Cujo (1981)

Before reading: Ol' Cujo. I've never been interested in reading or even watching Cujo. I know the plot. I know what happens. It is, however, a classic. I will feel at least some sort of accomplishment by finally being able to say, "yes, I have read Cujo." I am hopeful that King's writing abilities will leave me satisfied and being a fan of the book. Well future Shayla? Did it?

After reading: It did. I loved it. It had everything that I have grown to love and recognize as being peak King. I don't feel like I really need to make a million blog posts discussing how good Stephen King is at writing characters but if I didn't at least mention it then that would be a crime. Most of the book is not about the incident with Cujo, it is just simply about the characters. The good ones and the bad ones...and the furry ones. It was just a really good book. Your run-of-the-mill good read. Also, personally, I really loved the cyclical aspect of it beginning and ending with a bat. I took quite a few notes so let's get into it.

My first note was about how we are officially in Castle Rock now. We had been there before but now we are here to stay. Little did I realize that it was more connected to our previous visit than simply being in the same town. Cujo is directly related to The Dead Zone. I'm excited to see how the rest of the books that are set in Castle Rock relate to each other as well as when we get to Derry. Part of me doesn't love that there was some sort of supernatural element to a story that I don't feel like needed it but at the same time I am intrigued by how that is what connected the two books together and am curious to see if that continues in others, as well. Also, it is making the show Castle Rock make a lot more sense. If you haven't seen Castle Rock it ties in a bunch of Stephen King books together, all being set in the town of Castle Rock where something sinister is lurking. This is exactly how the two previous mentioned stories are brought together. I'm going to have to go back and do a re-watch eventually. I noted that this book was reading a lot like The Stand and later on I felt like it read very much like Firestarter. I think if you read his books chronologically this is the one where you notice his writing style becoming recognizable.

My next note was that I was annoyed that I was really enjoying the book so far. Yes, I went in wanting to hate this. I thought the plot was dumb and it was gonna feel really old. I am eating my humble pie, don't you worry. Going back to me assuming the plot was dumb, I think I narrowed down why. It just would not happen today. This story could not happen today. Being born in the 90s and reading this in the 20s I feel like made it actually a little more scarier. I can't even fathom people not knowing where I am. So much of this book relies on people not being able to communicate with each other and not knowing where each other are. This just doesn't happen nowadays. Someone couldn't erase the note I left on the fridge saying where I'm at because I didn't leave a note on the fridge, I texted someone. I texted someone where I was going, when I got there, and that a rabid dog was keeping me hostage. No service? No problem. No way in hell I could go over 24 hours without contacting anyone and people not start to panic and then immediately go to the place where I told people I was going. It just wouldn't happen. So reading this now has this almost dystopian feel to it in a weird way and it makes things a lot more frustrating. 

I mentioned this briefly before but my next note was how I love that the book doesn't get straight to the action, we follow characters and their stories and we are having ourselves a good read while every now and then we are reminded that an increasingly rabid dog is looming nearby and there's nothing we can do about it. Also mentioned before, we are very obviously reading a Stephen King book and another way to know this is that once the action gets going, time stamps start appearing. I did take note that while I have never been as scared as a character in a King book personally I still feel as though he makes characters pee their pants a lot. Take that as you will. I also wrote "love the juxtaposition between Donna waiting on the mailman to potentially save her life and the mailman just farting up a storm." Classic. My next two notes were "Oh no!!! No mail!!!!" and "Steve sucksssss." I have never been so frustrated at a book. I would've thrown it if it were a paper book and not my laptop. Between all the close calls and Steve Kemp being the literal worst character in the entire world, I got a little worked up. I ended up writing down "omfg I hate Steve, if you think Cujo is the villain, you're wrong, it's Steve." So there's that. Also, justice for Cujo. It wasn't his fault.

As with most of the books I've read so far I'm ending this by saying that I really enjoyed this book. I felt like I hit a little slump with not loving what I was reading and then also reading a nonfiction. This put me back on track. I read it quickly, I looked forward to reading it, I had to know what was gonna happen next! I fell in love with characters, I hated characters, I was frustrated, scared, sad and everything in between. I can finally say "yes, I've read Cujo," but now I can add, "and I loved it." 

Next up is The Running Man because apparently Richard Bachman just can't leave me alone. See you there!