Lisey's Story - Obsession or Escapism? (Lisey's Story - Stephen King)

Member Name: QueenElf

Product:	Lisey's Story - Stephen King
Date:	02/04/08 (132 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: It's King.

Disadvantages: I can't say.

Lisey's Story - Obsession or Escapism?
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I received this book as part of my recent birthday present from my daughter and son-in-law, who know my long-term love affair with King's books. I finished it three days ago and naturally was going to review it. Then I read the other reviews and I must admit that it knocked my confidence to even attempt to write a review. I'm in one of my depressive moods and that shakes my faith in my own writing. However, I thought about it and decided that someone has to stand up and fight in King's corner, even though it might be seen as a losing battle. King has taken some knocks lately, even I found his last book, Cell, a cop-out and I don't like that in my favourite authors. I put the book aside for a few days and thought about other things. But essentially I prefer to review books than anything else, so this is my two pennyworth for what it's worth.

In Lisey's Story, King returns to his usual style of writing that can be either very good, or long and boring. The plot is fairly basic, with overtones of various others of his stories. Why he does this is a matter of opinion. I've read other's views and will add mine later.

Dark Versus Light.
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This is how the blurb reads on the back of the book. Quote" Every marriage has two hearts, one light and one dark." Lisa Langdon, (called Lisey for short or long), is the widow of the famous writer, Scott, who has been dead now for two years. Scott had his dark side and Lisey was his light. For twenty-five years Scott managed to keep his dark side hidden from his fans, but now that he's dead there are people who want to dig into his private papers for their own reasons. It soon becomes clear that Lisey is going to have to draw on her own strength to survive the coming threats against her life and that of her sisters. In the words of her late-husband, she has to "Strap it on", in other words to get tough. Things are about to move into the realms of the bad, the "Bad-Gunky" as Scott used to call it. Lisey has problems already. Her dysfunctional family are about to go loop the loop when her older sister, Amanda, self-harms again, culminating in a catatonic state. Before the end, Lisey will go to hell and back to keep her sanity and her life.

Chapter Structure.
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Anyone who had read more than one of King's books will know that he tends to do what I've heard as "meandering." He rarely sticks to a linear story, instead events often unfold with the past and present mixed up. It can make reading hard, but at least he does make some effort in this story to categorise certain events under chapter headings. There are fifteen chapters in all and each varies in length, the sub-headings denoted by numbers alone. This does help a little, as the full story unfolds over the whole of the book. It's hard to explain, but part 1 can be in the present and part 2 can hark back to past events. It does annoy many people, but I find it builds the tension up nicely. I don't want to know the history of Scott or Lisey, before the bad man appears on the scene. (Quite early on in this book.) I want to experience the past as it becomes necessary to know, even if sometimes I want to jump ahead, I can't do so. Why I've added this paragraph is to help readers decide if they want to attempt the book, knowing that there is now some way to follow the story.

Characters.
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This is classic King at his best (or worse), depending on how you look at it. His characters are never straightforward, they either have extremely weird backgrounds, or they develop into rich variations of people as they interact with each other.
In this case Scott came from a very dysfunctional family, with some secrets that beggar belief. Brought up to look out for himself, except from when his older brother helped out, he survives beatings, mutilation and estrangement from a normal upbringing. Taught at home, he is able to escape his background by visiting another world, where he learns to adapt to a reasonably normal life. It's hard to explain Scott's character without going into the realms of what may have been fantasy and giving away a lot of the story.

Lisey is harder to pinpoint. At the start of the book she has been a widow for two years and has deliberately forgotten a lot of her life with Scott, remembering only the good times. She has to face up to some harsh realities very quickly though, as her mettle is tested almost straight away. Personally I thought her character was strong from the start, though she is supposed to find her extra strength as she faces some terrifying events. I adored her character, relating to her in more than name alone. (My close friends call me Lise.) I did wonder if King had based her character on that of his wife, but he denies this at the end of the book.
I loved the way she interacted with her family as well. Her own family of sisters are not exactly "normal" either.
Amanda, the sister who self-harms is bossy, difficult to live with and causes much of her own problems. The other sisters are much more superficial and don't have much impact on the other characters.
I emphasised with the character of Amanda (for reasons that I'd rather not say), found her very believable and one of a kind for King.
There are other characters that have some depth and importance to the story, but again, I'm wary of giving too much away.
King's keen eye for the pompous personalities has a field day in this book. There are some cameos with wonderfully appropriate names.
In the long run it's the interaction between characters that made the book for me. King talks about his wife's sisters at the end of the book. He calls it "doing the sister thing" and I know all about THAT!

Prose.
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Very few people love it, some people hate it. One thing you can't do is to ignore it. When he gets up a real head of steam he can knock the socks off any other writer. His descriptions sizzle with meaning, the colours leap off the page in a dazzle of glory and his made-up words become almost a new way of speaking. In fact, I don't give a smuck about what other people think. I LOVE his little asides, the way of pinning someone/something down with a quirky turn of phrase. I am taking the word SOWISA to heart, sorry but I can't explain that one, you'll have to read it for yourself. I recognise that these (nonsensical) Kingisms are words that that leave some readers cold. But aren't some just so appropriate? Remember the words "Dirty Birdie" in the book, Misery? Didn't that just suit the character of Annie to a T?


Summary.
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King has explored the author as a topic for books many times. His heroes are invariably writers or would-be writers. So is the writing "pool" that features in this book as an actual entity in a parallel world. This is not another "Dark Half" though. In fact I am sure that the character in that book was King's own alter-ego and nothing to do with his pen-name of Richard Bachman. It's no secret that he battled for many years against his addictions to booze, prescription drugs and depression. In fact I cried when I read parts of this book, especially about Lisey's sister Amanda. Self-harm, or mutilation is not something that many people understand. King handled this with immense compassion.
Mental health problems are extremely hard to diagnose and even harder to fight. There is a family tendency to inherit this kind of problem. Maybe you think that King has tackled this subject before now? I assure you that never has he put so much personal emotion into a story than he has in this one. However, the outcome is a tale of battling against all odds to overcome a family curse. That King makes this into a physical battle is his way of coping, perhaps. I can't allow myself to judge what I don't know.

In the end, Lisey's story is one of hope. The very real danger of a homicidal maniac out to kill her could easily be taken as a metaphor for drowning under the weight of combined grief and family problems. But the message here is one of redemption and a love so great that it can overcome anything. I'd like to believe in this, wouldn't you?
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My Book was part of a birthday present, so I think my daughter might have paid on a special deal for three books. The usual discounts apply for Amazon and can be bought from as little as £5.36 new. probably much cheaper on other sites. I tend to use Amazon as my yardstick as I do buy a few books and other things from their site.
As Always, thanks for reading, even if you don't agree with me.

©Lisa (Lise) Fuller. 2nd April 2008.

Summary: It's relevant...but would you believe it?