Customer Reviews

Thinner

5 star:		(46)
4 star:		(61)
3 star:		(28)
2 star:		(18)
1 star:		(13)

 

 

I liked this book. A lot. Stephen King is good at writing lengthy novels that don't really scare, but make you think "Hey, that was pretty damn cool". This book isn't very long; but that seems to be of little importance. The fact is that of all the books Stephen King has written, this is the one with the scariest ending. Gypsy curses and the overall moral message of the book "You Are Responsible For Your Actions!" all come to a nice crescendo. An actual feeling of horror (ok, maybe not horror but a feeling of unease) sticks with you after you read the book. There is actual impact in retrospect of this book. It will bother you (provided you possess a soul). By the way, DO NOT SEE THE MOVIE FIRST!!!! It will ruin the book. Read the book first, then watch the horrible movie. If not for anything other than the small part the author plays.

I just finished listening to this audiobook, and I really don't know where AudioFile gets off slamming Joe Mantegna's performance. He did a wonderful job with the different character's voices, especially the old gypsy and mobster. His performance certainly kept me entertained while commuting to and from work.

Stephen King also did an admirable job, and I enjoyed the book a lot. It has its warts, but overall it was a clever parable about revenge and indulgence. There was really only one scene that gave me an, "Oh, come on!" reaction, and that was when the main character conveniently encounters the retiree in the bar who tells him the anecdote about the gypsies. What were the chances that in such a crazily crowded resort town that Billy would run into this guy? Kind of thin, I would say. The ending of the story was also a bit predictable, and I think King relied way too heavily on dream sequences as a plotting device.

But still, it was a pretty good book. I particularly admired King's invention of the Italian mobster character as a way to escalate the story's conflict without exacting a price against our sympathy for the main character. If it had been Billy Halleck committing all those deeds--poisoning dogs, shooting cars full of holes, and threatening to kill pretty young women--then we would've liked him a lot less. But by assigning those actions to a secondary character who reacts to these events with shock and abhorrence, the story could advance and leave our sympathy for the main character intact.

Even then, those clever mechanisms of characterization weren't enough for me to completely like Billy Halleck. From the beginning, he was a repellant character: an overweight lawyer who, through his town's good ole boy network, escaped a vehicular manslaughter conviction. That's a tall deck to stack against your own protagonist at the beginning of a story and still hope to generate reader sympathy. And yet King still managed to make me like Billy, somewhat, through most of the book.

The only other thing I have to say is that I wish the character of the young, pretty gypsy girl hadn't just dropped off the map towards the end of the story. Yes, she served her purpose well, but there was such a great setup about her that I wish she could have taken a more meaningful role towards the end.

Of the five books that Stephen King published under the pen name of Richard Bachman, three of them involved making the numbers of the chapters part of the story. In "The Running Man" there was a countdown as the game progressed while in "The Long Walk" the miles added up. In "Thinner" each chapter gives us the weight of the protagnoist, Billy Halleck, as it plummets relentlessly down. As with his classic short story about smoking, "Quitters, Inc.," King took an American obsession and turned it into a nightmare come true. The cataylst for Billy's weight loss is that old chesnut, the gypsy curse. While driving one night Billy is, uh, distracted by his wife and runs down the elderly daughter of Tadzu Lempke, the leader of a band of gypsies who have invaded the town. Billy is a lawyer and his friends, the judge and police chief, make sure the woman's death is ruled an accident. But before Billy can celebrate, Tadzu touches him and utters the one word curse: "Thinner."

What makes "Thinner" the best of the Bachman books is that King works a whole bunch of other elements into the story. Unlike his earlier Bachman efforts with tended to be one note (e.g., walk till you drop), "Thinner" pours on the fun. Billy's family and doctors are overjoyed by his weight loss at first, but then it continues at an alarming rate, even as Billy spends all of his time eating everyting in site. They insist it is a psychological problem, or perhaps physiological, but a gypsy curse is beyond their ability to believe. Not so for Richie Ginelli, a mobster who is one of Billy's most grateful clients. Ginelli is old school and his mother knows about gypsy curses, so Richie is more than willing to fight fire with fire. Tadzu curses Billy. In an act of desperation Billy proclaims the Curse of the White Man from Town. Richie does everything he can to make that curse come true in an effort to force the old man to "take it off."

That campaign is what elevates "Thinner" above the rest of the Bachman books. In the world of Stephen King fighting back is always the most difficult part of the equation and I like the fact that this time around the effort is grounded in the real world. The gypsies have curses but Richie has automatic weaponry and a cunning honed in the underworld. The end result is that as you read "Thinner" you become open to the possibility that Billy might get out of this one alive, if only they can stop Tadzu's granddaughter Gina with her slingshot and ball bearings. There are other complications in Billy's life that add to the fun of the denoument, such as whatever is going on between Billy's wife and his doctor, so that once King gets the ball rolling it keeps picking up speed as it goes down that hill. We are not talking great fiction here, just a story that gives you second thoughts over every trying another diet.

THINNER, which was originally written in 1984, is a very effective novel. I've read most of King's books, and I would place this one in the top half. This book isn't necessarily horrific or scary, but it's pretty suspenseful. Unlike some of King's later books, this novel is short and tightly written, and it kept me interested until the very end.

This novel deals with a overweight lawyer who is rapidly growing thinner, due to a curse inflicted upon him by gypsies. THINNER is unique in the sense that the main character is not a particularly heroic person, and in many ways is trying to escape responsibility for his own actions. This may turn off some readers, but I enjoyed this story's moral complexity. The ending of THINNER won't please everyone, but I felt it was appropriate and consistent with the overall point of the storyline.

This novel isn't a classic, but it's a solid effort by one of the best genre writers around. Highly recommended for King fans.

I have to confess that I rarely EVER read Stephen King novels or watch his movies. I am a big fan and think he is one of the most (disturbingly) creative authors out there. But frankly, his movies and books scare the bejesus out of me! I NEVER forget his terrifying plots!

When he first started with movies like Christine and the book "Thinner" - he was a little tamer,I believe. I couldn't pass up the premise of this book and its title, so steeled myself for the nightmares.

I found "Thinner" to be thoroughly captivating! The ironic ending reminded me of O'Henry's short stories and I believe that most readers (even those who don't typically read King) will totally be immersed in this great tale.

This is not the best or worst from Stephen King based on the novels of his that I've read. The idea is great and the story has an evil undercurrent running through it which is a trademark of Kings.

The basic story is how lawyer Billy Halleck and two others from his town cross a gypsy elder who then lays a different curse on each of them. Billy's curse is that he just keeps getting thinner, regardless of what he eats, every day he loses a few more pounds. The two other townsfolk have horrid curses inflicted on them, I don't want to give too much away but the reason for the skin disease is a bit confusing to me.

The curses themselves are absolutely disgusting and if King's idea was to make me feel a bit ill, it worked. Only thing is that it detracts from the enjoyment of the book. I prefer the scary approach to his novels. He also has a tendency to paint his main characters with flaws that leave you unsure as to whether you should hope they get out of the predicament or are happy for them to meet the fate they deserve. Once you meet the gypsies and find they are just as despicable as the cursed characters the book just becomes a race to the end to find out what happens. You don't end up barracking for anyone.

One character I did enjoy was the Ginelli, the New York mobster who comes to save Billy. He has an honesty that the other characters seem to lack but his motivation for getting involved in the situation as deeply as he does is unclear, and his fate is predictable.

Plenty of shocks and horror but it appears to be one that was done with less care than many of his others. However it is comparitvely short so if you are a fan and don't want to commit to one of his lengthy efforts then this is worth a try.

I really enjoyed Thinner. I read it during Halloween for book club. We each chose a Steven King book, and this is the one that I chose. I had seen the movie, so I wanted to read the book. I think the book is a lot better than the movie. I enjoyed this book because of all the taboo things that occurs to the main character. I loved the aspect of the gypsies and this big curse that the main character was dealing with. The idea of how they were going to remove the curse opened a whole new can of worms. I was very interested, and glad to obtain more details about the story from the book than what I got from the movie! I loved the characters in this book, and it was interesting to see how the curse played a key role in their lives as well. Great book!

The thing that has always impressed me about Stephen King has been his flourid imagination...how does he think of things like a rabid dog holding a family hostage (Cujo) or a haunted car (Christine)? With "Thinner", the demented King imagination is again at full throttle as he conjurs up a story of what it would be like if an overweight man were cursed with losing weight at an alarming rate...can he find the answer to reverse it or will he waste away? This is the essence of this work...not classicly written, but still a page turner because the story is so well conceived.

As with all Stephen King books, this story flows along at a rapid pace as we find Billy Halleck, a mundane Connecticut lawyer losing an abundance of weight after his trial for hitting and killing a gypsy woman is over. The only reasoning for this weight loss that Halleck can determine is the actions of the gypsy lady's father who rubbed Halleck's face and whispered the word "thinner" in his ear at the end of the trial as he moved on. When the weight loss becomes alarming, Billy decides that the curse is true and decides to confront the gypsy and get him to remove the curse...the resultant chase and ending becomes more a mind game as opposed to a physically morbid tale. The ending is surprising and "classic" Stephen King...as in most of King's work, the least suspected outcome is the one that ensues and leaves the reader a little amazed.

An easy read that goes fairly quickly, this is a perfect summer light read that most fans of psychological thrillers should enjoy.

Stephen King, writing as Richard Bachman, may have released this novel under a pseudonym for good reason. While King's work is never terrible, THINNER certainly isn't his best. Nonetheless, it is worth a read - but only for a true King fan. I don't think I'm a loyal King fan yet, but with works like THE STAND and PET SEMATARY, I think I am well on my way.

THINNER is about an overweight lawyer named William Halleck. Despite the fact his doctor has warned him he's nearing heart attack territory, other aspects of life are better. He's got a good job and earns a living that is more than adaquete. He has a wonderful wife and despite the fact he's a big guy, the two of them have an active sex life. Billy also has a 14 year-old daughter named Linda with whom he is quite close. Besides the weight issue, life is just peachy for Billy Halleck.

Until the gypsy's curse. He accidentally hits and kills the 75 year-old gypsy daughter and her family, including her 106 year-old father, yearn for revenge. So now, Billy is losing weight at a drastically alarming rate of about 9 or more pounds a week. He's being erased off the face of the earth, pound by pound. If he enlists the help of friend and Three Brothers restaurant owner Ginelli, will the livid, vengeance-seeking gyspsies surrender and remove their curse? Or will Billy eventually waste away to nothing but skin and bones?

Eh. I read on and found out. But if I hadn't, the suspense wouldn't have killed me, if you get the gist of what I'm saying.

"THINNER" is not as remarkable as other reads by King - and not nearly as memorable. Usually, his novels boast well-developed characters and an exhilarating plot filled with twists and turns. With the exception of the ending, I found this book to be more predictable than his others.

Whatever. You can't expect the man to churn out continuous hit after hit, can you?

Stephen King's "Thinner" is a heart-pounding thriller that will keep you awake until late hours of the night. Stephen King, the author of "The Shining" and "Carrie", has constructed an excellent piece of literature. After reading the last page of "Thinner", you'll be left wondering just how close your family ties are.

The main character of "Thinner" is Billy Halleck, a largely overweight lawyer. He has a wife, Heidi, and a daughter named Linda. They enjoy a peaceful suburban life . That is, until the night Billy hits the old gypsy woman with his car. From here on, Billy will continue to lose a tremendous, not to mention dangerous, amount of weight. Billy, with the help of his mob friend, attempts to chase down the solution to his problem. The book closes with a multitude of surprising plot twists. As the pages turn, the excitement grows.

While "Thinner" is a great read, no book is without its flaws. Some of the chapters were repititious, sometimes repeating the same type of occurances. Some of the others, on the other hand, tended to be a bit boring and drawn out.

Even with its flaws, "Thinner" is an excellent novel for any thrill-seeking readers. Stephen King did not rest with this one, it was highly entertaining and well-written.