Still No Audio

reposted from 2012

 

Here are 3 books that still have not found their way to the world of audio books:

1. The Dead Zone
2. Pet Sematary
3. Rage
. . . of course, I'd even listen to The Cannibals on audio, if it existed. I was enjoying that book!

4 books that are endangered species:
(That means they are hard to find, almost disappearing off the face of earth)

1. The Mist, read by Frank Muller. Muller did a recording of The Mist unabridged, and it was great! However, there seems to be copyright problems with the recording, and who knows if it will ever be seen available to the public again.

2. The 1978 edition of The Stand read by Grover Gardner. I think these only existed as tapes.

3. The original King readings of the Dark Tower 1-2. These were great! King's reading was a joy, even though it was obvious he was nervous.

4. An actual physical CD copy of The Stand. It's available on audio through audible, but difficult to find as a CD.

Regarding audio books, I think the happiest I have been was when Needful Things came out.  I bought each set of tapes and spent hours in my room listening while I played solitary monopoly.  (Yes, I'll tell you the rules if you ask).

The Simpsons Under The Dome

Vulture.com has a fun article by Jesse David Fox that compares Under  The Dome to The Simpsons movie. Yes, we all know King did not steal from the Simpsons -- he wrote The Cannibals, an early version of Dome, int he 80's.  But, the comparisons are still pretty cool.

Domed Town	Springfield	Chester's Mill
Domers	The EPA.	Unknown.
Reason for Doming	To quarantine the highly polluted town.	Unknown.
Can You See Through It?	Yes.	Yes.
Can You Hear Through It?	No.	No.
The Domed Band Together To...	Try to kill Homer.	Put out a fire.
Who's in Charge?	Emperor of Springfield Moe Szyslak.	Councilman Big Jim Rennie.
Charismatic Newcomer?	Spider Pig.	Barbie.
Ominous Chanting	Abe Simpson's church meltdown: "Epa! Epa! Epa!"	Joe and Norrie's "pink stars are falling" seizures.
Dome-Crossed Loves	Lisa and her Irish environmental dreamboat Colin.	Deputy Sheriff Linda Esquivel and her fireman fiancé.
Means of Escape	Sandbox sinkhole.	Unknown.
Useless Escape Tools	Swordfish, bubbles, pies, jackhammer, elephant's head.	Bulldozer.
Failed Dome Punchers	Drederick Tatum.	Junior Rennie.
Shooting It Results In...	Bullets bouncing back and wounding Hometown Security agents.	Bullets bouncing back and killing a cop.
Other Objects That Bounce Off Dome	Head of the EPA Russ Cargill's binoculars.	Reporter Julia Shumway's tennis ball.
Outside Military	Easily duped by forged leaf note.	Loves spraying dome with water.
School	Seemingly in perfect condition, but kids don't go because city has descended into chaos.	Likely in perfect condition, but kids don't go because they're having phone-charging parties.

Remembering Under The Dome

Tonight CBS premiers the Summer mini-series UNDER THE DOME.  I'm really looking forward to it.  I loved the book!

Of course, up to this point, all I know about Under The Dome comes from the book.  The images in my mind are formed and built on King's words.  But after I watch the first episode of Under The Dome, everything is going to change.  No longer will my only viewpoint of this story come from Stephen King.  There will now be visual images, new story lines, characters will come to life in a new way.  All of that is good.  I also know that in some ways watching a visual adaptation of a book causes you to forever change your understanding of that book.  So, in some ways, I'm saying good bye today to Under The Dome as I've known it thus far.  (Don't laugh at me, I know this is corny)

A reader builds a special bond with a writer.  Words have the power to move directly from his typewriter where he builds each scene, enacts each sound effect, summons each character -- to my page where I see it all come to life in the theater of the mind.  No middle man needed.  Even though he sells millions of books, each time I read the words it's as if it's just me and Mr. King sitting in a room as he tells me a story.

Under The Dome is a novel that I remember enjoying quite a lot -- but I don't remember a lot of it!  I do not recall each plot turn with the detail I did The Stand.  Probably good, since it will give me some freedom watching the movie.  Has a movie ever irritated you as you watched it because it was making giant turns the book didn't?  What sticks deeply with me is early scenes of the Dome coming down.

Let's have some fun!  I went through some of my Under The Dome Journal entries and collected some of my favorite notes from the novel.

NOTES FROM UNDER THE DOME JOURNAL:

• Two guys walking along, one inside the Dome, one outside the Dome. Nice!
• Wow. This book really, really moves. Chopped off hands, dead people, car wrecks. All good stuff. 

In Their Heads

From Dome Journal #3: I'm freaked out by how King can take me inside Juniors head. I don't like it. I don't want to understand him. But that's what makes King such a good writer. I do identify. I liked the part where he woke up and hoped it was all a dream. I've had bad events in life where I woke up and thought -- ahhh! So it wasn't a dream?!

Can You Lick The Dome?

From Dome Journal #6: . . .It seems that little attention is given to the dome itself. Wouldn't little kids try to climb it? Anyone poked it -- with something other than a cruise missile? Licked it? that only comes to mind because it's Christmas time and I just saw that movie where the kid licks the pole and his tongue sticks. I wonder what would happen if you stuck your tongue to that Dome. . .! Get a shock probably.

From Dome Journal #5: The image of people washing the Dome was wonderful! If only we could do that on planet earth. I have this mental picture of those planes that drop water on fires coming over the dome and dropping water on it so they can see exactly where it's at.

Narrative Coolness!

From Dome Journal #7: One of the things I really like is King's easy, conversational narration. In fact, I find myself saying: "Oh, I didn't know you could do that!"

For instance, the main paragraph on page 474 is wonderful. Notice how King is acting like a tour guide. He suddenly moves to present active tense and speaks directly to the reader. It is as if the constant reader has been transported inside the Dome and is sitting a-top the store roof with Mr. King as he points out what's going on.

• "There is a pause, a moment of in-drawn breath. think of a cat teetering on two wheels, deciding whether or not to go over."
• "See Rose Twitchell looking around..."
• "See Anson put his arm around her waist."
• "Listen to George Roux howl through her hanging mouth..." (yuck)
• "See the reinforcements."
• "Next comes Linda Everett.."
• "See Julia arrive just behind Linda and Marty..."
• "See frank DeLesseps kneel down beside Mel just in time to avoid another rock..."
• "Then... then someone yells. . ."

This is all stuff your English teacher will tell you not to do. But it's stuff readers love! Now, it's annoying when a writer stays in that mode for an entire novel. King doesn't even stay there for one whole page. But when he uses this narrative style, it is very powerful.

THE CANNIBALS:

From Dome Journal #1: Having read the first 120 pages of the Cannibals, I can honestly say that this version is much, much stronger. In the Cannibals people simply spent their time trying to open the door. Interesting, but not superly superly interesting. But the dome coming over an entire town opens the story up. The problems here are going to be much bigger than doors that won't open.

King doesn't take the long build up he did with Needful Things and other books. The action is immediate. The payoff's start coming quickly.

From 2009 Review of The Cannibals: talkstephenking.blogspot: The mystery revolves mostly around doors not opening. I'm sure this is explained much uller in the rest of the text. I only caught one reference to what was happening outside. "Daylight was starting to come out there, but Pulaski could not remember ever having seen a daylight quite like this one -- thin, watery, almost wavery. For a moment he was struck by unreality, by a sense that somehow his eyes were deceiving him. . ." p.42 Then we drop into a flashback.

King cut off on a pretty good line: "for the first time he felt something pierce his confusion and harried annoyance at being late. He found nothing welcome about the new emotion. It was fear." p.61 hehe -- that's good!

What's brutal is what a good read this is. There's a lot oo energy to it. Just straight story! King explains the apartment, moves to his character, speeds through a normal morning, and then slams the whole story into a great problem. No one can get out. I assume by the title that they won't be going to Vons anytime soon. Who gets eaten? Who does the eating? Gosh, my appetite is indeed wetted, Mr. King!

(Unfortunately, Under The Dome never caused the characters to become the Donner Party)

TSK: Under The Dome and Cannibals

Monsters On Maple Street

From Dome Journal #9: This book is starting to remind me of that Twilight Zone episode, "The Monsters are due on Maple Street." One of the things I like about King's writing is that he develops themes we are familiar with in new ways. Some seem to see this as a weakness, I enjoy it very much. Besides, King has the ability to up the ante. And I always believe that King gets his ideas out of his own head -- he's not stealing from The Simpson's or Twilight Zone. Anyway, Serling only gave us a quick "what if. . ." while King gives us the full answer "this is what would happen!"

Perhaps even more pointedly, the book reminds me of Star Trek's "Charlie X." (Because in that episode, the Enterprise and crew and nothing more than an alien child's toys.)  The book has also been compared to an "adult version of Lord of the Flies." Appropriate, since it deals with how people change when there is not a larger body to enforce the rules. (Dome Notes)

QUESTIONS. . . 

• Does anyone notice that all of the pictures of UNDER the dome are from OUT of the dome? Why doesn't someone draw a picture of Under The Dome?  (Dome Journal #3)
• Note: The dome traces the exact border of the town. Leading to a question: Is the town a circle? Am I missing something?  (Dome Journal #4)
• I wonder if Julia Shumway is in anyway modeled after Anne Colter. (Dome Journal #4)
• So, what stops the dome from reappearing in another part of the U.S.?
• Is this Science Fiction or Horror?
• Can I buy one of those boxes somewhere? 
• Will the bad guys come to a better-bad end?  
• Did anyone do a body count?  (Anyone want to volunteer to keep the body count for the TV series ?)

TELL ME YOUR FAVORITE PART OF THE NOVEL UNDER THE DOME 

Notes from The King Cast Interview with Marsha DeFilippo

picture: http://larryfire.wordpress.com/2008/06/09/interview-with-marsha-defilippo-stephen-kings-personal-assistant/

.

The King Cast has an interview posted with Marsha DeFilippo. This one is really good!

http://thekingcast.ca/site/?p=129

.

DeFlippo is Ms. Mod at the King website. "I couldn't ask for a better boss to work for," she says about King. The interview is posted in full and is easy to access. The question answer session is really interesting. For instance, she doesn't like chocolate. Stunning! The interview is just over 40 minutes.

.

Here are a few of quick notes. . .

.

She started working for king as a "Kelly girl." Cool. . . I once worked as a "Kelly Girl." She typed Eyes of the Dragon -- the book I'm currently reading. She also typed Tommyknockers onto disks to be sent to publisher. She did her work on a wang word processor with 8in floppy disks!

.
She notes that one reason for the website is to offer accurate information. If you wonder if such a site is needed, just google who will be cast int he upcoming Dark Tower movies. There's a lot of opinions out there, but not all of it is backed up. Personally, I tend to trust King's own site for news and Lilja's library.
.
Also discussed are King's two ideas for books. Dr. Sleep and the next Dark Tower book (Wind through the Keyhole). The website was used to poll King's readers, just to determine the mood.
.
Interesting, she says that horror is not her preferred genre. So who does she read? Well, truth is -- she doesn't read much because that's what she does all day long!
.
What impresses her about King? "That he has kept his roots." She shares how King is a very ordinary person, not tainted by his public persona. He's humble.
.
I really liked her talking about how things quiet down in between book releases. Found myself thinking, that's probably the time King likes the most -- when the world backs off and he's just allowed to write books.
.
Here's a funny question someone submitted: With so many cuss words in his books -- why can't people cuss on the board? The answer: Books are age appropriate, while anyone can click on a site -- including younger children.
.
She mentions more than once that she is very cognizant of the fact she represents King. What she says or does could reflect on him.
.
Oh, and bummer. . . she says that we will not see the rest of the Cannibals. Man! I was hoping to read the rest of that. I really really enjoyed what was published.
.
There is not a huge office at work behind Stephen King. No factory of workers! It's just King and a couple of secretaries.
.
Okay. . . stop reading my notes and go listen to the interview! It's fantastic.
http://thekingcast.ca/site/?p=129

Pillars, Follett And Stephen King

A favorite author of mine is Ken Follett. But here's the deal, I don't like everything he writes. What I do like of his, I really like! I usually take a pass on the spy novels (Key to Rebecca and so on), even though they are always a cut above normal spy stories. What Follett writes that I'm really passionate about is some really good historical fiction.

.

One of my all time favorite books (right next to The Stand, of course!) is Follett's lengthy novel The Pillars Of The Earth. Talk about epic! This book is the gigantic tale of the construction of a great Cathedral in Kingsbridge, England. Follett's heroes are both human and heroic. His villains are fully worthy of our hate, true scoundrels. And the story is brilliant. By the way, I was raving about Pillars long before Oprah was. It used to be one of those books I made an effort to read at least once a year.

.

So how happy was I when I saw that the 900+ Pillars of the Earth had been turned into a series on Starz. Only problem, I don't have Starz! I called my wife in desperation. Please, please, I begged, fix this injustice and restore order to the world. I must, must, must see this! She told me not to make an idol of it, and then ordered Starz. Relief. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1453159/

.

Place In The Stephen King Universe:

.

So what's this got to do with Stephen King? Well, first off I always want to encourage King fans to read far beyond the King universe. Not just horror, but classics and different genres. And if you're going to read historical fiction, Follett is the best.

.

Ken Follett lists Stephen King as one of the authors he reads. How cool is that?! Follett also did the introduction for the special edition of The Shining. Both King and Follett have books on Wikipedia's "Most Commonly Challenged Books In The United States." Follett for Pillars of the Earth, King for Carrie, Dead Zone, Christine and Cujo. So by that list, I guess King is four times as offensive to some people as Ken Follett. And, worthy of note, Frank Muller did audio editions of both authors works. For Follett, it was his novel Code To Zero.

.

I think the two have a similar style of writing. To be sure, their subjects are quite different, but both write with an episodic style. Scene builds upon scene. They don't "tell" you someone is bad, they show you. Both men write as if it were television.

.

King Inspired By Follett:

.

On tampabay.com, Colette Bancroft has an article titled, "Bush White House inspired characterizations in 'Under the Dome,' Stephen King says. Thankfully for all of us, King had more inspiration than just politics! Bancroft quotes King (speaking of the development of The Cannibals to UTD), "'People seem to like the long ones. So I tried another version, called The Cannibals, about people trapped in an apartment building. But that didn't work because the space was too small.' Then King read Ken Follett's historical novels The Pillars of the Earth and World Without End. 'Those are huge books, but I really liked the narrative drive.' That moved him to return to the dome idea in 2006. 'I felt I finally had the chops to do it. You never stop learning if you keep your mind open.'"

http://www.tampabay.com/features/books/bush-white-house-inspired-characterizations-in-under-the-dome-stephen-king/1052401

Some of my notes on Pillars of the Earth:

(WARNING: There are probably spoilers here!)

.

Favorite characters:
.

Tom Builder: The novel opens with Tom and his family struggling to survive. Tom loses a baby boy and soon his wife. He is left to take care of his children in a hard world. Soon Tom finds steady work when the old Cathedral burns to the ground. What I really love about Tom Builder is that he can only really work on churches. He feels that working on a house or any other building doesn’t require the best of him, because it isn’t for God. But a church has to be our very best, because it is given to the Lord.
.

Prior Philip: I wish Philip was real, then I wouldn't feel so strange loving him. Philip is a genuine man of faith who checks his own heart to avoid sins of pride and abuse of power. Follett does present a corrupted system of church government, but he also shows priests who are good and ready to stand up for what is right. Surrounded by corruption and immorality, the faithful Prior Philip shines. One of my favorite scenes is Philip walking along the castle wall with the King of England. (Uh... "King Stephen" not Stephen King!)
.

Jack the Builder: Jack is probably Follett’s intended "hero." Picked on as a child by his step brother Alfred, Jack grows up in the shadow of his step father Tom Builder. It is to Jack that Tom's mantle falls.
.

Alfred: Tom Builder's son who hates Jack. Alfred will do anything to destroy Jack and promote himself.
.

William Hamleigh: One of the most vile, despicable, wicked villains ever created. He’s terrible! In fact, he’s so bad, you really do love to hate this guy. Murder, rapist, and utterly corrupt; this guy is depraved.
.

Aliena: Daughter of Earl Bartholomew, she dedicates her life to avenging her father and restoring his fortune. Even when it means helping her self obsessed brother, Richard, or giving up romance with her true love, Jack, Aliena will do anything to honor her father.
.

A few of my favorite scenes:

.

–Prior Philip arriving at his new church and forcing the monks to submit to his authority.

–Tom Builder and his family working together to capture the thief who stole their pig.

–William storming earl's castle.

–Prior Philip exposing Waleren’s secret castle.

–Jack accidentally burning down the old church.

–The monks surrounding the workers in the stone quarry to protect them.

–Ellen coming to Tom Builder in the forest.
--Prior Philip buys Aliena's wool for full price when the merchants refuse to sell to her at the same rate because she is a woman.

–The final scene as Follett connects fiction to history.
.

The cathedral city of Kingsbridge is fictional, and is the site of Follett’s sequel World Without End. Pillars of the Earth is one of those long, wonderful reads that you feel sorrow when it’s done. Like losing an old friend you’ve walked a long way with. The characters live on in the mind even when the book is finished.
.

What makes the Pillars of the Earth so gripping is that even though it’s a epic historical novel, it’s written at the pace of a spy story. Follett doesn’t waste a lot of time -- he simply presses the plot forward with a steady hand.

.

http://www.ken-follett.com/faq/index.html

The Art of Darkness

I've been reading Stephen King: The Art Of Darkness, by Douglas E. Winter. Now, I have to admit up front, I didn't read this cover to cover. I bounced around according to the book I was interested in. So, while I didn't read it whole, I think I read the whole thing.
.
This is an outstanding book.
.
1. Winter has a strong grasp of classic fiction. He doesn't try to sell King as little more than a pop-culture wonder boy, but compares him to classics. That's a joy. He discusses The Heart Of Darkness, by Joseph Conrad in his chapter on The Stand. By the way, I hated The Heart Of Darkness. So, better to let Mr. Winter tell me the connections than have to dig them out myself!
.
In trying to catagorize The Stand, he compares it to such works as that of J.R.R. Tolkien, E.R. Eddison and even Milton's Paradise Lost.
.
He notes, "Like Tolkien's popular The Lord Of The Rings, The Stand takes the form of a noble quest and employs a host of characters, some heroic, some darker and indeed monstrous." (55)
.
2. Winter had a working knowledge of King's unpublished works. In his chapter on The Mist, Winter gives mention to "I was a teenage grave robber" and "The Aftermath." He also discusses "Sword in the Darkness."
.
3. Winter is rightly able to compare King to popular culture, including the cult film Night of the Living Dead. I mention this, because it does take some skill to draw from both classic literature and modern films. But when discussing King, both are important.
.
4. The book is locked in time. Published in 1984, a fun quality about The Art of Darkness is that it gives us a look at King's early works without some of the clutter that must come with later reviews. It is not necessary to compare Cujo to Geralds Game. Or The Stand to Under The Dome. I like those things -- but it's refreshing to see how King was viewed early on.
.
Winter gives us glimpses at unpublished works that we now have. For instance, when this was written, Blaze and The Cannibals were both unpublished works. I recall King himself noting that he recently read The Art Of Darkness and what it said about the Cannibals. (see page 157-158 of The Art Of Darkness for his words on The Cannibals)
.
It's interesting to read his chapter "Always More Tales" to see what was yet to come -- stuff we now have. He lists: Skeleton Crew, IT, The Eyes of the Dragon, The Tommyknockers.
.
Winter writes, Both The Eyes of the Dragon and The Tommyknockers have seen complete first drafts; at least two other novels are underway, and King continues to contemplate his proposed sequal to 'Salem's Lot. And then there are the myriad afternoon projects -- what King likes to call his toys -- that he plays with after each morning of serious writing work:
.
"I almost never think of an audience. I've got things so ridiculous that I can't be thinking of an audience. They amuse me and I don't have any idea whether they would amuse anyone else or not."
.
A recent example is The Cannibals which King wrote in long hand during the filming of Creepshow, inspired by his living quarters in Monroeville Pennsylvania: "I've got about 450 pages done and it is all about these people who are trapped in an apartment building. Worst thing I could think of. And I thought, wouldn't it be funny if they all ended up eating each other? It's very very bizarre because it's all on one note. And who knows whether it will be published or not?"
.
To Stephen King it really doesn't matter if the Cannibals sees print. It is impossible to read his fiction without recognizing, in its energy, honesty, and utter lack of inhibition, that it is the product of an inner necessity."
.
I think Winter's book gives us a glimpse of a Stephen King my generation is likely to forget. The younger Stephen King who was still riding his way to the top of his craft.
.
5. The Art Of Darkness serves as an early biography. Of course, at that point, King's drug use was unknown and the accident was still 16 years in the future. An early chapter is simply titled Notes Toward A Biography. The book also has a nice set of pictures in the center, typical of the period it was printed in.
.
6. Finally, The Art of Darkness is a well rounded look at King. It does not focus only on his family, upbrining, books or his movies, but covers it all in a comfortable space. The book is a precursor to the later "companion" style books -- all of which I like.
.
Written with real energy, Winter was an early voice on the scene calling for Stephen King to be taken more serious. The book has been updated at least once, but alas, there is no way for it to keep up with the volume of King's output. It is dated -- which I like.
.
Books By Douglas E. Winter:
The Art of Darkness (1984)
Faces of Fear (1985)
Splatter: A Cautionary Tale (limited edition, 1987)
Prime Evil (1988)
Darkness Absolute (limited edition, 1991)
Black Sun (limited edition, 1994)
Revelations (1997)
Run (2000)
Clive Barker: The Dark Fantastic (2002)
Introduction to Legal Writing (2003)
A Little Brass Book of Full Metal Fiction (limited edition, 2006)
.
LINKS:
For a really wonderful article on The Art Of Darkness as a "journey" follow this link:
http://www.davidlday.com/2009/09/24/stephen-king-the-art-of-darkness-night-journey/
.
Winter's myspace page: http://www.myspace.com/douglasewinter
.
Winter in wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Douglas_E._Winter
.
Interview with Winter on his book Run http://www.crimetime.co.uk/interviews/douglaswinter.html

Stephen King's The Cannibals : Another Incomplete Revew

Actually, this is not a review at all, just some notes I made as I read:
.
Sorry to say, no one gets eaten in act 2 of the Cannibals. The read was, again, delightful. I continue to like the cultural references (ie: Barnie Miller).
.
Apartment dwellers discover not only are they stuck inside their building -- they cannot call out. Though they seem to be able to hear what's happening on the other end.
.
I like this description: "her face white. Her eyes are eating up her face, Jo thought, and shuddred. (haha, Mr. King -- that's good)
.
The typed underlining throughout the text is interesting. I think it means italics -- but not sure.
.
It is ovious that the text has not been edited much. A lot of following people around -- up stairs, down stairs -- that would probably be tightened up in a edit.
.
I also like this line: "He probably feels a little like a guy who got a bunchof his friends to hep him drive a battering ram against the castle door and found out it was papier-mache"
.
In terms of plot forwarding, not much happens.
.
I feel like Oliver Twist, cup in hand, "Please sir, may I have some more?"
"MORE!" Someone at stephenking.com will yell, "this constant reader wants more!"

What Does It Take To Get To The Cannibals?

The moderator of stephenking.com explained that it might take a while to get the next portion of the Cannibals posted. Moderator stated: "I still have to get the manuscript out of the locked cabinet after getting the key to the cabinet out of the locked safe, scan it, upload it to the server, Jordan does his magic with it, and then it gets posted to the site."

Now that's pretty serious lock down for an old manuscript! Thankfully King keeps his old stuff; seems like I've lost tons of my old writing.

Now, seriously, I promise this is true: When i was in Highschool I wrote 400 double spaced pages called: "Silent Parameter." It was about a city (big city, like LA) that got blocked off from the rest of the world by a strange mist that no one could penetrate. And, like a certain someone else, I couldn't get past 400 pages.

But -- I don't have it under lock and key somewhere. My parents sold the computer it was on. . . or it died.

It's pretty brave of King to release old manuscripts. I get the feeling that since it's under such tight lock down, it's not like King is now making the hand noted corrections. It's a big deal for a writer to let others see their old work.

So, I anxiously await the next installment. Trying to be patient and just read short stories in Night Shift. Maybe it's time to dive back into Duma Key. . .

The Cannibals Part 2 -- Self Punishment?

The moderator at stephenking.com said: "Steve gave me the okay to scan another 60 pages which I will do and have posted by the end of the week but he also said not to expect any more until at least next year --or possibly not at all."

http://www.stephenking.com/forums/showthread.php?t=14800&page=4
.

At 60 pages a time, I find myself asking: "Why do I read this? I know up front that there is no conclusion to this novel. I have good books on my shelf I haven't read. Gosh, I could give the Talisman another try. . . but no, I have to read this unfinished stuff. Why?"

.

I don't know why, except that I"m really anxious to read Under The Dome. And actually, I was drawn in to the characters in The Cannibals.

.

I printed the first 60 pages thinking: There's no way I'll read all this. But I blew through it in an hour and loved it. Loved all of it.

.

It's interesting to read people on the message board hoping someone will get eaten in the next 60 pages. My hearts with you, but. . . Come on -- This is Stephen King! He's going to take his time setting up the situation and introducing characters before forks and knives come out. But we'll see.

.

My review of the first 60 pages is here:

http://talkstephenking.blogspot.com/2009/09/cannibals-incomplete-review.html

.

I really, really like the look of the old, scanned pages.

The Cannibals -- An Incomplete Review

Well, of course any review will be incomplete -- King didn't finish the book! And, what he released was only 61 pages.

A few quick notes.

A big thanks to Stpehen King for releasing this. He stated that he did it for two reasons:

First to wet out appitites for his upcoming novel Under The Dome. That he has successfully done!

Second, he said that he wants to show fans that he was not stealing any ideas from the Simpsons. In fact, he said he's not seen the Simpsons movie. Sigh. Is King losing touch with culture? Of course, the real question on this is: Why did King have to read from fans that the root idea of his plot sounds something like the Simpson movie? Shouldn't someone at Simon and Schuster have caught that one?

I really enjoyed the download a lot. The pages are marked with corrections throughout and look well aged. Not like this came off the press of a slick publisher -- more like King himself pressed this into your hand after a short meeting. "Hey, take a look at this and tell me what you think," he says. Okay, that's not what happened... but that's how the 61 pages will make you feel -- a little closer to the artist.

The date:

King wrote Cannibals in about 1981 ? while filming Creepshow. The manuscript was a quick flashback to the early eighties. That feeling of, "I remember this world!" washed over me at once. A few 80's hallmarks:
1. Cassette tape-players
2. X rated movie theaters (drive in's, no less)
3. Video game arcades
4. Roller rinks
5. Living in the aftermath of Vietnam
6. "the wake of the turbulent sixties" p.5
7. Resisting the draft
8. Listening to Bob Dylan Records
9. Anticipating a "decade of self." p.6 (Try three decades of self!)

About the story:

The story is about an apartment complex that gets cut off from the world. All the details are not evident from the portion King has given us. How do they get power? Do they have water? Elevators work. But no one can get out a door. As if a force on the otherside, as solid as a brick wall, were present.

The apartment building:

1. It's not a close net community. It's people living separate lives. People who don't really know one another.
2. It's next to a mall, but still near the woods.
3. You can work, shop and sleep without ever going too far outside.
4. The apartment is not a slum.
5. The apartments are visited by the "Full Moon Scribe" (a tagger).
6. The apartments have a serious security system; both for inner doors and mail.
7. There is no locks on the outer doors.

Characters (and religious oddities):

Main character is Tommy Hill the news man. A kind-of "everyman." There's the apartment manager, the kid Tommy runs into, and the religious lady, Jo.

Now Jo Page is only introduced once the problem is well underway. The reader is really interested in what is going on, and King decides to introduce someone new! (He also gave a couple of pages worth of flashback at a similiar moment). But the new lady, Jo, is worth looking at.

She is a very religious woman. She reads the Bible and begins to fixate upon Christ death and his words on the cross "why have you forsaken me?" This throws her into something of a trance.

As she ponders Jesus' words, King writes, "It came to her suddenly that perhaps that had been the moment of transfer. . . the moment when Christ had taken it all upon himself, every sin committed by mankind on the face of the earth since the apple. All that dirt and blood at once, suddenly taken from the world and filling Hm like a black poison." p.51

Pretty sound theology.

Jo falls into a trance, fixated on the death of Christ. And then King goes to some lengths to explain how she isn't a zealot. "Her religion was a private matter; she fored it on no one and was revolted by those who did. In some of these she recognized an innocent joy which she could at least sympathize with if she could not respet. In most she saw only a kind o filthy sel-aggrandizement, the final mirror-trick by which the Prince of the World tried to turn God himself into an illusion. Bucause the Bible demanded that the followers o Christ should witness, she did so -- wasn't that why she was in the jam she was in at work? -- but she did so only when asked, or when circumstances demanded it." p.53

Okay, here's the thing: Religious people who read the Bible and fall into trances are not the normal type. Trances are usually left to the holy rollers who do it in public, or those who are a little off -- let's say, Carrie's mom. I"m sure some religous people fall into a trance -- but it's not the norm by any stretch of the imagination.

I think that what King is trying to do is create a likeable -- but serious -- religious character. One with sound theology, but who isn't pushy, judgmental and a Jerk for Jesus. It does beg the question: Does Mr. King think that religious people get up and meditate on the crucifixion until they slip into a dreamy daze of worship? Not most. Some. . .

So is Jo one of our Cannibals? That would be interesting.

The Terror:

The mystery revovles mostly around doors not opening. I'm sure this is explained much uller in the rest of the text. I only caught one reference to what was happening outside. "Daylight was starting to come out there, but Pulaski could not remember ever having seen a daylight quite like this one -- thin, watery, almost wavery. For a moment he was struk by unreality, by a sence that somehow his eyes were deceiving him. . ." p.42 Then we drop into a flashback.

King cut off on a pretty good line: "for the first time he felt something pierce his confusion and harried annoyance at being late. He found nothing welcome about the new emotion. It was fear." p.61 hehe -- that's good!

What's brutal is what a good read this is. There's a lot o energy to it. Just straight story! King explains the apartment, moves to his chracter, speeds through a normal morning, and then slams the whole story into a great problem. No one can get out. I assume by the title that they won't be going to Vons anytime soon. Who gets eaten? Who does the eating? Gosh, my appitite is indeed wetted, Mr. King!

Similarities to Under The Dome

I haven't read Under The Dome, but from the reviews the only thing the two have in common is the idea of a force field locking a group of people in.

This story had a lot of energy taking off. I can see why King got a good 500 pages out of it. I throughly enjoyed it all.

King Speaks On The Cannibals

Stephen King & Robert Louis Stevenson

.

In Danse Macabre, Stephen King notes that Robert Lous Stevenson wrote Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde at a break neck pace -- completing the novel in just three days. However, the book so upset his wife that he burned it in his fireplace! Then, regretting his repentance he wrote it again, from scratch in another three days. (See Dance Macabre, p.60)

.

If that first draft of Dr. Jeckyll and Mr. Hyde existed -- would we want to read it? You bet! We would probably find that the rewrite came out much stronger, but just the same, it would be interesting.

.

The Art Of Darkness

.

It seemed that the Cannibals was lost in Stephen King's fireplace. Only mentioned briefly by Douglas E. Winter in The Art o Darkness -- but for the most part, it was gone. Until King found it (or went looking for it) in his office. He has released the first 60 pages. A rather humble act for an accomplished author! To show his work, warts and all, is pretty bold.

.

Douglas Winter's book was so good that almost every other references just checked back to Winter. The Art of Darkness was a true gift to fans at the time and still. It has proved a lasting source of information. Something King himself admits having referenced recently! Anyway, Stephen King has recently given some more history on the connection between Under the Dome and The Cannibals.

.

King Says. . .

.

King says that he lost the first draft, but the other was written in Pittsburg. Interesting to me that this was during the filming of Creepshow, since you would think he would stop writing to make a movie. But then, if King stopped for each movie -- he would never write again!

.

"I spent two months in a depressing suburban apartment complex," King says, "that became (with the usual fictional tweaks) the setting for the story. It was called The Cannibals, and this time I got a lot further—almost five hundred pages—before hitting a wall. I assumed the manuscript was lost. Long story short, it turned up—battered, and with some pages missing, but mostly complete—in the summer of 2009."

.

John MacDonald Had An Interesting Take
.

At the beginning of Night Shift, John D. MacDonald said that what makes King a great writer is that King has written a "stupendous number of other stories and books and fragments and poems and essays and other unclassified things, most of them too wrtched to ever publish." (Night Shift, introduction).

.

King offers the work simply for amusement, suggesting it be an "appetier" to Under The Dome. For those who enjoy seeing a writers work before rewrites and editors, this should be a treat. MacDonald would remind us that it is this earlier work that made King's soon to be published work strong.

.

A Typewriter?!

.
"I’m amused by the antique quality of the typescript," King admits. "this may have been the last thing I did on my old IBM Selectric before moving on to a computer system." Seems like I remember him saying years ago that he didn't like computers because he felt like his words were under glass. Of course, the computer would go bye bye when he wrote Dreamcatcher by hand.

Under The Dome and The Cannibals

I'm reposting this because it's interesting to me -- and adding some new info.

.

Stephen King has stated this is upcoming novel Under The Dome is really his third attempt at this story. The previous titles were The Cannibals and Under The Dome. In the Art of Darkness, King states, "I worked on a book called The Cannibals–I had started it five years before, but it was called Under the Dome then. It didn't get finished either time."

.

So what can be known about this unfinished novel? According to Stephen Spingensi's The Lost Work Of Stephen King, The Cannibals is about 100,000 words hand written novel. Spingensi reports that it was written while King was on the set of Creepshow. Remember King in Creepshow? The picture above is King in character on the set of Creepshow. Somehow the idea that he was thinking about Cannibals at the time seems totally believable!

.

What is interesting about The Cannibals is that it was written in 1983. King was already a successful author. This is not just stuff from his highschool days that he dumped, it was the serious work of a published author.

.

King told douglas Winter in the Art of Darkness, "I've got about four hundred and fifty pages done and it is all about these people who are trapped in an apartment building. worst thing I could think of. And i thought, wouldn't it be funny if they ended up eating each other? It's very, very bizarre because it's all on one note. And who knows whether it will be published or not."

.

Without having read The Cannibals or Under The Dome, I can only mention on the surface a major difference appears to be that The Cannibals limited itself to an apartment building, while Under The Dome is set on the landscape of an entire town (Chester's Mill).

.

September 13, 2009 Update: Scribner has stated that an except of The Cannibals will be released on September 15th. It will be posted on stephenking.com. Obviously I'm interested in the original story -- but of geater interest is always the finished work that has the authors approval.