Panorama of San Bernardino

Saturday, December 9, 2023

Stephen King of the tales

The Queen is dead. The King is still alive, Stephen King that is. I just read one of his more recent books "Fairy Tale". Opening it, I fell into it, like into a well. Funnily enough, there's also a well in this dark fairy tale along with a portal to another world.

A bit compelled from the opening chapter, I read the book late at night. I even opened it up after a long day at work and then at 10 pm after an evening reading event. Most mornings this week, I read early morning instead of writing my own stories. You see, I needed to know what would happen. 

Finally, this morning, I woke up at 6 am (on a Saturday) to finish it. It is a somewhat long book, but luckily I'm a quick reader and when I finished, I exhaled an audible sigh. I closed my Kindle app with contentment. Awwwwww.

The narrator and protagonist is Charlie. He's young. He's dealt with more than most (but is similar to some of us) in his seventeen years. He's dealt with his mother's death, and his father's alcoholism. 

I've always loved young adult narrators. There's so much we don't know when we're young, but so much we do know and forget with age. There's a naïveté to young narrators, but also a bravery and wisdom. Plus, he has a dog he loves. I'm a book lover and a dog lover, so the two go together for me like butter on toast.

We find out toward the end of the novel that Charlie is writing this later, when he's fully grown, and some of the book has a slightly older adult perspective or voice, but for the most part, we are in Charlie's head during his adventures as a young adult. 

Those who know me, know that I'm all about adventures. I love writing about my youthful adventures, indiscretions and escapades, and I wouldn't be the writer I am without them. Perhaps that's why I was so drawn to Charlie's story. 

I loved how the book ends, although I won't give it away. This is a quest novel and also a twisted fairy tale. But there is a happy ending. Don't we all need and deserve one?

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