"Lisey's Story"

Though there's no doubt in my mind, or anyone else's for that matter, that Stephen King is an amazing writer, the fact is that his writing disturbs me, has always disturbed me. He plays with... darkness? With mutilation and violence and brutality in a way that makes reading his work painful.

Currently, I'm reading "Lisey's Story." I picked it up because I haven't read King in a long time, and it sounded interesting. "Every marriage has two hearts, one light and one dark..."

Lisey is a widow, whose husband has passed away 2 years before. Scott Landon was a famous writer, and even know, two years later, she's still receiving the condolences of his fans. She's also receiving antagonism on behalf of various Universities who want to publish his unpublished works. Two years, and Lisey has yet to go through his study, to see what he has left behind.

The moment she begins, some of her husband's insanity overcomes her, and she begins a harrowing journey down memory lane, Scott's memory lane. Coupled with her memories of her journey with her husband, are two other things: her less-than-sane sister has entered a catatonic state, and it seems that Lisey's dead husband is trying to help, through a "bool," a game of sorts that he left for his wife.

And someone has taken into his own hands the responsibility of acquiring all her husband's papers. This man claims that Lisey can get his "business partner" to call him off, but it's already been tried, to no avail.

And this is where King gets me every time. The sick, bad taste that's left in my mouth upon reading parts of his stories. I didn't read "It," thank goodness, because my imagination, when left to its own devices is much more graphic than any movie could be. This book, and the other King novels I've read have been quite enough for me. Of course, it is a King Novel, so I'm not really sure what I was expecting. A happy ending? And that's really the kicker, because it might be a "happy ending' but it will never be satisfying.

And that's even worse, because there are psychos out there, and they do... bad things, or things at least. And though things may work out, that doesn't mean the ending is happy, now does it? And this ending, well it's not looking like it'll shape out to be "happy." It's looking like it'll shape out to be realistic.