Bag of Bones

Rating:
Summary: Word craftsmanship at its best
Review: Writing a book is hard to do. It takes discipline and a lot of commitment. You have to dedicate yourself to it, otherwise it will never get finished. Everyday that you don't write another page is another writer's block on the stack.

Writing a good book is harder.

Writing a masterpiece is almost impossible.

"Bag of Bones" is a masterpiece. Stephen King has written so many good books and so many near-masterpieces and more than his fair share of pure-bred masterpieces that it's hard to believe this man could still have the juices going after all these years. Nevertheless, "Bag of Bones" is one of his very best. It's an involving tale of a widowed writer named Mike Noonan who is being hounded to write another novel. However, his wife being dead presents a problem. It's as if, without her, he doesn't know how to write. The rituals that they used to do after a book was finished only exist in a bittersweet memory. Mike Noonan has lost his edge. Is it too late to get it back? Sure, this sounds kind of like "Wonder Boys," but it's a Stephen King novel, so there has to be suspense right? Absolutely. "Bag of Bones" is the best mixture of psychological horror, old-fashioned haunted house terror, romance, and love's labour lost. It's an amazing piece of literature, and it ranks among my favorites of all time.

As I said before, Mike Noonan has lost his writer's edge since the sudden and tragic death of his wife, so, in an attempt to confront his demons and possibly regain his lost talent, Mike goes on an excursion to the cabin he and his wife bought up in the lower populated regions of Maine. It is there where he meets Mattie, a young single mother with more than her fair share of problems, most of which stemming from the fact that her daughter is the only living blood relative to the small town's tyrant millionaire. He wants custody of the child even though he's about ready to croak himself, but Mike, sympathizing with the plight of Mattie and her adorable little daughter, cannot allow that to happen. He gets involved, whether he initially wanted to or not, and he ends up combating the millionaire and his psycho caretaker while still trying to recover from writer's block and discover the truth about those mysterious noises coming from the basement. This is a lot on a man's plate, and Mike knows he can only juggle these heavy issues for so long.

"Bag of Bones" isn't the stereotypical King novel for a lot of reasons that I really won't bother going into for an obvious reason: The stereotypical King novel is usually very good anyway. But "Bag of Bones" goes above and beyond that goodness and achieves something much greater and much more unexpected. It triggers many emotions within us. Through writing, it can be hard to strike a chord within the reader - the words have to be just perfect. King didn't just strike one chord with this novel, he got them all.

Rating:
Summary: Spooky
Review: When I read 'Bag of bones' I kept thinking that Stephen King would never have written this story fifteen years ago. Or rather, he might have written this story, but not this way. The book is about a writer, Michael Noonan, whose wife dies. He starts having nightmares, especiallt about their summer-house, Sarah Laughs. Of course, like in any classical ghost story, he goes to the house, to live alone there. Stephen King has great fun in the first third or so of the book, trying to scare the wit out of the reader. In my case, he succeded. Then the story changes somewhat, and becomes more about how the main-charachter tries to change his life by helping a young woman get custody of her three-year old daughter. This, we find out later, is bcause of the ghosts. This is a classical ghost-story, you have a haunted house and a story in real life which later explains the haunting. What makes this book different is that the logical thing for Stephen King to do would be to write the story from the little girl that a big part of the plot evolves around's view. Had he done that, Michael would have been like the chef in 'The Shining', playing the role of the somewhat mysterious man who knows things about the ghosts that the girl thought only she could see. That's what makes 'Bag of bones' interesting. Unfortuanetely this experiment makes the story less exciting. King is somewhat of a genius when it comes to telling stories about children, and middle-aged men has always been his weakness. Probably because middle-aged med aren't very good main-charachters in ghost-stories, unless they are killers. One expects to see a woman or a child screaming with terror when things get scary, but the role of a middle-aged man in society at large is that of a safe, providing, care-taking and well-composed man that doesn't even lose his temper, nevermind losing his wits with fear.

Rating:
Summary: King's prolific talent continues
Review: I decided to cover one of my favorite author's books for this review. Although "The Dark Tower" series is probably the best, I'll save that for later, and tell you about "Bag of Bones" by Stephen King.

The main character is a writer, a writer with an almost phobic case of writer's block for most of the story, which is set, like many King novels, in a small Maine town. When Mike's wife dies suddenly, he somehow forgets he even owns the lake property known as 'Sara Laughs,' but when certain disconcerting evidence crops up, he decides to go there for the summer as was their practice for years.

Almost on arrival, Mike meets the other main character, a classically unforgettable King female named Mattie, and her counterpart daughter, Kyra. The victim of a demented and wealthy father-in-law's attempt to get custody of Kyra, Mattie fights valiantly but even more effectively when Mike hires her an attorney, thus joining her battle. The plot is complicated by the setting, but as usual, the characters are the brilliance in the novel.

Ironically, the term 'bag of bones' is a reference to literary characters. Empty shells when compared with people, but sometimes authors fool you, and make their characters so real, you think you know them. Anne Tyler is an expert at this, as is King.

Using quotes for novels isn't a normal practice for me, but in this case, I hope you can get what I get, from short passages: "'I taggled my own quartermack,' Ki said, then leaned back on her elbows, giggling deliciously at the bright and hazy sky... I grabbed her by the middle.. kicking her legs and waving her arms and laughing. I set her down on the bench; she slid off it and behind the table, boneless as an eel and still laughing." I can hear her, see her, feel her, smell her in that passage, all happy kid. As for Mattie, one passage is every bit as vivid.

A Don Henley song, "All She Wants to do is Dance," comes on the radio during a picnic, and Mike thinks, "I was okay until she danced.. after that I was lost." "'Oh God, I love this one,' Mattie cried. The Frisbee came to her. She caught it, dropped it, stepped on it as if it were a hot red spot falling on a nightclub stage, and began to shake. She put her hands first behind her neck and then on her hips and then behind her back. She danced standing with the toes of her sneakers on the Frisbee. She danced without moving. She danced as they say in that song -- like a wave on the ocean.'"

Hopefully, if you've never picked up a Stephen King book, this will lure you, and you can't be disappointed, that's just not a possibility! In spite of his overwhelming popularity, in spite of the fact that the majority isn't always right, Stephen King is one of the most creative and interesting minds writing today.

Rating:
Summary: crummy, crappy, cruddy
Review: I love Stephen King. Reading his novels has always been effortless and thoroughly enjoyable. I always flip through the pages so fast that I am amazed at how quickly I read them. This book just doesn't cut it. Too many crappy side-plots, way too much time spent describing things that just don't make a smidgen of a difference. Great Author, Horrible Book.

Rating:
Summary: A book that starts great, I just wish the ending was as good
Review: Mike Noonan, a "thriller" writer approaching his 40's (sounds fimiliar?) loses his wife unexpectedly. While waiting for his writer's block to end, he publishes some books he had stored, while living his very boring life. But he starts learning a few odd facts about his wife - why had she bought a pregnency test without telling him anything? Why was she visiting their summer home without him knowing? After a few haunting dreams of that same summer house by the lake, Mike decided to go there to see if that would end his writer's block. He discovers his house is haunted, and almost runs into a daughter of a young single mother in need of assistance against an evil grandfather who wishes to have the girl for himself. Mike is more than happy to asist, especially since the girl in question senses the ghosts too (surprise, surprise!).

That's a pretty good basic idea of S. Kings usual "horror" plots, and he builds a superb one. But one the suspence is built, the story is quite predictable, exactly in the parts which are supposed to be the most suspenseful ones...

Rating:
Summary: i don't understand how this book got five stars..
Review: This book is not a novel. It's a lie, a lie that the author also don't believe. Needless, long and boring depictions, confusing and crude accidents, no tension, exaggerations, non-interesting fabrications here and there.. I was so appointed. As for this book in the least, the author pursued nothing, .. But I'm going to read his another book, The shining. Only for his fame. There, I hope to find a novelist..

Rating:
Summary: Superb Writing
Review: I say this because I feel like it was slow, but yet I read it so quickly. The ending was superb, and it was well worth the wait. Probably the best real novel he's written in quite awhile.

Rating:
Summary: Bone Chilling!!!
Review: Fasten your seat belts, King fans! Bag of Bones once again shows King's tremendous talents. This was a very long read. There are certain chapters that do crawl at a turtles pace, however, the detail of everything is worth it! The characters were very well written. From the beginning, King draws you in to the terrible fate of Mike Noonan, a novelist who's wife dies unexpectly. As Mike gets writer's block he decides to go to his summer home in hopes of breaking that block and to find out more about his wife's death. Once he arrives at "Sara Laughs", the bone chilling and teeth rattling begins. King captures the "spirits" of the past, and Mike finds them waiting for him. I could go on forever about a "Bag of Bones". You must be patient as you read this novel, just when it slows, it then follows with a big bang. The romance part of this novel will have you in tears, get your tissues ready. I highly reccommend this novel for anyone who loves ghost stories. King really knows how to write them. Fasten your seat beat and take a whirl with Mike Noonan and his lingering spirts at Sara Laughs. You will fall in love with the phsyic child, Kira. The ending is incredible, will make the hairs on the back of your neck stand. Hats off to King once again!

Rating:
Summary: Stephen King's Finest
Review: After taking a break from reading for a few weeks, I decided to pick up Bag of Bones as my next project. I distinctly remember being overthrown by the book's mass, and I questioned whether I would be able to finish or not. Two weeks later, I proved myself wrong.

Bag of Bones opens with our humble narrator, Mike Noonan, grieving the loss of his beloved wife, Jo. Certain that he will never be able to write again after such a devastating loss, Mike heads to his summer home on TR 90, Sara Laughs. Once there, Mike becomes entwined in the struggle of Mattie Devore, the daughter-in-law of a wealthy and powerful tyrant. Her father-in-law, Maxwell, is aging and crippled, but has his eyes set on one thing: Mattie's three-year-old daughter Kyra. Since Mattie was widowed, she has slumped into a web that she cannot escape. Enter Mike Noonan.

Mike finds Kyra walking along the road as she narrowly escapes being hit by passing cars. Mike soon discovers the charm and elegance of Mattie, and begins to fall for this girl half his age. But as Mike helps Mattie, he discovers terrible secrets about the town and his home, Sara Laughs.

All of these events lead up to a disturbing yet satisfying climax, making me realize the true genius of this book. Bag of Bones was undoubtly the best book of 1998, and one of the best books of King's career. Many people have degraded this novel claiming that it is "not horror" or "too soft". True, Bag of Bones is not horror, but rather a brilliant mix of melodrama and pure psychological terror. So, for those of you looking for a grisly, gory horror novel, stay away. But for those who are looking for one of the finest pieces of new American literature, enjoy and savor every page.

Rating:
Summary: Stephen King?
Review: I am an avid fan of Stephen King and while I can appreciate the transformation that his work and he has undergone over the span of his career, I can't say that 'Bag of Bones' was typical of his writing style. While King has become famous for his "horror" stories, 'Bag of Bones' was not horror...it was actually bordering on horrible. Yes, King is still the master in terms of visual imagery but the story was, well, boring. You never really get attached to any of the characters and as a result, you are never truly invested in the book. The book limped along at a snail's pace and while it was apparent that there were other influences (authors) in this particular piece of work, it didn't add to the story one bit.

I was very disappointed in this novel, not that it was necessarily bad, just that it was not representative of Stephen King. If you are a King fan, you will soon realize that this is not typical of his earlier works...it has been awhile since we've seen the real Stephen King, you know the one that revealed his passion for his work on each page. If you are new to Stephen King, try one of his earlier novels (The Stand, Different Seasons, The Shining, Salem's Lot, Carrie...just to name a few) to get a real feel for his work...then you will understand his popularity.