Not his best work.
Not his worst work.
Bool
Not his best work.
Not his worst work.
Bool
All that's left of what we were is what we have become.
I think this is one of his most unique, well written and well edited books, ever.
Alot of his books have something we've read or seen before just re-worked through the King eye but I find the section of Boo-ya moon to be very orginal.
Granted most of the book is a little slow and the stalker guy is kind of pointless but the husband's background and the boo-ya moon stuff is amazing.
It's also a great love story and as with most of his best work is quite sad.
It's definitley a top 5 novel for me by SK.
MW that reads the book is fantastic in the audio version.
If you don't like it, you don't like it. You can't help that. I wish I knew what I could say to help you to enjoy it more, but I don't. I know the manner Lisey talked turned some people off as they saw her as a silly character. I found her to be interesting and a little conservative, but realistic. I thought she conveyed the loss of her husband very well from the way she dealt with his office and even to her tasting the ancient piece of their wedding cake. Things like that make some people say who in their right mind would do that, but I respond that this was an action done by someone who absently wanted that connection to the person who mattered most in their life but had been removed their life forever. Small things like that actually hit very hard for me (partly because in the back of my mind I wonder how long it will be before I'm doing things like that, but that's for a different day) and show me just where King's thoughts really were after he was struck by that van. This really is one of his most subtle and powerful stories, but it's the little things in the story that show that, not the major plot itself.
Margaret Emmie Mackey Catoe, you are, have been, and always will be my soulmate, and I love you.
Con todo mi corazon, por todo de mis dias. And I always will, in this life and into the next.
August 2, 1947 - September 24, 2010
Note: Sam's post right above has been copied here from The 2010 Reader Awards, where it was addressed to bears
Ask not what bears can do for you, but what you can do for bears. (razz)
When one is in agreement with bears one is always correct. (mae)
bears are back!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
BIG BUMP (spoilers too) - can anyone help me in locating the exact spot where Lisey is in the pool and sees the figure that may or may not be Scott himself? That's always been one of my favourite passages, and always genuinely spooked me, but I've been flipping through the book for an hour now and can't find it!
Also, does anyone else have trouble with pronouncing it Lee-see? Since the day I picked the book up the first time, it's rhymed with icy, and I can't change that...
Author of The Road to the Dark Tower, Stephen King: A Complete Exploration of His Work, Life, and Influences and The Dark Tower Companion. Co-editor with Stephen King of the anthology Flight or Fright.
I'm rereading Lisey's Story at the moment, and I don't know what's going on. I read it a couple of years ago, and I remember enjoying it, but I'm reading it now and barely remember any of it. This is very unusual for me, I tend to remember books, even if I've only read them once. But this is like reading a brand new book...
Um, I think I was pregnant when I read it the first time, but that doesn't explain it. I read other books I'd never read before then and I remember them. It's strange. But I'm intrigued by the book all the same. I only remember the very first bit, with Lisey in Scott's study, looking for the spade. Everything after that is like new to me.
I hope I like it as much as I think I did...
I'm thinking about reading it again after stumbling across this thread. I didn't overly enjoy it the first time. I certainly didn't hate it, but it didn't put me in a trance like a few of his favourites do. I'm just scrambling through Talisman/black house set again, then I might give Lisey another run.i will be interested to hear your thoughts on your own re read...interesting that you don't remember a great deal about it.
I'm one of the many people who put Lisey's Story down somewhere between 50 and 100 pages in because I found the language too dense.
I re-read it last year and absolutely loved it, in fact, I think the period during which we got Lisey's Story, 11/22/63, and Duma Key to Under the Dome to be one of Sai King's greatest period of writing (indeed, I'd put 11/22/63 and Duma Key in my Top 5 King novels).
Definitely worth a re-read if you suffered through the first read and didn't finish it.
I enjoyed it, but even right up to the end, still didn't remember anything of the actual story I know for certain I'd read before. Very strange indeed
I'm about 60 pages out from finishing my first read of Duma Key. Awesome, awesome story telling. I'd add it to my top 5 as well. I recall liking Lisey's Story when I read it but could tell you very little about the story now. Probably one I won't revisit.
Lisey's Story was one I struggled to read the first time, although I did finish it. I picked it up for a reread and couldn't do it. My least favorite of all King's works.
John
That's Revival for me. I know a lot of people like it but it never sank in while I was reading it. Strongly disliked the final showdown if you will.
Thinner was my first read of King but I didn't know it at the time as it was loaned to me by a girlfriend who revealed later to me that it was King. Good thing I really enjoyed. Would have missed out on a lot!
I barely made it through Lisey's Story the first time, and it took about 3 months, with about 7 or 8 books started and completed during the same period. I know I'd never make it through a reread. It is not my absolute least favorite, that position is reserved for The Regulators, but it is #2.....from the bottom.
Sloth Love Chunk
I remember I read the book when it first came out, and I really struggled with it. I just found it to be very slow and boring. Almost quit numerous times but persevered because it was King. Yet when I got to the end, I was thoroughly disappointed and thought it was a huge waste of time. And since then I've been saying how much I hated it.
Well I just listened to the audiobook, and dare I say that I actually enjoyed it a bit this time. It wasn't nearly as bad as I remembered it being. I don't know if it's that I listened to the audiobook so it was much faster to get through this time versus reading the book. And it was narrated by Mare Winningham who did a fantastic job. I actually really enjoyed the portions of the book about Scott's family and Boo'ya Moon. I wish the whole book was about his childhood and how he grew up in this very dysfunctional family. I think I would have enjoyed that immensely more. The parts with Lisey were still a little bit tedious though. And the language was very annoying. But I was pleasantly surprised that I enjoyed it more this time around.
Only the gentle are ever really strong.
I believe I only have about 125 pages left. Really good book!
Loved this book! The story isn't the strongest but it's the relationship between a wife and dead husband that captivated me... Boo ya is unlike any place SK has imagined before, but would love to visit for a while. The back story of his childhood and smucking father was brilliant and would make a novel in its own right, filling in blanks like his mother?! For me it was one of his best totally loved it...
The Losers Club Podcast episode on the novel:
https://shows.acast.com/losersclub/e...n-liseys-story