Salem's Lot Journal #1

I started the dark journey through Salem's Lot this Saturday.  I will keep a journal of notes and things that interest me as I read.  These are not reviews -- Lilja writes some wonderful reviews, so check his out.  I'm just creating a notebook.

I have not previously read this novel cover to cover, though I am familiar with concepts.  I tried to read it one summer -- but alas, when the latest King book was hit the market and I stopped reading to plow through the latest super-duper that everyone was excited about.

As usual, the audio version is my chosen format.  I had this on CD, but lost some of the CD's!  Audible to the rescue.

I promised a friend that when I finished this I would read Talisman, since that is also on my list of "never read it -- couldn't make it."  In a way I am glad there is not a new novel this fall -- as I can catch up on some classic King.


Introduction

King read a delightful introduction in the audio version.  He discusses his mother, his childhood, and Dracula.  His mother called most horror books "trash" -- but Dracula and the like were not "bad trash."  Save that for D.H. Lawrence!  He shares the roots of the novel, and his original title "Second Coming."


Bigness

I am struck right off the bat by what a "large" novel this is.  It has a lot of scope, characters.  King backed out of some projects earlier in his career because they were just too big (Cannibals, which became Under The Dome, comes to mind.)  Salem's lot is a big novel -- not so much in length but in cast.  Interesting how young Mr. King says that no large novel is created by the author alone. . . written by a man who just didn't know how large his novels would get!  I guess sitting next to Carrie, it is long.

Salem's Lot is not just the story of Ben or Susan -- it is, as the title implies, the story of a town.  King wastes little time with introducing main characters before he gets busy allowing us to peak in the windows and listen in on the phone lines of this little town.  In fact, characters are being introduced so quickly at points that I feel the need to write down names.

Why a large cast?  Well, I suspect because a lot of people are going to get killed.  Just my guess here.

The large cast of characters in a small town reminds me of Needful Things.  The naughty boys even move to town to open up a shop.

I love how King describes the chatter crossing phone-lines, and the low hum the telephone lines make when the weather is just right.

The novel has a slight 70's feel to it.  No cell phone's here, gang!  We've still got party lines, newspapers and typewriters.  But it is an endearing feel to me.  King says he has always been more a writer of his time, and that's something I really appreciate.  I don't need to feel like it's happening "today" in order to enjoy it.  In fact, it's perhaps all the more creepy because it happened "back then" ya know!

The Writing:

Kings writing is crisp, energetic and quite fun.  He is moving at a pretty fast pace from scene to scene, giving the feeling that he is definitely "going" somewhere with this.  You can sense that a young man wrote this, and that is fine.  It is his view of the world, and it is a nice view.

King's love for Shirley Jackson's work appears not only with the inside quotes, but in the novel itself.  Ben directly discusses The Haunting Of Hill House (whatever walked there walked alone!)

One of the early scenes does give me a laugh --  "YOU WISH!" I want to say to King.  Ben goes to the park, only to discover a beautiful unmarried young woman reading his book.  Hummm, might this be the start of a relationship?  Oh yeah!  I like this scene very much, because I want to like it, not because it strikes me as true to life.  It does make me wonder what well known authors must feel when they spy someone reading their work.

Since Ben is a writer, a lot of Salem's Lot is about writing.  King lets us into the head of a young writer.  "But he does that all the time," someone might object.  True, but this is the first time -- and in that sense, it is special.