I finished reading Joyland the other day. Some short notes, none of them giving any deep spoilers -- I don't think. However, I will simply remind you that the blog is generally dedicated to those who READ Mr. King and want to discuss what they read -- so the comments section can be a free for all.
King has said previously that a novel has to answer the question, "Why not just call the police?" King tackles that issue head on, and does it quite nicely.
Not so dark!
I've read some reviews that would make you think the book is almost an emotional black hole. I disagree. The novel has a somber tone, is full of heart break, death and betrayal -- but the sheer energy of the story being told drives it forward with a certain exhilaration. The plot doesn't get lost in an emotional pit. While Devin is given space to explore his feelings, the plot is never far away. Who killed Linda Grey?
That is to say -- while Joyland is dark, I did not find its darkness to be contagious. I think John Knowles A Separate Peace has a similar dark tone, and I found myself depressed the entire time I read it! Not so with Joyland. The story isn't just about boarding school or friendship -- it is driven by a question, WHO KILLED LINDA GREY?! -- and is therefore driven by more than just the emotions of the characters.
There were moments when the tone of the novel reminded me very much of Duma Key. Running up and down the shore, meeting and waving at strangers just reminded me of those early pages of Duma Key -- which was also a dark heavy novel told in the first person. But Duma Key took us almost too deep inside the minds of the characters. It rambled a bit, while Joyland stays more focused.
Mystery: King spares the reader the typical "who done it" -- even though that is a central part of the book. There is no running around, room to room trying to put clues together. When the end came, I really was surprised by who the killer turned out to be. Was this because King did not give me enough clues to put it together myself? Yes. But I didn't want those clues anyway. I was happy letting the story unfold under King's guiding hand instead of me getting ahead of the novel. At no point did I say, "AH! I know who the killer is!" I had some ideas -- but was wrong.
I lot of the mystery novel's I've read play out like a game of Clue. King doesn't play that game! There is mystery, there are suspects and there are clues. . . but there is no bouncing about from room to room and suspect to suspect to lay out the evidence.
ROMANCE: The novel focuses on first love -- and next love. The love we find in the midst of a broken heart. Can that love be trusted? Is it real? Can we really love when we're on the rebound? This is actually a pretty complex emotional equation King sets up for a short book. Kings skill at depicting relationships is superb. He is able to take me back to feelings I had forgotten I once had.
There are moments in King's writing that I feel like I am meeting my younger self -- a self I had almost forgotten. After years of the sweet safe love found in marriage, we can forget the pain that first love brought us.
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| Sharon holding Joyland Summer, 2013 |
- Annie's line, 'My son isn't goods in a trading post" when speaking of the need to forgive her father. I lot of parents -- especially in a custody battle -- would do well to heed that note form Mr. King.
- The theme park setting.
- The new little language King lets the readers in on is a lot of fun!
- The return trip to the 1970's.
- The narration.
- The length. The story is a quick read -- but it's not a lightweight novel. King jumps in to the story without wasting much time. The novel can be broken into two parts: Summer and Fall.
- I liked the Tolkien references. Because Tolkein was popular then and now it makes a connection to a reader years away.
- The ghost in the novel -- all of them -- are just wonderful.
- I loved the climax at the theme park. And I liked Devin's quick thinking to keep Annie out of trouble.
What I didn't like:
Some short whining, and then I'll move on. I don't think King portrays religious characters well -- and in particular preachers. Talk about typecast. King typically presents these men (be they Rev. Coggins in Under The Dome or Annie's pop in Joyland) as hardshell, mean, unbending cruel, unforgiving, self righteous hypocrites. I'm certainly well aware that there are plenty of preachers who fall right in that bulls eye, but someday it would nice to see a little more depth when dealing with men of the cloth.
Is Joyland Like Vintage King?
No. Joyland is not like Carrie, Salem's Lot, The Dead Zone or any other King novel. It's stronger. Much stronger. The characters are deeper and the story is told with a depth of maturity King could not bring to earlier novels. So it may have elements we saw in King's younger work, this is ultimately the work of a seasoned writer.
I think it's worth pointing out that we never actually meet the preacher in this novel. Also, bear in mind that Mike -- who we (presumably) believe in and sympathize with -- seems to actually like his grandpa. That tells me that he's probably a pretty alright guy.
ReplyDeleteSo for me, while King has certainly written his fair share of unsympathetic religious types, I'm not sure Mr. Ross belongs on the list.
"the story is told with a depth of maturity King could not bring to earlier novels."
ReplyDeleteCuriously, it's the question of maturity that I find wanting in this novel. True, it is possible that it's all merely a reflection of the narrative voice and view King either chooses or wound up telling this story from, seeing as how the main character is a relatively young man who has yet to gain a full experience of life.
Well, if so, then it just goes to prove, for if the whole point of maturity, even in fiction, is to gain a sense of balance on the past, then it seems the narrator somehow fails in this regard. All through the novel and right to the end, when we should be getting a view of the older Devin, I'm still seeing the younger, more immature one, who seems like he hasn't learned from whatever his experiences might have taught him.
Curiouser, and curiouser, this same immature tone is, to me, also present in Duma Key, and yet the main character there is said to be in his sixties. It would be possible to dismiss this as just the results of his injuries in that book, IF his behavior had conformed to that of a sixty year old man, rather than an out of control teenager.
The result, for me, in reading both books is that maturity is either missed, by-passed, and either way somehow lacking in comparison with other King books like Misery, thereby leaving the impression of a somehow stunted growth, if that makes any sense.
ChrisC
Well, plenty of old men never really manage to grow up. In some cases, maturity and immaturity end up being one and the same. It all rings pretty true to me.
DeleteAs to King and his relation to preachers.
Delete"He is a walking contradiction, partly truth and partly fiction."
I think it's a Waylon Jennings line about Johnny Cash, but it applies just as well to King, I think, especially with regard to "First Principles" let's say.
In Douglas Winters' "Art of Darkness" King gives what I believe are his most telling comments in this regard saying part of him will "always be that Methodist kid", a phrase witch makes sense in light of comments King made elsewhere in Danse Macabre that the best horror writer has the soul of "A conservative banker". One has to note the autobiographical element in both statements, yet for the moment let's take it as a true-ism, if only for the moment.
In the same quote to Winters, King also states his "Religious feelings" haven't changed much, and the irony is, from what I gather from his recent books, that still remains the same, "They are as traditional", says King, "as the stuff I write".
He's also man enough to admit of his values, "They are not complete".
All that this suggests to me isn't so much isn't so much a banker, albeit however conservative, so much as a boy scout who maybe does tend to tilt at one too many windmill's for his own good.
The thing to keep in mind in the midst of it all, he'd probably do none of it, if not for the strength of his convictions.
Winters mentions the name of horror author Russell Kirk in his book on King, and while he's mentioned, I think Winters fails to make an important connection, as I think it could be argued he and King are doing the same thing.
Here's an essay Kirk himself wrote on the nature of the horror story.
Feel free to see what to make of it, Reverend:
http://www.kirkcenter.org/index.php/bookman/article/a-cautionary-note-on-the-ghostly-tale/
ChrisC
Reply to Bryant Burnett.
ReplyDeleteTo be fair, you may have a point. I suppose it's possible for anyone to get stuck in a certain age, even if they are years older.
The problem is one of stunted growth, which is the impression I got from both Joyland and Key.
This might not have been a problem if both books didn't give the impression that it was working up to something important, not anything preachy, just some sort of insight that somehow never comes.
Granted it may be there was no insight to be had, intended or otherwise, and it's "all just a story" yet I find to much many words are trying to convey too much meaning that seem to, again, build up to some payoff that never comes; again, as opposed to other stories like Salem's Lot or Bag of Bones.
The overall picture, for me, is a collection of parts somehow greater than the whole.
ChrisC
Mr. Ross impacts the other characters in the novel. It doesn't matter if he physically appears in the scenes, he is still there, part of their thoughts, emotions and decisions.
ReplyDeleteI liked Joyland a lot. It was nostalgic, sad, but also full of energy and moments that made you smile. And ghosts!
ReplyDeleteRegarding the maturity, i´m almost 30 and sometimes i feel like a teenager. And my dad who is 60 it´s a very young spirit(more than me) so maybe it runs on the family..
I'm sorry to bring this up but it seems that King made a mistake in the book.
ReplyDeleteOn page 192 he says that Dev "called Annie Ross later that morning, using the same phone Lane had used to call the ambulance." I remember wondering, when I read that, how or when he had gotten her phone number. So I was completely surprised when Dev says on page 256 that he "couldn't call Annie because I didn't have her fucking phone number, and given her famous father, it would be unlisted."
How did he get it before to call her about coming to Joyland? These two sections of the book seem to contradict each other unless I'm missing something.
Let's chalk it up to Devin being so bummed out by Wendy that he didn't remember he knew the phone number...
Delete;)
I am a huge King fan, love all his books. Have read all of them. This one I thought was an easy read, enjoyable to ready, quick read but....It didn't feel totally like it was King's. Not trying to make any angry but I wonder.....Is it possible he wrote it with his son who is also an author? He even oddly dedicates the book "This is for Joe Hill King, who shines on." Almost as if he's setting the path for him to take over when he's gone..just a theory but really wanted more creep from this book. Good, yes! always! his best? no...It was no Tommyknockers or the Stand. anyone else alittle suspicious?
ReplyDeleteNot even a little.
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