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The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon

The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon

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

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Rating: 2 stars
Summary: Representative of Recent King Dropoff
Review: I used to be a HUGE King fan. However, his recent stuff simply pales in comparison to his earlier works, and this book is a prime example. Little girl lost is NOT what King does best, and using that as his premise doomed the book from the beginning. King is at his best when he does sprawling semi-supernatural, semi-horror thrillers like IT and the Stand(two of the best horror works ever written). He is not at his best with short puff pieces. Just like Tommie himself is breaking down as a reliever, Steve is, unfortunately, breaking down as an author.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Change
Review: I believe that Steven King went out in a entirely differnt limb on the book 'The Girl Who loved Tom Gordon'. It is beyond his normal supernatural thrillers. Even though it deals with an issue that has been replayed many times...the story of someone lost in the woods and their quest to find rescue, it is still filled with action and suspense which makes you want to continue. The only piece involved in the book which botherd me throughout the novel was his characterization of Trisha (the main character). She is supposed to be a 9 year old girl. Although the knolege she has in the situations she is presented with do not account for a nine year old. That is in no way a reason not to read the book. It just is a part that I found oddly made and if she had been older than possibly the book would have been more realistic. He also seems to try to make it like a non-fiction book mixed with one supernatural "thing" that occures throught the book, which doesnt really go together but it at least throws in some extra intrest to the reader. I would recommend this book since it isnt that long especailly for a King novel and it is well written even if its a story that has a predictable ending.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: The shrub that loved tom gordan more
Review: OK
lets get started, and one, and two, and one, and two, and reach, and three, and four, and three, and four, and done.
OK
lets get started, this movie is quite macabre, and it smells as though a creature of mass proportions hath eateth it with bacon grease. I liked the scene about the McDonalds hamburger that was planning to take over the underwater palace of Fruitopia :)
The descriptions of nectorine juice and cocoanut milk were almost as tasty as the anchovie/glub pizza i had for dinner! I quote a friend when i say, "Take my splean, take my guts, take my liver, and take my heart, just dont take my glazed ham."
You know, glazed ham goes swell with smoked turkey, and especialy smaller versions of the australian dingo drumsticks. Along with large quantities of bile, the mammoth grunt attacks are over used and overwhelm the common grub. Though many species of grub live in Wyoming there is a certain species that sucks blood. It is called the centinino monkey blood sucking virus, and is identified by it large tick infested ear drums. Thank you for your vital organs, they were delicious and i wish i had more time to spend with them, but i dont so, may the oil derrick be with you!!!

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Little girl lost tale almost lost me.
Review: Make no mistake about it, The Girl that Loved Tom Gordon is a nail biter of a story. I just thought that King stumbled a bit in trying having to have the story both ways, having the threat be both natural and supernatural. Granted this is a "Stephen King" story, so gross outs and ghouls are to be expected and welcomed. I just felt that the book was a tad too sketchy in its use of the ghoul and that the scares would have been made more hair raising if a lighter touch had been used. I was however quite amused that this novel's original hardback release coincided with the early theatrical playdates for The Blair Witch Project, another lost in the woods tale with a concept not too dissimilar from King's.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Standard King, if a bit shorter than the norm
Review: There's a saying that goes, "Everything under the sun has been done," and considering the style-over-substance programming that has infected most of the recent mass media output, this quote has a ring of truth to it. The symbols and strife of ancient myth are given a whitewash job, with modern equivalencies stenciled over to make it more palatable. Often the result is utterly transparent, a good example being the latest crop of Hollywood derivatives (it almost seems as if that writer's strike did go on after all - )... but even when the story has been hopelessly canned, if the creator injects a certain amount of passion, thought and individual talent into the artistic process, oft times the results are so impressive, so emotionally resounding, that it doesn't matter than we've seen it a dozen or a hundred times before - for a short time the power and pathos captivates us, leaves us spellbound and in awe, in that state we seek entertainment for.

One might say that Stephen King, possibly the single most successful author of the 20th century, has mastered the ability of recycling those time-worn myths into packages of blissful escapist fun. _The Girl who Loved Tom Gordon_ is standard paint-by-numbers King: a child in danger, a malevolent force in pursuit, and the struggle between them. King has used this theme before: _The Shining_, _It_, _Christine_, _The Waste Lands_, _Cujo_, _The Dead Zone_ to name a few...and, thanks in large part to a vivid imagination and strong character-building, King managed to make each of these books seem (fairly) original, unique from the other. _TGWLTG_ is no different. Using the 'lost in the woods' archetype mixed with baseball and the power of a child's imagination, King turns this novella into a blueprint example of how to build suspense, pushing the subject (and the reader as well) to the very brink before climax/resolution. The inclusion of the 'good vs. evil' paradigm, a motif so hoary that one can't see the frost for the foundation, is strengthened by this build-up pattern; but even more important (IMO) is the introduction of the 'stillness,' the meditative core that exists in all religions and (worthwhile) philosophy. King has used it many times before in his fiction, but rarely to such effectiveness.

I've knocked off two stars from _TGWLTG_ for two reasons: one, that this is a novella and should really be part of a compilation (like Different Seasons), and two, King uses words and phrases that no nine year old (other than a savant) would recognize or incorporate, and the inclusion of such is jarring. Still, this is a nice read for a kick-back afternoon. Recommended.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Overview: The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon
Review: The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon by Stephen King is a superb read and I hope this review is helpful. Compliments to Stephen King on another fine novel.

Outline of Novel: The novel is about a 9 year old girl (Patricia McFarland) who leaves her mother and brothers constant arguing and heads into the woods. Patricia manages to lose the path and in doing so...her way back to the camping area where she was staying. She travels deeper into the forest without realising, in the aid of finding the path back to civilisation. Patricia turns to her favourite baseball player Tom Gordon in her imagination and listens to the games on her radio for comfort. However, something is in the woods, watching...waiting...

Opinion of Novel: This is a gread read, although you may not think that possible from the un-original plot. Stephen King manages to keep the action constant and keeps you on the edge of your seat, with the ever changing struggles which Patricia faces throughout her treacherous ordeal. The novel is not extremely long and in depth as some of his other novels (i.e. The Stand), which makes this a nice easy going read, but it is not for the faint hearted. It is a novel which will have you reading until the end and a definite recommedation to anyone who likes King's other novels. After reading this novel, you will never feel the same way about being in the woods again...

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: MORE GORINESS THAN HORROR
Review: This book by Stephen King is extraordinary, I especially love the detail put into the plot. The ideas are great and the suspence is thrilling. It's imposible to put this book down. Definitally worth a re-read! Once you're done the book, don't throw it away, you're sure to come back to it another time.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Very enjoyable
Review: Being a hiker, and a Stephen King fan, I started reading this in the bookstore and couldn't turn away. The story is not that unique, but King's writing makes it uniquely true-to-life. The sub-plots are very familiar and will have you thinking that King's knows the reader's thoughts.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: One of Stephen Kings best books ever!
Review: I have read most of Stephen King's books. He is a masterful writer and crafts stories we never forget. This little book is no exception although it is completely different from any other he has written. The tension and suspense built into this story are tremendous. The one thing I do not care for in most of Stephen King's books is the overuse of the supernatural. This book uses almost none. It stands on its merits as a fascinating tale and a not-to-be forgotten experience rather than cooked up fantasy. I loved it.

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: Strike Three, King's Out!
Review: One day on a hiking trip, nine-year-old Trisha needs to pee. Her brother and divorced mother, who've been arguing throughout the entire trip, seem to have no care whether Trisha, who has been trying to catch their attention, is there or not. Trisha is annoyed. She hikes off the trail with the intention that her arguing mother and brother will soon notice they have lost Trisha. Unfortunately, a brief walk into the woods turns into hours of frantic search for the trail. Trisha begrudges that she is lost, and her only dependence now is her survival kit, or poncho of tuna and dearth supply of water. Trisha's only connection to the world now is her Walkman, where she listens to Castiglione and Troop announce Red Sox games. With killer hordes of mosquitoes and wasps on the lookout for fresh flesh, the nine-year-old thrives to escape the evil watching her every move.

The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon may be that quick read you've been looking for over the past weeks. Especially if you're not familiar with King's talent, it displays how many pages he could write about a lost girl in the woods and yet, thrill the reader by every turn of the page. Okay, fine. The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon isn't one of King's page-by-page thriller, but still, a lot of people liked the book.

One thing that I disliked about the novel was all the baseball talk. Not being a baseball fan, I really had no interest in reading chapters of Castiglione and Troop's announcements. However, don't get the wrong idea. Even if you're not a baseball fan, you can still get the gist of what's going on. If you're a King fan, check it out. It's one of King's shortest novels. Too bad it was just too cutesy for my taste.


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