07-23-2020, 06:40 AM
Remember back in the day when King was a brilliant shorty story writer, far surpassing anything he did in his novels. It's one of the reasons most of his short stories have been turned into movies. I'm looking at you Shawshank Redemption.
Those days have passed. If it Bleeds is a collection of four novellas. The one everyone is probably focused on is the titular If it Bleeds. It marks the return of Holly Gibney. Gibney most recently appeared in The Outsider. And If It Bleeds follows the template of The Outsider. Holly has found another psychic vampire. She must catch him. Blah Blah Blah. It's not very suspenseful. It's not very scary. At this point, maybe King is just writing slice of life fiction. They are crafted very well. It's very clear writing, it's just not very moving.
Two of the other three stories are echoes from his passed. Mr. Harrigan's Phone reminds me of his God Computer story, another haunted electronic device. The Rat is probably the best of the bunch but it's about another crazy author dealing with writing. Think the Shining or so many others.
The final story is definitely slice of life. I don't really know the point of it. It's told in three acts working backwards like Memento.
Time to go re-read Nightshift to see if it's as good as I remember. Or maybe not. Let it remain unsullied in my past.
Those days have passed. If it Bleeds is a collection of four novellas. The one everyone is probably focused on is the titular If it Bleeds. It marks the return of Holly Gibney. Gibney most recently appeared in The Outsider. And If It Bleeds follows the template of The Outsider. Holly has found another psychic vampire. She must catch him. Blah Blah Blah. It's not very suspenseful. It's not very scary. At this point, maybe King is just writing slice of life fiction. They are crafted very well. It's very clear writing, it's just not very moving.
Two of the other three stories are echoes from his passed. Mr. Harrigan's Phone reminds me of his God Computer story, another haunted electronic device. The Rat is probably the best of the bunch but it's about another crazy author dealing with writing. Think the Shining or so many others.
The final story is definitely slice of life. I don't really know the point of it. It's told in three acts working backwards like Memento.
Time to go re-read Nightshift to see if it's as good as I remember. Or maybe not. Let it remain unsullied in my past.
As a matter of fact, my anger does keep me warm