Status
Available
Call number
Genres
Publication
The Viking Press, 309 pages
Description
The #1 national bestseller for Stephen King's rabid fans, Cujo 'hits the jugular' (The New York Times) with the story of a friendly Saint Bernard that is bitten by a sick bat. Get ready to meet the most hideous menace ever to savage the flesh and devour the mind. Outside a peaceful town in central Maine, a monster is waiting. Cujo is a two-hundred-pound Saint Bernard, the best friend Brett Camber has ever had. One day, Cujo chases a rabbit into a cave inhabited by sick bats and emerges as something new altogether. Meanwhile, Vic and Donna Trenton, and their young son Tad, move to Maine. They are seeking peace and quiet, but life in this small town is not what it seems. As Tad tries to fend off the terror that comes to him at night from his bedroom closet, and as Vic and Donna face their own nightmare of a marriage on the rocks, there is no way they can know that a monster, infinitely sinister, waits in the daylight. What happens to Cujo, how he becomes a horrifying vortex inescapably drawing in all the people around him, makes for one of the most heart-stopping novels Stephen King has ever written. Cujo will forever change how you view man's best friend.… (more)
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User reviews
LibraryThing member jseger9000
With Cujo Stephen King finally mastered the thriller.
I've been reading Stephen King's books in order of publication and the last few (The Dead Zone and Firestarter) just didn't stack up to what he'd written before. It was clear he was trying to craft thrillers rather than the out-and-out horror of
With the simple premise of Cujo (a rabid Saint Bernard keeps a mother and child trapped in a sweltering Pinto) he knocked it out of the park.
King's trademark strong characters and multiple sub-plots (a badly ended affair, a mother trying to show her bright son that there is more to life than small-town Maine and an ad agency dealing with a disaster) are all here as well, but he was able to tie every one of them in to the main struggle. Each 'story' supports and adds to another until they all dove-tail together in a way that never felt forced.
The book starts slowly, showing us slices of the various characters lives before dropping them each on their own personal chute to hell. Cujo is the darkest King book I can think of. The recurring theme of the book is the cruelty of fate. All of the threads that the book follows hinge on good people whose lives are thrown into chaos through sheerest coincidence or events beyond their control.
One problem I do have with the book is the supernatural undercurrent. Overall, it didn't detract from the story and could have been an interesting element. But at various times King goes out of his way to show that there are some ghostly things happening in Castle Rock. The thing is, this aspect of the book never seems to go anywhere. Tad being afraid of the closet monster and marrying that fear to the beast holding him hostage in the car was effective. Pointing out that the contents of the closet had indeed been rearranged by something other than the family in the house seemed pointless. Tad's fear of the monster would have been just as effective if we believed that the thing in the closet was inspired more by gravy than the grave.
The monster in the closet aside, I really enjoyed Cujo. It streamed along and held my interest. The cuts to the various side stories were effective and interesting and worked to build the tension. Cujo is not the thriller that Misery is, but it is respectable on its own.
I've been reading Stephen King's books in order of publication and the last few (The Dead Zone and Firestarter) just didn't stack up to what he'd written before. It was clear he was trying to craft thrillers rather than the out-and-out horror of
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his earlier novels, but was coming up short.With the simple premise of Cujo (a rabid Saint Bernard keeps a mother and child trapped in a sweltering Pinto) he knocked it out of the park.
King's trademark strong characters and multiple sub-plots (a badly ended affair, a mother trying to show her bright son that there is more to life than small-town Maine and an ad agency dealing with a disaster) are all here as well, but he was able to tie every one of them in to the main struggle. Each 'story' supports and adds to another until they all dove-tail together in a way that never felt forced.
The book starts slowly, showing us slices of the various characters lives before dropping them each on their own personal chute to hell. Cujo is the darkest King book I can think of. The recurring theme of the book is the cruelty of fate. All of the threads that the book follows hinge on good people whose lives are thrown into chaos through sheerest coincidence or events beyond their control.
One problem I do have with the book is the supernatural undercurrent. Overall, it didn't detract from the story and could have been an interesting element. But at various times King goes out of his way to show that there are some ghostly things happening in Castle Rock. The thing is, this aspect of the book never seems to go anywhere. Tad being afraid of the closet monster and marrying that fear to the beast holding him hostage in the car was effective. Pointing out that the contents of the closet had indeed been rearranged by something other than the family in the house seemed pointless. Tad's fear of the monster would have been just as effective if we believed that the thing in the closet was inspired more by gravy than the grave.
The monster in the closet aside, I really enjoyed Cujo. It streamed along and held my interest. The cuts to the various side stories were effective and interesting and worked to build the tension. Cujo is not the thriller that Misery is, but it is respectable on its own.
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LibraryThing member AdonisGuilfoyle
The core of this novel is the story of a woman trapped in a car with her four year old on a baking hot day because there is a rabid dog literally baying for her blood outside. It's a tight, claustrophobic, psychological fear, and could really be captured in a short story. The rest of the book is
The plot is gripping, but the first hundred or so pages, until Donna decides that she really must take her backfiring car to the local mechanic with the big dog, really drag. None of the characters is sympathetic enough to involve the reader - in fact, poor Cujo's fate is far more distressing than the lives of the humans around him - and the build-up is contrived. The suggestion of a telepathic link between various characters and a more supernatural evil at work are also unnecessary, but I suppose such devices are King's stock in trade. That said, once Donna and her son are locked into their inescapable journey, the pages fly by - and I'll say this for King, at least he doesn't shy away from dark and bitter endings for his characters!
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padding - Donna's picture-perfect yet troubled marriage, her husband's business problems, the depressing life of the family who own Cujo, even a backstory for the detective who shows up for all of ten pages! - and the writing is fairly weak. Granted, 'Cujo' is one of King's earlier novels (1981), but I remembered it as being better than this. Perhaps I've outgrown them.The plot is gripping, but the first hundred or so pages, until Donna decides that she really must take her backfiring car to the local mechanic with the big dog, really drag. None of the characters is sympathetic enough to involve the reader - in fact, poor Cujo's fate is far more distressing than the lives of the humans around him - and the build-up is contrived. The suggestion of a telepathic link between various characters and a more supernatural evil at work are also unnecessary, but I suppose such devices are King's stock in trade. That said, once Donna and her son are locked into their inescapable journey, the pages fly by - and I'll say this for King, at least he doesn't shy away from dark and bitter endings for his characters!
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LibraryThing member madam_razz
I found this book to drag in a few places, mostly the areas involving Ad Worx and advertisements and things like that. Two of the characters are ad execs who own their own small advertising agency in Maine. I'm sure that some people probably find it interesting or neat or just amusing, but I found
However, that said, I think this book is going to stay with me for awhile. I watched the movie a few times when I was a kid with my grandfather and I can't really remember very much about it, except that I think the ending of the movie and the ending of the book are quite different, but don't quote me. I won't go any further into the ending than that. You'll have to see for yourself what's so different about it. ;)
I really like the way that King's stories so often involve a series of minute little chances of fate and coincidence. One tiny turn here, one little swerve there, and things might have gone quite differently for all of the characters. And I think that, out of the books of King's I've read so far, nowhere has that been the case so profoundly as in this particular book. I think it's even more striking for the fact that when you're reading the book and see it happening, you realize how easily it could happen in real life, too. I think that really does something for the experience of reading one of his books and I've always quite liked it.
Reading the book, I already knew what was going to happen to Cujo. I think most people know, by now, even if they've never seen the movie what's going to happen to do the dog at the center of this book when they pick it up. What I wasn't prepared for was to feel so sad about it. King does a very good job of making the dog a sympathetic character and I think that's helped along by the fact that we get to even see things from Cujo's perspective a few times before the madness takes over. We get that afterward, too, and I think that really helps cement it in some ways. Cujo was a good dog, a sweet and loving dog, and to see that and to know his mind while he's not yet sick, but then to see him deteriorate and then to also hear Cujo think to himself about how miserable he is and know his suffering. That puts a new perspective on things when you're reading about him killing and terrorizing people.
Overall, the book isn't all that scary so much as suspenseful. There are, however, some parts of the book that are downright chilling in their creep factor and raised goosebumps along my arms. I swear that at least once the hair on the back of my neck stood up a bit too.
Unlike in a lot of King's other stories, there's not as much mention of the supernatural here but it's there and it does have significance. Those are also the parts that I found to be the creepiest.
This book would probably be good for people who are looking for compelling characters and situations, but don't want a whole huge amount of focus on paranormal happenings.
Keep a box of tissues handy while you read this. It's gonna be a hell of a ride, but it's worth it.
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the bits about it boring and the book had trouble keeping my attention when shifting to those parts.However, that said, I think this book is going to stay with me for awhile. I watched the movie a few times when I was a kid with my grandfather and I can't really remember very much about it, except that I think the ending of the movie and the ending of the book are quite different, but don't quote me. I won't go any further into the ending than that. You'll have to see for yourself what's so different about it. ;)
I really like the way that King's stories so often involve a series of minute little chances of fate and coincidence. One tiny turn here, one little swerve there, and things might have gone quite differently for all of the characters. And I think that, out of the books of King's I've read so far, nowhere has that been the case so profoundly as in this particular book. I think it's even more striking for the fact that when you're reading the book and see it happening, you realize how easily it could happen in real life, too. I think that really does something for the experience of reading one of his books and I've always quite liked it.
Reading the book, I already knew what was going to happen to Cujo. I think most people know, by now, even if they've never seen the movie what's going to happen to do the dog at the center of this book when they pick it up. What I wasn't prepared for was to feel so sad about it. King does a very good job of making the dog a sympathetic character and I think that's helped along by the fact that we get to even see things from Cujo's perspective a few times before the madness takes over. We get that afterward, too, and I think that really helps cement it in some ways. Cujo was a good dog, a sweet and loving dog, and to see that and to know his mind while he's not yet sick, but then to see him deteriorate and then to also hear Cujo think to himself about how miserable he is and know his suffering. That puts a new perspective on things when you're reading about him killing and terrorizing people.
Overall, the book isn't all that scary so much as suspenseful. There are, however, some parts of the book that are downright chilling in their creep factor and raised goosebumps along my arms. I swear that at least once the hair on the back of my neck stood up a bit too.
Unlike in a lot of King's other stories, there's not as much mention of the supernatural here but it's there and it does have significance. Those are also the parts that I found to be the creepiest.
This book would probably be good for people who are looking for compelling characters and situations, but don't want a whole huge amount of focus on paranormal happenings.
Keep a box of tissues handy while you read this. It's gonna be a hell of a ride, but it's worth it.
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LibraryThing member bekkil1977
You know why it's good? Because there's nothing supernatural about it. It is something that very well could have happened (not today, probably, what with cell phones and all, but still). "Cujo" is about a rabid dog holding a woman and her little boy hostage in a Pinto. He times the tension
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perfectly in this, from having Donna gain hope that the mailman will save them, only to find out the Joe Chambers stopped the mail service. Then the arrival of Sheriff Bannerman, only to have the dog kill him, too. Every time a glimmer of hope pops up, rabid Cujo is there to snap it away. Brilliant. Show Less
LibraryThing member TinyDancer11
Definitely less exciting and "supernatural" than most Stephen King books, but great writing as usual.
LibraryThing member artdamnit_reads
Cujo-Oddly enough, i hadn’t read it until last week when i found it at work on the 50 cent shelf and snagged it along with Gerald’s Game and Hearts in Atlantis. Then today I got my hands on the first 4 dark tower books and the eyes of the dragon. The Gunslinger is revised and expanded!!
I enjoyed Cujo, it was a little longer than i think it needed to be, but that’s King’s style, he does tend to be long winded (in a good way). It was strange reading about Donna and Vic, mainly because my name is Donna and sentences like “Donna cheated on him.” always threw me.
Cujo is the story of what happens when a series of coincidences leads a woman and her child trapped in a car in 100 degree weather, faced with a rabid 200 lb. st. bernard and no hope for escape.
It’s a quick read, sad, and leaves you screaming “JUST USE YOUR CELL PHONE!” and then you realize that it’s 1980 and they didn’t have cell phones…
happy readings!
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excited! Any wayI enjoyed Cujo, it was a little longer than i think it needed to be, but that’s King’s style, he does tend to be long winded (in a good way). It was strange reading about Donna and Vic, mainly because my name is Donna and sentences like “Donna cheated on him.” always threw me.
Cujo is the story of what happens when a series of coincidences leads a woman and her child trapped in a car in 100 degree weather, faced with a rabid 200 lb. st. bernard and no hope for escape.
It’s a quick read, sad, and leaves you screaming “JUST USE YOUR CELL PHONE!” and then you realize that it’s 1980 and they didn’t have cell phones…
happy readings!
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LibraryThing member StefanY
I enjoyed Cujo more upon re-reading it than I remembered. I think that the first time that I read it, I was too young at the time to really have a solid understanding of just how screwed up the Trenton's life is becoming before their dealings with a rabid dog.
Cujo is maybe not the most
Some people will maybe find it dull at times, but the majority of the book is just set up for the final one hundred pages or so when the poop really hits the fan. I found the novel incredibly difficult to put down and it kept me up reading late into the night on several occasions.
Cujo is maybe not the most
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action-packed King novel, I think only four people die in the entire novel. Most of the horror is derived in the tension and frustration involved in the situations that the characters are thrust into. Cujo is a truly terrifying beast, but one of his most frightening characteristics is the will-power that he possesses that enables him to simply continue waiting for the situation to change in order to give him another chance to cause mayhem.Some people will maybe find it dull at times, but the majority of the book is just set up for the final one hundred pages or so when the poop really hits the fan. I found the novel incredibly difficult to put down and it kept me up reading late into the night on several occasions.
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LibraryThing member Moonkey
Stephen King's books are weird for me. I can't face picking them up and starting them but when I do I enjoy them. This was a very likeable book and as usual I found myself spurring the characters on in my head willing them to survive. I guess that says a lot.
LibraryThing member laurenstmary
I love this King book. I had previously watched the movie version before I had read the book, which I normally stay away from doing. When I read the book, I was pleasantly surprised. King captures many important perspectives, including the dog, Cujo. It was engaging how the rabies infection changed
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the mindset of the dog, and being able to read about this from the viewpoint of the dog was very englightening. I would recommend this book to any and everyone. Show Less
LibraryThing member phaga
I really liked this story. I had always put this book off because I didn't like the movie at all and figured the book wouldn't be that much better, but actually the book was really good. All the events unfolded seamlessly and it was damn near impossible to put down.
LibraryThing member susanbevans
I don't really know where to begin. Cujo is really a simple story at it's core, but Stephen King adds dimension to it making it a truly terrifying novel. I read it slowly over the course of the week (though I could have burned right through it in a couple of hours time,) and it gave me nightmares
Cujo is a realistic story that could take place in your town or mine, with your friend's or my neighbor's dog, and I think that's what makes it so frightening. Stephen King is a master of writing real characters, I truly believe that is why he is such a popular author. The stories he writes are so believable, making you want to peer into that dark closet or under the bed, looking for the lurking monster.
If you've never read any Stephen King, you should give him a try. Cujo would definitely a good novel to start with. Disturbing as it is, Cujo is a shining example of excellent writing that can really move the reader.
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all week! Cujo is a realistic story that could take place in your town or mine, with your friend's or my neighbor's dog, and I think that's what makes it so frightening. Stephen King is a master of writing real characters, I truly believe that is why he is such a popular author. The stories he writes are so believable, making you want to peer into that dark closet or under the bed, looking for the lurking monster.
If you've never read any Stephen King, you should give him a try. Cujo would definitely a good novel to start with. Disturbing as it is, Cujo is a shining example of excellent writing that can really move the reader.
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LibraryThing member taraweeks214
A very book,very graphic, detailed with a twist at the end like all of Mr.Kings books, very good read.
LibraryThing member Awfki
When I finished Cujo It was dark in the house and my girlfriiend was asleep. I remember being very concerned about the possibility of a large dog coming through the window. A great book and I loved that there was nothing explicitly supernatural in it.
LibraryThing member TheLiveSoundGuy
Whether it be cars, dogs, or aliens, or just plain terror, this is classic King.
LibraryThing member Bookmarque
This is only my second reading of this book. Yeah, that’s how much I liked it the first time around. For some reason I had the impression that it glorified cheating. It doesn’t. But I still don’t like it any better. He may not have been on drugs yet, but King wrote a damn disjointed story
I did like the parts of the story written from Cujo’s point of view. The technique reminded me of Frankenstein. The narratives into the monster’s point of view served to pull its teeth to a certain degree. While the monster remained a monster and a threat, the evil quotient was diminished in both stories because the monster had its monstrousness forced on it. Without the will, it is not evil, merely dangerous.
The ending itself is powerful despite the exhaustively drawn out process of getting there. Yeah, yeah, Donna & Tad are trapped in the car. Her mind is wandering. They are thirsty. Cujo is scary. Tad cries. Donna cries. We get it already. When the confrontation finally happens, it is very powerful and moving. The emotion, desperation and finality are perfectly pitched and it made wading through the rest worthwhile.
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nonetheless. Some say that the monster in the closet business was a metaphor to show that the family was doomed no matter what; that their ticked was punched for the haunted house and they would go through it one way or the other. That is one way to look at it, but it is a pointless little aside that went nowhere to me. Same with the business about the ad agency. It had no point, no bearing on the story other as a vehicle to take Vic out of Maine for a while.I did like the parts of the story written from Cujo’s point of view. The technique reminded me of Frankenstein. The narratives into the monster’s point of view served to pull its teeth to a certain degree. While the monster remained a monster and a threat, the evil quotient was diminished in both stories because the monster had its monstrousness forced on it. Without the will, it is not evil, merely dangerous.
The ending itself is powerful despite the exhaustively drawn out process of getting there. Yeah, yeah, Donna & Tad are trapped in the car. Her mind is wandering. They are thirsty. Cujo is scary. Tad cries. Donna cries. We get it already. When the confrontation finally happens, it is very powerful and moving. The emotion, desperation and finality are perfectly pitched and it made wading through the rest worthwhile.
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LibraryThing member santhony
As with many of King's works, I find his books that deal with real people to be far scarier and more entertaining than the books that involve supernatural (and many times silly) monsters and beings. Gerald's Game, Dolores Claiborne, The Shining, Misery are terrifying without being ridiculous.
LibraryThing member Hyzie
I expected this to be scarier. Not that it was *bad* in any way, but it was not at all what I had been expecting when I picked it up. Instead of giving me nightmares, it just made me sad.
Easily the most realistic Stephen King book I've ever read, though I'm disinclined to believe that is an
Easily the most realistic Stephen King book I've ever read, though I'm disinclined to believe that is an
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entirely positive statement. Show Less
LibraryThing member nm.spring08.d.gorcze
I think Cujo is a great book for all readers... Its a thriller and a scary book, it will have you on the edge of your seat the whole time. Stephen King is a great author and all of his books have something to show....or scare! But this book really kept me reading, I wanted to know what was going to
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happen next. Its one of the best books I have read, and I don’t like books at all… Show Less
LibraryThing member seldombites
I picked up this book with great trepidation. I had seen, and been bored silly by, the movie and wasn't expecting great things from the book. Once again, I was very pleasantly surprised. As with many Stephen King novels, the book is infinitely better than the movie. Despite having seen the film,
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and therefore knowing the storyline, this book still managed to give me a few thrills. Who am I kidding? I was on the edge of my seat the entire time I was reading and found this book impossible to put down. Definitely a must read for horror and thriller fans. Show Less
LibraryThing member brettmoody
Having read only supernatural horror by King up to this point
(Skeleton Crew and It) I was honestly suprised that Cujo remained only a rabid dog for the . Amazingly enough, the level of tension is not deterred by the story's tether to reality. If your looking for a darker, more realistic King, this
(Skeleton Crew and It) I was honestly suprised that Cujo remained only a rabid dog for the . Amazingly enough, the level of tension is not deterred by the story's tether to reality. If your looking for a darker, more realistic King, this
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wouldn't be a bad choice. Show Less
LibraryThing member LisaMaria_C
This stands out to me as possibly King's most harrowing novel built on the things of real life. (I'd still name The Shining and Salem's Lot as his scariest, but I don't think any King book left me more shaken.) There are small hints of the supernatural, but in essence the horror is caused by a
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lovable St Bernard dog, Cujo, becoming infected with rabies. That might sound prosaic, and the film made of this novel is mediocre and its ending a cop-out. Nor can any film put you into the head of Cujo the way a novel can. I don't think King ever wrote scenes of greater horror and suspense than the one in this book where a mother and her young son are trapped in a car in the baking sun menaced by the 200-pound monster that was once their beloved pet. And unlike some of King's later door-stopper books, at 320 pages this one is a well-paced taut page-turner. Show Less
LibraryThing member babyfacetiger
I like an author to make me FEEL for characters and I didn't get that here
LibraryThing member KyZe0422
It was a pretty good book. In the beginning, it was really confusing with all of the stories going on but at the end I saw how it all came together
LibraryThing member nm.fall07.rmarquardt
this book is about a boy and his mom get stuck in their car.there was a ficious dog outside that was trying to get in the car and eat them. they were terrorfied.they dog went to sleep so the mom went out of the car to go inside the house to call 911. cujo the dog got up and she left the door open.
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she relized tha t and ran back outside and hit the dod with a two by four and went back inside the car a nd locked all the doors.eventually the cops shaow up and the dog gets killed and everyone is ok. Show Less
LibraryThing member Evie-Bookish
"Cujo" was one of these novellas I tried to stay away from as long as possible. I don't really know why exactly, but I wasn't very fond of the idea of a rabid dog on a killing spree.. I love dogs and perhaps that's why I was keeping away from this particular book.
However, being a huge SK fan, I
It amazes me that this book was written few years before I was even born, yet I can relate to the characters in the story. And of course, King's writing style is delicious as always, which makes me think maybe I should reach for Firestarter - another SK book I've been subconsciously staying away from.
However, being a huge SK fan, I
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just couldn't walk away from this book when I saw it on the library shelf the other day. And you know what, it was a great decision to get it! I was pleasantly surprised, as King didn't make a mindless, stupid beast out of Cujo, but a smart, loving, gentle giant, who happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time.. I loved the way the book unravels, showing the story from few different perspectives (especially Cujo's perspective was oh so brilliant and tragic!).It amazes me that this book was written few years before I was even born, yet I can relate to the characters in the story. And of course, King's writing style is delicious as always, which makes me think maybe I should reach for Firestarter - another SK book I've been subconsciously staying away from.
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Subjects
Awards
Locus Award (Nominee — Fantasy Novel — 1982)
British Fantasy Award (Winner — August Derleth Fantasy Award — 1982)
Language
Original publication date
1981-10