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Review - Dreamcatcher
Mar. 17th, 2009 12:01 amDreamcatcher definitely isn't my favourite of Stephen King's novels, hell no. I mean, "shit weasels"? Really? But it is a pretty gripping read, even if it is a little reminiscent of It and something else I can't quite put my finger on. The first two hundred pages or so didn't encourage me much -- I mean, there was a lot of completely gross stuff. I don't exactly have the male fascination with bodily functions!
In terms of the basic plot, though, that's just "alien invasion". And I think it's handled okay here. Not that inventively, if you look at the components: parasites travel in the ships of older races, etc, that's Animorphs. Our world is inimical to them -- War of the Worlds. Etc, etc. But the way it's put together is interesting enough. This one's definitely thicker with description and plot complications than some, kind of like It in complexity I guess. There's a lot of dodging about through time in this one, as in It.
Character-wise, it was pretty interesting. I was sad that Pete, Beaver, Duddits and Owen died, and I was very, very glad that Henry and Jonesy somehow survived. I really didn't think they would. Kurtz is not the greatest villain character ever, though, I thought he was over the top self-indulgence. Having a character with Down's Syndrome in such a key role surprised me, and I liked the scenes of the boys' childhood with Duddits. I did believe in the bond between the boys.
Definitely not one for reread, I think, and not my recommendation for anyone starting out with King's stuff.
In terms of the basic plot, though, that's just "alien invasion". And I think it's handled okay here. Not that inventively, if you look at the components: parasites travel in the ships of older races, etc, that's Animorphs. Our world is inimical to them -- War of the Worlds. Etc, etc. But the way it's put together is interesting enough. This one's definitely thicker with description and plot complications than some, kind of like It in complexity I guess. There's a lot of dodging about through time in this one, as in It.
Character-wise, it was pretty interesting. I was sad that Pete, Beaver, Duddits and Owen died, and I was very, very glad that Henry and Jonesy somehow survived. I really didn't think they would. Kurtz is not the greatest villain character ever, though, I thought he was over the top self-indulgence. Having a character with Down's Syndrome in such a key role surprised me, and I liked the scenes of the boys' childhood with Duddits. I did believe in the bond between the boys.
Definitely not one for reread, I think, and not my recommendation for anyone starting out with King's stuff.
