Friday, August 30, 2013

If I Can't Have Vonnegut...

Twenty novels, twenty students.

Pick one, she said, and hands started shooting up all over the classroom as students began shouting out their preferences. I wasn't quick enough to get Cat's Cradle or The Giver, so I snagged The Stand.
One of the other students had already scoffed at it, claiming it was too long and wasn't the best Stephen King choice for a Dystopian Lit class. I agreed with him, thinking The Long Walk would have been a wonderful choice, but he countered with The Gunslinger. I still think I'm right, but it doesn't matter because neither of those books are on the list.

He opted for The Stand in the end, not realizing I'd beaten him to it, and I felt a little childish  popping off and saying, "Too late. I already got it, so HA!"

I've already read The Stand about five times, maybe more. I could write a twenty page analytical paper on it right now without ever opening the book or looking up critical research, but those aren't the terms. Dr. Dodson wants four pages, typed, double spaced with at least two outside critical research sources. Darn those college professors with their ethical research and their proper MLA style.

I pulled my old paperback copy off the bookshelf. It's like saying hello to an old friend. I first read this book when I was pregnant with my third child, Jacob. I was a shift manager at McDonald's and I was temporarily separated from the kids' dad. I had that two bedroom apartment with the bright red carpeting and the swamp cooler that had to be manually drenched with a water hose because the pump was broken. I don't know how I found the time to read this enormous brick of a book with a full-time job and two toddlers running around my swollen feet, but I did. And then after that, I found time to read it again and again and again. I guess I liked it.

This copy has been used and abused, and today I have discovered why I shelfed it and forgot about it. It's covered with candle wax on one side, is stained by a coffee spill on about thirty pages near the middle, and the last three pages have been ripped halfway out. The spine is broken; it's dog-eared, full of margin notes, and it smells slightly of oranges. (I don't have an explanation for that last thing. Maybe the candle wax is scented?)

Sadly, I realize I'm going to have to get a new copy. I've opted to get dressed and drive myself to the bookstore rather than to click through Amazon to have one conveniently delivered to my door. As I slide my old friend back into his home on the bookshelf, I understand that he should not be so easily or nonchalantly replaced.





13 comments:

  1. But The Stand IS the best example of Stephen King dystopia at least "pre-almost-getting-killed-on-a-snowy-road-by-a-car". I think his writing fundamentally changed after that event. The Stand is dystopia as far as I'm concerned.

    Though if The Road was on there, you should have picked it. That's some effing dystopia.

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  2. Also, blogspot sucks. So do unknown commenters. That was me.

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    1. The Road WAS on there! The girl next to me got it. Those young whipper snappers are quick!
      (You're not the first person this week to tell me Blogger sucks.)

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  3. Good for you. I don't do dystopia at all; I barely got through Lord of the Flies as a requirement.

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    1. I think about 75% of the books on my shelf qualify as dystopian. It might just be my thing.

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  4. The Gunslinger is one of the only King works I can stomach. The first time I read it was in just a few hours. Just devoured it.

    I might be a sucker for dystopian too. Funny thing...

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    1. Some of his work as Richard Bachman might be more your style,Robbie. The Long Walk is a Bachman book. It's tragic.
      I like most of his earlier stuff, and I agree with Brett. He took on a different quality after that accident.

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  5. I had to Google dystopian. I've never been much for King, but I do love Koontz... who, after reading the description of dystopian, I don't think entirely fits, since the good guys usually win in his novels. Even as warped and weird as they are. :)

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    1. I like Koontz. He's not my favorite, but he's on the shelf, and a couple of his books might arguably be dystopian stories.

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  6. Must admit that the only Stephen King book I've read is On Writing, which was a very good book >:)

    Cold As Heaven

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    1. I haven't read that one yet, since it's not a story, I've put in way down on my list.

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  7. I'm no snob when it comes to reading. I've always enjoyed reading Stephen King. I always wanted to believe that I was related to him, as we have the same last name.

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    1. When I become a famous novelist, and the Kings invite me to lunch (out of curiosity), I'll be sure to let them know I think you might be their third cousin on a mother's side, twice-removed and once pardoned.

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