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Dreamcatcher

Dreamcatcher

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

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Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Good King Style
Review: I am not finished the book at this time. But, I am caught up in it so that I try to bring it to work and read on my lunch break. It is classic King and I am thrilled with the writing.

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: At 200 pages "Dreamcatcher" would be CLASSIC...
Review: Too bad it's over 600. This book becomes the most monotonous of Stephen King's career. I have read all of his novels, and this is one of his worst. The only thing that saves it from being THEE worst (that honor still belongs to the overrated Christine) is the first 200 pages, which are gory, over-the-top fun. The rest of the book comes off as both trite and pretentious, at the same time. The characters are developed fairly well in the first 200 pages, and then go no where. The character of Kurtz is the ultimate cliche, and having him sucking up a large part of the last 200 pages was a BIG mistake. The extended chase at the end is tedious, not at all frightening, and turns a novel that started out excellent into an absolute disaster.

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: This book is confusing, boring and retro.
Review: I bought this book with great enthusiasm. The New York Times book review was great. But,in contrast, I found the novel to be confusing, boring and retro. Retro... It reminded me of the segment King was in in the first Tales from the Crypt movie. Remember King playing a red neck whose farm is hit by a space ship and then he drinks the water and turns into a giant topiary? As some of the other reviewers have stated, I also had to page back to try to find references to what I now was reading. This novel is a regurgatation for King. I await another Shawshank Redemption, Green Mile,The Stand. Mr. King, I love ya. But not this one.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Scooby Doo, Where Are You? We¿ve Got Some Work To Do.
Review: I bought "Dreamcatcher" because I loved "It," and was looking forward to a similar horror story with the same characters. I am not a great Stephen King fan, but something about 'It" caught my fancy when I read it. It was some magical combination of the characters, a creepy plot and Mr. King's admittedly considerable writing skills.

Had I not taken the time to read a few Amazon.com reviews of the book before it arrived, I might have been expecting an "It" clone and been as disappointed as some of the other reviewers. But forewarned is forearmed, and I was prepared for something new. I think sometimes as readers we become upset when a writer changes style, or kills off a favorite character. We forget that most authors need to be free to experiment and grow in new directions. I'm as guilty of this as the next reader.

King commits both sins in "Dreamcatcher." In short order, two of the four stars of "It" are written out of the plot. And, to top it off, "Dreamcatcher" isn't really a horror story. Maybe is a creepy science fiction story, possible a psychological thriller, and perhaps, something much, much more.

To make matters even worse, much of the book takes place in the minds of Henry and Jonesy, the two survivors of the original gang of four. Actually, a great deal of this story of alien invasion, military insanity and a mad chase to save Boston takes place as real, and pretty horrific, action. But King's writing style defuses the horror and focuses instead on the weird mental and telepathic ballet that takes place between Henry, Jonesy, the alien trying to take over Jonesy's mind, and countless other characters that play out their roles inside the dreamcatcher. This does not make for easy reading.

But what makes this story special isn't the alien weirdness or the telepathy. "Dreamcatcher" is really the story of Duddits, a childhood friend of the boys from 'It," and the victim of Down's syndrome. Perhaps victim is the wrong word. I try my liberal best to be only moderately squeamish around the disadvantaged. I have heard and read that children affected by Down's often have extraordinary and wonderful personalities. But "Dreamcatcher" made this all real to me.

In bits and scenes and memories, I saw Duddits from the viewpoint of the boys, his mother, and Duddits himself. I'm glad the telling was fragmentary, because I found myself, on several occasions, needing to stop reading and take a break to deal with emotions that I never expected a King novel to touch. I certainly will never again be able to hear the Scooby Doo song, Duddit's song, the same way. Unexpectedly, "Dreamcatcher" caught me up and opened a new line of thinking.

More to the point, I have come to learn that the real tragedy of Down's syndrome might not be the affliction itself, but the fragility and short life span of those so afflicted. And that this might be our loss, as much as it is theirs. The real lesson of King's book is that handicapped also have a contribution, can make a difference, can even help save the world. "You were the lucky one, buddy," Henry says to Duddits at the end, "You were always the lucky one, that's what I think." To which Duddits, true to his nature, responds "I love you, Henry."

Thank you, Steven King.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: There is no infection here!
Review: I agree that this is not one of SK's best books, but it is still good. I was absolutely engaged to the story right up until the jump to Kurtz, at that point, I would say the story stalled out. I thought the flashbacks to childhood were great and I hoped for more of them. The *%#% weasels could only come from SK's imagination!

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: Dreamcatcher is better than Unisom!
Review: First, I'm a hardcore Stephen King fan. The man is a great writer on many levels, especially his hurmor and sense of irony. But, this one doesn't make it. I think King is trying too hard to work through his emotions since he was hit by a van, and I understand that. However, in so doing he's created a story that is so jumbled it's hard to follow. And what's worse, it's hard to care about any of the characters. The story is all over the place, and one of the characters even has a near fatal run-in with a car. Plus, the four main characters, men who were friends since childhood, are too much like the kids in "Stand By Me." I hope Mr. King can come to grips with his ordeal, and I wish him well.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Has he lost his touch?
Review: Dream Catcher starts out in the classic King style, exploring characters in the way his fans have come to love. Their lives intertwine, flashbacks give us insight into their pasts together, intersperced with the creepy beginnings of an alien invasion. The classic King style of good vs evil, the one character who leads the way, comes through here. Unfortunately, there was no explanation of the aliens, something I've come to depend on in his books (opening the door, as he's put it before), as is usual in the better King novels. This plot line just didn't blend in with the rest of the story.

The last part of the book, unfortunately, starts to fall apart. I started skimming some of the scenes as i lost interest in the rambling action. The end of the book makes almost no sense, very disappointing to a loyal King fan. I'll always read his new books, and after the last three duds, was really looking forward to this new effort. I was disappointed in the ending chapters, but still recommend reading.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: First experience may be last
Review: Since I'd never read a Stephen King book before, and motivated by how much I liked the movie, "Misery," I bought Dreamcatcher. I was really captivated by the interplay of the friends, including Duddits. The characters rang true, and the concept of "seeing the line" is eerily familiar to me.

As the story moved on, into murkier waters (or snows?) of terror and suffering, I hung in there. When the plot reached the point of the grand conspiracy, everything began to sound like the people who call up Art Bell's late-night radio program.

I had gotten halfway through the book when I was interrupted by business matters, and when I picked it up again, I suddenly realized that I didn't care anymore. I didn't care to know who was inside whose brain, I didn't want to see another innocent person's blood turning to ice on a winter field, and the whole complicated plot had spun way higher off the ground of reality than I wanted to fly.

I have great admiration for Mr. King's imagination and writing ability, and certainly a piece this long and complex should fairly be called a masterpiece. I think. I never finished it.

I'm not sure I will try him again.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Classic King
Review: I loved this book. I know that everyone else seems to be bored by the plot and not connect with the characters, but I disagree. I do wish that more of the main characters would have made it to the finish, but that's part of what I love about King. He's willing to let go of some of the good people to make the book interesting. I felt the same way about parts of The Stand, esp the scene where the house blows up all the characters I loved.

This book is classic King. It has all the right components, aliens, fungus, bizarre situations, a psycho military enemy, and intelligent thought whether you wound up loving the story at the end or being disappointed - my guess is you couldn't put it down to see what would happen next. I connected with the characters. You might think that some of them are a little snobby at first, but I always think he paints a picture of reality. This book works with Murphy's Law, and isn't that a little more realistic than everything always going your way. I really thought it was good and I've read almost all of his books, so if you're reading this review, know that not everyone hated this book. I even enjoyed how King's accident played a part and I'm glad that his characters don't have to be shiny movie stars to be interesting.

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: Think About This
Review: There are over 100 reviews already here, so I won't go over the same old stuff. Every true King fan might want to ponder this idea for a moment - doesn't it seem as if King has lost touch with "real people" as his fame has grown? His early books were great, but as he has grown older and richer, his fame may be causing him to lose touch with reality as the rest of us "worker bees" see it, and his writing has suffered from it. He's tucked away in a mansion in a small town in Maine, with not much exposure to the outside world. Also, Stephen knows, and so do we, that anything he writes will become a bestseller. So he doesn't have to really worry about pleasing the reader anymore - he knows it will sell a trillion copies and he'll get even richer. I will continue to read his books, but I'll get them from the library - I'm not paying a cent for these crummy stories anymore.


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