Tears For Fears

With the often clichéd survival plot i.e. Cat and Mouse, such as that of the film, The Hitcher. King used the same method that he did in The Shawshank Redemption, patience and hope. Initially in Misery, King doesn't mess about explaining the events that led Paul Sheldon to end up in Annie Wilkes's house in the snowy woods of Colorado. This made me feel a bit apprehensive to be honest, I was half expecting a brief account of how Paul not only ended up in such a predicament but how he crashed his car, feeding my curiosity this latter became apparent as the novel wore on. The genius element of the novel as a whole was the feelings and intense interaction between Paul and Annie, the complete unpredictability of Annie's rage always left me with a severe sense of foreboding.

The plot of Stephen King's novel is centered around two main characters, Paul Sheldon and Annie Wilkes. Paul Sheldon is a successful novelist, most known for his saga on a character, with a slightly perverse name called misery. Paul has just killed her off in his previous novel and is feeling liberated having good vibes for his latest novel 'Fast Cars' and is taking a voyage from New York to California. He is suddenly caught in a harsh snowstorm in Colorado just outside the local town, Sidewinder, and ends up in a horrific car accident. Annie Wilkes discovers the wreckage and resuscitates Paul Sheldon, taking him back to her isolated house to nurse him better. Of course, she was his number one fan, she was Misery's number one fan and when she found out what he's done to Misery, she wouldn't like it, she wouldn't like it at all.

There are two iconic scenes in Misery. The first being the horrific torture and pain Annie inflicts upon her victim, the amputation. It's almost like Victorian style surgery, done with only the basic tools and certainly without a local anesthetic. Its pretty ingenious the way Annie feels inclined to 'Hobble' Paul, this by cutting of his foot, she says this is what the British did in the diamond mines to prevent workers stealing diamonds yet letting them continue working. Even more disturbing is the fact that King describes these torture scenes in vivid detail. The other moment to watch out for is the scene where Paul ventures into the living room and finds a large, chunky scrapbook, showing every mysterious 'accident' Annie has participated in.

There are two primary words to sum up Annie Wilkes though, Narcissist and neurotic, its pretty interesting reading, how nervous and on edge she always is, especially hostile towards her neighbors, police and pretty much anyone in her town, she probably labels everyone as officious. Notice the rather clever hint towards The Shining midway in the novel, although written ten years later, the reference to Sidewinder and the Overlook hotel. King's lexicon isn't too advanced for adolescence, however a few words here and there encourage the reader to have a dictionary handy. Misery is a pretty readable book as i said, it does slow down dramatically in terms of pace in the middle like most King offerings, however as always there is a smashing finale to look forward to.

The length is a pretty readable 369 pages, the price at the back is £7.99, which is what you'd expect to pay at your local Waterstones. I do think its a bit pricey considering the length, but its well worth it, I got my'n from the local market and Amazon and eBay will offer dirt cheap prices second hand. All in all, Misery is one of the top ten horror novels ever written and should provide a welcome distraction at nights with a warm cup of hot chocolate at hand.