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Gerald's Game

Gerald's Game

List Price: $7.99
Your Price: $7.19
Product Info Reviews

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Rating: 4 stars
Summary: I read it a long time ago.
Review: I read this book in the summer after my eight grade year. I remember it being scary and boring towards the end. I don't remember the ending too well because I thought the story lost some of its power. King shows some awesome writing talent with limited resourses in his story. A great writer indeed.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Polarizes opinions...
Review: ...but, in my opinion, Stephen King does it yet again. Gerald's Game is a wonderful read.

This is the first novel--not since Intensity by Koontz--in a long time that has really got to me. By that I mean generally frightened me and made me feel for the character. The prospect put for in the novel is downright simple, yet frightining, and King polishes it off with a good plot. The other "characters" are believable and straightforward. Jessie, as well as her voices, work together to make her a complex character with which one can feel deeply for. Will Jessie emerge from the darkness that awaits and the one that covers her past? Read and find out...

The themes of hopelessness, child abuse, struggle with the past, and courage of the human spirit shine bright in this novel.

The ending is what polarizes most opinions. I believe it to be utterly brilliant. Many feel is was just an idea to end the book. However, ask yourself this whether you've read it or will read it: Would Jessie have acted without the horrifying promise and inspiration of "it"?

All in all, a great novel written by a great author. And yes, it was written by Stephen, not Tabitha. You get to know his voice if you read enough of his novels. Not for the kiddies, as usual, but one for the adults looking for an utterly mind bending book.

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: Seems to borrow from other novels.
Review: Is King recycling himself?? This novel was written like a compilation of some of his other novels. Although the realistic issues of abuse were interesting. The story didn't seem to have focus. it did seem to have elements of other stories King has written.

1. Confinment to a bed? (Misery)
2. rapid Dog attack ? (Cujo)

And What about the links to Deloris Claiborne? Was the movie based on this book? or Was this book a complete copy of that book? I'm confused?

Plus I didn't understand at all His need to throw a little supernatural component in the story's end.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: King's "departure" is gripping
Review: I don't understand why this book is considered a "departure" by some. I define it as one of the few books I literally couldn't put down, and by far the most frightening book I've read (and therefore, classic King!). I enjoyed getting into the psyche of the trapped woman, and felt empowered by her strenghth. I consider the Dark Tower series King's departure from his norm, and would like to see more like this one!

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: You'll run out of excuses for it.
Review: Upon finishing "Gerald's Game", I found myself making a mental list of it's pros and cons, perhaps for this very task I now find at hand. I came up with a pro for just about every con, and was having difficulty deciding just what my opinion was of the work as a whole, when I realized that pros for every con were not what I was coming up with. I was making excuses for them, and ones that didn't hold much water at that. While the book does, at times, succeed in evoking both terror and suspense, those times are few and far between, and hardly effective enough at breaking up the tedium that results from the author's trying to spread the story of a woman handcuffed to a bed for a day and a half over most of a 445-page novel and not being able to pull it off. King just wasn't the right man for that particular job, in my opinion. In "It" and "The Stand", thousand-page epics with a handful of protagonists apiece, he's at his best, deftly juggling, and developing, those principal characters in a way that few living writers can, but one has to wonder if he can do the same with just one lead, because Jessie Burlingame is either overdeveloped, boring, or both. Her logic is also a tad askew, and though she's straddling the edge of sanity for the better part of the story, making that she was written that way on purpose a possibility, that doesn't make it any less maddening to the reader. Perhaps that, too, is what Mr. King had in mind, but I'm making excuses again and, in the end, there wasn't one to come up with for "Gerald's Game" just not being that good. So, even if you're someone who's found enjoyment in a few of Stephen King's other works, as I, myself, have, skip it. Reread your favorite instead, and if you're looking to get your first taste of him, there are better options, "It" and "The Stand", both of which I made reference to above, being a couple.

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: What was he thinking?
Review: I am a very big King fan, but this has to go under the category of "the book he never should have written". A premise that cannot be sustained for 300 pages and more importantly, it's boring. Read this only if you have made some kind of pact with yourself to read every one of King's books and then save it until last.

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: Social statement or porno?
Review: I'm really struggling with the rating for this one, because this is one of the most readable of Stephen King novels. My favorites of his are the ones that tell the story, get to the point, and end, not the ones that ramble on in tangent stories and universes. The good ones on this list include "Thinner", "Misery", and "Christine". This one is pretty good in this category, except for some problems I have with the story.

I don't want to reveal too much of the plot, even though it seems to be easily available below. I'll just say that the main character gets herself into a situation a little bit like "Misery", in that she is trapped in a bed for most of the book. While different than "Misery", this situation is every bit as frightening as in the other book, as is the frustration with repeated unsuccessful escape attempts. For these parts, the book is very good.

It's what happens while she is trapped that bothers me. She begins to see things, which may or may not be hallucinations. The pain she is suffering starts triggering flashbacks of childhood sexual abuse from her father. In true Stephen King form, we are presented with the possibility that this is the ghost of the father returning to her in another helpless situation.

It seems to me that King is trying to add some social commentary about sexual abuse in his novel, and this is admirable. However, there are two problems with it. First, the repeated flashbacks throughout the book end up having nothing to do with the conclusion of the book. If he's going to add this to his story, it should actually tie in with the story, instead of being a false alarm.

The second problem is that he gets into too much detail with the flashbacks. While I have a problem with stories that are supposed to titillate and fall short, this one has the opposite problem. It's trying to portray situations as being bad, but is doing too good a job describing them. There are several of these flashbacks throughout her ordeal, each getting more and more explicit. The subject he is trying to show as bad really is bad, but it's presented in far too much an erotic manner to get it's point accross. Thus, the novel may appeal to pedophiles in a manner that the author does not intend it to.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Would Have Made a Better Short Story
Review: While playing a bondage game together, Jessie Burlingame's husband (Gerald) has a heart attack and dies--leaving Jessie handcuffed to the bed without a means of escape, in the middle of nowhere, Maine, with only the company of her memories (which primarily revolve around her being molested by her father), a hungry stray dog named Prince who makes a meal out her late husband, a bunch of unidentified voices in her head, and Death himself. As the hours and days pass with no sign of rescue, Jessie begins to contemplate which will find her first: death or madness?

I had started this book a couple years ago, then set it aside because it was rather dull. Luckily, I had left off just prior to Jessie's "ingenious" plot to escape her bonds and was able to finish the remaining 100 pages or so in a day and a half. As warning, though, don't eat while you're reading this part. I made that mistake and was a bit nauseated afterwards and found myself absentmindedly massaging my own right hand.

At times, "Gerald's Game" is quite gruesome and descriptive (particularly the climax)--as only King can do it--but it's also rather boring. I thought it would have made a better short story, rather than a 445-paged book. There's not a whole lot of action, mostly just Jessie's internal struggle with her past. From any other writer, I probably wouldn't have rated this story as high, but I really enjoy King's writing, and Jessie's creative ideas for freedom made this book a bit redeemable. It certainly makes the reader wonder what s/he would have done in the same situation and might even make them think twice about bondage games.

In summary: this is not the best Stephen King horror novel I've read so far, and I would only recommend this book to diehard King fans, particularly those who enjoyed "Dolores Claiborne", since there some similarities between the two books: incest, women's issues, interweaving characters, and the solar eclipse of 1963.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Like it or hate it
Review: I went into this book with several people telling that they could not finish it. The first few chapters are interesting and suspenseful. The logical battle in both characters between sex and rape and the fine line separating the two is quite interesting. Some of the chapters lead your mind to absolutely grotesque thoughts. However, some of the plot is harder to believe, such as someone fainting from hunger and being unable to move his or her limbs after only one day. The story also tends to drag somewhat, as almost the entire book is played out in one room with only one person. Nevertheless it was a fun and intriguing read and definitely not as bad as many people seem to feel. Not one of King's best.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Superb King! Awesome Novel
Review: The man is nothing short of amazing. Yet another different writing style is employed in Gerald's Game and pays off brilliantly. This book isn't just okay, it is outstanding. Who else could pull of and entire book with one (hehe, almost one....shhhh) character and thrill the hell out of you. You MUST read this book.


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