From a Buick 8 : A Novel

Rating:
Summary: Hopefully not King's last novel...
Review: As a longtime fan and Constant Reader, I hope "From a Buick 8" doesn't turn out to be King's last stand-alone novel. Not because it isn't one of his best (though, to be honest, it isn't) but rather because it does manage, at moments, to offer glimpses of just how good a storyteller Stephen King can be. There's a familiarity of voice and narrative ease at the beginning of the novel that promises an enjoyable and even transcendent reading experience. It's a promise, unfortunately, that "From a Buick 8" has a hard time keeping.

Stephen King publicly prophesied before it was published that "From a Buick 8" would be seen as a retread of his earlier haunted car novel, "Christine." It isn't, though. Although both novels feature an old, menacing gas-guzzler at the center of the action, it can be argued that neither book is actually about the car.

"From a Buick 8" is set in a Pennsylvania State Police barracks and tells of a bizarre secret that has been kept by the men and women of Troop D for just over twenty years. It all begins in the summer of 1979 when a vintage Buick Roadmaster is found abandoned at a gas station and towed back to the barracks. The Buick has to be towed because the engine doesn't work and, as further examination will prove, it isn't really a car at all, but some unknown thing trying very hard to look like a car.

Most intrigued by this baffling find is Curtis Wilcox, a rookie trooper who has more than a little healthy curiosity about the unknown. Over the years, Curt's curiosity gets warped into a dangerous, eventually lethal obsession.

In the present day, after Curt's untimely death, his son Ned comes to volunteer at Troop D, hoping to learn something about his father from the men and women who knew him best. Sandy Dearborn, his father's closest friend, decides it's finally time to break the silence and spill the secret the troop has been keeping for so long.

King tells the story of the big bad Buick in a series of flashbacks, recounted, Faulkner-style, through multiple first-person narrators. The jumping back and forth in time and point of view unfortunately only serves to dilute the novel's momentum. The best parts of the book end up as isolated bits of fluid story that never get the chance to gel into a cohesive whole.

Problems of pacing and plot movement notwithstanding, King does manage to touch on some interesting notions. His characters are like lemmings, drawn hypnotically to the edge of the cliff, forced, against their better judgement, to stare into the void. King has always had a talent for giving everday ojbects an ominous frame of reference. In this case, the Buick, with its menacing chrome grin, stands in for the unknowable in life. It's death or it's fate or it's the heart of the person that shares your bed.

"From a Buick 8" has some great parts under its hood, but none of the wiring is connected and, like the title character, it never goes anywhere. Longtime King fans should give this one a test spin, but casual readers might want to look for a ride elsewhere.

Rating:
Summary: Why a car?
Review: I have read the book, and the story was not too bad, but like Hearts In Atlantis he (King) does not quite manage to bring the story anywhere, and this occures to you just after reading the first chapters. It is a bit "out there", and off course it is ment to be, but did it have to be a car?? Could it not instead have been some "alien"-thing found, something really NOT of this world? Something no one had ever seen before, like the "droppings" of the car, perhaps. I finnished the book, off course, because you get a little curious, and you want to know what this "car" turns out to be the gateway to -which, off course again, you do not. King gives you a hint, but nothing rememberable. So, if you are a King-fan, this one might disappoint you a little. Not that it is bad written, it is simply just missing the usual touch one expects from King, and I really got the impression he has done it a little too easy for himself this time. This book has an end that does not reveal much, if amything at all...

Rating:
Summary: One-idea book tires -- way too long for small plot
Review: Like a burlesque sketch that is funny for a minute or two but gets boring when nothing new happens for another half hour, King gives us an interesting premise that goes almost nowhere for the rest of the book. An old Buick is left at a gas station by a mysterious person who disappears, as does one of the investigating State Police of Troop D in Western PA; thereafter, the car is stored at the barracks and occasionally puts on laser light shows, emits strange creatures from its trunk, and similar horrible stuff. The story is told through the voices of the many troopers who have watched it over a period of twenty years or so. Other than drawing out the characters of that diverse group, as well as that of the young dead trooper's son, Ned, sort of the central listener, we're not treated to much other action or plot development. Sure, signs of King's effective rendering of scary events sparked our interest from time to time, but overall the whole book was like a one line gag repeated ad nausea. As far as we're concerned, this tale would have fit nicely into one of Kings many short story compilations; but we didn't feel the story and events were meaty enough to warrant some 350 pages, culminating in a fairly lackluster ending.

This was by no means one of King's scary, suspenseful, gripping novels of the bizarre and terrible -- it was just one small idea that burned brightly for a few minutes then went out. For our money, we'd skip it.

Rating:
Summary: A cuddly King
Review: The troopers of Troop D, Pennsylvania State Patrol, have picked up a strange car. At first glance it looks like a Buick, except it won't run, and tests soon prove it's anything but a normal car. Then it starts chucking things out its doors and trunk, flashing brilliant lights, changing the temperature in its shed, and committing a variety of other Stephen King shinanigans. Rumor has it, it's even eaten a man. Add to this mix a teenager obsessed with his father's death in the line of duty, and thus obsessed with this car.

After dabbling through portions of THE STAND and THE DARK HALF, FROM A BUICK 8 felt like stepping off an airplane in Florida -- warm and pleasant and safe. Yes, icky things materialize from this car and the poor dog doesn't have a fighting chance, but King spent so much time detailing life as a trooper that he seemed to have forgetten he was supposed to be writing horror. What I found here was only strange.

If you love King, FROM A BUICK 8 may be one of his last freestanding novels, so by all means grab it. The writing is good, the details impeccable, the boy's hero worship touching. But the horror? Well, suffice to say, dear reader, you can curl up in bed with this one. It won't bite.

Rating:
Summary: A Different Kind of King
Review: Well, I just finished this book and I honestly can't decide whether I'm happy with it or not. It's much quieter than King's usual fare - it's a more sedate and, arguably, mature book than many of his others. Rather than loud horror, its heart lies in suspense and quiet mystery.

In a way, the message in this book is more profound and the theme more developed than in any of King's books besides, perhaps, "The Stand." I, for one, enjoyed it immensely. That I have a friend who owns a Roadmaster (the "Buick 8" of the title) may, of course, have contributed to that.

For people looking for horror, complete with zombies and vampires, it won't be found in "From a Buick 8". But for anyone who has ever reflected on human curiosity, however, this is a powerful story. At times, it is difficult to put down. It falters in places, but overall, maintains its strong pull (much like the Buick 8 itself), and its main fault, if it has one, is that it leaves many questions unanswered at the end - but that, I believe, is King's own way of saying that nothing in life ever is known in full.

And, finally, of course, if you or someone you know owns a Buick Roadmaster, you owe it to yourself to read this book. Really. Afterall, "There are Buicks everywhere..." You may never think of that Roadmaster in quite the same way again...