Misery - Stephen King

Advantages: A nice gripping and readable novel ; A terrific tale of survival ; Very atmospheric ; The characters thoughts and feelings are projected well to the reader
Disadvantages: Suddenly stops flowing towards the middle ; King can be slightly over obsequious towards the main character

...severe sense of foreboding. Misery can be unpredictable and to be honest slightly misleading in parts if you don't follow the plot carefully. Throughout the novel I was expecting Stockholm syndrome to start manifesting in Paul Sheldon's mind, considering Annie had him hooked on drugs, and he relied on her so much. The trouble with Misery are the wretched flashbacks and the patches where Paul is writing a novel for Annie, which is initially a great ...
...play on words, being ambiguous, Misery would imply the feeling where as it can also refer to the main character of Paul Sheldons most successful novels. The plot of Stephen King's novel is centered around two main characters, Paul Sheldon and Annie Wilkes. Paul Sheldon is a successful novelist, most known for his saga on a character, with a slightly perverse name called misery. Paul has just killed her off in his previous novel and is feeling liberated ... Read review

Advantages: Gripping, frightening, fantastic characters
Disadvantages: Nightmare inducing - otherwise none

...Name With Many Faces*** Misery is the heroine in best selling writer Paul Sheldon’s series of romantic historical novels. Misery is the pig that resides on the homestead of Paul Sheldon’s ‘Number One fan’ Annie Wilkes. When Annie Wilkes rescues him from a car crash - Misery is the situation Paul finds himself in. Two years of hard graft and in a quiet hotel room Paul Sheldon finally writes ‘The End’ on the novel he hopes will give him the acclaim ...
...nightmares about it today. However, Misery is my partner’s favourite book of all time - he has been begging me to read it almost from the very beginning of our relationship. My problem is not the horror aspect but the pain. My worst phobia of all time is pain. I can’t stand the thought of it; I can’t watch it... even Casualty makes me want to vomit. I can’t bear the thought of blood - yes I know, I know, if you have read the other opinions I have ... Read review

Advantages: Brilliant characters who excite powerful emotions within the reader
Disadvantages: It drags on a little at times, reading type-written sections is annoying after awhile

...his romantic novels that star Misery Chastain. Popular as the series may be, Paul has become increasingly unhappy with the trashy style and character, and so decides to kill off the aptly-named Misery in her final book. Finally free of Misery and able to concentrate on more satisfying, serious works of fiction, Paul is rather pleased with himself, and decides to embark on a drunken drive. Spontaneously, he decides to head North towards Colarado. ...
...talks eagerly about his latest Misery novel, and regularly gives him pain killing drugs. The bad news for Paul is that he has already made his biggest mistake. Annie is no ordinary 'number one fan' - she is absolutely obsessed with Misery Chastain, and is none to happy when she discovers that Paul has murdered her idol... Paul becomes more of a prisoner than patient. Trapped in the plain bedroom thanks to his mashed legs, he is forced to resurrect ... Read review

Advantages: Edge of your seat action, good character development, well-written.
Disadvantages: Some foul language might become old after a while.

...in the famously written book Misery are not only bone chilling, but after a while you might almost think they are real. * Annie Wilkes- She is Paul Sheldon's number one fan, and plans to never let him go alive. Her infatuation with the one novel with the character Misery in it has got a great influence on the way she treats Paul, and tortures him. * Paul Sheldon- A famous author that has written many number one selling novels and books recently goes ...
...Thriller Misery is a bone-chilling thriller in its own sense, and once you start reading, you will not want to stop that easily... Whatever you do, remember it is only a story right? It is almost believable something like this could possibly, or did happen to somebody once you get in an entrapment. Before you start reading Misery make sure you check the doors are locked, the lights are on, and that Annie Wilkes is not under your bed. P L E A S A ... Read review

Advantages: Excellent for those long winter nights
Disadvantages: I couldn't put it down !!!

To me Misery is an astounding piece of literary genius penned by the infamous Stephen King. The book is again in the horror genre. Fascinatingly this book reads like a true story. It is a tremendous psychological thriller about obsessive love and extreme terror. The story There are two main characters in the book. There is Paul, a number one selling author and Anne, a nurse who says she is Paul’s number one fan. The story begins when Paul is involved ...
...character in the books - Misery Blaise. Anne then forces Paul to rewrite the novel so that Misery lives. Here starts the torture, and the dark side of the Anne’s character emerges. Anne makes sure that Paul has no means of escape. She does this by physically restraining Paul and using every means of torture, she can conjure up to force Paul to write the novel. When you read the book, you can sense Paul’s sheer terror and helplessness of the situation. ... Read review

Advantages: Fantastic read, involving storyline and characters, long
Disadvantages: Some formatting errors, not horrifying at all, inconclusive ending

...After deciding that I really needed to read more sometime near the end of last year, I picked up a copy of MISERY, also by Stephen King. I fell in love with the man's style of writing and ability to have you clutch the book so strong your knuckles turn white. So when it came time to pick out some stuff I wanted for Christmas, and having read about the premise behind CELL, I decided that this was one of his books to try. The Story CELL opens in a very quick and to-the-point way: the main action in the book has started within the first 15 pages, so there's no dawdling. The book follows Clayton Riddell, an artist whose life, along with the many others, is ruined when an event known as the Pulse happens. The Pulse is effectively a virus that affects everyone taking mobile phone calls. It wipes their minds and turns everyone... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful

Advantages: Interesting read
Disadvantages: Good or bad - it's looong!

...in the first four books were to people associated with his life (d'uh is all I've got to say about that…) and the fact that his name had appeared on the copyright forms of one of the books. If he hadn't been rumbled Bachman's 6th book would have been Misery, something which Stephen King thinks, and I tend to agree, may have taken him straight onto the bestseller lists in his own capacity. Personally I can see how it would be an interesting experiment to see how the books would do when they are not published by a very famous author but by somebody more or less unknown. Is it really the actual book that sells or the name written on it? In Stephen King's case especially I believe his huge following ensures all his books are bestsellers, also the not so good ones. So, enough of the background and onto the actual books! In Rage, Charlie... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average very helpful

Advantages: Fantastic story, chilling, wonderfully woven characters, extremely realistic
Disadvantages: Only available in pricy hardback edition at time of writing

...Until October 2007, I had done very little reading - save for the Harry Potter books, on their release - for many years. Being honest, I'm a wannabe author, and in October I was approaching the end of writing the first draft of my first novel. Many times, I had heard the advice 'read as much as you can', but didn't really pay it much heed until then. The first book I picked up was Stephen King's Misery (a fantastic read, by the way) in a charity shop, and it was as soon as I started reading it that I fell back in love with reading once more, King himself taking up the reigns as my favourite author. And when, in February, I saw his latest book - Duma Key - half price in Waterstones, and also laid my hands on a free £10 Waterstones voucher, I picked up the novel with no hesitation. The Story Duma Key is the story... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average very helpful