Book reviews? On My Escapist? It's more likely than you think. This is my first book review, so please tell me what you think. You can read an excerpt here.
Sometime between 1975 and 1980 it was decided (by whoever decides these things) that Stephen King was the new godfather of horror in America. From killer clowns and alien invasions to haunted hotels and cell phone-zombies, King has been keeping readers up late and tucked snugly under the covers with a good book and a mug full of something warm for decades.
Many Stephen King fans know that there was a period in which he wrote several novels under the pseudonym of Richard Bachman, most were far from horror novels, with topics ranging from school shootings (Rage) to weight-loss curses (Thinner) and even books that are portmanteaus of suspense, noir, and crime. Books that start with car theft and end with shootouts, but aren't afraid to throw in some ghosts, both figurative and literal, along the way. Books like Blaze.
Blaze is the story of Clayton Blaisdell, Jr., who has been reduced to a a child-like level of intelligence, and his only friend and partner in crime, George. Throughout much of the novel, Blaze is attempting to live on his own and pull off the crime of his life with hardly any help from George due to an early plot twist. There's enough action to go around, including kidnappings, stabbings, subterfuge and, of course, sex.
Interspersed in to the story are chapters of Blaze's life and back story that gradually enrich the character and reading experience. It is no small feat to make a mentally handicapped criminal a likable character, but King handles it deftly and with the skill of a practiced writer. He carries a gun and steals cars but you can't help but find yourself smiling when Blaze puts on his hat ("Turned to the good luck side," he says) and does his best to remember what George has taught him.
Blaze is a "trunk novel". It was written on a typewriter in the 70s while King, 25 at the time, was cramped into a small trailer with his wife, and it shows in the writing. It reads like the work of a young, hungry author enjoying the simple act of creation. There are no grandiose inspections of human existence, and there are is no deep introspection in to life as we know it. This is King as a young man, writing from the cuff for the pure joy of it. There is a relatively small cast of well-developed and flawed characters which would become staples of his fiction for a long time to come.
The style of prose may turn some readers off. It is short and simple with few compound sentences, as if to mirror Blaze's thought process("He looked over his shoulder. The beer joint was called The Bag. That was a stupid name, a bag was what you called your balls. It was a walk-down. There was a band on Friday and Saturday nights."). It becomes less noticeable once you are involved in the flow of the sentences and the narrative but it may still alienate some readers.
At 340 pages, this is one of King's shorter works. It has an ending that wraps things up rather quickly and may not provide enough closure to some, but you won't feel like your time has been wasted. It's not perfect, and is far from King at his best, but is even farther from King at his worst. Buy this book.
A/N: Please let me know what you think. This is only my second review. My first was written long ago on Dead Space
Sometime between 1975 and 1980 it was decided (by whoever decides these things) that Stephen King was the new godfather of horror in America. From killer clowns and alien invasions to haunted hotels and cell phone-zombies, King has been keeping readers up late and tucked snugly under the covers with a good book and a mug full of something warm for decades.
Many Stephen King fans know that there was a period in which he wrote several novels under the pseudonym of Richard Bachman, most were far from horror novels, with topics ranging from school shootings (Rage) to weight-loss curses (Thinner) and even books that are portmanteaus of suspense, noir, and crime. Books that start with car theft and end with shootouts, but aren't afraid to throw in some ghosts, both figurative and literal, along the way. Books like Blaze.
Blaze is the story of Clayton Blaisdell, Jr., who has been reduced to a a child-like level of intelligence, and his only friend and partner in crime, George. Throughout much of the novel, Blaze is attempting to live on his own and pull off the crime of his life with hardly any help from George due to an early plot twist. There's enough action to go around, including kidnappings, stabbings, subterfuge and, of course, sex.
Interspersed in to the story are chapters of Blaze's life and back story that gradually enrich the character and reading experience. It is no small feat to make a mentally handicapped criminal a likable character, but King handles it deftly and with the skill of a practiced writer. He carries a gun and steals cars but you can't help but find yourself smiling when Blaze puts on his hat ("Turned to the good luck side," he says) and does his best to remember what George has taught him.
Blaze is a "trunk novel". It was written on a typewriter in the 70s while King, 25 at the time, was cramped into a small trailer with his wife, and it shows in the writing. It reads like the work of a young, hungry author enjoying the simple act of creation. There are no grandiose inspections of human existence, and there are is no deep introspection in to life as we know it. This is King as a young man, writing from the cuff for the pure joy of it. There is a relatively small cast of well-developed and flawed characters which would become staples of his fiction for a long time to come.
The style of prose may turn some readers off. It is short and simple with few compound sentences, as if to mirror Blaze's thought process("He looked over his shoulder. The beer joint was called The Bag. That was a stupid name, a bag was what you called your balls. It was a walk-down. There was a band on Friday and Saturday nights."). It becomes less noticeable once you are involved in the flow of the sentences and the narrative but it may still alienate some readers.
At 340 pages, this is one of King's shorter works. It has an ending that wraps things up rather quickly and may not provide enough closure to some, but you won't feel like your time has been wasted. It's not perfect, and is far from King at his best, but is even farther from King at his worst. Buy this book.
A/N: Please let me know what you think. This is only my second review. My first was written long ago on Dead Space
