Thursday, October 20, 2011

Quick Read | Mile 81 by Stephen King

Hello all!

Yes, I am back from England and Italy with a goody bag of stories to tell and bills to catch up on, but that's for later. For now I want to write about the book that took me through my four hour hold up at the Roma Airport. That and some lovely Italian duty free shopping. What? You give a girl a present like that and don't expect her to open it? Anyway, the book was Mile 81 by Stephen King. This is a perfect little Novella and akin to that bite size Amedei truffle, all you need in one sitting. This was King's response to the dying art of short story telling in America.

The book starts out slow and zooms in on Pete - a normal boring teenager living in a normal boring American one horse town who is being left in the cold while his older brother does way cooler things like smoke and drink.  Gutted to be left behind, he decides to prove himself by spending a few hours alone in a deserted burger king by a highway route, just him and a bottle of Vodka. Like all Stephen King novels, it takes a while to kick in.  Outside a muddy station wagon arrives while he is sleeps off his sorry eventless adventure and then the story hits overdrive.

This isn't a complicated book and it reads like an early work of King's- something cult that he would have loved as a child and would make the perfect drive in movie.  Whatever it is, this is CLASSIC Stephen King. Made me snort in my seat while I sipped some mind-blowing Brunello which in turn made a very genteel lady sitting beside me jolt in disgust. "Don't get your Hermes in a knot." I said to her in my head and continued to snort. It's a perfect introduction to King's work for the unfamiliar and a no-brainer for ardent fans. It's only $2 on the IPAD and is a good way to brighten up a weekday evening.

And if you do happen to fall in love with King, here are some more chilling recommendations. Black House with Peter Straub and a personal favorite of mine that my fellow Blogger is yet to appreciate, Duma Key. I continue to persevere and convert her.

Buy Black House from Flipkart.com Buy Duma Key from Flipkart.com

1 comment:

  1. Wondering if you would be interested in a Literature Fest.

    TATA Literature Live is a Mumbai LitFest which will be held on November 3, 4, 5 and 6 at the National Centre for Performing Arts, Nariman Point. Well-known writers, both international and domestic, have been invited and all four verticals (fiction, non-fiction, poetry and plays) of literature will be represented.

    If you want to attend or participate email me at ayushi.c90@gmail.com.

    ReplyDelete

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