal maneuvering." A pretty easy deal since, to my knowledge, Mike is not asking any questions about Max Devore except when it comes to Mattie and Kyra. Mike quickly calls Max and gets his assistant, Rogette, and agrees to the deal. At the end of the chapter, Mike goes to the refrigerator and sees that the magnets are rearranged into a message that he thinks means 19 down. Mike then goes to look through his old crossword puzzle books but can find none with any 19 down clues that might apply to him or his current situation.
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Analysis:
This is simple chapter with a quick setup for the next chapter (which I will talk about in the next post). The man delivering Max Devore's message is characterized very weakly and I'm not sure how King wants us to see him. Mike sees that he looks like Woody Allen and is dressed like Woody Allen but then Mike quickly realizes he is just another man, "who sold his soul to the devil." And so can't be Woody Allen at all. The character description falls into one of two categories in this novel. A) You're either totally with Mike Noonan and Mattie or B) You're not with him and are in the pocket of Max Devore and therefore barely human. The only character with any kind gray area is Bill Dean, who we'll see in the next chapter. I thought earlier, when he warned Mike to get out of town, King was putting him simply in the evil category but it looks like he's going to fall into at least a little bit of middle ground and be back on Mike's side somewhat. But we'll discuss that in the next chapter.
Tuesday, October 13, 2009
Bag of Bones: Chapter 17 (pages 284-301)
The greatest chapter in an otherwise so-so book. The chapter is devoted to our "hero" Mike Noonan being pelted with rocks by Max Devore and his secretary the elderly Rogette Whitmore. In chapter 17, Mike says that, "Michael Noonan, Max Devore, and Rogette played out their horrible little comedy scene Friday evening." (page 272). This would lead me to believe that King knows this upcoming chapter is funny (I would say hilarious).
Mike takes a walk by the lake and is overtaken with spirits entering his body. His mouth fills with water from the lake (this is used throughout the book to mark when the spirits are entering him) but when he goes to spit it out nothing comes out. His head is filled with multiple spirits all shouting at once.
While he is going through this spell of demon possession, Max Devore comes up behind him and says, "Whore master, where's your whore at?" Max is in some kind of motorized cart and Rogette Whitmore is beside him. In this section, King has left any kind of reality based characterization behind and Max is a mix of Ross Perot and the grandfather on "King of the Hill." He taunts Mike about Mattie and Mike tells him to go to hell. Max tries to run him down with his cart and to avoid this, Mike jumps off the embankment into Dark Score lake.
This is where the chapter really takes off. Max's assistant, who has been described as being about seventy, starts to throw rocks at Mike as he tries to swim away to home. King does a very good job of describing what it's like to have rocks thrown at you while you're swimming. King (like most popular writers) is quite adept at describing action sequences. Mike tries to come up for air, down comes another rock. He looks up to see Rogette standing at the cliff with more rocks and Max egging her on and laughing. It's all very funny and I bet King had a good time writing this chapter.
The fact is, that Mike Noonan is a pretty unlikable protagonist. He does nothing but think about himself and while he appears to have feelings for Mattie all the forty something thinks of when he's with the twenty year-old Mattie is just straight-up sex.
There's a part in an earlier chapter where he's telling Mattie the meaning of the short story, "Bartleby," by Mellville. Noonan says that Bartleby is the first "existentialist protagonist" in American literature. This is because he has no family or community affiliation. Work is his only connection with human society. When he stops working, "he floats away like a balloon." King inserts this little bit of wisdom, and while it's an OK interpretation of Bartelby it doesn't fit Mike Noonan at all. Bartleby refuses to do work, even though he is capable of it. Therefore voluntarily cutting those ties. Mike cannot perform his chosen task and therein lies the difference. No other line of work is even discussed in the novel for him and Mike also serves on a number of volunteer boards and such. Mike's no existentialist hero, just an asshole. Believe me, he takes no joy in anything but his writing and the thought of sex with Mattie. I loved seeing him pelted with rocks for ten pages.
At the end of the chapter he struggles to get to his floating deck in the middle of the lake, out of range from the rocks. He tries to climb the ladder then clearly feels a hand helping him up onto the deck. He knows this is Jo's ghost helping him in a physical way.
Wonderful chapter.
Mike takes a walk by the lake and is overtaken with spirits entering his body. His mouth fills with water from the lake (this is used throughout the book to mark when the spirits are entering him) but when he goes to spit it out nothing comes out. His head is filled with multiple spirits all shouting at once.
While he is going through this spell of demon possession, Max Devore comes up behind him and says, "Whore master, where's your whore at?" Max is in some kind of motorized cart and Rogette Whitmore is beside him. In this section, King has left any kind of reality based characterization behind and Max is a mix of Ross Perot and the grandfather on "King of the Hill." He taunts Mike about Mattie and Mike tells him to go to hell. Max tries to run him down with his cart and to avoid this, Mike jumps off the embankment into Dark Score lake.
This is where the chapter really takes off. Max's assistant, who has been described as being about seventy, starts to throw rocks at Mike as he tries to swim away to home. King does a very good job of describing what it's like to have rocks thrown at you while you're swimming. King (like most popular writers) is quite adept at describing action sequences. Mike tries to come up for air, down comes another rock. He looks up to see Rogette standing at the cliff with more rocks and Max egging her on and laughing. It's all very funny and I bet King had a good time writing this chapter.
The fact is, that Mike Noonan is a pretty unlikable protagonist. He does nothing but think about himself and while he appears to have feelings for Mattie all the forty something thinks of when he's with the twenty year-old Mattie is just straight-up sex.
There's a part in an earlier chapter where he's telling Mattie the meaning of the short story, "Bartleby," by Mellville. Noonan says that Bartleby is the first "existentialist protagonist" in American literature. This is because he has no family or community affiliation. Work is his only connection with human society. When he stops working, "he floats away like a balloon." King inserts this little bit of wisdom, and while it's an OK interpretation of Bartelby it doesn't fit Mike Noonan at all. Bartleby refuses to do work, even though he is capable of it. Therefore voluntarily cutting those ties. Mike cannot perform his chosen task and therein lies the difference. No other line of work is even discussed in the novel for him and Mike also serves on a number of volunteer boards and such. Mike's no existentialist hero, just an asshole. Believe me, he takes no joy in anything but his writing and the thought of sex with Mattie. I loved seeing him pelted with rocks for ten pages.
At the end of the chapter he struggles to get to his floating deck in the middle of the lake, out of range from the rocks. He tries to climb the ladder then clearly feels a hand helping him up onto the deck. He knows this is Jo's ghost helping him in a physical way.
Wonderful chapter.
Bag of Bones: Chapters 15 & 16 (pages 238-283)
Chapter 15 is fairly brief, describing Mike's deposition and further talks with Mattie and Mike's lawyer. The deposition and Mike's verbal sparring with Elmer Durgin, Kyra's court appointed guardian (who is in the pocket of Devore), is uninteresting and weak.
Durgin is introduced quickly by Mike as a small fat man, and while Mike "likes most fat people," he labels this one immediately as a "ELFF" or "evil little fat folk." Apparently there are a race of fat people that are to be hated on sight because these particular fat people (under 5 foot 2) hate the whole world because they are fat and especially hate anyone who is not fat. I'm not kidding, that's what King writes on page 239 of this book. Way to go with the stereotyping King and character development.
The main plot point of the deposition is that Durgin bluffed that he was going to play a tape of the phone call the Devore made to Noonan on July 4th where Mike lied about his first encounter with Mattie. In the deposition Mike declares that he doesn't remember the conversation he had with Devore and Durgin has a tape recorder there to start playing what would appear to be the tape but ultimately he does not. Mike later asks his lawyer about this and he comes to the conclusion that Max Devore probably has many other tapes with incriminating evidence on them and he doesn't want to introduce this tape because of the fear that the court would subpoena more tapes that he doesn't want heard.
After the deposition Mattie, Mike and the lawyer, John Storrow all go for a little picnic and talk for a little while about the case. John is convinced that Devore will drop the case.
At the end of the chapter Mike goes back to Sara Laughs and then the first fully sustained moment of supernatural horror appears. As he walks into the house he hears the bell by the Moose head ringing loudly (Bunter's Bell). Mike stops at the doorway and asks, "Who's here?" And a loud sustained shrink issues from the house and then after a minute or two it stops. After that Mike hears the sobbing. When the sobbing stops again he goes to the refrigerator and see that the magnets are rearranged to say, "Help I'm drowning." The chapter ends.
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Chapter 16 moves the plot a little further along. Mike sees that in the night the ghost has overturned the flour and is trying to spell out something but all it could do was make squiggly lines in the flours. Mike goes to the softball game in the hopes of seeing Max Devore, but Max doesn't show up and the only people he sees are John Storrow and Mattie there together, also looking for Max.
The next day Mike has a conversation with Brenda Meserve about the history of the TR and Dark Score lake. She tells Mike that one of the Red-Top boys who was in Sara Tidwell's settlement around the lake got caught in an animal trap and died later of infection. Brenda says that's why the settlement disbanded but her mother says the boy's ghost still haunts the lake.
Another boy that died around the lake was a boy with the last name of Auster. His father, Normal, drowned the baby by putting his head under the water pump until he was dead. Then the father took a shotgun and shot himself. The father might also be haunting the lake Brenda thinks.
Mike then goes to the library, careful to talk mostly to the other librarian (Mattie works at the library) to give the appearance that nothing is happening between him and Mattie. He wants to find some histories about the town and the lake. He finds a picture of Sara Tidwell and the name of the boy who got caught in the trap was a Tidwell and Mike thinks the boy might be the nephew of Sara.
John Storrow calls Mike up and is excited about the case because he hired a detective who has evidence that Durgin is being paid by Devore. John also tell Mike that he is interested in Mattie.
John doesn't even ask Mike if he interested in her himself. This is a huge mistake on King's part because large portions of the book are devoted to Mike and Mattie trying to be seen only in public and not appearing romantic at all on the lawyer's advice. If the lawyer thought that nothing was going on or that nothing was likely to happen he would not have given that advice and the fact that he doesn't even ask Mike or bring up the possibility that since Mike is paying all this attention to her, not to mention $75,000 in legal fees that Mike, might, you know, have some kind of feelings that are least a little bit romantic towards her. Storrow is either really dumb, really mean and inconsiderate or King was writing very sloppy.
After the conversation he starts to think about Jo and whether she really was cheating on him with someone up on the TR and whether or not she lied. The TV immediately turns on to an old movie with a woman shouting, "I am not a liar!" I thought that was kind of cool. Ghosts communicating via TV shows. Nice.
The next morning Mike runs into Bill Dean, the caretaker, and now that Mike is asking a lot of questions he warns Mike to stop. Bill is no longer the nice old man but another stock King villain. We know this because Bill describes the Tidwell settlement and says that they left because they were wanderers but Mike knows psychically that Bill was going to say niggers instead of wanderers (page 278). Bill is trying to be nice but underneath you can tell that King is just aching to make him a cliched villain and probably by the end of the novel he'll be holding a gun to Mike's head telling him to get out of town.
At the end of the chapter Mike makes a call to Jo's old friend and asks her if Jo was cheating on him. Bonnie declares absolutely not but she does say that Jo quit all of her volunteer committees and activities in the winter of 1993. But Mike has Jo's old calender from 1994 and see that it is full of notes that she is going to committees throughout that year even Bonnie just said she had quit them all which Mike did not know about. Mike thinks that on all those days that instead of being on the volunteer boards she was at Sara Laughs.
Durgin is introduced quickly by Mike as a small fat man, and while Mike "likes most fat people," he labels this one immediately as a "ELFF" or "evil little fat folk." Apparently there are a race of fat people that are to be hated on sight because these particular fat people (under 5 foot 2) hate the whole world because they are fat and especially hate anyone who is not fat. I'm not kidding, that's what King writes on page 239 of this book. Way to go with the stereotyping King and character development.
The main plot point of the deposition is that Durgin bluffed that he was going to play a tape of the phone call the Devore made to Noonan on July 4th where Mike lied about his first encounter with Mattie. In the deposition Mike declares that he doesn't remember the conversation he had with Devore and Durgin has a tape recorder there to start playing what would appear to be the tape but ultimately he does not. Mike later asks his lawyer about this and he comes to the conclusion that Max Devore probably has many other tapes with incriminating evidence on them and he doesn't want to introduce this tape because of the fear that the court would subpoena more tapes that he doesn't want heard.
After the deposition Mattie, Mike and the lawyer, John Storrow all go for a little picnic and talk for a little while about the case. John is convinced that Devore will drop the case.
At the end of the chapter Mike goes back to Sara Laughs and then the first fully sustained moment of supernatural horror appears. As he walks into the house he hears the bell by the Moose head ringing loudly (Bunter's Bell). Mike stops at the doorway and asks, "Who's here?" And a loud sustained shrink issues from the house and then after a minute or two it stops. After that Mike hears the sobbing. When the sobbing stops again he goes to the refrigerator and see that the magnets are rearranged to say, "Help I'm drowning." The chapter ends.
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Chapter 16 moves the plot a little further along. Mike sees that in the night the ghost has overturned the flour and is trying to spell out something but all it could do was make squiggly lines in the flours. Mike goes to the softball game in the hopes of seeing Max Devore, but Max doesn't show up and the only people he sees are John Storrow and Mattie there together, also looking for Max.
The next day Mike has a conversation with Brenda Meserve about the history of the TR and Dark Score lake. She tells Mike that one of the Red-Top boys who was in Sara Tidwell's settlement around the lake got caught in an animal trap and died later of infection. Brenda says that's why the settlement disbanded but her mother says the boy's ghost still haunts the lake.
Another boy that died around the lake was a boy with the last name of Auster. His father, Normal, drowned the baby by putting his head under the water pump until he was dead. Then the father took a shotgun and shot himself. The father might also be haunting the lake Brenda thinks.
Mike then goes to the library, careful to talk mostly to the other librarian (Mattie works at the library) to give the appearance that nothing is happening between him and Mattie. He wants to find some histories about the town and the lake. He finds a picture of Sara Tidwell and the name of the boy who got caught in the trap was a Tidwell and Mike thinks the boy might be the nephew of Sara.
John Storrow calls Mike up and is excited about the case because he hired a detective who has evidence that Durgin is being paid by Devore. John also tell Mike that he is interested in Mattie.
John doesn't even ask Mike if he interested in her himself. This is a huge mistake on King's part because large portions of the book are devoted to Mike and Mattie trying to be seen only in public and not appearing romantic at all on the lawyer's advice. If the lawyer thought that nothing was going on or that nothing was likely to happen he would not have given that advice and the fact that he doesn't even ask Mike or bring up the possibility that since Mike is paying all this attention to her, not to mention $75,000 in legal fees that Mike, might, you know, have some kind of feelings that are least a little bit romantic towards her. Storrow is either really dumb, really mean and inconsiderate or King was writing very sloppy.
After the conversation he starts to think about Jo and whether she really was cheating on him with someone up on the TR and whether or not she lied. The TV immediately turns on to an old movie with a woman shouting, "I am not a liar!" I thought that was kind of cool. Ghosts communicating via TV shows. Nice.
The next morning Mike runs into Bill Dean, the caretaker, and now that Mike is asking a lot of questions he warns Mike to stop. Bill is no longer the nice old man but another stock King villain. We know this because Bill describes the Tidwell settlement and says that they left because they were wanderers but Mike knows psychically that Bill was going to say niggers instead of wanderers (page 278). Bill is trying to be nice but underneath you can tell that King is just aching to make him a cliched villain and probably by the end of the novel he'll be holding a gun to Mike's head telling him to get out of town.
At the end of the chapter Mike makes a call to Jo's old friend and asks her if Jo was cheating on him. Bonnie declares absolutely not but she does say that Jo quit all of her volunteer committees and activities in the winter of 1993. But Mike has Jo's old calender from 1994 and see that it is full of notes that she is going to committees throughout that year even Bonnie just said she had quit them all which Mike did not know about. Mike thinks that on all those days that instead of being on the volunteer boards she was at Sara Laughs.
Saturday, October 10, 2009
Bag of Bones: Chapters 13 &14 (pages 210-238)
I won't go into too much detail about Chapter 13, it consists of a long (and vile) dream-sleepwalking-ghost groping section where Mike Noonan has dream/ghost-sex with his dead wife Jo, the dead blues singer Sara Tidwell and the still alive Mattie. It's kind of disgusting to read and to be honest, I skipped a large part of it. The only thing of note is that the dream also features Jo's old typewriter she kept in her studio in the barn next door. At the end of Chapter 13 Mike wakes up in the morning from his ghost wet dream and decides to grab the typewriter. Magically he feels none of the panic and anxiety he did when he tried to type on his computer and is able to write eight pages for his next novel.
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Chapter 14 opens with Mike getting a phone call from Mattie and she's excited and sooo happy about the lawyer Mike got for her. She's thanking him profusely and the only thoughts he has are that those thank-you's are invitations to have sex. He's knows they're not but can't help thinking otherwise. Then Mike thinks about an Atlantic Monthly article he read by "some feminist" where she argues that men fantasize about women only as sexual objects not human beings with their own needs and feelings. The article argued that the ultimate male sexual fantasy was to have sex with "this shadow, this fantasy, this ghost." (page 238). King intends this passage to give some kind of greater psychological weight to the preceding chapter. I'm not buying it. It sounds like King wrote a chapter where his character has sex with a couple of ghosts and then looked for a way to rationalize it into greater meaning. Nice try.
Mike's lawyer then calls and updates him on the child-custody case. Things are looking better because the lawyer did some research and discovered that since Max Devore is not married there are only a few options as to who to leave Kyra to in the (likely) event that Max dies before the child is eighteen.
Max's own daughter is in an institution. His only living son is a gay middle-aged man with a "husband." Mike almost does a spit-take when the lawyer tells him the gay man is married...to a man. The book is only ten years old but I guess things have changed in a big way since then. I hear that Maine is now looking to legalize same-sex marriage. So these two factors leave no one really to leave the child with if Max dies (the conservative Maine judge would not give custody to a gay couple). The lawyer brings up the point that Max might marry Rogette Whitmore and then she could take custody of the child but Mike thinks that it would make little difference considering her advanced age.
A main theme of this chapter is that Mike now is able to write again. The phone calls keep interrupting his thought process. Mike is elated at his regained ability to write and feels that he has "lived more in the past five days than in the previous four years." He walks down to the lake and by the shore he starts to sob with relief because he feel he has been "reborn."
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Analysis:
Chapter 13 was not really creepy or scary, just weird and not very readable unless you like ghost-porn.
Chapter 14 was much better but it really served only to advance the plot points. The dialogue was nice and sharp and not too corny. The end of the chapter after Mike describes the plot of his new book, (something about a man accused of being a serial rapist who may or may not be innocent) is actually pretty moving. In two pages King makes us feel Mike's relief at being able to write again and how bad things must have been for him during those four years where he could not. Him breaking down and crying by the lake in relief and thanks was very effective. Nice job.
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Chapter 14 opens with Mike getting a phone call from Mattie and she's excited and sooo happy about the lawyer Mike got for her. She's thanking him profusely and the only thoughts he has are that those thank-you's are invitations to have sex. He's knows they're not but can't help thinking otherwise. Then Mike thinks about an Atlantic Monthly article he read by "some feminist" where she argues that men fantasize about women only as sexual objects not human beings with their own needs and feelings. The article argued that the ultimate male sexual fantasy was to have sex with "this shadow, this fantasy, this ghost." (page 238). King intends this passage to give some kind of greater psychological weight to the preceding chapter. I'm not buying it. It sounds like King wrote a chapter where his character has sex with a couple of ghosts and then looked for a way to rationalize it into greater meaning. Nice try.
Mike's lawyer then calls and updates him on the child-custody case. Things are looking better because the lawyer did some research and discovered that since Max Devore is not married there are only a few options as to who to leave Kyra to in the (likely) event that Max dies before the child is eighteen.
Max's own daughter is in an institution. His only living son is a gay middle-aged man with a "husband." Mike almost does a spit-take when the lawyer tells him the gay man is married...to a man. The book is only ten years old but I guess things have changed in a big way since then. I hear that Maine is now looking to legalize same-sex marriage. So these two factors leave no one really to leave the child with if Max dies (the conservative Maine judge would not give custody to a gay couple). The lawyer brings up the point that Max might marry Rogette Whitmore and then she could take custody of the child but Mike thinks that it would make little difference considering her advanced age.
A main theme of this chapter is that Mike now is able to write again. The phone calls keep interrupting his thought process. Mike is elated at his regained ability to write and feels that he has "lived more in the past five days than in the previous four years." He walks down to the lake and by the shore he starts to sob with relief because he feel he has been "reborn."
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Analysis:
Chapter 13 was not really creepy or scary, just weird and not very readable unless you like ghost-porn.
Chapter 14 was much better but it really served only to advance the plot points. The dialogue was nice and sharp and not too corny. The end of the chapter after Mike describes the plot of his new book, (something about a man accused of being a serial rapist who may or may not be innocent) is actually pretty moving. In two pages King makes us feel Mike's relief at being able to write again and how bad things must have been for him during those four years where he could not. Him breaking down and crying by the lake in relief and thanks was very effective. Nice job.
Thursday, October 8, 2009
Bag of Bones: Chapter 12 (pages 176-209)
A nice long chapter describing Mattie and Mike burgeoning relationship. Mike calls Mattie to discuss the lawyer situation but incredibly he picks it up and, without dialing, Mattie is on the other end calling him. The phone never rang at all! That's how connected they are. She invites him over for dinner and he accepts. After dinner he goes into her trailer (even Mattie comments how they should only be seen in public. How having a relationship with a successful, millionaire author who cares enough about her to hire a lawyer for her custody battle makes her a bad mother, I'm not sure. The age difference?) Mike reads Kyra a bed time story and after Mike puts her to be, he and Mattie have a nice, long talk.
Mattie tells Mike all about Max. Max never wanted her to marry Lance and offered to pay her to go away and never see her again. Once she became pregnant Max offered to buy her child for a few million dollars. Mattie told Lance and Lance broke off all communication with his father. (He did this through email because Lance stutters. An unusual plot point considering he's dead. I hope his ghost stutters.) Mattie lets Max see Kyra a couple times a month. But Max is portrayed as a blood thirsty monster throughout. King references him as a villain from The Brothers Grimm over and over. Drilling it into the readers head that he is evil, even though nothing in his actions described has suggested a level of abnormality bordering on the supernatural. There's one scene where Max picks Kyra up and Mattie says he looked at her like he wanted to eat her. I hope that there's going to be some kind of soul-transference type deal where Max wants Kyra so he can transfer his evil and immortal soul into her. That would be really cool.
Kyra has stopped liking going over to Max's but still like Rogette whom Mattie calls "white nana." Does she also have a black nana? An Asian nana? When some one's white they usually don't go around describing other people as white. "My white uncle is awesome!" Aren't all you're uncles white?
Mattie agrees to let Mike help her with the lawyer as long as he really cares about her and it's not a game to him. Mike replies that he's doing this because he's really done nothing of value in the last four years. Four years with nothing to show for it he thinks. There's one little moment when Mike claims that they were both thinking about kissing but Mike lets the moment pass. Mattie says thanks again "and if there is anything I can do to return the favor let me know." Mike immediately envisions sexual favors and chastises the girl in his mind for giving him a virtual invitation to swap sex for law services. Nice.
An important plot point brought up is that Mattie saw Mike's wife in the summer of 1994 at a softball game with another man. They were hugging each other and looking a little bit cuddly. It's not too unusual for someone to remember they saw someone briefly four years ago, if it's a person of note. But Mattie has an unusual memory for something that happened for thirty seconds four years ago. Of course Mike didn't know Jo had come up to Sara Laughs in the summer of 1994 and Mike of course needs to know who this guy was and if the pregnancy test she bought the days she died (and didn't tell Mike about) was for this guy's baby. We get a little soap opera mixed in with our horror.
The chapter ends with the ghost spelling out on the refrigerator that Mike's wife is a liar and saying "ha ha." The ghost might be Nelson from the Simpson's.
Mattie tells Mike all about Max. Max never wanted her to marry Lance and offered to pay her to go away and never see her again. Once she became pregnant Max offered to buy her child for a few million dollars. Mattie told Lance and Lance broke off all communication with his father. (He did this through email because Lance stutters. An unusual plot point considering he's dead. I hope his ghost stutters.) Mattie lets Max see Kyra a couple times a month. But Max is portrayed as a blood thirsty monster throughout. King references him as a villain from The Brothers Grimm over and over. Drilling it into the readers head that he is evil, even though nothing in his actions described has suggested a level of abnormality bordering on the supernatural. There's one scene where Max picks Kyra up and Mattie says he looked at her like he wanted to eat her. I hope that there's going to be some kind of soul-transference type deal where Max wants Kyra so he can transfer his evil and immortal soul into her. That would be really cool.
Kyra has stopped liking going over to Max's but still like Rogette whom Mattie calls "white nana." Does she also have a black nana? An Asian nana? When some one's white they usually don't go around describing other people as white. "My white uncle is awesome!" Aren't all you're uncles white?
Mattie agrees to let Mike help her with the lawyer as long as he really cares about her and it's not a game to him. Mike replies that he's doing this because he's really done nothing of value in the last four years. Four years with nothing to show for it he thinks. There's one little moment when Mike claims that they were both thinking about kissing but Mike lets the moment pass. Mattie says thanks again "and if there is anything I can do to return the favor let me know." Mike immediately envisions sexual favors and chastises the girl in his mind for giving him a virtual invitation to swap sex for law services. Nice.
An important plot point brought up is that Mattie saw Mike's wife in the summer of 1994 at a softball game with another man. They were hugging each other and looking a little bit cuddly. It's not too unusual for someone to remember they saw someone briefly four years ago, if it's a person of note. But Mattie has an unusual memory for something that happened for thirty seconds four years ago. Of course Mike didn't know Jo had come up to Sara Laughs in the summer of 1994 and Mike of course needs to know who this guy was and if the pregnancy test she bought the days she died (and didn't tell Mike about) was for this guy's baby. We get a little soap opera mixed in with our horror.
The chapter ends with the ghost spelling out on the refrigerator that Mike's wife is a liar and saying "ha ha." The ghost might be Nelson from the Simpson's.
Bag of Bones: Chapter 11 (pages 159-175)
The chapter opens with Mike waking up in the morning thinking there is someone in the bedroom with him, but surprise-it's just an old jacket he hung up and had forgotten about. Then King adds a neat little saying I had never heard before and (hopefully) has never been said in real life, Mike's so relieved that it's just a jacket he says, "Oh shit. Fuck me til I cry." Classy King, keep it up -the dialogue crackles.
Mike gets served with papers to come testify at a deposition concerning the upcoming custody trial. The person serving the papers is another cliche and the thing I like about King throughout this book is that he keeps saying his characters are cliche but they're not too cliche. George Footman, the process server, says "Don't fuck with Max Devore." Then Mike comes up with another line that would make it more cliche. Sorry King, your character is either a cliche or not a cliche. There's no such thing as "more" cliche, just as there is no such thing as being "more" unique. George Footman's cliche is that he's an alcoholic cop out on the take and will do anything for money. He'll beat you up or threaten you because he's getting paid by Max Devore.
Mike is upset about being served so he calls up a lawyer to see what can be done. Mike's talk with the lawyer is rather well done. King talks about the line that's crossed when a lawyer becomes your lawyer. It's a comforting feeling to know that someone has your back and that no matter what (as long as you pay) they will defend you and your actions. Unconditional love.
The bottom line is that the lawyer needs to represent Mattie. Mike agrees to talk to her about him paying for this high-priced lawyer and wonders if she will agree to let him help her. The lawyer tells Mike to only be seen with Mattie in public so that the townspeople will think they're not having sex. This doesn't make much sense. Unless Mattie or Mike are available for twenty-four viewing, there's no way to know if they are or not having sex. But whatever.
At the end of the chapter we get a brief history of Sara Laughs and the area around the lake. In the 1890's a group of forty or so "pretty special black people" settled the area and they were all in some kind of musical troupe with Sara Tidwell as the leader. They were well received around the area after initial hesitation by the whites and enjoyed a nice career in New England until they packed up in 1901. I really, really hope that this will be the ultimate "King magical black person" novel. Not just one magical black person but an entire settlement of special, magical black ghosts. That would be truly incredible and I do think that we are going to get it later on in the novel. I can't wait.
Mike gets served with papers to come testify at a deposition concerning the upcoming custody trial. The person serving the papers is another cliche and the thing I like about King throughout this book is that he keeps saying his characters are cliche but they're not too cliche. George Footman, the process server, says "Don't fuck with Max Devore." Then Mike comes up with another line that would make it more cliche. Sorry King, your character is either a cliche or not a cliche. There's no such thing as "more" cliche, just as there is no such thing as being "more" unique. George Footman's cliche is that he's an alcoholic cop out on the take and will do anything for money. He'll beat you up or threaten you because he's getting paid by Max Devore.
Mike is upset about being served so he calls up a lawyer to see what can be done. Mike's talk with the lawyer is rather well done. King talks about the line that's crossed when a lawyer becomes your lawyer. It's a comforting feeling to know that someone has your back and that no matter what (as long as you pay) they will defend you and your actions. Unconditional love.
The bottom line is that the lawyer needs to represent Mattie. Mike agrees to talk to her about him paying for this high-priced lawyer and wonders if she will agree to let him help her. The lawyer tells Mike to only be seen with Mattie in public so that the townspeople will think they're not having sex. This doesn't make much sense. Unless Mattie or Mike are available for twenty-four viewing, there's no way to know if they are or not having sex. But whatever.
At the end of the chapter we get a brief history of Sara Laughs and the area around the lake. In the 1890's a group of forty or so "pretty special black people" settled the area and they were all in some kind of musical troupe with Sara Tidwell as the leader. They were well received around the area after initial hesitation by the whites and enjoyed a nice career in New England until they packed up in 1901. I really, really hope that this will be the ultimate "King magical black person" novel. Not just one magical black person but an entire settlement of special, magical black ghosts. That would be truly incredible and I do think that we are going to get it later on in the novel. I can't wait.
Bag of Bones: Chapter 10 (pages 135-158)
This chapter will be known as the "exposition chapter." Bill Dean, the local caretaker, visits Mike at Sara Laughs and gives him an exhaustive history of Max Devore, Lance Devore and Mattie Devore. This chapter reminded me of the scene in Wayne's World, where Chris Farley plays a security guard and gives Wayne all the information he needs to track down the record executive he seeks. ("That guy seemed to have an awful lot of information for a security guard.")
Mike has an hour and a half long conversation with Mike (King gives a specific time frame for this conversation. Bill arrives at 9 am and has to leave to get to his next appointment at 11 am).
Mattie came from a poor family from the area and Lance, the son of the wealthy Max Devore, developed a passion for forestry. Max hired Lance to explore the vast forests he owned in this part of Maine. He also played in the local softball games held every week. The locals played the out- of -towners and Lance would play for either team. He met little Mattie then who was only seventeen and they fell in love.
King describes all of this exposition as coming from the mouth of Bill Dean, or as if the reader should understand that it's coming from Bill Dean but he also adds an odd little paragraph in the middle that gave me pause as to where the information was coming from. Bill's describing how Mattie met Lance and then Mike's narration takes over, " Mattie never said much about it, so I don't know much. Except I do...some of the details might be wrong [but] I got most of them right. That was my summer for knowing things I had no business knowing." So is King saying that Mike is becoming psychic as to the history of the people around him and is the story we're hearing coming from Bill, Mattie or the voice in Mike's head? Later on, Mattie tells her story herself, going into greater detail so we should then assume that the version in this chapter is Bill Dean's alone. But that paragraph throws some of this into confusion.
We find that Lance died retrieving a wrench from the top of his trailer during a thunderstorm. Lightening struck near him and he fell off the ladder. After Lance died, Max came into town and has been there ever since trying to get custody of Kyra.
The plot development in this chapter is that Bill tells Mike about some plastic owls that Jo had ordered in the fall of 1993 and that she came up to Sara Laughs by herself to retrieve them when they were delivered to the house. Mike has no memory of Jo going to Sara Laughs by herself and tries to dig around in his records to account for Jo's actions.
We also get more details about the woman with the face from "The Scream." (I'm not going to call it "The Cry" even though King does throughout the book. I want people to know what I'm talking about.) Her name is Rogette Whitmore, she's Max Devore's personal assistant and the locals think she's a witch. Only in New England do people go around thinking other people are witches.
The chapter ends with Mike making contact with the ghosts that inhabits Sara Laughs. He goes into the dark basement to look for the owls and he starts to hear thudding and Mike starts to talk to the noises. He asks Yes or No questions while instructing the ghost to thud once for "yes" two for "no." It starts off kind of silly but in King's defense, it does get a little creepy after half a page. Mike asks the ghost if it is Sara and the ghosts says "yes and no." At the end of the chapter the ghost has rearranged the magnets on the fridge to spell "hello."
Mike has an hour and a half long conversation with Mike (King gives a specific time frame for this conversation. Bill arrives at 9 am and has to leave to get to his next appointment at 11 am).
Mattie came from a poor family from the area and Lance, the son of the wealthy Max Devore, developed a passion for forestry. Max hired Lance to explore the vast forests he owned in this part of Maine. He also played in the local softball games held every week. The locals played the out- of -towners and Lance would play for either team. He met little Mattie then who was only seventeen and they fell in love.
King describes all of this exposition as coming from the mouth of Bill Dean, or as if the reader should understand that it's coming from Bill Dean but he also adds an odd little paragraph in the middle that gave me pause as to where the information was coming from. Bill's describing how Mattie met Lance and then Mike's narration takes over, " Mattie never said much about it, so I don't know much. Except I do...some of the details might be wrong [but] I got most of them right. That was my summer for knowing things I had no business knowing." So is King saying that Mike is becoming psychic as to the history of the people around him and is the story we're hearing coming from Bill, Mattie or the voice in Mike's head? Later on, Mattie tells her story herself, going into greater detail so we should then assume that the version in this chapter is Bill Dean's alone. But that paragraph throws some of this into confusion.
We find that Lance died retrieving a wrench from the top of his trailer during a thunderstorm. Lightening struck near him and he fell off the ladder. After Lance died, Max came into town and has been there ever since trying to get custody of Kyra.
The plot development in this chapter is that Bill tells Mike about some plastic owls that Jo had ordered in the fall of 1993 and that she came up to Sara Laughs by herself to retrieve them when they were delivered to the house. Mike has no memory of Jo going to Sara Laughs by herself and tries to dig around in his records to account for Jo's actions.
We also get more details about the woman with the face from "The Scream." (I'm not going to call it "The Cry" even though King does throughout the book. I want people to know what I'm talking about.) Her name is Rogette Whitmore, she's Max Devore's personal assistant and the locals think she's a witch. Only in New England do people go around thinking other people are witches.
The chapter ends with Mike making contact with the ghosts that inhabits Sara Laughs. He goes into the dark basement to look for the owls and he starts to hear thudding and Mike starts to talk to the noises. He asks Yes or No questions while instructing the ghost to thud once for "yes" two for "no." It starts off kind of silly but in King's defense, it does get a little creepy after half a page. Mike asks the ghost if it is Sara and the ghosts says "yes and no." At the end of the chapter the ghost has rearranged the magnets on the fridge to spell "hello."
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