The Talisman
Jul. 13th, 2008 03:08 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
dragojustineThe Talisman, Stephen King and Peter Straub
This is wonderful! It took me for ever to finish it, because it freaked me out so badly that I had to put it down for two weeks, TWICE. But freaked out in the best possible way, you know?
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miriad's rec was completely accurate- fantasy where things actually look BAD for our young child hero, where he is actually seriously damaged by what happens and where you seriously believe he might be damaged more and the fact that all this is happening to someone so YOUNG is actually allowed to be really damned disturbing. Fantastically well-done. Also, I am such a sucker for parallel dream-world run by Jungian dream-logic, and when it's well done (like here) I could eat it up with a fucking spoon.
And HOW MUCH BETTER is this than the Stand, as far as plotting and ending? For one thing, it picks a damn genre and stays there. For another thing, it actually has plot arc, and that plot arc actually comes to a satisfying conclusion. In fact, the last hundred and fifty pages of this thing are a complete joy- the whole damn book is Jungian logic plus textbook-standard Campbellian structure which means that the conclusion of it is absolutely foreordained- it couldn't possibly end in any way except exactly the way that it does. It's this thrilling exciting satisfying gripping completely and totally predictable conclusion that bears down on you with all the adrenaline and inevitability of a steam train, in a way that makes me think that people who complain about fantasy being predictable are both completely right and completely missing the point.
This is wonderful! It took me for ever to finish it, because it freaked me out so badly that I had to put it down for two weeks, TWICE. But freaked out in the best possible way, you know?
miriad's rec was completely accurate- fantasy where things actually look BAD for our young child hero, where he is actually seriously damaged by what happens and where you seriously believe he might be damaged more and the fact that all this is happening to someone so YOUNG is actually allowed to be really damned disturbing. Fantastically well-done. Also, I am such a sucker for parallel dream-world run by Jungian dream-logic, and when it's well done (like here) I could eat it up with a fucking spoon.And HOW MUCH BETTER is this than the Stand, as far as plotting and ending? For one thing, it picks a damn genre and stays there. For another thing, it actually has plot arc, and that plot arc actually comes to a satisfying conclusion. In fact, the last hundred and fifty pages of this thing are a complete joy- the whole damn book is Jungian logic plus textbook-standard Campbellian structure which means that the conclusion of it is absolutely foreordained- it couldn't possibly end in any way except exactly the way that it does. It's this thrilling exciting satisfying gripping completely and totally predictable conclusion that bears down on you with all the adrenaline and inevitability of a steam train, in a way that makes me think that people who complain about fantasy being predictable are both completely right and completely missing the point.