Rating: 
Summary: 4.5 Stars
Review: I really wanted to give this a 4.5 rating, but since that's unavailable, I chose 5 stars. The story, written by Richard Dooling (not Stephen King), starts off slowly. It does take a little while to get warmed up to it, thus the reason for 4.5 stars instead of 5. But about 1/3 of the way through, you feel a sense of eerieness surrounding you, and the suspense builds to the point you can't put it down. There is one aspect that bugs me and is unrealistic: Without giving away any of the story, there are earthquakes that happen in Boston. What bugs me is that no one seems to realize that earthquakes in Boston are hugely unusual. Why not toss in a scene where someone is watching a news broadcast about the unusual earthquakes -- or anything that would convey that yes, this is a rare event. The story needed a little more realism here, but all in all, it's a quite satisfying read.
Rating: 
Summary: a sorry bit of commercialism
Review: I should have known better after the "Rose Red" trash. This is a cheap ploy to sucker you in to watching the series. Not only that , I've noticed Stephen King's current writing is concerned more with his pet peeves, political leanings, and predjudices than with telling a good story. Maybe it is time for King to retire.
Rating:
Summary: a sorry bit of commercialism
Review: I should have known better after the "Rose Red" trash. This is a cheap ploy to sucker you in to watching the series. Not only that , I've noticed Stephen King's current writing is concerned more with his pet peeves, political leanings, and predjudices than with telling a good story. Maybe it is time for King to retire.
Rating: 
Summary: So where's the rest of it????
Review: I was intrigued by the now cancelled TV show and so decided to pick up the book that the show was based on so I could have some closure on the story. Unfortunately, the book is nothing more than a lead in to the show. The books ends about where the show picks up. Needless to say I am still in the dark about where the story goes and how it ends. Very frustrating. It was a decent book up to the abrupt and unsatisfying ending.
Rating:
Summary: I'm glad I checked it out from the library.
Review: I wouldn't have bothered to read this if I had realized that it's just a teaser for King's new TV show. The "story" ends abruptly with no resolution, presumably to make one sure to tune in to get one, which makes me feel cheap and used. I'd probably be more disgruntled but I didn't actually purchase the book.
Other than that, it's not an abysmally bad story, but it's not great or ground-breaking either. The plotline seemed a little too generic for King, which makes more sense now that I have read that it's a re-interpretation of a work by Von Trier.
I think some of King's work is really excellent, but I would rank this towards the bottom of his writings. That said, being ranked low for King is better than some author's best, especially in the "horror" genre.
Rating:
Summary: Tired of lies, and the book is great
Review: If you don't like King's adaptation of "The Kingdom", then that's fine. Each to his own. But I am absolutely fed up with this "King stole it" crap. First off, go to King's own website. It clearly cites "The Kingdom" as the original source for the ABC series. The Time magazine article (Feb. 24th, 2004) also credits von Trier. If ABC only wants to credit von Trier in the opening or closing credits of the episodes, that is their right. Most likely they are not including von Trier's name in the TV spots that are currently advertising the serires because MOST AMERICANS HAVE NEVER HEARD OF VON TRIER! They have, however, heard of Stephen King and King's fans are exactly the demographic that this show is going to be targeting. A handful of von Trier fans (most of which are probably going to stop watching early on claiming the original is better) are not going to keep this show's ratings up enough to remain on the air. So do your homework before you start making baseless claims. Overall, this book is very well written. The character of Sally Druse is very likeable. Also, be on the lookout for several literary jokes made throughout, which, refreshingly, the author didn't feel the need to explain to the audience. You either get them, and they enhance your reading of the book, or they are over your head. Nice to see an author with faith in his/her audience. I read it in one sitting yesterday in preparation for the premiere tonight. Personally, I felt the book was worth the money even though it ends abruptly and waits for the show to pick up the story.
Rating:
Summary: The Journal of Eleanor Druse
Review: In 1996, Stephen King was in Estes Park, Colorado, where filming of "Stephen King's The Shining" TV-mini series was taking place. In a video rental store, he saw a copy of Lars Von Trier's Kingdom Hospital, and he rented it and watched it in the very same town (Estes Park) where, nearly twenty years earlier, he was inspired to write The Shining. (see http://www.scifi.com/sfw/advance/23_interview.html for a wonderful interview with Kingdom Hospital's director Mark Carliner that explains these origins in detail). No one was able to secure the rights nor much interest in what Stephen King initially saw as a potential hit-TV show, until fate intervened three years later, and King was struck by a van and nearly died. While recovering from the accident, Stephen King spent a lot of time in hospitals, and Von Trier's idea recurred to him. He wrote 15 hours of television scripts for a new TV show, Kingdom Hospital. Based largely on those scripts, ABC secured the rights to Von Trier's original idea, and preproduction began on the show. The Journals of Eleanor Druse is a 244-page fictional account of a woman who visits that hospital in Lewiston, Maine, only to discover that the hospital has a sordid history and may be haunted. The story is told in the 1st-person point of view of this old lady who most people think is more than a little daffy. Eleanor claims to hear a young girl crying in the hospital's elevator, and the story takes on a conspiracy tone wherein the doctors do not believe Eleanor (or are trying to cover up what she knows). Keep in mind all of this is told from Eleanor's perspective, and as such the credibility of the narrator itself becomes suspect, which is also part of the fun of the novel. To me, the most interesting idea King develops in The Journals of Eleanor Druse is the conflict that occurs when someone believes they've experienced a religious event, and scientists tell them that what happened was only the result of chemicals in their brain. In Eleanor's case, she is thought to be epileptic. Some of our very best writers (see Connie Willis's "Passage" and to some degree Carl Sagan's "Contact") in the past few years seem to be exploring that division between what constitutes a religious experience and what is merely a result of too much serotonin in the temporal lobe. Is humanity's belief in God some mass delusion caused by a species with highly evolved imaginative faculties? It's a hell of a question, and one (as a young fiction writer myself) I will probably explore in several novels during the next decade. The Journals of Eleanor Druse only offers glancing shots at this very profound question, and with blurbs like "Watch Stephen King's Kingdom Hospital on ABC-TV" on the cover of the book, it's tempting to write this book off as an extended ad to help build hype for a TV show. There are very few books that Stephen King has written in the past decade that have genuinely captured my interest, and I only wish the so-called "Master of Horror Fiction" would act more like a Master than the witty used-car salesman he seems content to be.
Rating:
Summary: What has happened to Stephen King?
Review: Journals is nothing more than a teaser for the upcoming ABC movie. The story is not original and, frankly, much of it doesn't even make sense. I have been a King fan since Salem's Lot when I was only in high school. I have always looked forward to his new releases. After the Ellen Rimbauer dud and now this one, I wonder if King has lost his spark. His writings have, in the past, always had an edge that made you wonder what was going on in his head. This book and the Ellen Rimbauer Diary are like warmed up leftovers. My advice is don't waste your time on this book.
Rating: 
Summary: what did I just read?
Review: just finished the journal of Eleanor Druse and had to hit the internet to understand what I just read. Stephen King wrote this, right? It's a lead in to a tv show? I know it's fiction, because the library has it marked as such and the book cover itself tells me to watch the tv series. So...all I can conclude is Stephen King is trying to trick me? As usual, I am intriqued. Love, Luanne
Rating:
Summary: Crediting the source - Lars von Trier
Review: Like the reviewer socrates 17, I am waiting for ABC/Stephen King to credit Lars von Trier as the source of this new mini-series. Unfortunately, judging from the promotions for the series (which include this book, published by an arm of ABC network), it doesn't seem that they will. Instead, they seem to be trying to pass this book off as the truth when, in fact, there isn't even a Kingdom Hospital in Maine - (CMCC hospital is the one utilized in this series). Yes, this story is simply the thinly (VERY thinly) changed story of Riget (i.e., the Kingdom) and Riget II, brilliantly written and directed by Lars von Trier in 1994 and 1997 respectively. When I contacted Zentropa studios with my concern, they said that the rights to Riget and Riget II had been sold to the television series, but not the accreditation. They, too, are obviously waiting for ABC to make the proper acknowledgement. Given this, I would pass on the book and, instead, see the wonderful von Trier originals. As socrates 17 says,it is possible to find Riget in PAL format from Amazon UK although in my case, I was lucky enough to find it in a now defunct video store in NTSC format. Riget II is occasionally shown on tv - IFC showed it about a year ago and one of the pay channels (STARZ, I think) showed it this past fall. Definately check these von Trier films out; they are uniquely plotted, wonderfully shot and acted and I still have the images of Udo Kier (as the monstrous baby) in my mind.
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