Advantages: Perfect for those long winter evenings by the fire Disadvantages: a few small cliches
Im sorry, but this will probably be a very long review. I dont know about other people, But my opinion of a book changes throughout, since I get to know the characters, and understand the authors style of thinking and writing. Therefore, this review is written over a large period.
As a huge fan of horror novels, and the films based on the novels of Stephen King, I thought it was about time I actually read one of them. It does, however, mean that ... ...the dramas and films.
I acquired 'needful things' just a few days ago, and Ive not been able to put it down! With every sentence and paragraph I read I'm being drawn in further, into the ever increasingly conspiratorial plot of the book.
Set in Castle Rock - a small village (the typical place to find people set in their ways) A small cliche that can be overlooked...perhaps?!
Whats the last thing a small village full of set-in-their-way people ...
Punkychik 26.11.2006
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Needful Things - Stephen King
Advantages: An ambitious and adroit black comedy Disadvantages: Not many likeable characters...but I guess that's the point, eh?
...And little wonder: King envisioned NEEDFUL THINGS as a satire on the eighties, where greed was good and everything was bloated and surreal. Everything seems more comical and exaggerated, even death (a skull crunches at one point with the sound of a box of popcorn getting stepped on), to the point where you're just glad to see a lot of these folks get theirs. Very few likable characters emerge from the rubble to pick up the pieces and move on.
On ... ...like Gaunt's on Main Street in my hometown. We sold almost everything a person could want, and what we didn't would be happy to get for you. Whatever your heart's desire. A man once asked if we carried baseball cards. I bit the inside of my lip hard to not ask him if he wanted, perchance, a Sandy Koufax '58. ...
Doctor_Belch 14.02.2004
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Needful Things - Stephen King
Advantages: great story idea Disadvantages: a bit hard going
...interesting, made this book my needful thing. I found it more entertaining than horrific - only one scene disgusted me, when Polly found out what was really inside her arthritic-curing charm. The final one hundred pages were told beautifully, and in my mind it was easy to imagine the chaos descending, as explosions and murders happen almost every minute. Overall this was an brilliant, excellent example of story telling. This was one of my first King ...
mookielidl 22.02.2001
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Needful Things - Stephen King
Advantages: good story, plot moves swiftly Disadvantages: shame about the ending
...have to pay
" Needful Things " is a dark look at mans most primeval of problems - desire. The book revolves around the shop " Needful Things ". It is a place where your hearts biggest wants and desires can be fulfilled. Need a matching Lalique vase? No problem. How about a rare signed baseball card? Easy peasy. The big question is not the price you pay now, but what price you will pay later. The main character in the novel is Leland Gaunt, owner ... ...appear as a normal shopkeeper, dealing in what can only be classed as bric-a brac. To the outside world he is normal, that is, until you see something you fancy in his store. That is where the fun begins, as Mr. Gaunt likes to play tricks. That is where your payment begins, but does not end. Leland Gaunt has the devil in him - literally.
Stephen King deals with the moral issue of lust in his usual dark macabre style. The characters are believeable, ...
paulc20001 29.05.2001
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Until I happened across Needful things in a bookshop I had never heard of this particular book of Stephen Kings. I have read a lot of his work in the past and the outline of the story intrigued me into handing over my pennies and dashing off to a quiet place to read Its set in a little town in the US called Castlerock where a little store called Needful Things opens much to the interest of the townfolk. Everyone who visits the store find something ... ...bargain price on all his stock the balance of payment turns out to be the start of big trouble for all concerned. Little tricks paid on each other soon turn a quiet happy little town into a nightmare, and one which seems to get worse and worse till it inevitably climbs to a gripping climax. Not one of his best know books but still well worth a read. ...
hushpad 04.08.2000
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: helpful Review of Needful Things - Stephen King
Advantages: Good story, excellent characters Disadvantages: Cannot put the book down once you start!
Needful Things is a thriller/horror which was published in 1991 written by Stephen King. It is a fantastic book and keeps you entertained right from the start.
It centres around a small american town and its inhabitants. A shop on the high street has been unoccupied for ages but suddenly a sign goes up in the window saying it would be opening soon. This starts the whole town gossiping wondering what it would be. The shop is owned by the devil who ... ...invites a young boy called Brain Rusk into the shop to have a look round. Brian spots a rare signed baseball card he has always wanted and he desperately wants to have it. Although he has very little money Leland Gaunt tells him he can have it as long as he plays a trick on someone for him. This is where the fun starts.
When the shop opens the inhabitants of the town all rush in to take a look round. Each person who enters the shop finds the one ...
Morgan0403 30.07.2006
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Advantages: great story, you can pick a copy up for about £1 Disadvantages: Quite in depth and complex
I was 15 years old when i first read this and the i bougth a copy for about £1 from the local second hand market.
The story starts in a small local friendly town on Castle Rock Maine in America. Its one of those towns where everybody know everybodys business.
Anyway theres a shop that has been shut for while and one day a sign appears on the outside stating that it will be opening soon. The town is soon gossiping about who has bought it and what ... ...Leland Gaunt ( who turns out to be the devil) invites a local boy, Brian Rusk in for a pre-opening look around. Brian then sees somehting that he's always wanted but can not afford. Mr Guant, trying to gain the boys trust says he can have it as long as he plays a harmless trick on someone. The boy doesn't see the harm and agrees.
The shop then opens and everyone in town goes for look around. Everyone seems to find something that they always wanted ...
rabbitfighter 31.08.2006
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Advantages: the kind of novel that never drags although quite long Disadvantages: the climax of the story
NEEDFUL THINGS is quite one of the most impressive novels coming out from the now-legendary Mr. Stephen King. One would quite help but wonder - had he consulted any theologians while he's on the make with this one. As the plot goes - the Devil himself on the guise of a kindly old man by the name of Leland Gaunt opened an unusual antique shop of sorts in the small town of Castle Rock Maine, which is the place for many of King's novels; however this ... ...by the presence of the NEEDFUL THINGS shop that is yet to open.
On his way from school, 11 year old baseball card collector Brian Rusk happen along the way around the shop, then out of the blue it so happens that he was whisked away for a 'pre-view' inside the store's premises by the proprietor himself - Leland Gaunt! Among the neighbouring residents, Brian's mother Nora Rusk is one among the most intrigue of the new store, and thus coming home ...
CrutcHead 19.05.2003 (30.05.2003)
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Advantages: keeps you on the edge of your seat, excellent reading. Disadvantages: can make you feel sick at times
...with this book. It's great. Needful things is about,people wanting things (just as the title states) and some people will pay just about anything for it. Well the good folks of Castle Rock are no different.
This book will make you think twice about how much your willing to pay for items that you reallllllly want. It also lets you imagine whats happening in the story just as all of Stephen's books do.
There was a new shop in town, run by a stranger ... ...a nice enough fellow). Needful Things the sign said, the oddest name. The first customer was an eleven year old boy (young Brian Rusk) he got what he wanted (or did he) a very rare 1956 Sandy Koufax baseball card. Signed.
They all think that they have gotten what they wanted (Leland Gaunt had other ideas).
The good folks started dying.
I was in hospital when I read this book only took me 2 days and at times the other patients thought i was in ...
Lovely 13.11.2001
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...for everyone. Needful Things is not a so-scary-you-can't-sleep book, but rather a disturbing, frightening at moments book. As such it is definitely appealing to nearly everybody, but a reader much still have some resistance to scary material or he or she will not get to sleep at night. ...
JeffSumm 07.08.2000
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Needful things is a book about about a small town that has a new store come to town. Called Needful Things the store piques everybodys interest, and initally looks like a curio shop. But, as always with King there is more to this store than meets the eye! The shop owner takes just a little more than cold, hard currency for his goods! This book is king at his very best. He has an instinctive feel for what makes people tick and Needful Things is a ...
Toria 25.07.2000
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: somewhat helpful Review of Needful Things - Stephen King
Advantages: A different spin on the devil comes to town story Disadvantages: Quite in depth
...new shop in town called needful things that has something for everyone but at what cost? 11 year old Brian rusk is the first to find out when he spots a very rare signed baseball card. one by one the towns folk gain their hearts desire at a price they could not have imagined. The book is a rollercoaster of emotions from start to finish including love, anger and envy. The characters are colourful from the two priests of different religions who hate ...
mordor 08.11.2002
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: somewhat helpful Review of Needful Things - Stephen King
Advantages: keeps you in suspense Disadvantages: none i can think of
I found this book so compelling and interesting that i could not put it down. I read it as soon as I had spare time and before I went to sleep at night, just as before the books are interesting and keep you in suspense and only sometimes you get the plot right there are times you think you are right but when the book is complete you are wrong and that is very good.With previous books written by the same author the plot is different and always interesting. ...
columbya 20.10.2004
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: somewhat helpful Review of Needful Things - Stephen King
Advantages: Starts well Disadvantages: finishes poorly
I am a great fan of Stephen King and cannot wait to get reading when a new one comes out. At nearly 800 pages in paperback I was really looking forward to a good long horror story! This book is a bit like getting on a roller coaster that climbs up and up and up, and you really can’t wait to see what’s at the top...and then you get to the end on the climb.. and instead of a heart stopping drop it is just flat. This book builds and you keep waiting ...
Musicbox 08.07.2000
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Advantages: A good idea and excellent characters Disadvantages: A really dreadful ending
Needful Things is a new shop in the sleepy town of Castle Rock, Maine. Problem is that the proprietor wants more than just cash for his goods and the price can be very high. The folk of Castle Rock get what they’ve always wanted but have to do the most bizarre things to pay for their purchase. Pointless mayhem ensues.
I kept waiting for things to get going and as the book wore on I just kept on waiting. Sure there were lots of events and plenty ... ...in the same depth as Desperation, The Shining, Misery or Bag of Bones. I buy everything SK writes and there isn’t much I’ve had to be critical of but this novel just didn’t work.
It was unmemorable by SK’s very high standards and completely spoiled by the ‘cheat’ ending. Why would a demon waste his time making townsfolk fall out with each other? How are we supposed to accept the ending after everything else that had gone before was meant to be believable? ...
steve_frazer 04.07.2000
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