Stephen King's Three Peat

Stephen King is the master story-teller of our times. If there is no limit to anybody's imagination, the crown goes to him. While most of his work is outstanding, it is common to come across the famous question - Which are King's Top 3/5/10 novels? The readers have their own choices and the more common titles are The Shining, 'Salem's Lot, Carrie, The Stand, IT, Pet Sematary, Different Seasons (primarily for the Shawshank Redemption and Rita Hayworth novella), etc. Misery also commonly pops up in the Top 10 conversations. 

I feel the three novels that I am considering in this article are similarly themed and have strong female characters. I can't call them protagonists because of, yes you, Annie Wilkes. Misery was released in 1987 while Gerald's Game and Dolores Claiborne were released back to back in 1992. As you can see from the images, I purchased all of them second-hand, for 45 Malaysian Ringgit. Coincidentally, all three are New English Library editions published by Hodder and Stoughton. I found the three titles worth of every penny spent on them. All three are slow-burns and typical SK novels. In order of reading, I read Gerald's Game two years ago, Dolores Claiborne a year ago, and Misery earlier in the day. There is something raw and pure about these three novels that I feel will remain my recommendation for best SK novels. Oh, I have read only twelve SK novels, but the haunch says these three will figure among the top ten. Why do I feel so? Well, Jessi from Gerald's Game, Dolores from Dolores Claiborne and Annie Wilkes from Misery are some of the perfect well-rounded characters emerging from SK pages. I will give a brief account of each of the three novels. 

Gerald's Game generally doesn't figure among SK's best novels which I feel is a shame. My Google search says this is among SK's underrated novels. Well, Jessi and her husband begin the novel with the sex game and it rattles that her husband now wants forced sex in this handcuffed game. With her hands held with the bedstead and spreadeagled, Jessie defended herself the only way it was possible. And thus begins the novel. What kept me captivated to the novel was to find out when King ended her misery? I kept on reading this 394-page novel with the primary purpose of finding out when her hands would get free and she could walk like a free bird, walk and not fly because that would be stressful on the wings. The defense led to a hard kick on the groins, and unfortunately, tragically, the husband fell below the bed to never rise again. It takes Jessie a while to realise that he is indeed no more in the world. The voices, the childhood memories, the horror of physical abuse and never realizing it had happened until years later, not able to pin the blame, marrying into an on-and-off abusive living and so forth haunt Jessie even as her husband lies dead mere three feet away. With the game played out at their outhouse, there is not a single soul miles around. Pages after pages, hours turn into days, and there is no respite to Jessie. Are things static during this period? Hardly. 

The stray dog enters the house in the hope of getting the breadcrumbs thrown in the dustbin. I would not put here how the tiny dog lights up nightmares for Jessie. The dog is called Prince and it was not always stray. It was a domesticated dog and then out of nowhere, the owner abandons him in the forest. The story of Prince is tragic of another level and hence when it does the gore thing, oops, it doesn't feel it was the villain. 

I kept on turning the pages and finally, one way or another, Jessie is able to get off the handcuff. It was three days of incessant struggle amidst the possibility of a ghost trying to devour her too. When I looked down to the page number, it showed 287! What could King be writing about then the next 100 pages? I was expecting the closure since Jessie is finally free and she goes to the real home. The story over the remaining pages makes this novel a masterpiece. It is indeed a lesson to wannabe writers how a good novel is all about the narration. It has nothing to do with the beginning, middle, and climax. The only thing that matters is narration. Jessie's saga while remaining handcuffed and the last part is what will keep me returning to the game again and again. 

The reason Gerald's Game often gets overlooked is Dolores Claiborne released shortly after it. The two novels have eclipse in common, but Dolores is nothing like Jessie. Pedophile is another common running theme in these two novels. The beauty of this novel is that the entire novel is nothing but a recording session with Dolores as an accused. 

Dolores