A horrible storm leads to a horrific accident (and I don’t mean totally his car). Author Paul Sheldon is trapped with his number one fan, and it’s not quite the meet-and-greet he’s used to. This week, we dig into Stephen King’s Misery!
What Is Misery About?
After a horrific car wreck, author Paul Sheldon jumps (limps?) from the frying pan to the fire. The lonely woman who has rescued him is Paul’s number one fan, and after some pretty devastating news about her favourite character, she’s got an axe to grind with Paul (that’ll be significantly funnier if you get to the bottom of my review, promise).
Misery focuses primarily on Paul, a tortured artist who hates his work, his fans, and himself. His legs are broken seemingly beyond repair, and when he awakes in an unfamiliar house, his only chance at survival is Ms. Annie Wilkes, a nurse with a troubled past and a book full of her trophies. The novel focuses on isolation and the lengths a man will go to survive.
What I liked…
This has actually been my second read through of Misery, and after finishing this up with my book club, I knew I had to write a full review. Truthfully, I think this is one of my favourite books of all time, despite the critiques I had in this read through (more on that later). It’s crafted exceptionally well, and I think this is one of the fantastic examples of a well-done unreliable narrator. Throughout the story, one of Paul’s challenges is his own dependency on the medication Annie gives him. And while the haze of narcotics makes Paul a little difficult to trust, Annie’s terrifying nature leaves the reader completely unsure of what’s really going on outside of Paul’s room. It creates such a fantastic atmosphere.
And speaking of atmosphere. If you’re looking for a late winter, early spring read, I think this one is perfect. Without giving much away, the book starts in the winter and carries through to the summer (a journey which probably symbolizes the internal changes within Paul). But I think this is part of what makes Misery and amazing read for this time of year. The winter adds a layer of isolation to the best of us, but in this book, it’s palpable. The snow locks Paul inside just as much as his captor, and as the author works to break out of this hell, we all get a nice little reminder that spring is coming. Eventually. And hopefully when it does, it doesn’t get run over with a lawn mower.
Paul is my favourite of the book. I think he’s someone that almost any writer or reader can really relate to, someone who’s driven by this innate need to tell stories and someone who connects with the world through stories. For Paul, his only tie to the world is his story, and I think in a world that’s increasingly disconnected by social media, that’s a characteristic that many of us relate to. Whether we like it or not, these aren’t just random stories that fill our afternoon. These books bring us closer to our community
… And What I Didn’t
I will say, I think one thing that really annoyed me about this read that I didn’t mind in the original read through is Paul’s strange distain for his readers. And more specifically, his female readers. I have heard Stephen King give very thoughtful, well crafted replied back in the 50 Shades Of Gray days (remember when that was the steamiest thing you could buy?). So this just felt a little odd to me. Maybe this is supposed to be the point of Paul, that he hates women and so it’s just that the thing that pushes him to his breaking point is a woman. But it made me feel uncomfortable this time around. I see so many people rag on romance readers and act like their stories somehow aren’t as good as other Literary Pros. Horror, I would think, should be the one genre that understands that wonderful stories come in all kinds of packages. But then again, maybe Annie Wilkes helped Paul learn that lesson 😉
Final Thoughts
If you haven’t read much King and want to give him a try, I think Misery is a fantastic place to start. It can be bought on Amazon or read through Everand. The book isn’t too long (it’s no IT), and if you are a lover of audiobooks, the one on Audible and Everand is amazingly done! The small cast helps add to the claustrophobia, but it also made this a lower-energy read for me. At a time when I’ve been struggling to finish anything, this was a fantastic book to break my losing streak.
Have you read Misery? Let me know what you think!