The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon

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Summary: A reminder of how fragile our "ordinary reality" is
Review: I would rank this with the finest Stephen King works (my other iconoclastic favorites being The Library Policeman and The Green Mile). In addition to showing King's deepening and maturing spirituality (no gentle, nurturing, Santa Claus God for him), it profoundly illustrates just how fragile is our everyday, normal, taken-for-granted reality--the one we inhabit without a second thought until something goes wrong and the underlying chaos of things is revealed.

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Summary: It was Stephen King?
Review: I finished to read this book yesterday... 2 days after I bought it... I found it like a tale for teen-agers! There was the King's style but... not like his old great titles!

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Summary: Not as Good as I thought he was
Review: This was the first Stephen King book I read. I had heard about his other books and how scary they were, but frankly I was more frightened with the airplane ride I was on while I was reading it! Good book but shouldn't be labeled as 'scary'.

Rating:
Summary: undeniably disapointing
Review: As most of King's latest novels (excluding The Green Mile) this book sounded promising but just didn't deliver. I wasn't the least bit frightened. As a matter of fact I kept reading in hopes of at least feeling a slight chill in the air...nothing.

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Summary: Lost in the woods
Review: This is the only book of Stephen King's that I could not finish which is amazing since it is such a sliver of a little book. I remember a time when Mr. King made fun of such slim volumes, in particular his ridicule of Vox vs. A Simple Plan. I would say that it could be cut to a short story but even then it isn't that interesting. It reads more like a Reader's Digest true life story. The saddest thing is that the book starts out so well and then goes downhill quickly. Mr. King obviously didn't spend much time with a girl of the age of the protagonist in 1999. She constantly makes cultural references that are much more fitting for someone of Mr. King's age. When Mr. King found religion in Desperation I hoped that this would be a passing phase. I don't read horror for its inspirational character. Bag of Bones was so good my fears were allayed but now with this book I'm not sure where he is coming from. Apparently his next book consists of four connecting novellas centering around Vietnam and is supposed to be a return to the brilliance of Bag of Bones and The Green Mile. Almost losing Mr. King in his accident was terrible. He is truly a national cultural treasure. I wish him luck during his painful rehabilitation and I wish I could say better things about this book but unfortunately I can't.

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Summary: The spiritual life of children
Review: I read all of the reviews of this book to help me teach a Sunday School lesson about Jacob and his dream and his wrestling in the wilderness. I think King shows an awareness here of the importance of the spiritual development in children, even ones without formal training. I was reminded of the insights of Bruno Betelheim incorporated into Soundheim's musical "Into the Woods." This is actually an important book, something King does not usually write, but which he is beginning to write. I hope his audience grows with him, in more ways than one.

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Summary: Yea Baby!! Stephen King has done it again.
Review: This book was a real page turner. If you had time to do anything but read this book until you finished it I would be surprised. I haven't done much in the last day and a half but read this book. While reading this book I felt as if I were Trisha. I found myself feeling as if I needed to swat bugs away. I could almost feel the cold mud on my face that she used to relieve the bite and sting of insects. Stephen King really captured the feelings of isolation, pain, and hunger in this story. It was amazing that he could capture all that through the eyes of a nine-year-old girl. I liked his use of imagery when describing 'The Special Thing'. The 'Special Thing' respresents our most basic and primal fears when we are most vunerable and powerless. Don't we all have a 'Special Thing' that stalks us when we are alone and feeling vunerable? I know I have felt a presense when camping in the Maine woods. This story was very captivating. It was amazing that a nine-year-old girl could go through so much and 'Save the Game'. My vision of the game of Baseball and the Boston Red Sox is forever changed.

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Summary: The Koran would be more scarey!
Review: I buy every book King writes looking for his old self. I read all his old books and had sleepless nights, not with this one. This is the only book he wrote that I did not finish. It should also be the first book that Amazon,com offers people that buy it their money back.

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Summary: King strikes out with "Tom Gordon".
Review: "The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon" was an okay novel. As an avid reader of Stephen King, I bought this book with great expectations. Being lost is one of my biggest fears and if anyone can put this into words, Stephen King can right?....WRONG! This book would have been so much better if it was written as a short story. King spent too much time with lame explantations and not enough time on things such as "The God of The Lost." The book was too reality based, although it picked up toward the end. My suggestion for any potential readers of this book is to skip the entire middle of the book; read the very beginning and the very end (Top of the First and Bottom of the Ninth). The middle of the book could best be described as "The Girl Scout Camping Survival Guide." A definite disappointment Mr. King.

Rating:
Summary: Not typical King, but brilliant nonetheless.
Review: This book was not a typical Stephen King horror novel, true. It was, however, a chilling glimpse into the mind of a terribly frightened young girl. Some self-proclaimed die-hard Kings fans complain that this book was just a reason for King to publish or to make money. I strongly disagree. This story, depending on the reader can be a tale of terror. Each reader experiences something different here. The writing is such that you are not just a passive reader, but also a participant in the story, creating for yourself whatever horrors lay beyond the trees. I love King's writing because of his ability to create stories that let the reader's mind take off. This book certainly does that!