Book Review: Misery

Misery by Stephen King
Release Date: June 1987
Publisher:Viking (Penguin)
Audience: Adult
Pages: 320
Buy the Book: Amazon
Book Rating: 5/5









Day five of Stephen King week! Whoo!

*crickets*

Well...I suppose I will talk about another Stephen King novel. Misery is my favorite Stephen King novel. The novel follows successful author Paul Sheldon who, after finishing his last 'Misery' novel, wrecks his car in a snowstorm while drunk. Rescued by loner and former RN Annie Wilkes, Sheldon is taken to her house and slowly nursed back to health. However, he soon finds Wilkes is a huge fan of his books and that he is also, essentially, her prisoner. Finding out that Sheldon kills Misery in his last novel, she demands a new book bringing her back to life, on the threat of his. The book follows Sheldon as he writes the book and attempts to escape his insane fan.

When I say fan, I don't mean the stereotypical nerd, I mean a mentally unstable insane loony toon woman who locks him in a room forcing him to write a book on pain of physical mutilation. This book is extremely claustrophobic as Sheldon is stuck in a wheelchair because he broke both legs in the car crash. Further, he is stuck in a small bedroom in a house in the middle of the mountains during winter. This book is extremely atmospheric and suspenseful because you don't know what Wilkes will do next and part of the allure of this novel is slowly uncovering Wilkes past and psyche along with Sheldon. You are kept on the edge of your seat as Sheldon tries to escape during times when Wilkes goes to town and root for him as he tries subtle things to aid in his escape.

I suppose a bit of a bias review in that I really like this book and recommend it to anyone who likes Stephen King, suspense/horror novels in general, or just enjoy a good read late at night. The movie is also one of the top Stephen King film adaptations and I highly recommend that as well. If you have seen the movie, the book is still worth checking out as the movie doesn't take things as far as the novel does.

She later went on to sell office supplies at Sabre