Well then.
Despite not really caring for him, I've read a lot of his work. A part of me keeps hoping I'll find stuff I really like (and I have), but I'm usually disappointed.
Before I talk about Cujo specifically, I guess I'll address some of the reasons why I tend to dislike King's writing.
I have a problem with unsympathetic characters.
I find most of King's characters to be completely nasty and vile, and it makes it hard for me to read his stories. This is a basic complaint in the literary world. People want to cheer for the hero. Or for anyone. Maybe even the twisted anti-hero, or the villain. Just, somebody!
But King's characters are usually these mounds of farting, pissing, shitting, cursing flesh. (Typically his male characters, anyway.) And that's fine. People do fart and piss and shit and curse. So why not write about that? And in a way, it's kind of a relief - in books, writers tend to romanticize their characters to death (I'm glaring at you, Nicholas Sparks; you hack). You just start picturing these 60s-esque TV characters that couldn't be shown in bed together or weren't allowed to use a toilet. So, while it's fun to run from reality and picture a world where we all have our pinkies in the air 24-7, it's also nice to occasionally be reminded that we're only human, and we all have bodily functions.
King kind of takes it to the other extreme, though - the Sparks extreme. Instead of writing these fluffy and clean characters, almost ALL of King's characters are just these vile buckets of soul, I guess. They're so disgusting and terrible that I don't even want to be near them anymore.
And not only are they these vile people in their natural behaviours, but they're vile people in their hearts! Almost every story has a man that beats a woman or cheats or steals or kills. And I know he's a horror writer. I am FULLY aware of this. I don't expect his tales to be filled with unicorns and happy bouncing babies. But it's almost as if he's incapable of writing someone who is good. I'm not even asking for like, Superman-level goodness here. Just an okay kind of guy. And while this happens in his work, it's RARE. And in those rare instances, it's usually a child. (And while children are usually seen as these innocent beings, children can also be horrific. And I find it cliche of him to write the children as the good guys.)
One of my other problems with him is his within his actual writing style. He's in this weird level between Hemingway and a college student sometimes. And then other times, he writes beautiful sentences that portray the surroundings well. It's conflicting. The quality that we get from him isn't consistent.
You don't have to use a lot of beautiful words to write a beautiful story. But sometimes, it doesn't hurt.
For example: as I stated earlier, he often talks about bodily functions of people. But he'll say it as simply as "He farted". And I just... It does nothing for me. It's okay I guess, but there are so many other routes he could go with that. He could make farts a lot more eloquent. (But I guess that kind of takes away from the farts in the first place.)
The last and final problem that I'll poke at before I go into the actual review is this... Well, just watch the video.
Sometimes, King really reaches.
But rather than purely turn this into an entry where I complain about King, let's delve into this actual book review.
(Today's special guest - my Nook named Lucy.)
I started this entry in a kind of negative tone, but actually I started off this possible Stephen King marathon with one of his books that I actually generally like.
Warning: There are spoilers past this point. It's been out for over three decades, but god forbid.
Donna Trenton and her son Tad are going out to get their car fixed. You know, run-of-the-mill kind of chore. When they reach the home of the man who does their repairs, they're met with the sight of a rabid dog named Cujo. It's then that Donna's car finally chooses to die, and she's stuck in this car with her son while this nasty dog tries to kill them.
Oh, and did I mention there's a record-setting heatwave happening? And they're stuck in a CAR? And conveniently, everything falls into place perfectly so they're left stranded for days?
Yeah, not an ideal situation.
Since I started this entry on a rather negative foot, let's get all of it out of the way now and end it nicely, shall we?
I actually don't have many issues with Cujo. My biggest one seems kind of silly, actually.
While this seems like a simple "dog's gone rabid" kind of situation, King wants to make you doubt that. He talks of a man who went a bit postal before the Trentons moved to this town - a man named Frank Dodd, who murdered women and children.
Throughout the story, King keeps coming back to Dodd and linking him with Cujo. He gently implies, at times, that Dodd may be possessing Cujo through the rabies. I believe it's the sheriff named Bannerman who says something along the lines of "Was hell too hot for you, Dodd?".
And I just... Ugh. This IRKED me.
Personally, I find that the more realistic horror stories are the scarier ones. I tried to actually ignore these Dodd comments because I just wanted it to be a dog with rabies. Not a dog with rabies that was possessed by a dead killer through the rabies. There's something terrifying about this story because it could easily happen (although not as much nowadays because of how strict people are with vets and animals, but it could still occur). The heart of true terror comes from being able to imagine it happening to you, and I can't really picture some dead guy taking over my neighbour's dog before it goes insane and tries to kill me. I CAN, however, picture that same dog getting rabies and jumping over my fence and ripping my throat out.
You see what I mean?
The supernatural is nice, but once in a while you just have to let it go and face the fear. The real fear in real life. This could have potentially been a great story if he had eased it a bit with the Dodd references (although I think the idea of Tad overhearing the story of the Dodd murders and later imagining him in his closet was good).
My other problem with this story was that, yet again, I was left with a (mostly) unsympathetic character. I really didn't like Donna. I found her to be shallow and kind of idiotic and selfish. And I mean, some people are like that. But they're people I try to avoid in real life, as well as in literature. Maybe the presence of Tad was supposed to help, but it didn't really. (When she talked about how she slept with Steve Kemp because she was afraid, I was ready to throw a table. I couldn't handle how childish and stupid that sounded. You're afraid of getting old, basically? How vain are you? I don't want to be your friend or know you, go away.)
Now, with all of that out of the way, let's address what I liked about the book.
I liked that we finally had a sympathetic husband! Usually they're selfish or stupid or mean too, but poor Vic was actually fairly nice. I mean it's not like he was giving candy to babies on the street, but he was a sweet and simple guy. He didn't beat his wife or beat his kid, he actually took care of his kid, and he somehow didn't instantly leave his wife when he found out she had had an affair? I mean, go Vic.
I also really enjoyed the parts from Cujo's perspective. How he thought of THE MAN and THE WOMAN and THE BOY. It was almost a shame that he had to die, and that Donna was only able to see how "bad" he was. (I wasn't alive when this was first published, but I wonder if this book inspired people to distance themselves from Saint Bernards? You know, kind of like the Jaws effect?)
My favourite part of the book is also definitely the most morbid part - I liked that King killed off Tad. Not only was it realistic, but it just made the book really grim and you were left with this sadness at the end. He didn't cop out. (Although they copped out with the film, damn it. I was so angry! But I guess reading about a child dying from dehydration is easier than seeing it, so maybe I should let that go.) And I mean, let's be real. Even though I just talked about King's lack of realism at times, this was the one point where he really nailed it. There's no way Tad, a little four year old boy, would survive that. Maybe if he was older, sure. But not a little boy. And not when Donna was dumb enough to eat some of their rations early on because she didn't assume the worst, sigh.
I think I'm going to go on a Stephen King kick here and review all of his books, but we'll see what strikes my mood! I started The Shining (my other favourite book of his) and then who knows after that?
If you have any questions, comments, or suggestions about what I should read next, feel free to comment here or send me an email!
xo, Kate
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