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From a Buick 8

3.33 of 5 stars 3.33 · rating details · 27,887 ratings · 615 reviews

The Barnes & Noble Review
At first glance, Stephen King's latest bears a familial resemblance to Christine , his 1983 saga of a haunted, homicidal Plymouth Fury. But From a Buick 8 is a marked departure from this earlier tale of adolescent angst and teenage tribal rituals. It is the work of an older, more reflective writer, one who knows that the most pressing questions...more The Barnes & Noble Review
At first glance, Stephen King's latest bears a familial resemblance to Christine , his 1983 saga of a haunted, homicidal Plymouth Fury. But From a Buick 8 is a marked departure from this earlier tale of adolescent angst and teenage tribal rituals. It is the work of an older, more reflective writer, one who knows that the most pressing questions often have no answers.

The story begins in western Pennsylvania in 1979, when a mysterious figure parks a vintage Buick Roadmaster at a local gas station, then disappears forever. The police discover that the Buick isn't a car at all but rather a Buick-shaped enigma: self-healing; impregnable to dents, dirt, and scratches; composed of unidentifiable materials; and containing a completely nonfunctional engine. Confronted with a mystery of unprecedented proportions, the troopers of Barracks D claim the Buick for themselves and spend 20 years attempting to understand its nature, purpose, and provenance.

Over the years, the Buick is the site of a number of inexplicable occurrences, from occasional blinding "lightquakes" to more sinister happenings that suggest this alien object is a doorway to another dimension. King recounts the most dramatic of these with an intensity and attention to detail that evoke a primordial sense of terror, awe, and revulsion. Through it all, and despite the obsessive fascination of those around it, the Buick remains an impregnable mystery. And that, of course, is very much the point. The world, King tells us, rarely stops to explain itself. From a Buick 8 is one of King's best, mostly tightly focused novels since The Green Mile. With great narrative economy, it encompasses 25 years in the interconnected lives of a diverse group of characters, and its unmistakable, deeply familiar voice is as haunting and engaging as ever. On the evidence at hand, it's clear that King continues to command the hypnotic power that has made him one of the dominant figures in modern popular culture. Bill Sheehan

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Hardcover, 356 pages

Published September 24th 2002 by Scribner

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Oct 21, 2012 شيرين هنائي rated it 5 of 5 stars

اعلم انني العربية الوحيدة في قراء ستيفن كينج التي تجرأت و كتبت بالعربية،لكن خلف ذلك سر صغير..اود ان اشارك قاريء العربية شغفي بهذا الكاتب الرائع و اشاركه ايضا وجهه نظري في الخمسة نجوم التي اعطيتها لتلك الرواية.
اولا هي رواية بسيطة تنقلك في سلاسة الى عالم الجنود و الثكنات و السر الذي تداريه كتيبة صغيرة و تتاورثة طيله ربع قرن.
اسلوب غير مسبوق في التقافز بين رواة متعددين و مع ذلك لا يفقد لقاريء ابدا ترابط الاحداث و لا تركيزه مع من يكحي ماذا..كل شخصية لها لزماتها و لكنتها و شخصيتها المتفردة..تحدي كبير...more اعلم انني العربية الوحيدة في قراء ستيفن كينج التي تجرأت و كتبت بالعربية،لكن خلف ذلك سر صغير..اود ان اشارك قاريء العربية شغفي بهذا الكاتب الرائع و اشاركه ايضا وجهه نظري في الخمسة نجوم التي اعطيتها لتلك الرواية.
اولا هي رواية بسيطة تنقلك في سلاسة الى عالم الجنود و الثكنات و السر الذي تداريه كتيبة صغيرة و تتاورثة طيله ربع قرن.
اسلوب غير مسبوق في التقافز بين رواة متعددين و مع ذلك لا يفقد لقاريء ابدا ترابط الاحداث و لا تركيزه مع من يكحي ماذا..كل شخصية لها لزماتها و لكنتها و شخصيتها المتفردة..تحدي كبير ان يقدم الكاتب على استخدام اسلوب تعدد الرواة،لكن الرجل كان يعرف ما يفعله حقا!
اعتبر بعض القراء ذللك عيبا في الكتابة استنادا الى قاعده "لا تكتب رواية متعددة الرواة بحيث يزيد الرواة عن اربعة لكل مائتي صفحة" و هي قاعدة ككافة قواعدالكتابة يمكن كسرها بسهولة و لو على سبيل التجربة بل و النجاح في تحطيمها تماما كما حدث مع تلك الرواية.
فكرة الرواية تتشابه مع رواية كريستين لذات الكاتب..السيارة الشريرة الغير قابلة للتحطيم..لكن رواية "من البويك 8" تمتاز بنكهه اكثر غرابة و اقل اثارة للرعب..نكهه فلسفيو و طابع الحميمية الذي يميز الاسرار المشتركة بين الاجيال.
من العيوب التي شكا منها عده قراء الاطاله في السرد بين الاحداث المرعبه،لكن ما لم يفطن له الكثير هو ان الحقيقة هي ان الرواية لا تتكلم عن السيارة البويك او الاحداث الغريبة المرتبطة بظهورها..الرواية تتحدث بشكل اساسي عن الكتيبة و الصداقة و اللاقات بين الاجيال المتعاقبة..تتحدث عن العبء الذي يثقل كاهل الجندي الاميركي المختص بحوادث الطرق..يتحدث عن الاحترام للجيش الاميريك و الشرطة الامريكية و الاحترام لاي شخص يؤدي واجبه باخلاص على اكمل وجه..قيمة نفتقدها فعلا بعد ام افقدنا اي جندي قيمة وجوده من اساسها في الفترة الاخيرة
ريفيو طويل بعض الشيء،لكن اعتقد انني قد تعلمت من السيد ستيفن كينج ان لا حدود للخيال و لا قواعد ثابته لوصفه..ليس المهم ما تفعله بقدر اهمية نتيجته النهائية..(less)

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Nov 23, 2012 Si Barron rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I loved the premise of this story. Stephen King usually takes an interesting situation and then throws characters at it and watches how it develops. Sometimes, especially in his early novels the characters develop the situation and we move on into what might be called plot line. (King doesn't start with a plot line fixed, he creates as he goes along so he says in 'On Writing')

This development does not happen in 'From a Buick 8' Perhaps it has something to do with the way the narrative is told- a...more

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Mar 27, 2011 Kit★ rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: keep-forever

This was a re-read for me, the only other time I had read this book was when it was first published, back in 2002. So, needless to say, I didn't remember much aside from the basic premise of the story: the car and the things it does. So it was nice sinking into this story all over again, getting to know the characters, the "Troop D Family". Stephen King does such a good job of creating and fleshing out characters, I feel like I know them, this whole story felt like I was there at the barracks, s...more

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Jan 23, 2008 Robert Beveridge rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: finished, owned-and-gave-away

Stephen King, From a Buick 8 (Scribner's, 2002)

Most of us, at least among the Stephen King fans on the planet--and we are legion, much to the dismay of academics around the country--met the news of King's announced retirement with surprise and outrage. The man can't retire. Who could fill his shoes? Etc. And how could he say he's lost a step after, within the space of three years, publishing Hearts in Atlantis, containing 'Blind Willie,' one of his finest stories ever; The Girl Who Loved Tom Gor...more Stephen King, From a Buick 8 (Scribner's, 2002)

Most of us, at least among the Stephen King fans on the planet--and we are legion, much to the dismay of academics around the country--met the news of King's announced retirement with surprise and outrage. The man can't retire. Who could fill his shoes? Etc. And how could he say he's lost a step after, within the space of three years, publishing Hearts in Atlantis, containing 'Blind Willie,' one of his finest stories ever; The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon, a book so good it brought George Romero back to America after a decade of self-imposed exile; and Everything's Eventual, the latest in his string of just plain excellent story collections (not a one of which has been less than same)? Somewhere in there, we overlooked the bloated horror that was Dreamcatcher, and while no one really expected much of Black House, it lived up to those expectations with a nefarious excellence. And now we have From a Buick 8, and I can't help but think, okay, maybe the man's right.

Not to say there isn't a lot here for the dedicated King fan. The man can do more to give us a character in a paragraph then some authors can in a whole novel. And there's no shortage of the weird, the wild, and the woolly to be found betwixt these covers. But under the surface, it feels like King is treading water; there's nothing new here, nor is there anything inspired. It feels rather like Miles Davis' performance at Live Aid; the man showed up to perform, but there's no passion here. Not that that should stop King fans from grabbing a copy and getting their fix, but don't be expecting another one of the timeless tales he spins during those times when he's on his game.

What's it about? Well, take Christine, add a dash of The Dark Tower (to the point where I kept wondering when he'd reveal that there was a portal to mid-world to be found somewhere in this book), a whole heaping tablespoon of Dreamcatcher, shake, chill, and serve. Those who liked Chrstine and Dreamcatcher more than I did will probably have a differing opinion; I found it enjoyable, but ultimately unsatisfying, like a lemon meringue pie from which the layer of lemon has been eviscerated. *** (less)

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Oct 06, 2007 Beth rated it 4 of 5 stars

You don't have a be Stephen King fan to enjoy this book. The plot was intriguing, the characters were likeable, and the story involves a true mystery. This is the kind of story that only Stephen King could pull off successfully. Make no mistake - this is not "Christine" revisited. This is a whole-new, remarkable story about a not-of-the-world Buick... but, not really a Buick. The story revolves as much around the complex lives of its characters as it does the mysterious Buick... that's not reall...more

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Jan 15, 2009 trishtrash rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I often wonder if 'Buick' counts as metafiction: a story told within a story which is, in a way, about stories, and our obsession with endings and with finding out. Principally, though, it's a rollicking good horror yarn in which the creepy is layed on with a trowel until you just want it to stop... well, maybe after one more page.

The premise of an alternative dimension has never been handled so diffidently. It's there, in the boot of a car, under a tarp, in a garage on the local sheriff's offic...more

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Jan 11, 2009 Jaemi rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: adult-fiction

This is a book my boyfriend had read a few years ago. He really liked it, and once when my supply of library books was getting thin, he leant it to me. But my library bookshelf had a way of continuing to refill itself. Only after the months spent on Harry Potter was it really empty. So I figured I'd give this one a try.

Aside from The Eyes of the Dragon, I've never really had much use for Stephen King, mainly because trying to snack while reading Kujo went rather badly and I didn't want to repeat...more This is a book my boyfriend had read a few years ago. He really liked it, and once when my supply of library books was getting thin, he leant it to me. But my library bookshelf had a way of continuing to refill itself. Only after the months spent on Harry Potter was it really empty. So I figured I'd give this one a try.

Aside from The Eyes of the Dragon, I've never really had much use for Stephen King, mainly because trying to snack while reading Kujo went rather badly and I didn't want to repeat the experience. From a Buick 8 is largely yuck-free....and what gruesomeness it does hold isn't quite the same as the normal horror book fare.

The story is told my a handful of Pennsylvania State Troopers, to a kid who lost his dad--a fellow Trooper--to a horrible work-related accident, and took to hanging around the barracks in order to feel closer to him. Like anyone whose lost someone close to them, he has questions. And once he stumbles upon the secret in Shed B, the guys figure its time to spill the beans.

There's a lot of doubt, however, about filling him in on the mystery of the car whose owner disappeared so many years ago. Having been there, they all know this story has no real ending, and Ned's not likely going to appreciate that, but there's also a hope that what little they can give him in the way of answers will be enough. So they have to try.

The Buick 8, unofficially a repo, has stymied everyone whose come and gone since its arrival. What it is, no one knows, but they're damn sure it's not what it seems. And the mysteries it gives birth too only solidify that belief.

Ned's father was one of the deepest in with the Buick. Studying it. Trying to figure it out. While he eventually stopped devoting too much time to it, you could always tell it was on his mind.

It would ruin the suspense to go into details on any of the mysteries surrounding this thing, and sure enough, Ned's not really happy when he finds out his story is incomplete and hasn't really told him anything. But in the end, the ordeal brings the crew closer together, and, more importantly, makes for a great read.(less)

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Jan 21, 2013 Kevin rated it 4 of 5 stars

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Sep 09, 2012 Judi rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: read-in-2002

This has been a frustrating reading month for me. Between jury duty, my sister's wedding, family birthdays, and whatever, it seems that my reading time has been nonexistent. I found myself lugging FROM A BUICK 8 everywhere, just hoping that someone would order me to go sit in a room by myself and read for the next few hours. (Don't believe the judge when he says there will be downtime and to bring a book.) At one point I realize (panic) that this might be the only book I get to read all month, a...more

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Jul 03, 2012 Ethan rated it 2 of 5 stars

Not good. Let me say that I am a huge Stephen King fan—I own 34 of his books and have read almost all the books he has ever written. That being said, this book was a major disappointment.
First of all, the characters are flat, dull. They inspire no empathy from me whatsoever. Secondly, there are many errors in this book. Not grammatical errors, but general story-telling errors. Inconsistencies would be the word I'm looking for, I suppose.
I found myself not caring how at all how the book would e...more

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May 15, 2012 Arinn Dembo rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: horror

A great deal of King's later work has a Fortean, trans-dimensional element woven in alongside the more traditional threads of his story tapestries; this one focuses on that element much more directly.

I'm not going to indulge in plot synopsis, because I hate spoilers. I'm just going to say that this book has all the elements that make his fiction great, and will define him in the future as one of the great American writers of his century.

I particularly admired the large cast of deeply human, very...more

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Feb 19, 2012 Mike Kazmierczak rated it 3 of 5 stars

Maybe it was because of lowered expectations but I didn't think this book was as bad as some of the reviews said it was. I saw a lot of articles that commented on how this was just another scary car novel, a la CHRISTINE. And how this wasn't some of his strongest writing. And I believe it was after the release and some of those reviews that King announced his planned retirement, a retirement that I'll believe when I see. Personally I think that he'll be like The Rolling Stones or Ozzy or Cher wh...more

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Jan 08, 2012 Paul Darcy rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: horror

by Stephen King, published in 2002.

The master of horror many would call him, but I like to think of him as a grand storyteller who just happens to dabble in the macabre.

Stephen King may be the best known horror author of all time, but I had my reservations about his work for many years and stopped reading him altogether after a failed attempt at “Pet Cemetery”which I thought was plain horrible - until I read his much more recent “From a Buick 8".

It is a tale of human curiosity and exploration in...more

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Jan 03, 2012 Don rated it 2 of 5 stars

Purple,Pink,Green,Blue,Yellow! This is supposedly what the "lightquakes" in this book looked like. Let me just start off by saying Stephen King is one of my favorite authors. From a Buick 8 is a story about a Buick Roadmaster that no one can explain anything about, it almost seems other worldly.
As I previously stated, King is usually an amazing author however, this book really fell short of my expectations. In the begining I found it confusing to keep the characters straight as the first pers...more

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Sep 29, 2011 Joe rated it 3 of 5 stars

This is one very weird book and I say that with all due affection as a King reader. Unlike many King books the thing I liked very much about this book is like Cell the reader is left to fill in some of the blanks, there is no happy ending there is just more questions and I do believe King's overall point is thats exactly how life ends up sometimes. In short the troopers at Troop D in rural Statler, Pennsylvania are confronted with an abandoned Buick that they haul to Shed B. From the very first...more

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Jan 28, 2011 Alex Telander rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: books-read-in-2002

Stephen King will publish two books this year: one is already out, and the other will be released tomorrow. In January or February the publishing schedule was switched around for some reason, so Everything’s Eventual – a collection of short stories – was released in March, while From a Buick 8 will be released on Tuesday. Why this is, I know not, but I can certainly say Mr. King did not save the best for last in his publishing schedule of 2002. From a Buick 8 is simply not that good.

The book beg...more Stephen King will publish two books this year: one is already out, and the other will be released tomorrow. In January or February the publishing schedule was switched around for some reason, so Everything’s Eventual – a collection of short stories – was released in March, while From a Buick 8 will be released on Tuesday. Why this is, I know not, but I can certainly say Mr. King did not save the best for last in his publishing schedule of 2002. From a Buick 8 is simply not that good.

The book begins at a rural gas station in rural Pennsylvania with some backcountry characters whom King has such a way with telling. A bright, shiny blue Buick pulls into the station, and the estranged driver wearing a billowing trench coat and looking menacing tells the attendant to fill her up and then heads off to the bathroom. The attendant fills the tank, but the owner of the opulent automobile never returns. He just disappears. When the police arrive, a preliminary search and detailing is made of the classic car, and some very astonishing facts are discovered. The car has an engine with “Buick 8” written on the sides, but the engine is not connected to anything. All the dials on the dashboard, while looking very realistic, are entirely artificial and serve no true purpose. The exhaust system appears to be made of glass.

The car, like its owner, remains a complete mystery, and is left in Shed B at the barracks of the Pennsylvania State Police (PSP). We soon meet our main character, Sandy Dearborn, and the scene is set in the present day, some twenty-five or so years later. We also soon discover that this harmless vehicle has apparently been spitting out some hideous creatures, as well as sucking in a few humans without a trace. Where they go, nobody knows.

250 pages of the 356 page book focus on a detailed retelling of the history of this Buick 8, told to a young man, Ned, whose father was killed – by the car? It does not seem so, but as the story unfolds this becomes uncertain. At parts it becomes a little slow, as King waxes diatribe on the little ineffectualities of rural PSP life, juxtaposed with scary scenes of these helpless cops dealing with monsters erupting from this organic car, all dead (except for the last one).

What comes to the greatest shock, having read just about everything King ahs ever published, is that there is very little resolution, which has always been an important quotient in King’s books. Once all the ups and downs of the car have been revealed, there is a big final scene where our young hero, Ned, attempts to blow up the car with himself in it, with the intention of getting sucked to wherever the ingested go, and killing whatever is on the other side, as the car explodes. But this never comes to pass as Sandy Dearborn saves the day, unsurprisingly.

And that is pretty much how the book ends. We do not find out who the mysterious character that disappeared was. We do not discover whether the car attempts to take over the world. We do not discover whether there is anything in this other dimension that the car takes its victims to (I was personally hoping for a Dark Tower tie-in that seems to be popular with King these days). The car simply begins to age and rot, end of story.

And there’s not much more to say about it. It’s nicely written, there’s some amusing character work, though no great character development, since most of the book is delivered in hindsight. It is simply a very remarkable story (short for King) about a strange car that doesn’t really do much, and has no real ending or explanation. It seems that something is amiss in Stephen King’s From a Buick 8, I only hope it does not carry on in his future publications.

Originally published on September 23rd, 2002.

For over 500 book reviews, and over 40 exclusive author interviews (both audio and written), visit BookBanter.(less)

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Jul 22, 2010 Jerry rated it 2 of 5 stars

One-idea book tires -- way too long for small plot...

Like a burlesque sketch that is funny for a minute or two but gets boring when nothing new happens for another half hour, King gives us an interesting premise that goes almost nowhere for the rest of the book. An old Buick is left at a gas station by a mysterious person who disappears, as does one of the investigating State Police of Troop D in Western PA; thereafter, the car is stored at the barracks and occasionally puts on laser light show...more

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May 05, 2010 Amanda rated it 4 of 5 stars

Wonderful.

Stephen King's grasp of dialogue is amazing. This is one of the rare books with multiple perspectives that really works. I HATE multiple perspectives. I feel like they muddle the plot line and you can never really get comfortable in the book. In this book, I feel like I'm sitting on that porch in Pennsylvania, or inside the barracks of Troop D, listening as wide-eyed as Ned. I can literally hear the cadence of their words, feel their anxiety and reluctance. I could swear that I could a...more

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Apr 15, 2010 Tee Jay rated it 3 of 5 stars Recommends it for: Dark Tower completists

Shelves: stephen-king

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Mar 02, 2010 Tabitha Beck rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: fiction-reading

Vintage King.
I had never heard of this book when I found it on a used bookstore's shelf. I had to have it, simply because I am dearly devoted to the old man.
I started to read this book, started to feel the old Stephen King icy fingers stroking the nape of your neck fear...he never really got the tingling going enough to rival 'It' or even 'Insomnia', but the Walking Man made a pass by the window to peep in, indeed.

The ending SUCKED. I hate endings like that. It was jsut ready to get really good...more

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Oct 15, 2009 Jim rated it 4 of 5 stars

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Jun 02, 2012 Erin rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: fiction

Reading about the blinding purple light and indescribable miscarriages of the Buick 8 made me think of both Tommyknockers and Christine -- a welcome reminder that it’s far past time I revisit both novels. I’ve always enjoyed Stephen King’s storytelling, but as I get older, I find myself appreciating much more than just the plots. His characters are people I know -- kids I grew up with, parents I despise, coworkers I’ve seen at the office, cops I’ve been pulled over by -- real people. And their r...more

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May 18, 2013 Mika Lietzén rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: horror, lovecraftian

From a Buick 8 (2002) is a Lovecraftian dark fantasy as interpreted by Stephen King; the big, cosmic ideas are there, but it's all wrapped up in neat, homely Americana.

It's also a novel about storytelling. The policemen of Troop D, not at all dissimilar to the prison guards of E Block in The Green Mile, gather around the son of one of their own in present day to share the story of a decades-old secret kept in storage shed B.

Troop D's very own miracle-making John Coffey is a 1953 Buick Roadmaster...more

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Mar 03, 2013 Sariene rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: fiction, sci-fi-fantasy, mystery-thriller-horror

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May 03, 2012 Donald Kendall (The Goremet) rated it 5 of 5 stars

At first this novel seemed like King was treading on familiar paths, since it had a car at its heart. In truth From a Buick 8 has nothing in common with Chrisitine except that an automobile is in it. At the true heart of this novel is acceptance, understanding and truth. Mysteries are ever present in this tale and it is in the fact that there is no explanation, no resolution to the story that the book has its power. Real life is never neat and tidy, yet so much of fiction is. King once again pop...more

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Apr 23, 2012 Zorba rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Dopo 19 anni dalla pubblicazione di Christine - La macchina infernale, Stephen King torno a conferire il luogo di protagonista a uno dei suoi romanzi ad un automobile.

Se Christine era un'automobile posseduta, una sorta di poltergeist meccanico, questa Buick non è né buona né cattiva. Né angelo né diavolo, ma solo una sorta di porta verso una dimensione parallela.

Ned Wilcox, figlio dell'agente Curtis Wilcox della Squadra D della Pennsylvannia morto investito da un camioncino (profetico, visto che...more Dopo 19 anni dalla pubblicazione di Christine - La macchina infernale, Stephen King torno a conferire il luogo di protagonista a uno dei suoi romanzi ad un automobile.

Se Christine era un'automobile posseduta, una sorta di poltergeist meccanico, questa Buick non è né buona né cattiva. Né angelo né diavolo, ma solo una sorta di porta verso una dimensione parallela.

Ned Wilcox, figlio dell'agente Curtis Wilcox della Squadra D della Pennsylvannia morto investito da un camioncino (profetico, visto che lo stesso autore qualche mese dopo la pubblicazione del romanzo rischierà la morte nello stesso modo), per l'estate tra il liceo e il college si trova a lavorare come recluta con gli ex-colleghi di suo padre.

Tutti gli agenti gli vogliono bene come volevano bene al padre, il ragazzo è capace e determinato, le cose sembrano procedere nel migliore dei modi, finché nel Capannone B della centrale Ned trova una Buick Roadmaster del 1954 e chiede agli agenti di raccontarne la storia.

Il comandante della stazione, Sandy Dearborn (cognome usato da Roland della Torre Nera nella loro avventura a Meijs, ma King ci ha già abituato a queste continue citazioni) comincia allora a raccontare la storia della macchina, di come è stata trovata dal padre del ragazzo e dal suo compagno di pattuglia, di come è stata trasportata nel Capannone B e di come la Squadra D l'ha adottata. Perchè la Buick non è una vera e propria macchina: le ruote non sterzano, i danni fatti sulla sua carrozzeria si autoriparano, il volante è spropositatamente grande, le strumentazioni sul cruscotto sono immobili e sembrano disegnate...

Un romanzo inquietante ma anche molto mistico, in cui si sposano elementi tipici del Re del Brivido con considerazioni sull'ineluttabilità delle cose e sulla limitazione della conoscenza umana.

Perché se ci sono cose che noi umani non riusciamo nemmeno ad immaginare, ci sono anche cose che non capiamo e che mai riusciremo a capire, perché troppo limitati, perché inspiegabili, perché fuori dalla nostra comprensione di esseri umani.

E solitamente chi si ostina a cercare un senso, nella religione o nella filosofia, fa una brutta fine. O la fa fare ad altri.(less)

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Aug 15, 2010 Jason rated it 1 of 5 stars

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

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Jan 30, 2011 Ciaran rated it 4 of 5 stars

This novel wrote by the famous author Stephen king is a very suspenseful, eye catching novel for young adults and up it has strong scenes and mature langrage inappropriate for some readers. The story begins in western Pennsylvania in 1979,Who new that a banged up car left in a shed for years could become such a twisted turned around story which is interesting and entertaining, the part that persuaded me to read this book was the opening paragraph, King didn’t start of boring he started up with a...more

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Dec 05, 2011 Nan Silvernail rated it 3 of 5 stars

A car pulls into a gas station in Pennsylvania. The driver gets out, shouts that the oil's fine over his shoulder, walks around the corner of the building and vanishes. What is left for the Pennsylvania State Police to deal with is the car. A very strange car. This is not a Buick that ever came off a human assembly line.

Spoilers Below

Oh, yes, the Buick 8. It "ate" all right. (I'm surprised King didn't make that pun. Maybe it was just too easy.) It popped things from one dimension to this one and...more A car pulls into a gas station in Pennsylvania. The driver gets out, shouts that the oil's fine over his shoulder, walks around the corner of the building and vanishes. What is left for the Pennsylvania State Police to deal with is the car. A very strange car. This is not a Buick that ever came off a human assembly line.

Spoilers Below

Oh, yes, the Buick 8. It "ate" all right. (I'm surprised King didn't make that pun. Maybe it was just too easy.) It popped things from one dimension to this one and visa-versa. Fans of Lovecraft can easily figure out what dimensions it was a conduit to and from.

I'm ashamed to say that my notes were stuck in the book when I returned it. I'll try to fix that today. I'm glad to see there were some "sanity safety valves" as usual in this work. Little glitches that let you sit back and go "wait a minute... ok. It's a story." It's one of my theories on King's works that he includes these, conscious or not in all his works. One example is that Rookies never go on patrol alone. Then, after one incident, a rookie is sent out on his own. Little things like this do nothing bad to the story. They are just there in his works. You may not even see them when you're reading them. One can even reason these away and say it was a special circumstance. Not a big deal, but I like seeing them in there, somehow.

Another is that the troopers sent to look for the man find no footprints in the slope down to the little river when the gas station attendant went down there to see if the stranger slipped into the river. They would have seen the disturbance he made, right?

The big strangeness in this book no character really twigs to - that since it sucked in Lippy from out of a squad car sitting a good distance away and also called Mr. D right out of the barracks, that their precautions about distance and the rope they used around the Buick were pretty much useless. It could reach beyond the shed when it really wanted to. It might have been able to "beam" trouble all the way over to the school to cause that accident. If it was capable of thought it would probably have laughed at the silly Land Apes and their rope. I'm sure none of them would have slept a wink in that county if they'd have realized this.

Anyway, I thought it was an interesting story and I was quite wide-eyed when what might have been a shoggoth showed up-! Yow! It's a King Fan must-read all right.

(less)

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Oct 17, 2009 Marvin rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: science-fiction

I put off reading this novel because of my dislike for King's Christine which along with Cujo and The Cell ranks as my least favorite King novels. The good thing is that the author's Buick 8 is nothing like Christine. From a Buick 8 is a more introverted work in the style of The Green Mile or Hearts in Atlantis. The supernatural or, more accurately, the science fiction aspects of From a Buick 8 are not as important as the relational links between the characters.

Having said that I was still disap...more

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About Stephen King

Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.

Stephen Edwin King was born in Portland, Maine in 1947, the second son of Donald and Nellie Ruth Pillsbury King. After his parents separated when Stephen was a toddler, he and his older brother, David, were raised by his mother. Parts of his childhood were spent in Fort Wayne, Indiana, where his father's family...more Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.

Stephen Edwin King was born in Portland, Maine in 1947, the second son of Donald and Nellie Ruth Pillsbury King. After his parents separated when Stephen was a toddler, he and his older brother, David, were raised by his mother. Parts of his childhood were spent in Fort Wayne, Indiana, where his father's family was at the time, and in Stratford, Connecticut. When Stephen was eleven, his mother brought her children back to Durham, Maine, for good. Her parents, Guy and Nellie Pillsbury, had become incapacitated with old age, and Ruth King was persuaded by her sisters to take over the physical care of the elderly couple. Other family members provided a small house in Durham and financial support. After Stephen's grandparents passed away, Mrs. King found work in the kitchens of Pineland, a nearby residential facility for the mentally challenged.

Stephen attended the grammar school in Durham and then Lisbon Falls High School, graduating in 1966. From his sophomore year at the University of Maine at Orono, he wrote a weekly column for the school newspaper, THE MAINE CAMPUS. He was also active in student politics, serving as a member of the Student Senate. He came to support the anti-war movement on the Orono campus, arriving at his stance from a conservative view that the war in Vietnam was unconstitutional. He graduated from the University of Maine at Orono in 1970, with a B.A. in English and qualified to teach on the high school level. A draft board examination immediately post-graduation found him 4-F on grounds of high blood pressure, limited vision, flat feet, and punctured eardrums.

He and Tabitha Spruce married in January of 1971. He met Tabitha in the stacks of the Fogler Library at the University of Maine at Orono, where they both worked as students. As Stephen was unable to find placement as a teacher immediately, the Kings lived on his earnings as a laborer at an industrial laundry, and her student loan and savings, with an occasional boost from a short story sale to men's magazines.

Stephen made his first professional short story sale ("The Glass Floor") to Startling Mystery Stories in 1967. Throughout the early years of his marriage, he continued to sell stories to men's magazines. Many of these were later gathered into the Night Shift collection or appeared in other anthologies.

In the fall of 1971, Stephen began teaching high school English classes at Hampden Academy, the public high school in Hampden, Maine. Writing in the evenings and on the weekends, he continued to produce short stories and to work on novels.(less)

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Quotes from Het geheim van de Buick

“You don't always talk with your mouth. Sometimes what you say with your mouth hardly matters at all. You have to signify” — 16 people liked it

“It's funny how close the past is, sometimes. Sometimes it seems as if you could almost reach out and touch it. Only who really wants to?” — 11 people liked it

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