Cycle of the Werewolf
There are a lot of things I actually enjoy from this novel. First, King does a beautiful job describing people, their life, their fear, and their egos. I felt drawn to, and rooting for, a lot of these characters being killed, especially the abusive husband. Ironically, we all have our demons, some worse than others. I am not sure about any of you all, but let me say, I really wanted Marty and his bratty sister to get it. Marty for being a little prick and harassing the Reveron. His sister for being an inconsiderate, rude, and nasty girl. King has no problem killing off children in violent ways. I was crossing toes that these two would get ripped to shreds.
Let's dive in. The novel is structured by months rather than traditional chapters and features very cool art. I wish there were more art for selfish reasons. Overall, I enjoyed the structure of the book. It read leisurely, simple to follow, and was enjoyable to see the different cycles of the werewolf genuinely displayed. It capitalized on instilling fear in the end and worked it well. King is excellent at this, though. He knows how to get inside his readers' heads and make them scared. I do feel the overuse of the same description when displaying how the werewolf physically looked were overkill. So many phrases were repeated: stands like a human, claws but human hands, vicious snout, yellow-white teeth, its hairy back/body, human words snarled or growled. However, King mixed great humor in with the details. From the woman desperate for love to the death of the actual monster, there are no flats in imagery - even if some are overdone.
King's structure for the novel really kept me. It was styled like an anthology, but the characters are in the same world. It reminded me a lot of an anthology I watched on Prime called Horror Hotel. Keep in mind, this is a B-Horror, but I love watching horror anthologies, as well as reading them. But this novel took the same world concept and used different times when things happened to keep the plot going to reach one overall theme. I think the whole world connecting all the tales is what is truly impressive about these types of works. Also, I have not seen the second one yet, so no spoilers in the comments if you're like me and watch a bunch of B-Horror and have happened to have seen it.
I also enjoyed the irony King put in. All the characters that die are not scared until they are about to die. The best part is, the narrator always tells the reader in a humorous way that well the character on death's door is scared now. I am also a massive sucker for shots being thrown at religion. The whole Rev. Lowe proclaiming he is a man of god over and over to condone that he is terrifying the town, killing people, livestock, and deer is absolutely enjoyable.
Last note: the central family we followed for a lot of the novel, the Coslaws, I read their name as coleslaw up until the end thinking that was brilliant and hilarious. I thought of werewolf claws slicing things like cabbage shreds.
Overall, it was a quick read. The writing keeps you turning the pages. I read through over half the book in one sitting and finished the last three months the following evening. I would recommend this to anyone who enjoys a good monster feature and can look past a little over-repetition of the werewolf's physical description.
Let's dive in. The novel is structured by months rather than traditional chapters and features very cool art. I wish there were more art for selfish reasons. Overall, I enjoyed the structure of the book. It read leisurely, simple to follow, and was enjoyable to see the different cycles of the werewolf genuinely displayed. It capitalized on instilling fear in the end and worked it well. King is excellent at this, though. He knows how to get inside his readers' heads and make them scared. I do feel the overuse of the same description when displaying how the werewolf physically looked were overkill. So many phrases were repeated: stands like a human, claws but human hands, vicious snout, yellow-white teeth, its hairy back/body, human words snarled or growled. However, King mixed great humor in with the details. From the woman desperate for love to the death of the actual monster, there are no flats in imagery - even if some are overdone.
King's structure for the novel really kept me. It was styled like an anthology, but the characters are in the same world. It reminded me a lot of an anthology I watched on Prime called Horror Hotel. Keep in mind, this is a B-Horror, but I love watching horror anthologies, as well as reading them. But this novel took the same world concept and used different times when things happened to keep the plot going to reach one overall theme. I think the whole world connecting all the tales is what is truly impressive about these types of works. Also, I have not seen the second one yet, so no spoilers in the comments if you're like me and watch a bunch of B-Horror and have happened to have seen it.
I also enjoyed the irony King put in. All the characters that die are not scared until they are about to die. The best part is, the narrator always tells the reader in a humorous way that well the character on death's door is scared now. I am also a massive sucker for shots being thrown at religion. The whole Rev. Lowe proclaiming he is a man of god over and over to condone that he is terrifying the town, killing people, livestock, and deer is absolutely enjoyable.
Last note: the central family we followed for a lot of the novel, the Coslaws, I read their name as coleslaw up until the end thinking that was brilliant and hilarious. I thought of werewolf claws slicing things like cabbage shreds.
Overall, it was a quick read. The writing keeps you turning the pages. I read through over half the book in one sitting and finished the last three months the following evening. I would recommend this to anyone who enjoys a good monster feature and can look past a little over-repetition of the werewolf's physical description.
You mentioned the characters that only became scared once they were about to die. For some of them at least, they received some kind of warning about it. If they chose not to believe in the werewolf, okay. But the clues were there after the first two or three months. Talk was going around town. Theoretically, by "December," everyone could have owned a gun with silver bullets. If Marty was able to understand he needed sliver bullets, enough to ask his Uncle Al to make them, I didn't see why the majority of other townsfolk couldn't come to the same conclusion.
ReplyDeleteContrast that to how we got the POVs of the victims in Rawhead Rex. They were just living their lives, then they were dead. It was more mysterious than the werewolf because that story happened so quickly, there wasn't time for people to really figure it out. It was paced so much faster. That was a big reason I liked Rawhead Rex better. It just came out of nowhere and hit you in the face, and then you were in the middle of all the chaos, wondering if you, as the reader, were going to be able to figure out how to deal with him before he killed again. (Nope, too late. Another character dead!)
I agree. I believe it targeted a lot of nonbelievers just to spite them in their final moments. I am interested on your opinion especially on American Werewolf in London when it comes around. I had a bit of mixed feelings with it. Can't wait to see what you think. (We tend to move the cells in our minds in similar ways.) If you like fast pacing like Rawhead, you'll love the pacing in 30 Days of Night if you haven't read it yet. That pace really boggled my head when I got to the end of the comic.
DeleteI would agree that much of this was slow and repetitive. I really enjoy King's style to displaying months rather than chapters. It suited the idea of a cycle much more than say a chapter just opening with, "And on this holiday" or "in the dead of winter." I still stand behind that Marty and his bratty sister should've at least become an appetizer. Let's have Rawhead invade this one ;)
I'm curious as to your hatred of Marty's sister. Yeah, she said things on the surface to him that betrayed a jealousy, but that could be expected from a sibling in general, let alone from a sibling who perhaps perceives her handicapped brother gets preferential treatment. I'm not saying that's a good thing, but hardly abnormal or deserving of intense scorn. King also showed us several times that she actually did care about Marty, and that affection was visible to Marty himself. I'm not sure I see where "inconsiderate, rude, and nasty" match up to her character from what little we really saw from her. What set you so against her?
DeleteI think her comments are ridiculous. Sure, sibling thing, but she is vile. She is the older sibling supposed to be setting an example. Instead she uses all her energy to say ignorant shit to her brother.
DeleteI also hate the majority of children. Bias, I rather read about them getting killed off than following them for through a plot.
I like that you interpreted the story more as an anthology than as a novel with chapters. I couldn't decide if I saw it more as a cohesive whole or more like short stories that all take place in the same world. Maybe it's more like the former towards the beginning, and then in later chapters when characters and plotlines start coming back, it's more like the latter. I also really enjoyed that it was the Reverend who was the werewolf! It definitely occurred to me before I got there that that would be a fitting twist, but King managed to keep it from being predictable.
ReplyDeleteAs you know, I am a sucker for shots at religions so I had to make sure I mentioned the irony in it ;P
DeleteI'm glad I read your post because I hated the story and I think I had a bias going into it, so with what you said you liked I can appreciate the story a little more. I did not have pictures in the version I read, but I looked at some art of the book covers and some screencaps from the movie. I liked the story much more from the perspective of the Reverend.
ReplyDeleteI agree the way the story is presented is artistic, but I think it is still in a beginner phase. I mean that as in, if I wrote a story like this, I think it would have to be edited heavily in order to be publishable, so it flowed better.
Overall, I think there is a better way to tell this story.
I agree that there are plenty of flaws in the story telling here. There is confusion, lack of development, barely any progression, and scenes that feel rather pointless.
DeleteThe art for my e-book was little images at the end or the start of a new chapter. They were pretty enjoyable. I am sorry your version lacked them.