Review: Lisey's Story

Just as the Mystery Writers of America announce that Stephen King will be honoured with the 2007 Grandmaster award, Hodder and Stoughton have released his most personal work, and what an unusual treat we have in ‘Lisey’s Story’.

This book defies simple categorisation as it is part love story, part mystery with a dollop of chilling horror at its core, but most of all it is a treat for long-term King readers, as it is filled with in-jokes, nods and winks for those in the ‘know’ as well as an exploration of the creative process in all its naked and raw glory.

I find the most captivating of King’s work - those that examine the mystery in the process of writing fiction and the link to madness, like ‘Misery’, ‘The Shining’, ‘Secret Window, Secret Garden’, ‘The Dark Half’, ‘Bag of Bones’ and even his non-fiction work ‘Danse Macabre’ and ‘On Writing’ - With ‘Lisey’s Story’ being the most raw and explicit examination of the creative process and the link to madness and love.

‘Lisey’s Story’ starts conventionally enough with Lisey Landon [pronounced ‘Lee-See’] looking back over her life following the death of her husband – the award [NBA, Pulitzer et. al.] winning and wealthy writer Scott Landon. Lisey starts to look back in sadness while she is clearing out the house, and most critically Scott’s office/annex room. Helping her on her journey is her sister Amanda [with siblings Darla and Cantata in the background], and soon we see Amanda unravel as there is madness in the narrative, but fear not Scott Landon has left some things behind, things that will help Lisey cope with the challenges that arise following his death, but he has also left some things that are dangerous.

Lisey is lost in memories that puncture this gothic tale, like when she saved Scott’s life by whacking a gunman with a shovel when he attempted to shoot her husband. This episode is written with as much fury as the blow Lisey casts with the shovel into the gunman’s face. There are many tender memories that help Lisey cope with Scott’s death, but there are also dangers, such as the madman, Zack McCool sent inadvertently by a Literature Professor to find a posthumous manuscript. McCool is also known as Jim Dooley and John Doolin, who we later learn was born in a small town called Shooter’s Knob, which is a hat-tip to the villain ‘Shooter’ who harassed the struggling writer in King’s novella ‘Secret Window, Secret Garden’. That should give you a clue that reality and imagination blur in this work, especially for those who drink from the pool of dark imagination, where reality is only a concept.

King then lets loose his imagination completely and without restraint as he starts writing in the secret language that Lisey shared with Scott, and we struggle to understand what is ‘Bad Gunky’, ‘Blood Bools’, ‘Smucking‘ and the like. This vernacular reminded me of when King used the word ‘Redrum’ in ‘The Shining’ as well as many other strange secret words that pepper his novels. Then in the middle of this work, we start to comprehend that Scott Landon was perhaps [quoting Theodore Sturgeon] ‘more than human’. The most chilling section contains Landon’s recollection of his childhood, when he lived with his father and brother Paul. This brings the love story crashing into the Grand Guignol tradition and is probably the most terrifying writing that King has unleashed upon us, as we then realize that the Landon’s are dangerous people.

So as Lisey struggles in her battle with Zack McCool / Jim Dooley – Scott helps her from beyond reality in a place that his imagination resided, a place known only as Boo’ya Moon; and the pool from which he drank.

The close of the novel features the handwritten narrative that Scott left, explaining what happened between himself and his father and brother; though terrifying, this section is filled with the love and pathos a child has for family despite the evil that lurks under the skin.

I was not surprised that King left us with a touching author’s statement, because some will question this book with thoughts such as - Is it self-indulgent? Has it been edited? Is King trying to put some personal context between his private life and his writing? I am sure that some will not understand this book, due to its complexity and merging of genres, and it not being a full-on Horror novel, nor a full-on Mystery. I would describe it simply as full-on King, and quoting a line from ‘This is Spinal Tap’ when one of the characters indicates why the volume of the heavy metal act is so loud, he replies that the volume of the amplifier is set to 11 not 10. Lisey’s Story is King set at a volume of 11 – Challenging, engaging, highly personal, but most of all it shows King at the height of his powers, but there is distortion that comes from the madness that lurks behind the shadow that we call creativity. But I must warn you that this writing is dangerous, very dangerous so read at your peril and your sanity.

Reprinted with permission. Do Not repost without permission from the author, Ali Karim - RAM

Book Review: Lisey's Story