Status
Available
Collection
Publication
Signet Book (1992), 731 pages
Description
Fiction. Horror. Literature. Thriller. HTML:Set in the fictional town of Castle Rock, Maine Master storyteller Stephen King presents the classic #1 New York Times bestseller about a mysterious store than can sell you whatever you desireâ??but not without exacting a terrible price in return. The town of Castle Rock, Maine has seen its fair share of oddities over the years, but nothing is as peculiar as the little curio shop that's just opened for business here. Its mysterious proprietor, Leland Gaunt, seems to have something for everyone out on display at Needful Things...interesting items that run the gamut from worthless to priceless. Nothing has a price tag in this place, but everything is certainly for sale. The heart's desire for any resident of Castle Rock can easily be found among the curiosities...in exchange for a little money andâ??at the specific request of Leland Gauntâ??a whole lot of menace against their fellow neighbors. Everyone in town seems willing to make a deal at Needful Things, but the devil is in the details. And no one takes heed of the little sign hanging on the wall: Caveat emptor. In other words, let the buyer… (more)
User reviews
LibraryThing member jseger9000
Needful Things is claimed to be King’s ‘last’ Castle Rock story (though he would return there at least one more time) and it’s a doozie.
Leland Gaunt is a dapper gentleman from Akron, Ohio; newly arrived in Castle Rock to open a glorified junk shop. His new shop, Needful Things, seems to
Stephen King is very comfortable with his fictional Maine town and that is one of the strengths of the book. He is so intimately familiar with his characters and their relationships that he is able to describe them to us in a fairly easy manner. Most of the characters are on stage for only a short time, but while you spend time with them you are aware of who they are and what their relations are with various other townspeople.
Over the course of the book, Mr. Gaunt builds a web of tension in the town, using his ‘pranks’ to stir up long simmering enmity among the various residents of The Rock. It felt like King took the template of Peyton Place and pushed it to the point of absurdity, using his small town character's petty scandals to undo them. Reading Needful Things is kind of like watching a master lay out one of those elaborate domino patterns, piece by carefully placed piece.
Then, King knocks the first piece down. The last couple of hundred pages fly in a white-knuckled fury as Castle Rock unravels before our eyes. It might have been King’s ‘home town’ but you can tell there was real glee in its destruction.
The ending gets a little silly, though you can see how the whole book was building towards it.
A seven hundred (plus) page book that never feels like a slog. Needful Things is not King’s very best, but it lives in the same neighborhood.
Leland Gaunt is a dapper gentleman from Akron, Ohio; newly arrived in Castle Rock to open a glorified junk shop. His new shop, Needful Things, seems to
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have something for everybody. And he doesn’t ask much. A tiny bit of money, and perhaps he will ask for a prank to be played on another person...Stephen King is very comfortable with his fictional Maine town and that is one of the strengths of the book. He is so intimately familiar with his characters and their relationships that he is able to describe them to us in a fairly easy manner. Most of the characters are on stage for only a short time, but while you spend time with them you are aware of who they are and what their relations are with various other townspeople.
Over the course of the book, Mr. Gaunt builds a web of tension in the town, using his ‘pranks’ to stir up long simmering enmity among the various residents of The Rock. It felt like King took the template of Peyton Place and pushed it to the point of absurdity, using his small town character's petty scandals to undo them. Reading Needful Things is kind of like watching a master lay out one of those elaborate domino patterns, piece by carefully placed piece.
Then, King knocks the first piece down. The last couple of hundred pages fly in a white-knuckled fury as Castle Rock unravels before our eyes. It might have been King’s ‘home town’ but you can tell there was real glee in its destruction.
The ending gets a little silly, though you can see how the whole book was building towards it.
A seven hundred (plus) page book that never feels like a slog. Needful Things is not King’s very best, but it lives in the same neighborhood.
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LibraryThing member cbilbo
This book was great. I can't decide which is my favorite. The Stand or Needful Things. I actually read this book before The Stand.
With a crooked and evil shop owner turning the town against each other. A sheriff who is figuring out what is going on. A town hell bent on destroying itself. It is the
After years past since reAding both The Stand and Needful Things, I would suggest to a first time reader, go for The Stand first. But if not, you still won't be disappointed!
With a crooked and evil shop owner turning the town against each other. A sheriff who is figuring out what is going on. A town hell bent on destroying itself. It is the
Show More
iconic King novel. You want to see some characters live and others die.After years past since reAding both The Stand and Needful Things, I would suggest to a first time reader, go for The Stand first. But if not, you still won't be disappointed!
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LibraryThing member csweder
Typical scene: a small Maine town experiences supernatural activities.
For some King books, I feel reviews can stop there.
This book had something that was difficult for me to describe. I became so attached to the characters, I was actually sad when the book ended. I wanted to see more of these
That's a sign of a great book.
For some King books, I feel reviews can stop there.
This book had something that was difficult for me to describe. I became so attached to the characters, I was actually sad when the book ended. I wanted to see more of these
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characters, and to see how their lives would finish out. That's a sign of a great book.
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LibraryThing member bardsfingertips
Pride.
That is the moral of the story along with its warning: the consequences of pride. At first, it seems like a tale of greed and possession, but I have to heed that is, much like the storefront of Needful Things, a mere façade. The greed of keeping in tow what on possesses is the initial
Here is a story that dictates what King does best: he casts a group of characters as large as a fisherman's net and includes the background to each of them, allowing us some depth within their lives that has the reader understand perfectly well why they act in the manner that they do. In many ways, the reader ends up relating very well with the denizens of Castle Rock, which, in turn, makes them the real monsters rather than Mr. Gaunt's (a reference to a being within the works of H. P. Lovecraft) not-so subtle persona.
This is a reread for me, but a reread that is about 15 years apart. I read this during my summer job that took place between my 8th grade exeunt and my high school entrance. Before Needful Things, I had read other books by King. At the time, I did not enjoy Needful Things all that much. I think my prior experience with King involved Pet Cemetery and The Shining, both books I really enjoyed. The big cast was something I was not used to and became very confusing in my young age. I am glad I choose to do the reread, because I see the novel's strengths, references, and allegory now. Before, it was just a tale of revenge gone awry. Needful things is much more than that. It is a reflection back of our own monsters; and what those monsters would do to keep the things we think we need most.
That is the moral of the story along with its warning: the consequences of pride. At first, it seems like a tale of greed and possession, but I have to heed that is, much like the storefront of Needful Things, a mere façade. The greed of keeping in tow what on possesses is the initial
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catalyst for the mayhem that ensues within the little town of Castle Rock, but it is the pride of defending one's self against those who offend that sends people to their deaths within this allegory. Here is a story that dictates what King does best: he casts a group of characters as large as a fisherman's net and includes the background to each of them, allowing us some depth within their lives that has the reader understand perfectly well why they act in the manner that they do. In many ways, the reader ends up relating very well with the denizens of Castle Rock, which, in turn, makes them the real monsters rather than Mr. Gaunt's (a reference to a being within the works of H. P. Lovecraft) not-so subtle persona.
This is a reread for me, but a reread that is about 15 years apart. I read this during my summer job that took place between my 8th grade exeunt and my high school entrance. Before Needful Things, I had read other books by King. At the time, I did not enjoy Needful Things all that much. I think my prior experience with King involved Pet Cemetery and The Shining, both books I really enjoyed. The big cast was something I was not used to and became very confusing in my young age. I am glad I choose to do the reread, because I see the novel's strengths, references, and allegory now. Before, it was just a tale of revenge gone awry. Needful things is much more than that. It is a reflection back of our own monsters; and what those monsters would do to keep the things we think we need most.
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LibraryThing member MaureenCean
It is a 5 for achievement. To be clear, the achievement is in two areas specifically. Unmatched creativity, and ability to develop incredibly intricate plots, particularly without dropping details, and the second, in my opinion, is an outstanding achievement in narration. The only other author I
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have found that has come close to this in terms of narrating his or her own work is Neil Gaiman, and this was even better. This was superlative. If you wanted to compare this to other of his works, I would say it is comparable to The Stand in terms of intricacy of plot and creativity. Down side, it is a lot of violence to handle, and I think a certain suicide crossed the line in terms of what is necessary or appropriate in a novel, in other words, you didn't need to go there...but hey, that' my two cents. Very entertaining.... Show Less
LibraryThing member Edward.Lorn
Some authors write about king slayers. Others write about serial killers. Stephen King? He writes about fuckers capable of leveling entire towns. Whether those responsible are aliens or devils, it doesn't matter. The ride is usually a fun one. Needful Things is no different. It is, however, the
Now I know what you're thinking. "Doesn't sound like you enjoyed this one, E." Well, that's not entirely true. Yeah, I think certain characters are useless and some scenes are pointless, but I dig this book quite a bit. King always impresses me with how he manages to create entire fictional towns populated with such true-to-life personalities and make it seem so fucking effortless. At this point in his career (1991), King had killed two small towns and crippled another three: 'Salem's Lot was sucked dry; Chamberlain was never the same after Carrie White; Derry died a special kind of death but refused to go away completely; Haven would be off-limits for decades; and Castle Rock had one bombastic enima. I remain in awe of that fact. Think about that. In less than fifteen years, one author populated and then ravaged five small towns. And we loved every minute of it.
I think several things make readers ignore the bloat in Needful Things. Cora and Myra's Elvis Presley fascination is awfully hilarious, as well as some of the shenanigans other characters get into. The beshitted picture of one townie's mother had me in tears, I was laughing so hard. Buster was blissfully insane, and Nettie and Wilma's fight scene is one of the most gruesome in all of horror literature. This novel is jampacked with awesome occurrences, and that makes the bloat feel worth it. Even the uber goofy ending can be ignored because the rest of the book is... well, it's just a shitload of fun.
Obvious Tie-ins:
The Dark Half
The Body
The Sun Dog
Hidden Gems:
Gaunt refers to the items in his shop as "gray things", which supports my theory that all of King's works can be tied back to the Dark Tower series by way of The Tommyknockers or IT. I believe all of King's supernatural villains, all of his monsters, belong to the race of Old Ones known as the Prim. But more on that in my A Decade with King: (1985-1994) post coming in April.
Notable Names:
Pop Merrill
Ace Merrill
Evvie Chalmers (I love how this woman is in five different King books, but is never on-camera, as it were)
George Bannerman
Thad Beaumont(This poor fucker made it through The Dark Half only to have one of the longest off-camera downward spirals King has written. It's mentioned here that Thad's wife leaves him and takes the kids with her, and then, ten years later in Bag of Bones, King mentions how Thad ended up killing himself. Poor guy.)
In summation: It's not the best book King has ever written, but it's far, far, far from his worst. Needful Things is a favorite for many King fans, and I understand why. I simply think he could have used fewer characters to the same end. Well worth a read, whether you're a King fan or not. But, be forewarned. Whole sections of this book make no sense unless you've read The Dark Half.
Final Judgment: Town slaying, like a boss.
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epitome of a bloated Stephen King novel. There are entire characters herein that serve zero purpose. George T. Nelson and Frank Jewett's stories could have been left out. Ace Merrill is another pointless character. I simply do not see what he added to the proceedings. I never understood why Buster couldn't do everything by himself. Even when those two split up, they're still only across the street from one another. Even the movie version cut Ace and nobody cared. I theorize that Ace was a loose end for King, the bad guy that got away, so he felt the urge to give the hood a proper send off. Insert Ace in Needful Things. Problem solved.Now I know what you're thinking. "Doesn't sound like you enjoyed this one, E." Well, that's not entirely true. Yeah, I think certain characters are useless and some scenes are pointless, but I dig this book quite a bit. King always impresses me with how he manages to create entire fictional towns populated with such true-to-life personalities and make it seem so fucking effortless. At this point in his career (1991), King had killed two small towns and crippled another three: 'Salem's Lot was sucked dry; Chamberlain was never the same after Carrie White; Derry died a special kind of death but refused to go away completely; Haven would be off-limits for decades; and Castle Rock had one bombastic enima. I remain in awe of that fact. Think about that. In less than fifteen years, one author populated and then ravaged five small towns. And we loved every minute of it.
I think several things make readers ignore the bloat in Needful Things. Cora and Myra's Elvis Presley fascination is awfully hilarious, as well as some of the shenanigans other characters get into. The beshitted picture of one townie's mother had me in tears, I was laughing so hard. Buster was blissfully insane, and Nettie and Wilma's fight scene is one of the most gruesome in all of horror literature. This novel is jampacked with awesome occurrences, and that makes the bloat feel worth it. Even the uber goofy ending can be ignored because the rest of the book is... well, it's just a shitload of fun.
Obvious Tie-ins:
The Dark Half
The Body
The Sun Dog
Hidden Gems:
Gaunt refers to the items in his shop as "gray things", which supports my theory that all of King's works can be tied back to the Dark Tower series by way of The Tommyknockers or IT. I believe all of King's supernatural villains, all of his monsters, belong to the race of Old Ones known as the Prim. But more on that in my A Decade with King: (1985-1994) post coming in April.
Notable Names:
Pop Merrill
Ace Merrill
Evvie Chalmers (I love how this woman is in five different King books, but is never on-camera, as it were)
George Bannerman
Thad Beaumont
In summation: It's not the best book King has ever written, but it's far, far, far from his worst. Needful Things is a favorite for many King fans, and I understand why. I simply think he could have used fewer characters to the same end. Well worth a read, whether you're a King fan or not. But, be forewarned. Whole sections of this book make no sense unless you've read The Dark Half.
Final Judgment: Town slaying, like a boss.
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LibraryThing member musicgurl
I have just finished reading Stephen King's novel, 'Needful Things.' Since I picked this book up I have been hooked. king has managed to tie in so many different stories into this book superbly. I did however find this book a little more disturbing than his others. for example, an 11 year old
Needful Things is about a little store coincidentally called 'Needful Things' which always has what you need at just the right price. But as the residents of Ludlow will find out, it is a much higher price than what was bargained for. When odd murders beginning to happen, the county Sheriff and his girlfriend have to save as many as they can before Mr. Gaunt's devilish deeds begin.
Overall, a top-rate read which I recommend for all King fans. It has the right amount of horror, gore, drugs and death as you would expect from his excellent novels. 10/10
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suicide? Slightly un-realistic.Needful Things is about a little store coincidentally called 'Needful Things' which always has what you need at just the right price. But as the residents of Ludlow will find out, it is a much higher price than what was bargained for. When odd murders beginning to happen, the county Sheriff and his girlfriend have to save as many as they can before Mr. Gaunt's devilish deeds begin.
Overall, a top-rate read which I recommend for all King fans. It has the right amount of horror, gore, drugs and death as you would expect from his excellent novels. 10/10
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LibraryThing member Stahl-Ricco
Ahh..."The Last Castle Rock Story"... and what a good one it is! The Devil has come to town, and he finds quite a willing group of citizenry to do his bidding! He/Stephen King then hotwires, and then cross wires the "good" folks of Castle Rock and sits back to watch the fireworks. Literally!
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Neighbor versus neighbor, Sherriff versus Ace, and even the Catholics against the Baptists! I really liked the way this one is set up... and then torn apart! Bye-bye Castle Rock. Rest in pieces. Show Less
LibraryThing member Lukerik
I've been reading King's books chronologically and this is a bit of a return to form after the shit he churned out during the 80s (Misery excepted). Perhaps he wrote most of it while not completely fucked on drugs. Sure, this is not The Shining but it is still rather a good novel about the
Highly readable with clearly realised characters... I can almost forgive the silly ending.
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divisions evil can strike between natural siblings.Highly readable with clearly realised characters... I can almost forgive the silly ending.
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LibraryThing member LisaMaria_C
This is among my favorite novels by Stephen King that I've ever read. I think that's partly because of the portrait of a town and because many of the characters are ones you can easily care about. Their corruption, the temptations are understandable: not just a wish for power or riches or a prized
King takes a quintessential Norman Rockwell American small town, Castle Rock, Maine, and through this shop that sells "Needful Things" begins to tear the fabric of its members and the relationships between them apart and rises to a suspenseful climax I'm not going to forget for a long time.
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possession--but, as with Polly, the surcease of pain, the promise of a normal life, as a temptation and road to perdition. King takes a quintessential Norman Rockwell American small town, Castle Rock, Maine, and through this shop that sells "Needful Things" begins to tear the fabric of its members and the relationships between them apart and rises to a suspenseful climax I'm not going to forget for a long time.
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LibraryThing member Carol420
The town of Castle Rock is like any other town, until a new store," Needful Things" opens up. As people go into the store, they begin to realize that the owner, a weird man named Leland Gaunt, has possessions that they have always wanted. In exchange for selling them these items, Mr. Gaunt has them
One of the best things about this novel is that even though the plot is a tad unbelievable, King makes it believable with his fantastic writing style.
This novel will make you realize that you just may not want to have everything you wish for.
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play a prank on another town resident. Eventually these pranks end up turning the town into an insane war zone, and I won't give away the ending. One of the best things about this novel is that even though the plot is a tad unbelievable, King makes it believable with his fantastic writing style.
This novel will make you realize that you just may not want to have everything you wish for.
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LibraryThing member freddlerabbit
Stephen King has been able to produce some extremely terrifying books, even to a modern reader. This isn't easy - the tradition of the Gothic began with half-revealed or suggested horrors, never fully explained, and modern audiences are used to seeing guts and blood and demons and worse broadcast
Needful Things is essentially the story of ordinary people - some nice, and some not - spurred to do horrifying things to one another. There is blood and guts, especially toward the end, but to me, the most difficult parts of the book to read were the emotional damages these ordinary folks were inflicting on one another, striking at one another's deepest fears and vulnerabilities, spurring anger and hate from neighbors they otherwise coexisted peacefully with. It is a rather powerful reminder of the pettiness of evil and of humanity - there are no great personalities here, no great harms, and no great achievements - just rather quotidien, sordid dreams and nightmares. Despite that, those dreams and nightmares are gripping.
I do think that the recital of escalating anger and rage went on a bit longer than was dramatically necessary, at least for me - the book might have wound up 200 pages quicker without much harm. But I also find it difficult to read about believably ordinary people rising to fairly epic levels of cruelty and harm (wittingly or no), so that could have colored my view.
All in all, I was pleasantly surprised by the book, and was intrigued at the way it made me think about the genre and the kinds of things that can still discomfit a modern reader.
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onto their screens on a daily basis, so that hinted mystery doesn't scare us that much anymore, and we are somewhat inured to the gross. King has claimed that he tries to terrify, and has a fallback to the gross-out; I find that his books tend to fall at different places along the spectrum. For example, I found The Stand and The Shining to be genuinely frightening, whereas Dreamcatchers was much more about the gross. Needful Things, picked up on a whim at the airport, seemed like a bit of a risk - I had the suspicion that most of King's books were less terrifying and more grotesque. Needful Things is essentially the story of ordinary people - some nice, and some not - spurred to do horrifying things to one another. There is blood and guts, especially toward the end, but to me, the most difficult parts of the book to read were the emotional damages these ordinary folks were inflicting on one another, striking at one another's deepest fears and vulnerabilities, spurring anger and hate from neighbors they otherwise coexisted peacefully with. It is a rather powerful reminder of the pettiness of evil and of humanity - there are no great personalities here, no great harms, and no great achievements - just rather quotidien, sordid dreams and nightmares. Despite that, those dreams and nightmares are gripping.
I do think that the recital of escalating anger and rage went on a bit longer than was dramatically necessary, at least for me - the book might have wound up 200 pages quicker without much harm. But I also find it difficult to read about believably ordinary people rising to fairly epic levels of cruelty and harm (wittingly or no), so that could have colored my view.
All in all, I was pleasantly surprised by the book, and was intrigued at the way it made me think about the genre and the kinds of things that can still discomfit a modern reader.
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LibraryThing member cbilbo
This book was great. I can't decide which is my favorite. The Stand or Needful Things. I actually read this book before The Stand.
With a crooked and evil shop owner turning the town against each other. A sheriff who is figuring out what is going on. A town hell bent on destroying itself. It is the
After years past since reAding both The Stand and Needful Things, I would suggest to a first time reader, go for The Stand first. But if not, you still won't be disappointed!
With a crooked and evil shop owner turning the town against each other. A sheriff who is figuring out what is going on. A town hell bent on destroying itself. It is the
Show More
iconic King novel. You want to see some characters live and others die.After years past since reAding both The Stand and Needful Things, I would suggest to a first time reader, go for The Stand first. But if not, you still won't be disappointed!
Show Less
LibraryThing member GoofyOcean110
This is favorite Stephen King novel and can be read without reading the other Castle Rock novels (either in order or at all, as I did). I thought the idea of shapeless colorless things that could turn into whatever was needed by the villain was cool. Also cool was the sinister idea of trading
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things for favors. The idea that money is a safer trade because it can easily be quantified and compared, whereas the relative value or cost of a favor is subjective and therefore (in someways) more powerful has stuck with me since I read this about 15 years ago. Show Less
LibraryThing member sdtaylor555
The movie was better, and how often can you say that?
LibraryThing member mmyoung
One of my favourite King's. As it common with him the ending is comparatively weak -- but the book contains a wonderful picture of small town life in New England. People's fears are real and believable and the way in which horror grows out of the "normal" frailties of humanity is good. Again,
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King's women tend to be underwritten and cardboard in nature -- and good women are almost, by definition, suffering and secondary. Show Less
LibraryThing member wings2291
Alan Pangborn is the sheriff of small town Castle Rock, where everyone knows everyone... or at least they think they do. The arrival of a new shop in town, and a shadowy shop keeper, ignites the town's curiousity as well as it's blood lust sending Sheriff Pangborn on a wild goose chase into the
Though not my most favorite Stephen King book due to the majority of the book being a build up to the last twenty or thirty pages but overall was a pretty good read. There are many characters to keep track of and it can get tedious sometimes to remember each and every one (I ended up just giving each a typical stereotype i.e. town drunk, deputy sheriff, local gossip, etc. just to keep track). Mr. Gaunt is a very well developed 'evil-doer' with just enough information to start to scratch the surface on just how bad he really is without drawing a line as to how black his soul, or lack thereof, really goes. Typical good vs. evil type of story line with a nice little twist that makes you really think: what would you do to protect the one thing you wanted most in this world?
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darkest depths of his own neighbor's fondest dreams and desires.Though not my most favorite Stephen King book due to the majority of the book being a build up to the last twenty or thirty pages but overall was a pretty good read. There are many characters to keep track of and it can get tedious sometimes to remember each and every one (I ended up just giving each a typical stereotype i.e. town drunk, deputy sheriff, local gossip, etc. just to keep track). Mr. Gaunt is a very well developed 'evil-doer' with just enough information to start to scratch the surface on just how bad he really is without drawing a line as to how black his soul, or lack thereof, really goes. Typical good vs. evil type of story line with a nice little twist that makes you really think: what would you do to protect the one thing you wanted most in this world?
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LibraryThing member Pickle115
This is in my opinion of his best novels. However, there are alot that are tied for best. Its long but well worth the time and effort.
LibraryThing member michaeldwebb
Ha! More guilty pleasures! And this was pleasurable enough for a dumb summer reader. The owner of Needful things sells just what people need, at a price. Chaos ensues etc - as usual Kings gets the characters write, and it's all good fun.
LibraryThing member jonwwil
Knowing that King occasionally likes to write his own takes on classic literature, my sarcastic heart would love to assert that this is his answer to Atlas Shrugged. "You want unfettered capitalism, Ayn? This is what it looks like!" While that's probably a bit of a stretch, I don't think it's a
I liked this book, but I wouldn't say it's one of King's best, at least not in my mind. I think his real strength lies in well-developed characters who seem like real people. This book has a wide cast of characters, but only a couple of them (Sheriff Pangborn, Polly Chalmers, maybe Deputy Norris Ridgewick) are given the space to seem like more than portraits. Just about everyone else is pretty much a one-dimensional stereotype, and I find King to be weak in this regard - when his characters are one-dimensional, they're generally laughable. Now, that's a general statement; I can't think of any characters in this book who are quite that bad, but the fact is that most of them can be summed up by one trait or personality type (religious nut, town drunk, etc.). And that's really too bad, because some of King's really good books (The Stand and It, for example) have a ton of characters that are also well developed, and that's what makes them. Of course, those books in particular are also really long, and this one is already pretty long without all that messy character development, so there's that.
All that said, this is still a good read. Another thing King does well is depiction of small-town life, and as he's dealt with Castle Rock so often (maybe one reason he didn't feel the need to bother with a bunch of character development), he paints a fantastic portrait of friendships, alliances, grudges, and so forth, that the villain (Leland Gaunt, proprietor of the new shop in town) tweaks and wires to his advantage. It's interesting (and fun) to see normal people disintegrate into murderous barbarians as their cherished possessions are threatened or other buttons are pushed.
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stretch at all to say that he is taking on the greed and envy that are so prevalent in American society.I liked this book, but I wouldn't say it's one of King's best, at least not in my mind. I think his real strength lies in well-developed characters who seem like real people. This book has a wide cast of characters, but only a couple of them (Sheriff Pangborn, Polly Chalmers, maybe Deputy Norris Ridgewick) are given the space to seem like more than portraits. Just about everyone else is pretty much a one-dimensional stereotype, and I find King to be weak in this regard - when his characters are one-dimensional, they're generally laughable. Now, that's a general statement; I can't think of any characters in this book who are quite that bad, but the fact is that most of them can be summed up by one trait or personality type (religious nut, town drunk, etc.). And that's really too bad, because some of King's really good books (The Stand and It, for example) have a ton of characters that are also well developed, and that's what makes them. Of course, those books in particular are also really long, and this one is already pretty long without all that messy character development, so there's that.
All that said, this is still a good read. Another thing King does well is depiction of small-town life, and as he's dealt with Castle Rock so often (maybe one reason he didn't feel the need to bother with a bunch of character development), he paints a fantastic portrait of friendships, alliances, grudges, and so forth, that the villain (Leland Gaunt, proprietor of the new shop in town) tweaks and wires to his advantage. It's interesting (and fun) to see normal people disintegrate into murderous barbarians as their cherished possessions are threatened or other buttons are pushed.
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LibraryThing member barpurple
One of my favourite King books. Leyland Gaunt is the perfect bad guy; charming, dashing, well travelled, intelligent and manipulitive on a grand scale. Pure evil or oh so human? King sucessfully turns every day spites and niggles into full blown chaos. The destructive results are still able to take
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my breath away every time I re-read this classic gem. Show Less
LibraryThing member tinncan
What I have learned from this: don't get your hopes up at the idea of re-reading a book you vaguely remember quite liking as a teenager. It may well be utter crap, as in this case. The one thing I will give it is that it's well structured, but reading through its self-indulgent and totally
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unnecessary 790 pages is something I will be unlikely to ever do again. If I show signs of it, remind me to read this first... Show Less
LibraryThing member sanrak
There's nothing like a silly Stephen King thriller to distract you for a few days. The characters in this one were rather recycled and one-dimensional (more so than many other of his books) but it had such a delicious setup and concept. Even if the ending sputtered a bit, it was well worth the time.
LibraryThing member Scaryguy
A must read for any King fan!
LibraryThing member fallensparrow
Absolutely elating. Being the horror fan that I am. King has always kept my attention but Neddful things rules...
Awards
Locus Award (Nominee — 1992)
Bram Stoker Award (Nominee — Novel — 1992)
Language
Original language
English
Original publication date
1991-10
Physical description
752 p.; 4.19 inches
ISBN
0451172817 / 9780451172815