Status
Checked out
Collection
Publication
Pocket Books (2007), Edition: First Edition, 688 pages
Description
Two years after the death of enigmatic and celebrated author Scott Landon, his wife Lisey fields inquiries from academics and private collectors requesting his personal letters and unpublished works--if any exist. Then aother interested party makes contact by leaving a dead cat in her mailbox. And then the terrifying phone calls begin. Lisey's only escape comes in the strange fantasy world where her husband found his inspiration. Now she must struggle to survive in a place where nightfall brings terrifying danger.
User reviews
LibraryThing member sapphire314
I have an over-active imagination. For as long as I can remember, it’s always been that way for me. I’m afraid of the dark (I can’t go from one room to another without leaving a trail of lights – turn light B on before turning light A off…), I’m convinced that there is always a monster
Lisey Landon is a widow of a celebrated author. Two years after his death, she has finally decided to take on the daunting task of going through her late husband’s papers and books. But it turns into more than just going through mementos…she also has to delve deep into memories she has buried deep into the recesses of her mind. Memories of her husband’s horrifying childhood and the secret place he would go to escape and to recover. These memories are only accessed by finding clues left by her deceased husband and are important for they are the only things that can help save her sister…and, more importantly, herself.
Lisey’s Story is more than King’s typical horror book. Even though there were some pretty freaky parts where I was sitting with my feet curled under my body, biting the inside of my lip and chewing on my fingernails, there was more to it than that. It is a beautifully written story, with clever play on words and plots circling around marriage and sisterhood and the importance of these two relationships. It's a love story as much as it is a nail-biter and the strength of the main character is one that makes you want to cheer her on and hug her at the same time. Whether you are a King fan or not, I highly recommend this book.
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(or worse – a murderer) under my bed and it will grab me when I have to get out of bed in the middle of the night (though now my bed has no space between the floor and the box springs, so that fear isn’t as strong as it used to be), and I’m always creating different dream worlds in my head. So after a week of reading Lisey’s Story, my mind is all over the place. Reading a Stephen King book is always hard work for me – not because they’re poorly written but quite the opposite. He writes so fantastically and detailed that it takes up every ounce of energy to read his books because of my imagination. Lisey’s Story was no exception for my mind feels like mush now and I think that I might need a few days of recovery before I jump into my next book.Lisey Landon is a widow of a celebrated author. Two years after his death, she has finally decided to take on the daunting task of going through her late husband’s papers and books. But it turns into more than just going through mementos…she also has to delve deep into memories she has buried deep into the recesses of her mind. Memories of her husband’s horrifying childhood and the secret place he would go to escape and to recover. These memories are only accessed by finding clues left by her deceased husband and are important for they are the only things that can help save her sister…and, more importantly, herself.
Lisey’s Story is more than King’s typical horror book. Even though there were some pretty freaky parts where I was sitting with my feet curled under my body, biting the inside of my lip and chewing on my fingernails, there was more to it than that. It is a beautifully written story, with clever play on words and plots circling around marriage and sisterhood and the importance of these two relationships. It's a love story as much as it is a nail-biter and the strength of the main character is one that makes you want to cheer her on and hug her at the same time. Whether you are a King fan or not, I highly recommend this book.
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LibraryThing member jackant
Stephen King’s Lisey’s Story is a Multi-Dimensional Masterpiece!
The master of all things horrific and gory has once again accomplished a tour de force in his latest novel, Lisey’s Story. Crossing the barrier of conventional suspense and horror―King’s regal trademark―this work shows a
Lisey’s Story is one of supreme tragedy and destined fate, a character study of grief. Two years after the death of her husband Scott, an esteemed author and Pulitzer Prize winner, Lisey Landon discovers a plethora of clues that lead her deeper into her husband’s life and into the chaos of his past. The emotions that the author wrings from his main character provide a heartrending read, one filled with the inherent discovery of truth and the anguish over the loss of a loved one.
Flashback sequences take the reader on a journey of Lisey’s marriage, Scott’s near murder and ultimately his death. But along the road, we learn he hoarded secrets and a life of mental illness. Here is where King’s propensity for supernatural suspense takes over, moving the story along at rapid pace, with heart-stopping moments of sheer terror.
As strangers approach Lisey, desperate for Scott’s unpublished work, her life is endangered and she comes face to face with pure evil. Her journey takes her to Boo’ya Moon, where she finally witnesses what her husband had to face. And thrown into the mix, is Lisey’s own struggle with her sister’s mental illness and deterioration. It is her relationship with her family that pulls at the reader even more, drawing us into Lisey’s world.
Stephen King has demonstrated that his natural talent as a writer far surpasses creating works of horror or suspense, such as Carrie, The Shining or Christine. He is a prolific writer with a seemingly inexhaustible source of ideas that appear to take root almost effortlessly. His novels have noticeably evolved over the years, becoming profoundly more emotional and multifaceted, stockpiling layer upon layer of character development and story elements. Lisey’s Story is indeed a rich tapestry, woven with the finest threads.
A Must, MUST READ!
Reviewer: Jack Anthony is a freelance writer, film and book critic, currently residing in Bermuda with his lovely wife, three young children and a Siamese cat with attitude.
The master of all things horrific and gory has once again accomplished a tour de force in his latest novel, Lisey’s Story. Crossing the barrier of conventional suspense and horror―King’s regal trademark―this work shows a
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much deeper, more emotional and powerfully personal side of the author.Lisey’s Story is one of supreme tragedy and destined fate, a character study of grief. Two years after the death of her husband Scott, an esteemed author and Pulitzer Prize winner, Lisey Landon discovers a plethora of clues that lead her deeper into her husband’s life and into the chaos of his past. The emotions that the author wrings from his main character provide a heartrending read, one filled with the inherent discovery of truth and the anguish over the loss of a loved one.
Flashback sequences take the reader on a journey of Lisey’s marriage, Scott’s near murder and ultimately his death. But along the road, we learn he hoarded secrets and a life of mental illness. Here is where King’s propensity for supernatural suspense takes over, moving the story along at rapid pace, with heart-stopping moments of sheer terror.
As strangers approach Lisey, desperate for Scott’s unpublished work, her life is endangered and she comes face to face with pure evil. Her journey takes her to Boo’ya Moon, where she finally witnesses what her husband had to face. And thrown into the mix, is Lisey’s own struggle with her sister’s mental illness and deterioration. It is her relationship with her family that pulls at the reader even more, drawing us into Lisey’s world.
Stephen King has demonstrated that his natural talent as a writer far surpasses creating works of horror or suspense, such as Carrie, The Shining or Christine. He is a prolific writer with a seemingly inexhaustible source of ideas that appear to take root almost effortlessly. His novels have noticeably evolved over the years, becoming profoundly more emotional and multifaceted, stockpiling layer upon layer of character development and story elements. Lisey’s Story is indeed a rich tapestry, woven with the finest threads.
A Must, MUST READ!
Reviewer: Jack Anthony is a freelance writer, film and book critic, currently residing in Bermuda with his lovely wife, three young children and a Siamese cat with attitude.
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LibraryThing member KEFeeney
What I love most about Stephen King's books is that he makes his character's narrative so conversational that you feel that you actually know them. Listening to this on audio, I wanted to live in a world where Lisey, Scott, and Amanda all lived. I was overjoyed to turn on my CD player at night and
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find out where we were going next in the story. Mare Winningham did a fantastic job narrating, with just enough inflection to distinguish the characters without going over the top. Lisey and Scott's pet words for things are infectious, just like when you know people in real life. I know I'll smucking say things from the novel for a while. At times suspenseful, others fantastical, and with shots of laugh out loud humor throughout, it was one wild ride. Show Less
LibraryThing member ToniFGMAMTC
I can totally understand why some King fans didn't care for this one. I felt so lost for a long time, but then when I started understand, wow. I really liked it. Stephen King's mind, just wow, how does he come up with this stuff. For awhile, I thought the female lead was crazy, but there's
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something much bigger going on. I don't know how to tell anything without taking away from reading the book for yourself. If you're a fan of his books, give this one a long try before giving up on it. You need to get well into the story before things start clicking into place. I really liked it. He does an excellent job of making the story so many things. Romance, mystery, horror, fantasy, everything is in there. Show Less
LibraryThing member Raychild
My absolute favorite King book and possibly my favorite book of all.
LibraryThing member eleanor_eader
This is a less-than-favourite King, which makes it an oddity on my shelf. Overwritten, and – very unusually for this author – not entertainingly so. I can normally follow King along any tangent he chooses to take, but Lisey’s relationships with her sisters, and her back-story, left me cold.
This is still King’s writing, though, and there were some wonderful lightning displays against the insipid foreground – Scott’s childhood, with his brother Paul, was compelling, moving and terrifying… the landscape and inhabitants of Boo’ya Moon, (especially the Long Boy, who gave me real shudders) vividly imagined, and Lisey’s stalker enough of a booger (I can’t help it, I’ve been reading his books for far too long) to root against.
This was my second read of Lisey’s Story and I’m glad I gave it another go because I was able to extract the high points without being put off by the disappointing aspects. I won’t read it again, but I am left with some wonderful imagery, such as the danger in eating fruit after midnight, and reflections in water-glasses, and the usefulness of spades in a crisis.
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Great swaths of her thoughts and internal musing were rendered lifeless by too much visitation; I’ve never had a problem believing in King’s female characters, finding them at least as strong as his male ones, but Lisey left me frustrated and bored. The wife of Scott Langdon should, in order to inspire the strength and devotion described, have been far more there. It isn’t a terrible book, but it doesn’t achieve its potential, weighted down as it is by its own ponderousness; for a story that is thematically about words, too many were used to poor effect.This is still King’s writing, though, and there were some wonderful lightning displays against the insipid foreground – Scott’s childhood, with his brother Paul, was compelling, moving and terrifying… the landscape and inhabitants of Boo’ya Moon, (especially the Long Boy, who gave me real shudders) vividly imagined, and Lisey’s stalker enough of a booger (I can’t help it, I’ve been reading his books for far too long) to root against.
This was my second read of Lisey’s Story and I’m glad I gave it another go because I was able to extract the high points without being put off by the disappointing aspects. I won’t read it again, but I am left with some wonderful imagery, such as the danger in eating fruit after midnight, and reflections in water-glasses, and the usefulness of spades in a crisis.
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LibraryThing member phyllis01
What I learned from this book: That even though Steven King wrote this book prior to my being widowed, he damn sure appeared to have spent some time living in my head after I was widowed. He captured that neither here nor there limbo that widows find themselves in, both in Lisey's day-to-day
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reality and in the otherworld he creates. This book brought me back to Steven King. He is a great writer, brings forth fully-developed characters and situations that make you believe what happened in the book really did or really could happen. Show Less
LibraryThing member godiva3
one of the most beautiful books i've read. it's touching, romantic and scary at the same time. the depth of the charactes and the intensity of the emotions displayed, is the most important in this book!
LibraryThing member helenleech
Lisey Landon's husband, the famous novelist Scott Landon, has been dead for a year. An overeager Professor of Literature has accidentally set a homicidal maniac loose, in order to get his hands on Scott's papers, including an unfinished novel. In the process of dealing with the maniac (very
Not Stephen King's best. Somewhat slow, and somewhat predictable, and infested with the pretentious private language that Lisey and her husband shared. But King could write about his grocery list and it would be gripping. I read it avidly.
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effectively) Lisey also has to come to terms with her husband's dark past - and his strange disappearances.Not Stephen King's best. Somewhat slow, and somewhat predictable, and infested with the pretentious private language that Lisey and her husband shared. But King could write about his grocery list and it would be gripping. I read it avidly.
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LibraryThing member MaureenCean
In response to the Author's Note at the end of the audiobook, yes Steve, I really did enjoy your book. It was a slow starter for me, and I eventually switched from a massive hardcover to the audio version that I also just happened to have on hand because I did not feel comfy reading it in bed. I
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have enough things keeping me awake already! I think I'm starting to sound like a broken record here, but I continue to be amazed at how he does it. There are people and places that pop up and make you feel like you are in a familiar place, but I swear the microcosm he creates does not smack of the same old ground. I enjoyed what another reviewer described as a 'kinder, gentler' King with less profanity and graphic violence. Looking forward to reading Sleeping Beauties after a break. Show Less
LibraryThing member Roseben031
Lisey's Story, while a good read, fell short for me in that it tried to be too much. What I got from it was a wonderfully created and crafted story about a woman dealing with the end of what she thought was her family, but realizing she still had family that mattered to her and she mattered to. Add
Now throw in the bad guy from Secret Window, and it's feeling too long with a Boogey Man who is completely unneccesary. Had King done nothing more than simply leave this character out, he'd have had a wonderful fantasy story with heart.
While I do think Lisey is one of those characters I may wonder from time to time what she's been up to, I don't see this book as a re-read or really a recommend to read.
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in the wonderful fanasy life her husband introduced her to, and it's a really beautiful book.Now throw in the bad guy from Secret Window, and it's feeling too long with a Boogey Man who is completely unneccesary. Had King done nothing more than simply leave this character out, he'd have had a wonderful fantasy story with heart.
While I do think Lisey is one of those characters I may wonder from time to time what she's been up to, I don't see this book as a re-read or really a recommend to read.
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LibraryThing member SonicQuack
Lisey's Story has all the characteristics of King's work, however the story is impeded by too much reminiscence, almost like King is trying too hard to fill out the characters. Lisey's story is mostly centred around the grieving widow (Lisey) as she is affected by her late husband's vivid dream
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world, the one he used as a catalyst for his writing. Alongside this is the (in true dark King fashion) menacing impact of a stalker who wants Lisey's dead husbands unpublished works. The elements are cleverly worked together, although in a somewhat long-winded fashion. There is a good story in there, buried under a hash of flashbacks and crazy talk. Existing King fans might find it laborious, more a chore than a tightly knit page-turner, and I'd also not recommend it a book for those experiencing King for the first time. It's hard to place the exact genre of Lisey's Story, and therefore difficult to pinpoint it's audience; romantic supernatural? It's territory King has used before so maybe King's smart enough to create a new genre all for himself. Show Less
LibraryThing member moonshineandrosefire
Scott Landon was an award-winning, best-selling novelist and he and his wife Lisey Debusher Landon had been happily married for twenty-five years until his untimely death. Their relationship may have been filled with the typical ups and downs that every couple experiences, but overall, Lisey
Lisey had always suspected that her husband had sometimes lived in a world of his own - a world of dark secrets that threatened to consume him utterly. As a matter of fact, Scott himself had taught Lisey about the different sides of his personality - sides that she sometimes found endearingly charming, yet sometimes disturbingly eccentric. Yet, she also believed that their enduring love for each other would always be the key that was strong enough to protect Scott from himself.
Starting early on in their relationship, even before their marriage, Lisey learned about many things from Scott. As a matter of fact, she had to learn about these things in order to better understand the man who would soon become her husband. She had to learn about the importance of books and blood and bools - indeed, there were certain times during their life together, when Lisey believed that Scott was actually trying to teach her a completely different language - a whole new perspective on life that was entirely their own.
It was only later when Lisey began to realize - no, to truly understand - that there was actually a special place where Scott went to be alone. It was a place within his own mind that both terrified and healed him, a place that could alternately eat him alive or give him the ideas he needed in order to live. It was a place of sunlight and shadow, genius and creativity - a world entirely of his own creation, known as 'Boo'ya Moon'. Now it's Lisey's turn to face Scott's demons; her turn to make her own journey to 'Boo'ya Moon'.
What begins as a grieving widow's effort to sort through her esteemed husband's personal papers, becomes a nearly fatal journey into the darkness that had enveloped Scott Landon's mind and soul. So now it falls to Lisey, to make her own pilgrimage to honor her husband's memory. She must find her own way to journey to Scott's special place - the place where his wealth of creativity and imagination existed; and dwelt alongside his increasing fear of his encroaching insanity.
I've recently discovered that Stephen King considers this book to be his favorite one of all his works. Indeed, Lisey's Story: A Novel is definitely Stephen King's most personal novel that he has written, as the genesis of his ideas for the story came about during his convalescence from the near-fatal car accident that he suffered in June of 1999. In my opinion, my own favorite book by Stephen King is Pet Sematary - which was written in 1983.
Actually, I must say that I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book. Perhaps it wasn't my absolute favorite, but I still found it to be extremely well-developed and highly intriguing. The plot of Lisey's Story: A Novel by Stephen King was extraordinarily imaginative and descriptive. Overall, I enjoyed the story very much, although I found certain parts of the story to be almost overwhelmingly descriptive.
I must admit that while these particular scenes were certainly very well-written; I generally tried to avoid them - as they tended to give me what Mareena calls 'the cringing skin crawls'. I would also like to mention that in my own opinion, this book probably could have benefitted from being approximately one hundred pages shorter. Having said that, I would still give this book a strong A!
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believed that their marriage was extraordinarily and profoundly intimate - sometimes frighteningly intimate. Scott Landon had recently passed away two years ago, and Lisey is only now coming to terms with what a complicated man her husband truly was.Lisey had always suspected that her husband had sometimes lived in a world of his own - a world of dark secrets that threatened to consume him utterly. As a matter of fact, Scott himself had taught Lisey about the different sides of his personality - sides that she sometimes found endearingly charming, yet sometimes disturbingly eccentric. Yet, she also believed that their enduring love for each other would always be the key that was strong enough to protect Scott from himself.
Starting early on in their relationship, even before their marriage, Lisey learned about many things from Scott. As a matter of fact, she had to learn about these things in order to better understand the man who would soon become her husband. She had to learn about the importance of books and blood and bools - indeed, there were certain times during their life together, when Lisey believed that Scott was actually trying to teach her a completely different language - a whole new perspective on life that was entirely their own.
It was only later when Lisey began to realize - no, to truly understand - that there was actually a special place where Scott went to be alone. It was a place within his own mind that both terrified and healed him, a place that could alternately eat him alive or give him the ideas he needed in order to live. It was a place of sunlight and shadow, genius and creativity - a world entirely of his own creation, known as 'Boo'ya Moon'. Now it's Lisey's turn to face Scott's demons; her turn to make her own journey to 'Boo'ya Moon'.
What begins as a grieving widow's effort to sort through her esteemed husband's personal papers, becomes a nearly fatal journey into the darkness that had enveloped Scott Landon's mind and soul. So now it falls to Lisey, to make her own pilgrimage to honor her husband's memory. She must find her own way to journey to Scott's special place - the place where his wealth of creativity and imagination existed; and dwelt alongside his increasing fear of his encroaching insanity.
I've recently discovered that Stephen King considers this book to be his favorite one of all his works. Indeed, Lisey's Story: A Novel is definitely Stephen King's most personal novel that he has written, as the genesis of his ideas for the story came about during his convalescence from the near-fatal car accident that he suffered in June of 1999. In my opinion, my own favorite book by Stephen King is Pet Sematary - which was written in 1983.
Actually, I must say that I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book. Perhaps it wasn't my absolute favorite, but I still found it to be extremely well-developed and highly intriguing. The plot of Lisey's Story: A Novel by Stephen King was extraordinarily imaginative and descriptive. Overall, I enjoyed the story very much, although I found certain parts of the story to be almost overwhelmingly descriptive.
I must admit that while these particular scenes were certainly very well-written; I generally tried to avoid them - as they tended to give me what Mareena calls 'the cringing skin crawls'. I would also like to mention that in my own opinion, this book probably could have benefitted from being approximately one hundred pages shorter. Having said that, I would still give this book a strong A!
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LibraryThing member musicgurl
You really have to be a dedicated Stephen King fan to read this book. You have to read at least 200 pages before you can get into Lisey's Story. Once that is over, you get carried away into her hectic, lonely life and her own world of the Boo'ya moon.
Lisey's Story is written in such a way, you
However, once finished, you can't help but feel a mix of different emotions. You feel success of reading 900-or-so pages and a sense of comfort for the character herself. Stephen King has done an overall terrific and diverse novel.
Lisey's Story is written in such a way, you
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could easily get confused. Most of it is Lisey remenissing about her late husband's tormented childhood and her memories of their time together. I think this book is unlike the typical Stephen King book as it has a more sentimental side in which King has injected many more emotions of loss, loneliness and fear. However, once finished, you can't help but feel a mix of different emotions. You feel success of reading 900-or-so pages and a sense of comfort for the character herself. Stephen King has done an overall terrific and diverse novel.
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LibraryThing member AnnieHidalgo
A great book. Stephen King creates another of his interesting beyond-the-looking-glass worlds for this one, as he's done so well in The Talisman, and the Dark Tower series. It's a satisfying blend of fantasy, supernatural mystery, bad childhood overcome, and especially, a love story. And as usual,
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with a Stephen King novel, the character is so well voiced that I found myself with bits and pieces of her worldview knocking around in my head for several days afterward. One of the things I like best about a good King novel is that, while you know it's completely fictional, and obviously farfetched, it seems somehow plausible. Perhaps because he never breaks character, or because he includes just enough details from the non-fictional world we all live in to tie it together, or because, if only things in it WERE true, they would explain the unexplainable in some way (where DO you go, if you are in a coma, for instance?). Although I think part of it is - someone ought to coin a new phrase for this - but some novels just have a way of getting it right, of seeming like a dream you might have had yourself. Tapping into the collective unconscious? I'm going to lose people here, with my half-formed theories, but you don't have to examine why a book works to know that it does. Highly recommended. Show Less
LibraryThing member theWallflower
I never knew you could make an entire novel out of baby talk.
If Stephen King is sober, you wouldn't know it from reading Lisey's Story. It's about an author's widow who's getting assaulted by a crazed fan. Except it never gets to that story. It's constantly talking about her husband, how he was
But that's not where it lost me. It lost me when Lisey became an idiot. The crazed fan breaks in and cuts her. She's bleeding, she's scared, and the deputy comes in and asks if she needs any help. "Nope, I'm fine!" Because the guy said he'd kill her if she told anyone. Except he's gone now. Idiot. How about you say "He was just here. Get every cop you have surrounding me with their backs in and their guns out! Take me to the station! Fix me up! And gun this guy down!"
Besides the idiot ball, the writing style is just too much. I know he likes to use repetition, but this is ridiculous. It's more like he forgot if he wrote it before, so he ends up saying it again. Everyone talks in quaint New England country expressions. There's a new one on each page. King gives his signature writing style, full of duplication, wool-gathering, and cheap scares. It would work, except it's not 1986 anymore. The writing world moved on, and no one told King.
If Stephen King is sober, you wouldn't know it from reading Lisey's Story. It's about an author's widow who's getting assaulted by a crazed fan. Except it never gets to that story. It's constantly talking about her husband, how he was
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almost killed by a (different) crazed fan, and then it's some weird thing about how the husband thinks he has demons, his family is possessed, and he can warp to another foresty dimension. Plus he's a cutter, which makes the title misleading. It's not Lisey's story. Lisey has no story. It's the husband's story, Lisey's just caught in the middle. It should have been called "Cutters". Or "Cliches".But that's not where it lost me. It lost me when Lisey became an idiot. The crazed fan breaks in and cuts her. She's bleeding, she's scared, and the deputy comes in and asks if she needs any help. "Nope, I'm fine!" Because the guy said he'd kill her if she told anyone. Except he's gone now. Idiot. How about you say "He was just here. Get every cop you have surrounding me with their backs in and their guns out! Take me to the station! Fix me up! And gun this guy down!"
Besides the idiot ball, the writing style is just too much. I know he likes to use repetition, but this is ridiculous. It's more like he forgot if he wrote it before, so he ends up saying it again. Everyone talks in quaint New England country expressions. There's a new one on each page. King gives his signature writing style, full of duplication, wool-gathering, and cheap scares. It would work, except it's not 1986 anymore. The writing world moved on, and no one told King.
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LibraryThing member 23eris
I do have a confession - I actually listened to this book on CD during my marathon near-dailt commutes. I generally liked it, although it took me a while to get into it, and King tended to keep too much information back for too long. He really could have moved the story along a lot quicker. Still,
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entertaining although not great literature. Show Less
LibraryThing member placo75
A horrible waste of time. Didn't finish. I would describe this as a plot driven novel that is trying desperately to be a character driven novel. Read something else.
LibraryThing member arelenriel
this is one of the best King books I've read in years. He lost it for awhile, and I have not liked many of his recent works but he seems to have regained some of the spook factor with this book
LibraryThing member BrnEyzNative
A bit slow at first, but knowing his other works I was patient-it was great.
LibraryThing member hoosgracie
An unusual story from King, more like literature than his norm - it's kind of a romantic scary novel. In the story, the widow Lisey walks down memory lane two years after her husband has died, which brings up bad and good memories. She also has a sister who becomes catatonic and a guy threatening
An excellent book, which I highly recommend.
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her to deal with. Throughout the story King references other author's works, music, and his own stories.An excellent book, which I highly recommend.
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LibraryThing member Tasker
Must have been pretty good - I wasn't sorry I started it and was sorry it was over at its ending, if that makes any sense. Don't get me wrong, I enjoy reading Stephen King and look forward to each new publication but a lot of his books have weak endings (in my opinion)- "Is that all there is?".
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However, I really enjoyed how LISEY'S STORY ended. Show Less
LibraryThing member whitewavedarling
I'm waiting for my other friends who read King to read this one, because I'm not sure what the traditional King reader is going to think. I'm such an eclectic reader that a work in any genre is liable to grab my interest. This said, Lisey's Story renewed my interest in Stephen King. His last work
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(Cell) was a huge disappointment, and just seemed easy and quick. With this work, a reader takes on a cross genre novel that is more complex (writing-wise) than most of his other novels, even if the plot is somewhat simpler. Horror/Suspense/Love, I'd say that any King reader who enjoys genres outside of horror also will enjoy this for the emotion and the characters that come out of the book. Highly recommended. Show Less
LibraryThing member Blazingice0608
A very different, but well told story for King. However, it was held back by a lot of boring parts. In the end i loved it, buy my rather low score is due to the over wordiness and boringness of much of the book. However, the bond that is created in this marriage, and the heartbreak in its end is
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gripping, and very suprising from King, even though he always grabs the reader with his characters, and gives the reader lots of emotions. Show Less
LibraryThing member KevinJoseph
Scott Landon, deceased husband of Lisey and focal point of her story, may be the closest thing to Stephen King’s alter ego to be found within his vast body of fiction. Sure, Scott’s a measure nuttier than Stephen (we hope) and more literary in his writing accomplishments, but I felt the same
“Lisey’s Story” represents a marked stretch for King; his most literary and sentimental work, as much love story as horror fiction. I respect him for expanding his boundaries in this way, given the pressures publishers place on their writers to stay within genre so as not to alienate their core audience. And writing about a character so much like himself, from his wife’s point of view, must have been a real challenge.
The novel’s pace suffers somewhat from unnecessary repetition, especially the parts involving Lisey’s present-day interactions with her sisters, yet there are some outstanding passages to reward the patient reader. In addition to the assassination attempt, I found the story of Paul’s possession by the Really Bad Gunky and young Scott’s interactions with his father to be as powerful as anything King has written. The concept of a parallel fantasy world, where a writer retreats for inspiration and refuge from harsh reality, serves as a compelling foundation for the story. The symbiotic relationship between genius and madness, a reoccurring theme in King’s works, is also well-developed here. Some have criticized the made-up language Scott uses to describe his fantasy world as a hokey distraction, yet I found that some of these phases (blood bool, Bad Gunky and Long Boy) contributed to the suspense factor by somehow making the fantastical feel more tangible, much as the repetition of “Redrum” did in “The Shining.”
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sense of peering into the writer’s lair while reading “Lisey’s Story” as I did while reading King’s autobiographical “On Writing.” Scott’s near-death experience following the assassination attempt, for example, seemed eerily informed by the author’s own brush with death after being struck by a drunk driver.“Lisey’s Story” represents a marked stretch for King; his most literary and sentimental work, as much love story as horror fiction. I respect him for expanding his boundaries in this way, given the pressures publishers place on their writers to stay within genre so as not to alienate their core audience. And writing about a character so much like himself, from his wife’s point of view, must have been a real challenge.
The novel’s pace suffers somewhat from unnecessary repetition, especially the parts involving Lisey’s present-day interactions with her sisters, yet there are some outstanding passages to reward the patient reader. In addition to the assassination attempt, I found the story of Paul’s possession by the Really Bad Gunky and young Scott’s interactions with his father to be as powerful as anything King has written. The concept of a parallel fantasy world, where a writer retreats for inspiration and refuge from harsh reality, serves as a compelling foundation for the story. The symbiotic relationship between genius and madness, a reoccurring theme in King’s works, is also well-developed here. Some have criticized the made-up language Scott uses to describe his fantasy world as a hokey distraction, yet I found that some of these phases (blood bool, Bad Gunky and Long Boy) contributed to the suspense factor by somehow making the fantastical feel more tangible, much as the repetition of “Redrum” did in “The Shining.”
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Subjects
Awards
World Fantasy Award (Nominee — Novel — 2007)
Bram Stoker Award (Nominee — Novel — 2006)
International Horror Guild Award (Nominee — Novel — 2006)
The New York Times Notable Books of the Year (Fiction & Poetry — 2006)
Language
Original language
English
Original publication date
2006-10-24
Physical description
688 p.; 4.13 inches
ISBN
1416523359 / 9781416523352