From a Buick 8

Rating:
Summary: Interesting attempt that eventually fails
Review: A few weeks ago, my campus newspaper printed a short piece by a student. The author was musing about how there are times in life when one can 'see the boom mike' - in other words, when you realise that life is nothing but a story being told around you. Personally, I couldn't disagree more, and I don't think that anyone who has spent a great deal of time reading wouldn't be able to see how fundamentally wrong my fellow student (who, happily enough, has a math major to fall back on) is. Life has no narrative, no climaxes, and most importantly, no resolution. Life simply ends, sometimes when you're in the middle of your story. This seems to be the point that Stephen King, through his narrator, trooper Sandy Dearborn, is trying to make in From a Buick 8. Sandy is trying to help the teenaged son of his recently deceased friend and colleague accept the senselesness of his father's death, but the boy is convinced that there are reasons for everything, and that if you look hard enough, you will eventually find an answer to any question.

Which is where the Buick of the title comes into play. Let this be a warning to readers accustomed to King's more plot-driven novels. The Buick's origin and purpose are never determined, and King's protagonists seem convinced that doing so is impossible. The Buick's nature is not the point of the story, but rather the background, over which King tries to make a point about life. From a Buick 8 is not about heroes, those flashy, infallible sorts who ride off into the sunset when their job is done, but about guardians, whose job, which involves dealing with the ills of this world (and others) so that the rest of us won't have to, is never done, and rarely appreciated.

So does it work? King's writing is, as usual, superb. I've never been able to identify what it is that makes King quite so *readable*, but the narrative in From a Buick 8 is as compelling as ever. Also as per usual, the characters are rather thin, and should be familiar to any regular King reader. Unfortunately, King's writing falters exactly where it counts the most - when describing the car and the things that come from it. King tries to hammer in the point that the car is alien, completely out of tune with the world and possibly the universe, but he fails to convince his readers of this. He seems eager to point out that the car's foreigness is indescribable, but we as readers have nothing but description to rely on, and as a result the reader never truly feels the fear and frustration felt by the car's caretakers. And ultimately, most of us read Stephen King for a good story. King tries so hard to make us see that life isn't a story that he forgets that From a Buick 8 is, and the result feels half-baked. From a Buick 8 would have made a fine novella or short story, but as a novel it falls short of satisfaction.

Rating:
Summary: The ultimate door to and from somewhere else
Review: Here again, Stephen King goes beyond what he has done in many other books, and yet retains the main dimension of his presentation of that other world, let's say some extraterrestrial world, as being dangerous, as aiming at attacking us, as wanting to destroy us or invade us in a way or another. And yet he finds a formula that is very effective, and highly symbolical. The door to that other world is an old car, a Buick 8. This is a common theme in his books where cars have been haunted, dangerous, where that symbol of America and modern life has been, very often, described as a door to evil, to the uncontrolable evil of the mind or of the world beyond the door of normality. We think of Christine of course, but we also think of the frequency with which cars have been the trauma that brings evil. It is true too that cars are also the means to escape from evil in many other books. The car in US society is ambiguous, maybe because it is both a horse of a new type and a weapon in the hands of those who use them as an agressive tool, to hurt or to kill. But what is interesting in the book is not so much the magic of that evil car, but the reactions of various State Troopers in front of that danger, and here again we find a very precise description of these attitudes, of these psychologies, aven if somewhere there is a sense of fate that no one can escape, and that this fate has roots in another world, in another level of reality, deeper maybe, or just beyond. And this beyondness is embedded in the language of the book by always going beyond normal words and looking for strong expressions, very creative phrases that bring together the color of everyday familiar language and the strength of poetry. This is a real achievement.

Dr Jacqyues COULARDEAU ? University of Perpignan

Rating:
Summary: The psychology of State Troopers
Review: This level is absolutely amazing in the very fine and detailed approach of State Troopers in the daily life of their profession. They appear as being very humane among themselves, very sensitive even, though at times the males tend to be careless with women, but they know how to make up for their lack of attention and appear to be big children in their procedures. They also appear to be very open on the society around them. They never show any kind of arrogance and condescendence towards the public, even if they have special phrases to speak of them, even if they deeply hate the drunks, those who beat women and molest children. They really look at men and women with a deep feeling of community, of service. They may even become heroes without knowing it, without trying to do it, just because it is a reflex in their nature, in their training to help, to protect, to save even those who are in any kind of danger. They also have their small sides, though their private life is alluded to but never really explored in this book. Some may like alcohol too much, some may like tobacco too much, some may put their service over their families, some may be « married » to their group, but they never live completely cut off from society and other people, and they even know how to lie, or let's say disguise truth, to protect their work or to protect people and their families from the dangers of their work. Stephen King makes us like them because they are really human. And that is a change in Stephen King's books that have put the emphasis on the black sides of such military or paramilitary personnel quite often, from Firestarter to Dreamcatcher. But here the psyche of a teenager is analysed and approached with great care, and a tremendous amount of love, even for his rebellious stand and his vengeful scream in front of the unjust world that deprives him of his father. His colleagues will find the words and the gestures necessary for this young man to get beyond his rebellion and his desire of a vengeance, to build a motivation to live and love other people and even the worst possible events in his life. He will learn to lie to his mother to protect her and his sisters against the horror of his experience. This is a real miracle.

Dr Jacques COULARDEAU, University of Perpignan

Rating:
Summary: Who know what evil lurks in the back of cars?
Review: Mr. King is perhaps the reigning champ of the what if/how/when/why still sucking down air. I've been a fan for a long time (even through those I didn't particularly care for) and must say that this was the first of his books that I actually paused at before buying. Why? Because smack dab on the cover is a car, (the title isn't hiding anything either) and I thought "Hey, didn't he do this before? He wouldn't repeat himself, this guy, would he? Not Stephen King. Nah."

I did wonder but curiosity got the best of me and I threw down the green.

Nice to say I was pleasantly enjoying this book about two pages in and continued to do so until the end. Perhaps a fear of old cars needs to be introduced to those monkeys who make up new phobias. Like I said before King is the champ at getting people thinking maybe nothing is what we really think it is. From a Buick 8 is proof once again that maybe we should never really trust any one sense too willingly or rely on it too much.

Rating:
Summary: The Cure For Insomniacs!
Review: With King's (supposedly) last stand alone book he has accomplished what medical science has been unable to do...he's developed a sure-fire cure for Insomnia. I couldn't understand why whenever I'd pick up this book, I'd fall asleep after reading only a few pages. I wasn't tired when I started reading. Then I realized that it was because From A Buick 8 is mostly very BORING. I'd define the plot as "too little too late." The supposedly scary "stuff" isn't scary. And the characters are not very credible, not well-developed and -- oh yeah -- not very interesting. I've given this book a 2-star rating as a "going away" present to King. During the first half of his writing career, King was my favorite author and I anxiously awaited his next book. It didn't matter what the book was about, just the fact that "the King" wrote it was enough for me to plunk down my money. However, while I've continued to buy most of King's books in more recent years, I've been continually disappointed -- and From A Buick 8 is no exception. It's not really a BAD book; it's just not worth your time and certainly not worth your money. If this book reflects the best of King's creative juices, it's probably best that he made the decision to put down his pen.

Rating:
Summary: Very Intelligent and Moving Book
Review: The tone of this novel is different from most King thriller, and it took a couple of chapters before I was fully absorbed. This is a very thoughtful book. It's more of a character study than a typical adventure with a climax that very slowly builds up. I found it refreshing to read. At this point in his life, King decided that he'd write a more mature novel than his usual horror books. It has it's share of the unusual, and captured my interest for the most part. A nice way to drift into retirement. I have read King since The Shining came out, and this book holds it's own.

Rating:
Summary: Lacking inspiration on this one Stephen
Review: This is the way Stephen writes by the numbers when uninspired. He fashioned this book to incorporate all the essential elements of proper characterization. He forgot to breathe life into the characters inhabiting this unremarkable town in Pennsylvania. That's too bad for the readers and I really don't think Stephen gives a flip about us anyway. This book is nothing more than a stop gap throw away between "worlds" in his "Gunslinger" series. That's where he's focusing all his attention ladies and gentlemen and I can't wait to read the next installment. In the meantime, don't waste your money on this one.

Rating:
Summary: excellent reading
Review: I think this book is a must read for Stephen King fans. This book is creepy,scary fun. I had to force myself to stop reading so I could get some sleep. People think because "From a Buick 8" is about a car it will be another "Christine". Not true,in fact the way the book is written...you will probably have more "Green Mile" flashback moments than "Christine" ones. Not exactly a bad thing right???

Rating:
Summary: Not one of King's stronger efforts
Review: First of all, although the story is about a car with "supernatural abilities," this book is NOT similar to CHRISTINE. So don't think King is rehashing old subjects. No one ever even drives this car.

I remember years ago, many people criticized CUJO for feeling like a short story stretched to novel length. I didn't get that point then, as CUJO's characters were riveting, complex and thrilling for follow in their distress. FROM A BUICK 8, although fairly short for a King novel, feels like a novella bloated by an extra 150 pages or so.

Most of the novel is presented as a flashback, as several members of the State police troop regale a teenage boy (whose father was recently killed while "on the job" with that troop) with the story of the Buick that they are keeping in a shed out back. Over the years, this Buick, that isn't really a Buick, has sat there, and sometimes weird things happen with it.

The weird things are really all basically the same. One time a "bat like" creature comes out of the car. Another time, it's a weird "fish." Another time, some "leaves." And so on. The stories are well told, of course, King can't really write out and out boring stuff, but as I plowed through the book, I realised that nothing really INTERESTING was happening. The "monster" in this book just isn't very engaging.

Also, the story is being told to this boy in one long afternoon, and I couldn't help thinking that if he was really being told the story in the same detail we were hearing it, then they actually would have sat out there for hours and hours and hours, yakking. I just don't buy it, and found it a little distracting.

I'm a big King fan...BIG. Most of his books are sensational. Sometimes, though, I think he can be a bit lazy. (DARK HALF, TOM GORDON). This novel feels like it wasn't really well proofed, and it still feels sloppy. The final chapter is meant to be moving, I think, but KIng hasn't truly snared the reader and so the ending is just that...an ending, and long overdue.

Really only for die-hard, completists. Don't recommend it as a first time Stephen King read, because it might be the last, and then the reader would miss true marvels like THE DEAD ZONE, THE STAND, THE SHINING, etc. etc. etc.

Rating:
Summary: Deep Six Buick 8
Review: I'm not sure what I expected from this book. Frankly, I've felt that King hasn't been all that good for some time now, though I slogged through _Hearts in Atlantis_, _Bag of Bones_, and _Dreamcatcher_ more from a feeling of obligation than because I thought the books were worth the read. (They weren't. King always manages to drag out the verbiage well past the point where it has any impact, and he makes Tolstoy look like he had a copy editor. An example: I was listening to an audio version of _Dreamcatcher_ and one of the tapes -- an hour's worth of material -- was kaflooey. I just went on to the next tape and, really, didn't miss a beat. Still, even when King's at his worst, his writing is far beyond the merely competent. But, alas, a well-written story doesn't translate into a story worth writing or telling.)

Simply put, _Buick 8_ wasn't worth the time. The structure didn't serve the narrative at all. This was one of the weakest of King's books in terms of place and setting. This could just as easily have happened in Wisconsin or Iowa or Idaho or . . . anywhere. This is probably because King isn't writing about an environment with which he's intimately familiar. Lastly, as far as I could determine, there wasn't really a story here. There was certainly no true conflict begging a resolution, and no characters for whom I developed any feeling. This read like something written just . . . because: not from passion. The irony, of course, is that the entire premise revolves around the act of telling a story that begs to be told. In the end, I was left with the same feeling that Ned has earlier: that's it?

Do yourself a favor. Go back, read _The Stand_, _The Green Mile_, _Desperation_, or _The Green Mile_. Now those were stories worth writing, and reading.