At some point in the last few years, I made a low-key plan to someday read all of Stephen King's books. I don't have a specific timeline, but it's an ambitious goal as King has published over 70 books, counting his novels, short story collections, and nonfiction works. And the list keeps growing with a new Stephen King book coming in a couple weeks.
But to paraphrase the Daodejing, the journey of a thousand miles (or 70+ books) begins with a single step. So I recently decided to take two short steps with Joyland and The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon. With these two complete, I'm about 80% of the way toward my goal (at least if this fun spreadsheet from one of my favorite podcasts, Dark Tower Palaver, is accurate). Someday I may post the end of this journey (bittersweet though that will be), but for now, here are two short steps on my Stephen King path.
Joyland
I wasn't excited about Stephen King's turn to crime fiction in the 2010's. Crime fiction is rarely my cup of tea, which wasn't a problem, as King has written more than enough books to keep his Constant Readers busy. But when I picked up Later and then The Colorado Kid, The Outsider, If It Bleeds, and Holly, I realized I was foolish to doubt Uncle Stevie's powers. He's good no matter what he's writing. I still haven't gotten to the Bill Hodges trilogy, but I plan to do so soon as part of my low-key, longterm plan to read all of his books (I vow to read even Dreamcatcher one of these days).
Joyland is my last of King's three Hard Case Crime novels, and I enjoyed it a lot! Later is probably still my favorite and The Colorado Kid is fun, but Joyland is classic King. College student Devin Jones gets a job in the summer of 1973 at an amusement park in North Carolina. He's going through a breakup and the general turmoil of early adulthood. King's foray into the carny world is as fascinating as you'd expect from a guy who handles the weirder parts of Americana so well.
Our protagonist makes lifelong friends, gets over his heartache (as much as anyone can), and befriends an older woman and her terminally ill son. Oh, and he and his friends solve some murders and maybe encounter a ghost and a few people with the Shine (the only thing this haunted amusement park is missing: a talking Great Dane). All in a day's work for Stephen King.
The characters are classic King, especially Devin's friendship with Mike, a young boy with a terminal illness. I won't deny, dear reader, that I may have teared up a bit from time to time.
This isn't maybe one of King's weightier stories. It all comes in under 300 pages, which is practically a short story for King. The direction of the plot isn't always obvious, but that's okay. King is good enough that you want to keep reading, and besides, it does all wrap up in a poignant coming-of-age story.
And there are some deeper thoughts about, well, life, the universe, and everything... as well as the experiences and relationships that shape all of us in this wild carnival ride of human existence.
The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon
One of King's shorter novels (maybe even a long novella), The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon was my next stop.
The story of nine-year-old Trisha lost in the woods of New England and dealing with her inner demons and family drama is engaging. Yet short as this is, it felt a bit too long for what it was. The baseball stuff doesn't drag it down too much (Tom Gordon apparently was a real baseball player), but if you're not a baseball fan, it may not add much, either. Your mileage may vary.
The idea of the Subaudible (sort of a low hum god-substitute?) is interesting, and is there something in the woods with Trisha? Maybe! And poor Trisha! Being a Stephen King character is not good for one's health.
Overall The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon is not my favorite King book. It's probably not even in my top half if I were to rank them all, but it's not bad. And if you ask me, even an okay Stephen King book is still pretty good.
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