Customer Reviews

Misery

5 star:		(270)
4 star:		(59)
3 star:		(14)
2 star:		(8)
1 star:		(9)

 

 

I have never read anything written by Stephen King as I don't particularly like that genre. But a friend insisted that I read Misery, and I was astounded by King's talents. I was hooked from the very first page, and Misery is a book that will haunt yours days and nights long after you've finished.

Paul Sheldon is a popular writer celebrating the completion of a new book, when his car goes off a mountain road in a snowstorm. He finds himself with shattered legs, being held captive by a former nurse, Annie Wilkes. Ironically, Wilkes just happens to be his number one fan. While she's nursing him back from near death, Wilkes reads his latest book, where he kills off his popular character, Misery Chastain (a sappy, high-drama character whom Sheldon has come to loathe). She decides that Sheldon will write a new novel (just for her), in which he brings Misery back from the dead. And believe me-Wilkes has her methods to keep Sheldon writing! Sheldon soon discovers that he's like Scheherazade, and the best way to stay alive is to keep the stories coming. Wilkes is a true psychopath, and the mind games that Sheldon plays will have you riveted. His ultimate goal is to escape, but Wilkes is one shrewd character, and his getting out alive is slim at best.

Misery succeeds on so many different levels. The characters are so very well developed. In trying to figure out how to deal with Hurricane Annie, Paul also learns much about himself while he is trying to survive. Misery is filled with lots of symbolism-especially in the writing of his new book, Misery Returns. King also gives us a good look at the art of writing. He talks about the difference between a hack, a popular writer and a literary writer. While King is certainly a popular writer who is sometimes accused of being a hack, Misery reads more like a work of literature. We see what sometimes motivates a writer to write, and we can only imagine the rabid, crazed fans that any popular figure must contend with. It's also interesting to see how readers take ownership of fictional characters, and how distraught they can become over their demise. Also, as gruesome as much of this book is, Sheldon still can see much humor and irony in his situation which lightens the load just a bit.

I never expected to enjoy Misery (or any Stephen King for that matter) as much as I did. It certainly won't be my last.

It's common knowledge Stephen King can take a simple idea and turn it into a 500,000 word marathon; it's one of the reasons MISERY is one of my favorite King novels, because--for a change--King gets into the meat and potatoes of his story from the first page (and he doesn't let up until the last). Consequently, the novel is one of his shorter works.

The beauty of this book is not so much the helplessness and horror of being captive to Annie Wilkes as it is the inner workings of Paul Sheldon's brain. Bestselling author of the Misery Chastain series (a character he has come to loathe), Paul talks to himself throughout his ordeal in Annie's Rocky Mountain hellhole. This self-dialoge is riveting, entertaining, and often downright funny. In fact, the humorous undertow throughout the book makes Annie's "behaviour" even more alarming and frightful. Nothing like copping a chuckle while Annie is wielding an axe or being destructive on a riding lawnmower; yet King pulls it off, page after page.

I'm an allegorical kind of guy, and I can't help but think MISERY is a novel about Stephen King himself and the hell he was putting himself through during his substance abuse days. Writing, euphoria, pain, addiction, terror: all were in vogue for both Paul Sheldon and Stephen King in the 1980s. MISERY is King at his dysfunctional best.
--D. Mikels, Author, THE RECKONING

This is my first Stephen King novel and I have to say, I loved it.

SUMMARY: Paul Sheldon, a bestselling novelist gets into a car accident. His NUMBER ONE FAN, Annie Wilkes, takes him into her home and nurses him back to health. In a way. Holding him captive, she makes him write his greatest novel just for her.

UPS: This book has a lot of detail and really makes you feel like you're right there with Sheldon, keeping you on your toes. It is suspensful the whole way through and gets even more spine-chilling towards the end.

DOWNS: About 40 pages of the book is the book that Paul Sheldon is writing. It gets a little boring reading these parts and there doesn't seem to be any importance in reading them.

OVERALL: This book is hard to put down, indeed. Even though I haven't seen the movie, the mental image I had of Annie Wilkes was exactly that of Kathy Bates. It took me only a few days to read and I really enjoyed it. I recommend this book to anyone who's going for a good horror novel.

There is one big problem with Stephen King: he interrupts my life. What I mean to say is that once I start reading one of his books, I can't stop. Nothing gets done around the house, I have less time with my wife and children, the dog doesn't get walked, and you can forget about the stack of papers I brought home from the office to review over the weekend.

This is exactly what happened when, on a Friday night, I decided I needed something easy to read, a page-turner, a plain old story-in short, something by Stephen King, the modern American master of the ripping yarn, replete with its baggage of cultural references no one will be able to decode a hundred years from now and deficient only if you cannot abide horror or terror or the macabre. Once I started "Misery," I didn't put it down until I was finished, and I loved every reading minute of it.

"Misery" is not one of King's typical horror stories, that is, it does not require "the willing suspension of disbelief" that is needed when you read about telekinetic powers ("Carrie" or "Firestarter"), monsters from sewers ("It"), vampires ("Salem's Lot"), or any one of King's many other supernatural or unnatural characters (a very long list of King's books). "Misery" is, instead, one of King's stories that, while extreme and terrifying, is also realistically possible. It is one of his better books, written during a time when he wrote a string of similar, realistic horror stories that I consider among his best, including "Dolores Claiborne," "Gerald's Game" and "Rose Madder."

The plot is straightforward. Paul Sheldon is a popular author known for his series of novels featuring a character named Misery Chastain. Sheldon finally kills off Misery, thereby ridding him, once and for all, of the pulpy best selling series and allowing him to move on, living off the royalties, to write more highbrow literary novels. Sheldon has, in fact, just finished writing such a novel and is driving home, manuscript in tow (the only copy, in fact), when he drives off a road in the wilds of Colorado during a blinding snowstorm. He is severely injured and, under less fortunate circumstances, his car probably would have been buried in snow and he would have died of exposure. Instead, he has the blessed fortune to be found by Annie Wilkes, one of his most devoted fans, an avid admirer of the Misery Chastain novels, and a reclusive-and deadly-psychopath.

Annie, a nurse by training, takes the author to her home, where she holds him captive for several months while he resurrects Misery Chastain, writing a new novel in the series for Annie Wilkes's private enjoyment. The Babylonian Captivity pales in comparison to the mental and physical tortures that author Paul Sheldon endures, and King keeps the reader turning the pages, wondering what cruel or grisly event will follow one of Annie's many mood changes. It is vintage Stephen King, one of his better efforts, a book that I highly recommend if you're a King fan and, if your not, a good place to get some insight into King's imagination and skill as a story teller. It is also an interesting book for many other reasons, not the least of which are the way in which the plot of his novel is a kind of horror-writer's take on the relationship between author and editor, as well as between author and reader (Annie Wilkes, his mentally deranged, sadistic fan becoming not only his reader, but also his editor-in-captivity), the way in which an author who may have more serious literary aspirations can become captive to a reading public that becomes enthralled with his commercially-motivated work, and the way in which "Misery," as well as several other works written around this same period, embody things going on in King's own life (see, in this regard, his autobiographical piece in his book, "On Writing").

While "Misery" may not be a great work of literature by highbrow standards, it is a great piece of storytelling by an author who is, perhaps, America's foremost popular, contemporary storyteller. For that reason, if no other, it's worth putting everything aside for awhile and just reading.

Well, back when "Misery" was first published, I had no interest in it at all. I was more of a fan of King's horror/ghostie stuff, and the premise when described to me (I was all of 15 at the time) sounded like a major snooze. I finally got around to reading this book last week, and I have to say, "Misery" is probably King's equivalent of Shakespeare's famous tragedy that begins with "M" whose full name we dare not invoke due to the curse. "Misery" is lean, yet muscular. It is a book with tunnel vision, it does not digress from the major plot, but rather keeps the reader staring straight ahead and biting their nails. Annie Wilkes has to be King's most monstrous (yet ironically, literally the "least" monstrous) creation he ever dared breathe life into. As such, after a while the reader, like Paul Sheldon wants to take Noveril to take us out of the realm of Annie, yet unlike Paul, we just can't WAIT to see what Annie will do next. King replicates the formula of "person trapped in a small space trying to escape" in other books (most notable in Gerald's Game) but this is truly his finest hour at getting the reader into Paul's head, and feeling his pain (and as I said before, his drugged bliss on Noveril). I even give credit to King for making us just as excited as Annie to see how Paul will resolve bringing Misery back from the dead. It's in the story within the story that shows that King is a master of his game, deftly parodying the gothic romance drama, while at the same time, presenting it in a very straightfaced manner. This is definitely the book that I would say defines King and his body of work. And the fact that it's a not so gentle look at the limits of fandom that make this a book that you won't put down.

This book was amazing. Again King as in Firestarter veers away from his typical horror/supernatural story lines.

Paul Sheldon a writer is in an accident and rescued from freezing by what at first appears to be a sweet ex-nurse named Annie Wilkes.

While recovering at Annie's home because the phones are supposed to be out, his latest Misery Chastain novel hits the shelfs. Annie reads this and decides that Paul must write another and bring Annie back from the grave.

This is a gripping book that you will find hard to put down. King does a great job at making the characters so real. When she chops off one of Paul's feet with an axe and then cauterizes it with a blow torch will make you get chills up your back.

If you ever see the movie, Katheryn Bates portrays Annie just as I pictured when reading this book. And much like Jack Nicholson in The Shining with the famous line "Here's Johnny', the same holds true with Annie and "I'm your number one fan".

This is definately a great read. One afternoon is all it will take.

I will say this first; I am not an avid Stephen King reader. In fact this is the first Stephen King novel I have ever read. I've never found books to be scary and thus found myself turned off to the idea of horror fiction. I know that King has been lauded as the master of horror and so I guess I figured if I ever were to find myself frightened by a novel it would surely come from him, but since I'm not really interested in tales of the paranormal kind I've avoided his books up until now. Now I've loved the film `Misery' for some time now and with the recent release of the special edition DVD I've been thinking a lot more of it so I decided to search out the novel and give it a go. What I found was far more disturbing and haunting then I had initially anticipated. The movie in all respects it horrific and brilliantly done, but this novel is leagues above it, even more terrifying and will surely bring chills to the very depths of your soul.

There are scenes within this novel that will outright horrify you.

Paul Sheldon is a famous writer who has been made famous by his character Misery, a young girl who has stolen the hearts of Sheldon's devoted readers. Misery has also stolen the life right out from Paul. He loathes her and longs to be free of her hold on him and so he kills her. This decision could not have come at a worse time.

The novel opens with Paul in the care of his number one fan Annie Wilkes. She's eccentric, neurotic and quite frankly, insane. Paul had been in a car wreck while driving home from finishing his latest novel, a departure, drastic departure from his Misery series. Annie happened to find him trapped beneath his car on the side of the road and took it upon herself to rescue him. Upon realizing who he was, her all time favorite writer in the world, she took it upon herself to hold him hostage. When crazy Annie finds out what Paul has done to her beloved Misery she takes matters into her own hands to resurrect her from the dead. What follows is one of the most bone chilling accounts ever put to paper.

Some have claimed that Annie Wilkes is King's most terrifying villain and while I have not read any of his other novels to compare I can honestly say that she scared me to death. While reading this novel (purposely at night while my wife and child slept in order to get the optimum scare capacity) I found myself checking the hallways, staring at my bedroom door as if to find someone standing there, shaking as I read and many other symptoms of fear that I'm not too used to.

When you think about the concept surrounding `Misery' and the situation that is presented it truly is one of the scariest situations one could find themselves. Your legs are shattered, your body is in excruciating pain, you're addicted to pain killers that only Annie can supply, you're bed ridden and completely dependant on a woman who locks you in your room and withholds medicine you need and resorts to removing you're limbs as punishment for making her angry. Quite honestly you know you have no hope of survival. She is going to kill you and there is really nothing you can do about it. She's crazy and she loves you and she'll never let you go.

If you are a fan of the film (who isn't) then you must read this novel for it will push you further than the film had and take you somewhere (as demented as it is) every fan of this genre needs to go. I for one will definitely read more from this master of horror for his writing style is addictive and his descriptive manner so effective the reader will easily find the hole within the paper and fall right in.

If you want to get scared then this is the novel for you.

9.0 STARS OUT OF 10

INTENSE!
A PAGE TURNER!
A BOOK THAT KEEPS YOU ON THE EDGE OF YOUR SEAT!
SCARY!

These are the quotes you see on EVERY single book you read these days whether it is King, Koontz, or Pee Wee Herman's autobiography. Very few books actually live up to those words and phrases though. Misery is one those novels. For me to read a book in two days is a phenomonon. Not because I'm an "ijit", but simply because I don't have the time to kick back and read like I used to. Misery made me find the time though.

Writer Paul Sheldon gets caught in a blizzard and winds up in a brutal car accident. He shatters both of his legs, and probably would have died except for the fact that he was rescued by a woman named Annie Wilkes. A woman who loved his writing and in her words was his "number 1 fan". Sounds like Paul got lucky, but Annie just happens to be a homicidal maniac.

This is a book of pure action from the first page to the last. It was written in a period when King was at his best. This book stands out though. At a time when it seemed all of his novels were gigantic, rambling, character driven, and epic(IT, Tommyknockers etc.), Misery was the opposite. This book is short and sweet and the perfect book for non-King fans to get into. This also is the perfect book for a King first timer to pop his or her cherry.

Highly recommended for all readers. If you're a King fan, what are you waiting for? If you're a non-King fan, swallow your pride and give this book a shot. You will not be dissapointed. If you are neutral on King and were interested in maybe giving one of his books a read, start with MISERY.

How would you react to watching, screaming, as a woman, who to you is unbreakable, forces an axe down onto the lower shin- and then as she removes the axe from your splintered bone, lifts it again, brings it down into the gaping wound left behind from the last blow- effectively severing your foot at the ankle?

My my, that's an ooby lot of pain.

Call me sick, but I loved this book. Misery is a King classic- psychotic, violent, complex, symbolic and affecting.

In some parts, the sheer weight of Annie's insanity renders this book also very humourous, in a macabre sort of way.

Misery is also claustrophobic. We are witness to the goings-on inside the mind of a captive man- write Paul Sheldon, who must write his way out of his own misery. He must resurrect Misery, the heroine whom he despises as a 'lessor' star of a 'lessor' series of books. Paul does not want to bring her back, but he must, if he wants to escape Annie's depressive/schizophrenic whirly-wind.

Buy this. Borrow it too. Read it, and you'll know what goes through King's mind everytime he sits down to write. Poor man. Lucky us.

The story is great, I love Stephen King, but this digital copy is horrible. Its covered in typos end to end! Its unacceptable, if all these typos were in print, someone would be fired quick over it, why is it okay to have all these typos in the e version? If I had known the poor quality of this ebook I wouldn't have bought it, I wouldn't have even taken it for free.