Customer Reviews

The Tommyknockers (Turtleback School & Library Binding Edition)

5 star:		(75)
4 star:		(44)
3 star:		(37)
2 star:		(22)
1 star:		(21)

 

 

Okay, to be honest, the book gets gripping after one slogs through the first 200 pages. Before that, we spend a looong time getting to know Bobbi Anderson and Jim Gardener. But once the book expands its narrative to include the members of the entire town of Haven, the book does not let up.

The first two hundred pages, and a bit too much techno jargon prevent me from fully bestowing this book with a full 5 stars. King has clearly done his homework on this book, but after a while, all the descriptions of the souped up gadgets made my eyes swim (much as Tolkien's endless landscape descriptions in "Lord of the Rings" made me wish good old John Ronald Reuel had pioneered the minimalist writing style.)

The Tommyknockers, while not my favorite King novel, is a great effort. people may complain about an anti-climactic ending (They must have read the ending to a different book, the climax I read was rather exciting)or the fact that the characters seem to stumble down a path of destruction. Well, that happens in life as well. I think King's writing is at the top of its form... I think the scene when Jim Gardener drunkenly ruins an all too polite cocktail party with a rant against the destructive powers of nuclear energy is one of the most powerful scenes in all of King's canon, and one of the most chilling without benefit of any super- or preter- natural interference. Despite all of the evil the characters in his novels have faced (indeed, Pennywise the clown makes a brief appearance in a city sewer, which is odd as this tale is to have taken place 3 years after the events in IT... one thinks King's editors add the dates of the events of his novels to coincide with the publication dates and not to correspond with when the novels were actually written. We also encounter a minor character from the Dead Zone, and "blink and you'll miss them" references to "Firestarter" and "Salem's Lot.") the novel makes it explicit that the things that men do in the name of scientific progress can be equally as terrifying as a young girl posessed of psionic abilities. True, the analogy between nuclear power and the Tommyknockers polluting the air is about as subtle as Annie Wilkes expressing discontent, but hey, it was written in the 80's, but it loses none of its power. (No pun intended).

This is a very good book, probably one of the most down to earth (again, no pun intended) science fiction/horror tales around. And that's the good thing about King... he writes wonderfully engrossing tales that are accessible to everyone. And that, to quote Martha, is a good thing.

I am about the same age as Stephen King and have read his works throughout my adult life. I think most readers are too young to appreciate this book.
Stephen King's early works, assembelled in chronological order, are all symbolic stories of stages in his own life. "Carrie" is about high school, "Salem's Lot" about love and loss in early adulthood, "The Shining" about the anxieties of fatherhood. "It" is about the reworking of childhood issues in mid-life. All great fiction talks to us on a subconcious level.

"Tommy Knockers" is about aging and death. Time possesses and mutates all of us, makes our teeth and hair fall out, truncates our dreams, makes us unrecognizable from our youthful selves. This is a sad book, and unlike King's earlier works the protagonists have no power to fight such an enemy. Affirming the value of love, however futile, in the face of death is the point of the book.

The tommyknockers, by Stephen King clocks in at over 700 page's in paperback. It is a story that when broken down, looks like something we've seen before. However that is the gift Stephen brings us with his style of writing; The ability to make something ordinary extraordinary.

The Base: Tommyknockers is about a U.F.O. found buried in the woods of maine by an author named Bobbi. She starts digging at it, and keeps digging...and digging. Her friend Gard show's up, he's a poet, on his last dime, mile, and so forth. Together they continue to work to unearth the object they have found in the ground...

The Plot: Soon things start changing in Haven, the town nearby...people begin inventing things that require batteries...a little boy named Hilly disappears...and suddenly Gard realizes he really is all alone in the world...or at least in Haven.

Character Development: Superb. King's main character's in this lil adventure are Gard and Bobbi, however, we are virtually introduced to nearly the entire town of Haven! Each citizen play's a distinct role...and as the day's go by, the inventions get greater, the people get weirder, and more is unearthed of the ship in the woods...

Mood and Atmosphere: It's not hard to imagine yourself in the shoes of the characters in the book, including the Tommyknockers, which is the name from an old nursery ryhme given to the alien or aliens that crashed or planted the ship on Earth. Haven is all-town America, where apple pie, Chevy Pickup's, and the occasional U.F.O. sighting occurs.

Personal comments: I liked the book. At first you feel like you're slogging through a bit because you're saturated with different characters, like "The Stand", however something interesting is always taking place, and also taking you further into the meat of the story. What is in the woods? Who are the Tommyknockers? Why is everyone's teeth falling out? And where did Hilly Brown go? King's ability to take a basic plot of an alien spacecraft buried on earth and shower it with unique idea's, intricate dialogue, and fearsome, all out painful scenario's is superb. This is a large story, as it really does in a sense, deal with the entire earth (in broad perspective) and not just some town's in Maine like Haven. In the end you'll be on the edge of you're seat...you'll gain new friends back, and lose some old one's, all the while wondering...just where at underfoot the Tommyknockers might be.

NOTE: The title comes from of course, a song sang during an ironic scene in the book. King is able to take Epic, sweeping stories and entertwine them with the everyday thing's we see, hear, smell, taste, or touch in our live's. I also grinned when noticing some, oh, familiar ideas abound that reminded me of other King stories like "IT" and "Maximum Overdrive".

When rating a book like this, I take it for what it is, not for what I want it to be, which in some people's case is never what it is. Instead of comparing it to every other King story, I judged it solely as a book called the Tommyknockers...and as much as I enjoyed it, I'd say this book indeed stands alone.

The Tommyknockers is not your typical horror novel. Stephen King goes above and beyond our expectations, bringing us mystery, suspense, and an incredible twist at the end that leaves us begging for more. You'll never look at small towns the same after visiting the seemingly innocent community of Haven, Maine, where the story takes place. The superhuman powers and horror that follows after Bobbi Andersons shocking discovery on her property will keep you on the edge of your seat throughout the entire novel. Though the length of the book may seem intimidating at first, do not be deterred; it's an easy read, a constant page turner, and worth every minute! Much like the outsiders around the town of Haven, once you get in to explore the Tommyknockers, there will be no turning back.

The start of Stephen King's 1987 novel "The Tommyknockers" has always reminded me of the set up of one of my all-time favorite science fiction-horror films, "5 Million Years to Earth" (a.k.a. "Quatermass and the Pit" in the U.K.). A writer named Roberta Anderson, living on the outskirts of the small town of Haven, Maine, is out looking for firewood in the forest behind her house when she stumbles over three inches of metal. She assumes that she has stumbled over a beer can left behind by a logger, but instead she discovers the metal was solid. What she has found is a space ship, buried in the earth for millions of years, but still vibrating faintly. So, Bobbi begins to dig the giant craft out of the earth by herself, soon to be joined by her friend and former lover Jim Gardener, and by the strange advanced technology that they are suddenly inspired to create. But as they uncover more of the ship Bobbi and Jim, as well as the rest of the citizens of Haven, all start to change.

Up to that point "The Tommyknockers" is pretty good and I have to admit that I thought the idea of alien technology working into the ancient rubric that there are some things human beings were not meant to tamper with was enough to sustain the story. But instead we are treated to a malevolent presence that has evil designs on the citizen of Haven and that seemed to me like overkill. Add to that the fact the two main characters are writers (King dedicates the novel to his wife Tabitha, who is also a novelist), and "The Tommyknockers" becomes a bit too self referential for me as does the whole subplot about Gardener's writer's block. This novel represents the start of a period in King's writing where my recurring complaint was that the great set up never resulted in an ending that was equal to the task, although we do have a sort of reverse "deus ex machina" at the end of this one. But the discovery of the ship and the weird inventions people in Haven start putting together out of odds, ends and batteries is pretty good stuff.

I'm not renowned for reading a book twice. In fact it's a VERY rare habit based on the premise that, if I know what's going to happen, I won't enjoy it second time round. However, I made an exception with Tommyknockers because my memories of it had begun to fade. What I discovered on second reading was the depth of Stephen King's writing. Knowing the storyline and the ending probably gave me more time to savour the text and, though King is a genius commercial writer as opposed to a pretentious literary scribbler, there are phrases and structure in this book that evade all but the most accomplished authors. Let's ignore the story (there are plenty of reviews to tell you about that) and just concentrate on the writing. The hero is a troubled alcoholic poet, Jim Gardener, who comes to check on his friend Bobbi who, unknown to him, has uncovered a UFO. There's much in the character of Gardener that escapes through the line spacing first time round. His readings at poetry meetings suddenly take on a new meaning when you're not concerned about the 'plot'. Maybe King based his characterization on his own view of himself. If so, The Tommyknockers gives a real insight into 'The Master'. But then King has always been top of the tree when it comes to characterization, so maybe he just imagined it all in his head. If so, it's an even more remarkable feat. The Tommyknockers is amongst King's best works. If you've not already read it, add it to your shopping basket right now.

This was my first Stephen King book and, overall, I really liked it. The plot was very interesting even given that, from an initial standpoint, it is sort of hackneyed. But I have always been a sucker for the "insidious invasion" type scenarios. What really made me like it was the characterization that was done, particularly for good ol' Gardner. When you realize that the protagonists of the novel are filled with more shortcomings, in some ways, than the antagonists, you have a good love-hate thing going with the characters.

The "chinks in the armor" of this good story, however, start to show up for me near the end of the book where what is basically meant to be scary (or at least threatening in a sci-fi sort of way) almost turns into a bad B-movie set of props. However, by that time I was so hooked into the story that I pretty much took it all in stride. Overall, a very entertaining book with great characterization.

Who hasn't heard of Stephen King? Not many people right? But what do people think when you say his name? "Oh, he's just too scary for me!" An unfortunate misconception that keeps many hardcore book readers away from King's writings. So here is a story that isn't too scary that might interest people into checking out his work. It's a little sci-fi, a little horror, a little mystery all wrapped up in one big package! Stephen King is more of a writer of the sinister, the possibility of treachery and maddness in each of us. A true sense of horror, of that slight jolt of electricity that for a second makes you just want to drop the book, really wasn't present here. But there sure were some cool ideas! The way people pay for new found abilities with the blood of the not-so innocent was a somewhat humorous twist in this book (all though I did start to feel kinda weird at some of the stuff I found myself laughing at). That is one of Stephen King's greatest achievements in his writing, his ability to take something that in any real circumstance would be deemed a great and terrible misfortune and make his audience laugh (maybe more appropriate to say snicker, somewhat devilishly)at these unexpected turn of events! For the most part Mr. King doesn't fail to entertain his massively loyal audience, and The Tommyknockers is no exception. If you haven't read it yet and you are not particularly a Stephen King fan go check it out at your library, it can't hurt. If you do call yourself a Stephen King fan and you haven't read this book yet, well shame on you!

I love all of King's books and always get so involved in the stories and characters that I think about them long after I finish reading them, like they are real people. Jim Gardener, Bobby and especially her sister will stay on my mind for a long time. I'm not even sure why, but these people seemed more real than the ones I know in real life. The story enthralled me, even though I am not into anything si-fi or relating to outer space. But that is King for you. He will draw you in, no matter what the subject matter, and make you a believer. This is his best book, and I have read all his books. It doesn't get any better than this.

I am a big King fan, and have read many of his books. They are usually great but this is poor. Bobby Anderson, a quiet women living on a farm in the peaceful town of Haven, stumbles over an object in the woods. Curious, she begins to dig it up, and it begins to change a town of good-natured people into slave-like zombies. Stupidly overlong and sleep-inducingly dull at points, this ridiculous tale about (among other things) aliens, flying tractors, guns that warp people to other planets and battery powered water heaters is daft as hell. King normally gets around this problem by developing great characters, but the book skitters between them far too much to allow you to start caring about them. There are some compelling points (such as the first stages of the chaos that erupts in the town, and Gards first look at the inside of the shed) but they are quickly forgotten thanks to a silly, over-the-top sci-fi sequence or a dull sub-plot. Kings attempt at doing a dated 60's B-movie has not worked, and the result is a tedious read that pushes you through the pages more often than it sucks you in.