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Summary: The Talisman is wonderfully endless....
Review: I really enjoyed this lengthy but worth it book. Peter Straub and the infamous Mr. King meld their respective talents as authors, and the finished product is a story of great depth, with many morals and many endings and many beginnings. Jack/Jason's journeys and trials throughout the story are infinitely interwoven. The narrative descriptions are phenomenal, leaving the reader with a vivid mental image of the various scenes. A battle between good and evil such as the world has never seen before, and, hopefully never will, ends with not one, not two, but several twists. I was dazzled by each chapter in a way, and each character came to life with ease for me. Weaving the characters together in mind, I don't think I will ever forget this book. I only wish I could write like that.
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Summary: THE TALISMAN
Review: I remember picking up this book one day during my lunch break at the shopping mall and reminding myself to buy it after work. It was the best thing i ever did. This book is the most thought provoking, richly layered, energetic and emotional journey that one could possible imagine taking. It has all the elements of an amazing book and Stephen King and Peter Straub did an amazing job of bringing a wonderful and emotional story onto 700 or so pages. The characters are interesting and worth caring about, Jack and Wolf in particular, the scenarios are exciting such as when Jack finally returns back to the hotel with the talisman. This is the most incredible book one can ever expect to read and is on the same grand scale as one of King's other works "IT." I laughed, wondered and cried when I read this book and it is the only book to have ever achieved what it set out to achieve and that is to move the person. It moved me and no book since this one has ever done the same. Possibly one of the most important and greatest fiction novels to ever grace our presence and one I am sure that King and Straub will regard at the end of the careers as one of their best. Do yourself a favour, get a copy and become lost in this wonderful world for a few days. Simply, a gem.
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Summary: Amazing!
Review: I just finished reading this book, and it was excellent. It is amazing how King and Straub together could write such a good story. The book never gets boring, and it will keep you interested frm the beginning to the end. I would recommend this book to anyone, not just those who like to read fantasy. Do yourself a favor, READ THIS BOOK. You will be very glad that you did! Also recomended The Green Mile and It.
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Summary: Oh wow!
Review: When I started reading this book, I wasn't sure what to expect (the back cover really doesn't tell much about it). However, being a huge Stephen King fan (I've never read anything by Peter Straub), I kinda knew what tone to expect. This book is amazing. The concept, while not really novel, has been given a spin that only Mr. King could impart. I could hardly put it down for the last 2/3 of the book. The only thing that bothered me was that the 12 year old main character didn't THINK like a 12 year old...he thought more like a 16 year old. Oh well, it was still an amazing book.
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Summary: The best of all possible worlds
Review: "The Talisman" is a very good story, written well. But the book's strength can also be found in the way that it draws inspiration from other novels; popular works and classics:Jack, the protagonist of "The Talisman" has been given the last name of Sawyer, a fitting tribute to Mark Twain's work. A story involving Jack and his new friend, Wolf, reads to an extent like the central characters' relationship in John Steinbeck's "Of Mice and Men." The great distance that Jack, Wolf, and Richard (a boyhood friend) travel, evokes the breadth and scope of "The Lord of the Rings" (the authors even point out references to Tolkien's work). And, the expected growth of the boy that Jack was, to the man that he seems to have become echoes with the themes that emanate from one of the most famous of coming-of-age stories, "Catcher in the Rye." Indeed, "The Talisman" draws inspiration from some great bodies of work, but does not copy them. The book allows its predessors to help guide it to becoming a special story in its own right.
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Summary: Vastly overrated
Review: This book starts off quite well in a grim, seedy out of season holiday resort but then just floats off into overlong cliche-ness. The chracters are paper-thin; tough, wise-cracking mother who's dying, blues playing wise old black guy, fat, cowardly but ultimately nice kid, pantomime villains, liberace-like camp villains and of course the good kid ripped off from Mark Twain (Jack SAWtelle anyone?). Any emotional envolvment this book entails is played upon like a harp (Wolfs death....) and the book is much too long. There is far too much detail as well telling of the main characters every move and breath. I suppose its alright if your in hospital or something and bored but this is mainly a pulpy, trashy, derivative piece of work.
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Summary: Overrated
Review: I am amazed at the number of reviews on this site rating this book as "The best book I have ever read" and that I have read it 7 or 8 times. (who reads a book that many times anyway?) Of the King books I have read so far, this was the least interesting to me of any. You care very little about the characters and the whole story is somewhat muddled and confusing. It reads fast for a long book but mainly because the story is so uninteresting that you tend to breeze right through it. I can't recommend it.
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Summary: absolutely grooven
Review: this isnt tammy cannon, its her kid, but still.. this book absolutely rocks. I've been reading it since i was 11 years old, and its still abslutely amazing nine years later..one of the best of king's books..
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Summary: Everyone Should Read The Talisman
Review: This is my favorite book of all time. Jack and Richard are some of the most memorable characters I've encountered. I'm working on my 2nd copy, the first started falling apart years ago. I've told everyone I know they have to read it. The Talisman made me a Stephen King fan for life.
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Summary: Not just young adult reading material
Review: I would rate this book in my top 5, if not #1.I've read this book over and over and enjoy it each time.Anytime I want to escape to the youth of being a young boy exploring adventure after adventure I pick up this book.Wouldn't it be nice if we all could escape to new worlds anytime we wanted.I'd like to see this duo of Straub and King team up to write another exciting book as this.
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