Get Your Shorts in a Bunch discussion

This thread is now open for discussion. Please remember to mark all spoilers!

Story # 5, done.

I actually really love this story. It's a little bit confusing to listen to it, because you don't get that half of the story is the story being written unless you see it, but once you get past that, it's fantastic.

I love this clever little story, and I love when Neil does gothic. It's always so different.

What do you take from the story, Becky?
****SPOILER WARNING!!!****
I wasn't sure if our author was tired of writing scary supernatural gothic stuff, and so turned towards more mundane, toast making stories and when that change occured, HIS life became the gothic dreamscape he'd created, or whether his life was intertwined with Amelia's from the start. I have to say, this story was very beguiling to me. I'm not quite sure WHAT to make of it, and I bet you were a little confused by listening to it (I know I'd have been like 'Whaaa...what just happened???' LOL. I was just curious if anyone else had any interpretation of this particular piece....
~Teresa~

Teresa, It was confusing listening to this one the first time. This time, not so much, as I had the book to follow along in.

But here's what I get out of this one: (view spoiler)[The two alternating sections are the "real life" segment, with the main character, the writer, who lives in a gothic adventure romance type world, where crazy things are the norm; and then there's the story he's writing, (the bolded sections) about Amelia.

He's struggling to write literature depicting "real life", which for him is writing gothic stories. He wants to hold a mirror up to society and show what the world is like, to find meaning and substance in it, like some of the best writers are able to do. But he's failing and disappointed in himself, and his story just isn't living up to the expectations that he has for it.

He keeps trying though, getting more and more upset, until the Raven suggests writing what he LIKES, which is "fantasy". He balks at that, because he wants to be a literature author, but in the end, he gives it a try, which results in the story of Amelia and her husband having breakfast. He's starting to develop their characters, and personally, I loved that bit because character development is huge to me. I would actually love to read more of that story.

I love how this is a kind of alternate life story. It's holding a mirror up, but we're seeing the opposite world to our own, and someone struggling to make sense of it through his writing.

To me, Amelia's sections are just there to add weight to the gothic romance "real life" that the writer exists in and is trying to convey. They are fun, but to me, the only bit of HIS writing that really matters is the last one, where he finds his real interest and voice at last.

I really do love this story. (hide spoiler)]

WOW! That's a great interpretation, and it makes TOTAL sense. Thanks so much for that! (view spoiler)[I knew the writer was writing the bolded parts as his 'story' or novel or whatever, but I had a hard time with his 'world.' I guess I'm too grounded in reality to even think of someone living in an alternate realm. I was thinking that he (the writer) was in our world and what he was writing was converging into his 'real' life. Your interpretation makes much more sense! (hide spoiler)]
~Teresa~

I dunno, I like your idea as well! (view spoiler)[I like the idea of a writer's story blossoming to life around them. Stephen King has touched on that kind of thing before in his writing, though in a bit of a different way- in which an artist is able to draw things into being, or erase them away. But writing strikes me as much more dangerous and exciting, because art is a picture in your head.. a story can go anywhere and become anything... (hide spoiler)]

So true...
A little off topic here, but if you were to recommend a newbie to King, what would be the first book you'd think they should read? I'd like to read something by him, but it seems like all his books have been made into movies and I've seen them all. I had to read 'Salem's Lot for a class, but I don't really count 'required' reading.
~Teresa~

Well, the movies based on King's books don't really do them justice. Really the only one that comes close is The Green Mile, but even then, the book is far better. The Shining is my favorite, and it's better than either of the movies based on it.

But if you want a rec for a book that HASN'T been adapted? I'd say Duma Key or 11/22/63. They're quite different from his earlier work (there's a distinct shift in his writing before 1999 when he was nearly killed, and after). Those are two of my favorites, and I highly recommend them.

I'd say go for Duma if you're looking for something creepy, or 11/22/63 if not. Both have strong fantasy elements and amazing character development, which is one of King's talents.