I make no bones about the fact that I am a massive Stephen King fan, so you won't be surprised to learn that I do eat up just about anything he writes - only one not read so far is Nightmares & Dreamscapes and I'll be taking that with me on holiday soon. So being an ardent and life-long fan of this author I suppose my reviews are a little prejudiced in favour of his writing. I like his writing style, I like the way he writes characters, I like the depth of story he gives us. I'm just saying this in advance of the review so that you know you're reading a biased review written by a devouted fan.
I have had this novel for a while, in hardback, bought when it first came out, and until now had avoided it like the plague because it was about - of all things - a car! I had visions of another 'Christine' - a much forgotten Stephen King novel and film about a possessed car, and it was awful, truly awful. So in fear of From A Buick 8 turning into another 'Christine' I avoided reading it, but I am glad that finally I overcame that fear and started to read it.
So this book is about a car, well yes
and no, there is a car, and a very strange one at that, but it's about much more than the car, it's about a group of characters who happen to be state troopers and their past and a young son coming to terms with his father's death.
As always King develops his characters gradually until you feel that you personally know them and can sort of anticipate what they're going to do next, he explores group dynamics and social interaction, and he tells us more about grief and loss than any counsellor can.
Okay, so the plot, as usual with my reviews I'm not going to go into the intracacies of the plot because there will be no need for you to read the book then, but the general gist of it is that a car is 'found' well mysteriously driven into a gas station and abandoned by it's owner, so the police get involved and have to take the car back to their station.
Strange occurences begin and continue with the car over many number of years. The book tells the story of Troop D (the state troopers) and it's fascination/fear of the Buick mainly from the point of view of one man in particular telling the tale of the car to the young son who's father's death on duty has left him grief-stricken. But others who work at the station and have history with the car take over the tale when appropriate.
So, you have Ned Wilcox, who's father was a state trooper working in Troop D who was killed on duty, and he is spending time with the state troopers of Troop D because he misses his father and feels close to the guys at the station because his father was very much a part of the family of Troop D.
And Sandy Dearborn starts to tell Ned the story of the car in Shed B and its history, and his father's part in the car's history especially.
As a basic plot premise it sounds a little bit flimsy, but there is so much more here than a tale about a strange car, there is the interaction of the family of Troop D, there's the coming-to-terms with of a father's sudden and seemingly pointless death, there's grief here, pain, loss, friendship and hope and a very strange car that gives birth to horrendous creatures and is almost like a gateway to another existence. And that's all I'm going to say about the plot.
The hardback edition is 404 pages long, which I think is a good length for this novel, I never got bored with it, I wanted to keep reading it. Whenever I finished one chapter I found it quite difficult not just to carry on and start on the next one, so it does draw the reader in and you do become engrossed in the tale.
Saying that I thought that the pace of the book was rather slow, in a good way though, it's a tale told in a steady, measured pace, because the story does span over many years. So I thought that the pace was a good style for the tale. And I enjoyed the intimacy of the older man Sandy, gently revealing more and more of the car's gruesome past to his audience.
The characters are as always, with King, expertly manufactured, they feel like real people, they behave like real people, they become your friends, I think that one thing I do enjoy about King's books, is that they are character driven and immensely well formed characters who are believable and real.
I finished reading this in a couple of days as I did find it difficult to stop reading at the end of a chapter. It was a pleasure to read, very easily digestible and strangely fascinating too.
Some parts of the story get a bit gruesome and there's sort of an underlying menace feel to the whole novel, rather than short sharp shocks of horror. But there are some startlingly gory scenes that do send shivers down the spine too.
I would certainly recommend this novel to both to ardent Stephen King fans and to those who aren't very familiar with his writing because I found it to be a fascinating read and as always expertly told.
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I have to get round to read one of King's books. I've heard so many good things about them, and I've seen some of films created from his books and they're pretty good too. However for now I'm sticking to my Hornby and Masterton books as I have a bunch that I wish to finish. Good review all the same :)
Beckim 20.08.2004 23:39
Fantastic review! You've got me interested in this one On the other hand, I just bought Christine (for about a 50p donation along with a couple of other King's from my hospital back home) because I started reading it many moons ago when I'd never tried Stephen King and hated it. But I'm going to give it another try anyway. I'm not sure how I will like that one, but this one sounds promising! Becki x
In Stephen King'sFrom a Buick 8, a group of Pennsylvania State Troopers find, and keep ... more
secret, the Buick 8, a "car" that is a portal between our world and some world far more horrid. Animals and occasionally people disappear around the Buick 8 and ever...
Postage & Packaging: £2.75 Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days...
In Stephen King's From a Buick 8, a group of Pennsylvania State Troopers find, and keep ... more
secret, the Buick 8, a "car" that is a portal between our world and some world far more horrid. Animals and occasionally people disappear around the Buick 8 and eve...
Postage & Packaging: £2.75 Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days...
In Stephen King'sFrom a Buick 8, a group of Pennsylvania State Troopers find, and keep ... more
secret, the Buick 8, a "car" that is a portal between our world and some world far more horrid. Animals and occasionally people disappear around the Buick 8 and ever...
Postage & Packaging: £2.75 Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days...
In Stephen King's From a Buick 8, a group of Pennsylvania State Troopers find, and keep ... more
secret, the Buick 8, a "car" that is a portal between our world and some world far more horrid. Animals and occasionally people disappear around the Buick 8 and eve...
Postage & Packaging: £2.75 Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days...
Jul 21st, 2004
very helpful by (100%):
