Before reading: I'll be honest...I have no idea what this is about. I'm fully aware that this is one of King's most famous novels and when I hear the title I immediately associate it with King...but...no idea what it's about. I could not tell you a single thing about it. That being said, I'm excited to read it! I know it's one of the best so I'm eager to find out why. It is the largest book of his I've read for a while so I'm not too excited about that aspect. Also this is the first novel we are getting that is cowritten. This one is also written by Peter Straub. One thing I do know about this one is that it is not a horror novel, I believe this is another fantasy novel. Might as well jump right in cause I'll probably be here a while...
After reading: And, dear reader, she was there a while. Three months, to be exact. I did struggle a bit through this one, especially toward the middle. However, I read the last three hundred or so pages quicker than I've read most. Once the story picked up momentum, it was hard to put it down. At the end of the day, I really enjoyed this story. It had a lot of heart. It was also quite long and therefore I kept a good bit of notes.
First and foremost, when I googled this book the first thing that popped up was that the Duffer Brothers are making a show based on this book for Netflix and let me tell you...I am so freaking excited. Everything about this book is just screaming to be made into a television show. The parts about this story that I felt like didn't work for me as a novel, I know will make so much more sense as a show. While the writing was beautiful and I didn't really struggle to keep up with some of the more difficult-to-imagine elements, I think seeing it on TV will make it even clearer. I really hope this pulls through and ends up happening because it needs to happen.
I took note that the story begins with several Huckleberry Finn quotes and I assumed that was setting up the tone of the book. That was obviously absolutely correct but I would like to point out that the book also ended this way, as well. However, the quote at the end set the book up for a sequel and...spoiler alert...we will be reading the sequel down the road. And just to hit this nail on the head, the main characters name is Jack Sawyer.
Right away, I noticed that the book was set up in a way very similar to Christine, which is a personal pro for me. A personal con was something that I learned about more recently. Lately, I have been listening to The Loser's Club podcast (which I recommend if you are a King fan) and they discussed the "magical negro" trope that Stephen King tends to use. I had just listened to them discuss that in relation to The Shining when I was introduced to that trope in this book, as well. I am definitely looking forward to the days where I get to start reading some King books that are both enjoyable but also not problematic. Speaking of problematic authors, I noticed some more similarities between King novels and Harry Potter. This one being that Speedy reminded me quite a bit of Dumbledore: "Here's some vague and terrifying info with missing details I can't tell you, go forth and conquer." I digress. Another similarity I picked up on after reading Eyes of the Dragon was that there was a similar part about a hidden passage with a peephole. Actually, a lot of the vibes of the territories reminded me of EotD. Piggybacking off of that, we also got quite a bit of Cycle of the Werewolf vibes, as well.
Going back to why I think this will work even better as a television show...I felt like way too much was happening. I almost wanted this to be split up into different books. It sometimes felt like we were going off on side quests and that is what made it difficult for me to stay tuned in to the book at times. However, because so much happens, I think that will work perfectly for a television series. And I will say, for everything I disliked about it feeling like it was dragging on, the writing was so great. Even when I was like, "can we hurry up?!" I was still enjoying what I was reading. In a way, it reminded me of The Stand where we have this very long odyssey that can be, at times, a little boring or dragged on. The difference here is that we only follow one character, Jack, through the entirety of The Talisman. So, yes, at times I did find myself wanting a break from Jack. That being said, he was a great character so I can't really complain too much.
The last bit of my notes are some more connections and references. Firstly, we are back in Stephen King multi-verse territory. Still waiting for the Marvel crossover. There was this great chapter toward the end called "News from Everywhere" that was very much reminiscent of the vignettes from The Stand that go around giving perspectives of other/lesser characters. In fact, it even used a direct quote from one of those vignettes: "no great loss." We got to see a little bit from George Hatfield again, who, if you recall, was a character from The Shining. Lastly, there was a part that seemed to be foreshadowing Thinner. I love all of these references but it left me wondering...what about Peter Straub? I'm not familiar with his work so I would be interested to know if his books were also referenced as often and as heavily as King's were. I also want to mention that Peter Straub passed away while I was reading The Talisman. I would like to thank him for this story, it was truly beautiful.
Final thoughts? What can I say. King rarely misses. Even when I struggle to read one of his books or don't feel like picking it up for a while, I almost always get drawn back in. The more I think about it, the more I realize how fantastical and visually stunning this novel was...if that even makes any sense. I can only hope the show brings this tale to life and does it justice. I can't really even express how I felt when Jack finally got to the talisman. You are right there with him through so much, you become completely engrossed. I very much felt like "we did it!" If you like fantasy, adventure, love and loss, good versus evil, and heartwarming tales of friendship then you'll like this one. If you don't...well, that's on you.
Up next is...wait? Who is that? That's not Stephen King...it's Richard Bachman! Just when we thought we got rid of him, he's back! Up next is Thinner. Hope you're hungry!
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