Rating: Summary: An amazing read! Review: Having been a Stephen King fan for most of my life, it is great when he can express his limitless range with books like this. The Girl who Loved Tom Gordon was an extremely painful odyssey for a girl whom I came to love as one of my own. My heart broke for her over and over again, yet I kept reading because I couldn't decide how it was going to end. King really draws you in and won't let you go until the last page. Will the girl find safety? Or will she die in a horrific way? Stephen King is capable of writing both kinds of endings, most of which are a mix between melancholy and not quite resolved. I have read the book three times and will probably read it again in the future.
Rating: Summary: Might have been just a little bit more scary! Review: I read this book straight after I finished Bag of Bones. The latter was different than the usual for Stephen King, the same goes for this book. It might have been just a little more scary, but still I kept on flipping those pages and could not wait to finish it. The book is unusually short for King but still I think it deserves the 4 stars. I found the ending a little disappointing but I am sure that with a second reading I discover new elements. King is good (full stop).
Rating: Summary: A book you will have a hard time putting down! Review: I recently read Stephen King's book The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon. This is the first book that I have ever read by Stephen King, and I feel that it was an excellent way to become accustomed to his literary style. King's experience as a proficient writer shines through in this work. The novel basically has one character throughout the entire read, and the whole story is told through this character's eyes. I think it is quite an accomplishment for a successful male writer to be able to pull writing about the world through the eyes of a frightened little girl. The story flows and does an excellent job of keeping the reader caught up in the plight of this little girl lost in the woods alone. The imagery in the book is so real, you can feel and see the wasps, swamp, and forest closing in on the main character, Trisha McFarland. The suspense does not let up for one moment through the entire read, and therefore you never want to put the book down. I also, really liked the way that King leaves the "monster" in the story completely up to the reader's interpretation. You keep wondering if the monster is real of a figment of Trisha's imagination. Then finally at the end, the style is such that you really can't tell whether or not it was there at all. I definitely would recommend this book to anyone, and have!
Rating: Summary: Lost... Review: Trisha McFarland is lost in the woods and I found myself lost in the pages of this book. When I started reading The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon, I didn't stop until I was done. Stephen King puts the reader into his characters like no other and this is one of the best I've read. I haven't read a lot of King's works, but I haven't read a bad one yet. I found myself becoming Trisha, feeling, seeing, and smelling what see did. I cared for her and worried about her (something I don't do very often).To those who complained about its size, I would just like to say that it's the same as complaining about a movie being too long. A story is told in a determined amount of time. No more and no less... Stephen King transported me into Trisha for a wild, suspensful trip. All I can say is Bravo!
Rating: Summary: Storytelling at its best Review: My all-time favorite King book is IT, which is chockful of supernatural elements. But my other favorites are Cujo, Misery, and Gerald's Game, none of which have supernatural elements. Whether The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon has a supernatural element depends on how you interpret it. The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon is essentially a one-character book. Few writers could pull that off, but King does it beautifully. Except for a brief prologue that provides ackground, Trisha is all alone, lost in the woods, trying to survive, and the reader is very much with her, swatting at bugs, slipping through mud, listening to the sound of something moving in the dark forest. Since King can't be counted on for a happy ending, the question of her survival is real. I had to really force myself not to check the ending to see if she survived. The last page made me cry, and I don't cry easily. I have seen some criticism of the length of this book. Fans of King have come to expect lengthy works, but a book should be as long as it needs to be to tell the story and no longer. King tells a good story here, and nothing is missing. This is storytelling at its best. I was compelled to keep reading, to find out "what happens next."
Rating: Summary: Grand Slam Review: I think this is another big hit. A Stephen King book doesn't have to have vampires or ghosts to be a good read. I believe he has already proven that. The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon was a page turner. I couldn't put it down. The suspense of what was going to happen to 9-year-old Trisha McFarland held my attention and I couldn't stop reading. I had my doubts about Trisha making it out of the woods alive. She hung on to hope and determination, and of course Tom Gordon, to bring her through this voyage of obstacles that this nine-year-old girl has to tackle. Thank you again Stephen King.
Rating: Summary: Lost in woods? Review: Since Insomnia, Stephen King's works are getting less and less complicated, gradually losing from the once-beautiful style and mood. Horror through a child's eye have always been the best area he writes in, yet this one, although it is not as disastrous as Rose Madder, is quite below his average. The plot is very simple, and, personally speaking, reeks too much of the Blair Witch Project to me. I admit that it is an easy and entertaining read, butn if you are a fan of his old ones like It or The Stand, keep away from this, it will only feel like a knife in the back.
Rating: Summary: Great For Baseball Fans, Too Review: With over 500 reviews already, is there anything left to say? You bet! This is not just an outstanding novel of suspense (what did you expect from King?), but an outstanding contribution to the sizeable body of baseball fiction. Tom Gordon was the Red Sox closer. The closer is the man who comes on with the game on the line. The game is a metaphor for life, right? Two outs, bottom of the ninth, down two, two runners on . . do the Sox live or die today? Does little Trisha? It's up to Tom Gordon. In the hands of a lesser writer, this equation might have been obvious and labored. King's solution to the equation is unexpected and dramatic, even magical. When the ball went through Buckner's legs, I ran from my parents' den, went down the hall, and literally collapsed on the living room floor. And when my favorite player Trot Nixon recently beat Roger Clemens with a dramatic home run, I screamed and jumped up and down for ten or fifteen seconds. After reading THE GIRL WHO LOVED TOM GORDON, I understand better why we baseball fans care so much. And in the climax of this novel, those intense feelings are perfectly intermingled with our fondness for its young protagonist. Very powerful and very moving.
Rating: Summary: THE PATH! Review: I agree with some of the earlier comments that the plot is simple & the entire phenomena can just be attributable to a kid's creative imagination combined with the pressure of being alone & lost in the woods. Afterall, who would not be driven insane if you're starved, scared, alone in a god-forseaken place. But you have to hand it to SK who was able to twirl the story & took the readers along for a walk into the woods...seeing what Trisha was seeing, hearing what she's hearing, feeling what she's feeling. Also, I noticed that despite the usual SK trademark of supernaturals (ghosts, apparitions, etc.), he seemed to point out that there is only one True God --- whether it be in the woods or not, late innings or not, baseball fan or no baseball fan --- if you truly believe & pray in Him, YOU'LL BE SAVED!
Rating: Summary: not scary but very well told Review: i am into really scary books and alot of them try to be gross and use that to make up for their lack of real writing well and interesting plot line but this is a very well writen book and i am very impressed with it but if you are looking for a real scary keep you up all night nightmare book this is not it but if you want to kept up all night cause you can not put it down beacause of it is very interesting and well written then i will recomend this book for you. and please consider my advice i am 14 years old but i do know a good book and this is it.
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