Rating: Summary: Rose Madder - A gripping horror story that rings true Review: As a long time fan of Stephen King's classic horror novels,I was a little skeptical about Rose Madder. But, like anytrue Stephen King fan, I was determined to read it anyway. I quickly learned my lesson. From the very first chapter, Rose Madder sucks you into the story head-first, and doesn't let up until the bitter end. This story doesn't have the customary slow passages "in the middle" that many contemporary horror tales have. Rather, this whirlwind whips you into first feeling sorry for, and then rooting for the main character, Rose Daniels. Rose is a long-time battered wife who snaps out of her abuse-induced trance at the site of a drop of her own blood. Her slow realization enables her to take the right step and get out of her dangerous marriage. Unfortunately, Rose's husband, Norman, is a cop. A good one. And he has the means and the know-how to track down Rosie. I would highly recommend this book to die-hard Stephen King fans, as well as skeptics that think that King's work is all gore, and no heart.
Rating: Summary: Rose Madder is ok Review: Rose Madder by Stephen King is all right. I chose to rate this a three because I have read much better books by King than this. Rose McClendon-Daniel's is an abused wife. Her husband is a strong, smart police officer. When Rose decides she has had enough, she walks out of his life. He is outraged and humiliated. He sets out to find her in the new city where she has started her new life with the help from a few kind strangers. There are many twists and surprises that keep you reading, and you want to see what's going to happen next. There are some really funny parts in this book, for example the confrontation between Norman and a large lady named Gert. This book is a light read, even though it looks big. Some parts may require some thought, but most read easily. It does not take long to read, I finished in a weekend. I recommend it to those that like Stephen King and are looking for something quick to read.
Rating: Summary: Could Have Been Better Review: This book was good but certainly not great. There were moments and potential for greatness, but it never quite reached that crescendo. There was a long dream sequence that I found confusing and actually boring. It was when he stuck to his basic stalker theme that the book was at its best. Interesting read, could have/should have been better.
Rating: Summary: Well-written, but with some troubling messages Review: Like all of King's books, this is a fast-paced, enjoyable read, but I found the messages about gender troubling. It's one of those books that divides men into two categories: macho jerks and wimpy nice guys. Norman is an abusive monster. Bill starts out as a good character, but by the end, he has degenerated into a clueless, ineffectual cipher, and Rose seems to lose all respect for him and starts thinking of him as a helpless child. I'm a feminist--that means I object to any gender stereotyping, male or female. And I think this sort of false dichotomy between wimps and jerks is particularly dangerous. Most men, when offered such a choice, will choose to be macho jerks, and those who don't will end up downtrodden and unhappy (as is Bill's eventual fate--King does not paint a glowing future for this couple.) What's the message? That if you show any respect for women, you'll just wind up on the end of some woman's leash? I don't think that's what King wanted us to get out of it, but that's what the book conveys. At one point, Bill is even afraid of Rose, and she approves because "all men must learn what it means to be afraid of a woman," or something like that. It seems that, in the process of defeating Norman, she has become Norman. What's particularly troubling is that I don't think the irony was intentional.
Rating: Summary: Book Review for Stephen King's "Rose Madder" Review: Rose Madder, by Stephen King, is a wonderfully realistic book. The book is about a women who is being horribly abused by her psychotic husband and how she attempts to escape him. Rose is the battered wife and Norman is the villainous husband who ironically is also a respected police officer. King does and brilliant job at describing every detail of the environment and what each character is emotionally and physically feeling. It helps give the reader a great perspective of what is happening. So many times over the years has her husband beat her and got away with it and that makes the reader feel helpless with her. After many years she finally gets up the courage to leave him and the painful memories behind. Rose leaves the house with very little in her possession and attempts to start her life over again. Her journey is literally running from the law and a potential murderer at the same time. The book continues to keep you guessing as the journey goes on. The book is full of surprises and as realistic as the book is Stephen King adds a fantasy element to help in Rose's fight. I definitely recommend this book. Anyone who likes action and mystery will enjoy this book.
Rating: Summary: Overview of Rose Madder Review: Susan Maze Book Review-Rose Madder I really enjoyed reading the book Rose Madder written by Stephen King. In Rose Madder the main character Rose, has been abused and tortured physically and sexually for many years. She wakes up out of her dream world and decides to change her life; all it took was one drop of blood. It was very easy to keep turning the page. King writes as Rose and as her husband, Norman. While writing as Rose he tells of her new life and how she is trying to put it back together, even though her fear of her husband finding her is always first in her mind. While writing as Norman he switches completely to a very deranged man who happens to be a cop with animal like instincts on the hunt for his wife. I felt that King did a great job at switching back and forth between the two personalities. Once Rose moves on with her life in a new city, with a new job, she finds a painting that seemed to be calling her name. There is a woman in the painting standing on a hill in a rose madder colored robe. She is standing with her back to the viewer. Rose realizes that the painting seems to be changing, getting bigger. She takes the back off of the painting and finds it is filled with different items out of the painting, something is not right. When she wakes up that night the painting has turned in to some kind of gateway into another world. When she entered the painting everything symbolized some past event in her life. King did a wonderful job connecting Rose's life to the painting. The switch between reality and the supernatural world was a huge surprise to me. Rose is trying to forget about Norman, but his hunt for her has proven successful. She has no other option than to enter the painting and try to hide from him. The beginning of this book is very realistic, but that changes. This book has a very supernatural ending but one that is very enjoyable. I would recommend this book to anyone Stephen King fan or not.
Rating: Summary: zzzzz in the end Review: This book started out great, and honestly I would have preferred if king had not attempted to make this a paranormal "thriller" the highlights of the book are the parts that do not include anything "out of the ordinary" the ending was downright horrible and lacked any kind of reasoning and motivation. I'm kinda sad I wasted my time reading this book rather then another.
Rating: Summary: A Compelling Story - and very well read Review: One of my all time favorite stories. In typical King fashion, we get deep into the hearts and minds of the characters. We can totally empathize with Rose, the terror she feels towards her brutal husband, her paralyzing fear as she goes out into the world all alone. We cheer for her as she begins her new life, finds friends, finds herself, and maybe even love. This was the first audio book I ever purchased, and I have to admit, it's been hard to find ones that measure up to this. The story is written from two perspectives - the villain, Norman, and his wife, Rosie, who finally leaves him after years of violent abuse. At first I thought it was odd that there were "Rose chapters" and "Norman chapters", but as the story progressed, I found that it really enhanced the story. As Norman goes 'trolling' for Rose, their stories begin to overlap. As he closes is on her, the chapters seems to close in on each other as well - it really adds to the tension. It's actually quite brilliant. The story is read by Stephen King (who reads the Norman chapters) and Blair Underwood (who reads the Rosie chapters). Although I am not usually a big fan of Stephen King's audio reading (I find his voice kind of annoying), in this case it suits the story. And Blair Underwood is absolutely amazing. Since hearing her read this book, I've purchased other works she's read, just for her reading. This is definitely an audio book worth getting!
Rating: Summary: Very Intriguing Novel Review: I David, havn't read this yet, but have read numerous opinions of it. I have read all of SK's novels xcept for 5. IT was my 1st novel & favorite. I hope this gives relations to his Dark Tower series, The Talisman, IT, The Dead Zone, Black House or The Tommyknockers.
Rating: Summary: Least favorite King Book Review: I am very surprised at how many people rated this book 5 stars. The first half of the book was good, but the second dropped in a hurry. First of all, I did like the main character, although she did not grip me like most of kings characters do. Secondly, the dream sequence, drags on for what seems like eons. I finally got so bored I started skimming, I should note this is the only King book I have ever skimmed, or even been tempted to skim. Perhaps that is why the end was so confusing to me, maybe I missed some key element. But from what I could gather, the end was just a rehash of the dream sequence. This one seemed totally uninspired, and as I said in other reviews King is my favorite writer, and maybe I hold him to impossible standards. It was just a hard one to swallow after reading the brilliance of some of his other works. If you are a diehard King fan like I am, you will probably read this anyway if you havent already, buf it you are choosing between this one, and almost any other King book, my vote would instantly be for the other one. definately on the bottom of his list.
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