Thinner (Signet)
by Stephen King, Richard Bachman
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avg 3.29
The second S.K. book I've read... makes me less appreciative of gypsies... that's a shame. The ending was sad but less predictable than Pet Sematary.
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Read in August, 2008
My first completed Stephen King book! A long time ago I had attempted to read The Shining, but it creeped me out so much I couldn't finish it. I recently joined a second book club, and this was the book chosen for this month. Perhaps, this isn't a classic Stephen King novel, but it just didn't have the twistedness that I had expected from Stephen King. The main character, Billy Halleck, is an obese man, that has a very pleasant life in a small suburban community. One day, while driving thro...more
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Read in August, 2007
recommends it for:
Dieters, anorexics and gypsies.
Thinner by Richard Bachman (aka Stephen King) is a revenge novel. It tackles with the issues of blame, guilt, obesity and romany gypsy curses.
When I first started reading, I couldn't help buy compare this to Richard Matheson's The Incredible Shrinking Man. There are strong similarities to this novel so much that even Bachman refers outright to it once or twice.
Still, it has a relatively unique plot and stays fairly interesting throughout.
I couldn't help but giggle when a chara...more
When I first started reading, I couldn't help buy compare this to Richard Matheson's The Incredible Shrinking Man. There are strong similarities to this novel so much that even Bachman refers outright to it once or twice.
Still, it has a relatively unique plot and stays fairly interesting throughout.
I couldn't help but giggle when a chara...more
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Billy Halleck is a lawyer. An obese lawyer this side of a heart attack. One day as he and his wife are driving home, he hits an old Gypsy woman who happens to be jaywalking. After getting a slap on the wrist, he meets an old Gypsy man outside the courthouse who touches his cheek and whispers, "Thinner". Halleck soon begins to lose weight at an alarming rate, depsite not changing his eating habits. As his weight continues to drop, Halleck must chase after the gypsy caravan to talk the o...more
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Read in October, 2007
It's a painfully simple concept for a story: overweight man runs down gypsy, man's judge friend gets him off, gypsy's father curses man, man begins to lose weight at a horrifying rate, man hunts down gypsy's father to get curse removed. Considering all the stuff up to and including the man getting cursed happens before the book even begins, there is definitely not enough story here to fill 300+ pages. It all feels like padding - the altercation with the doctor, the stories of the judge and polic...more
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Great story - I will never mess with a Gypsy as long as I live! I particularly like the way that the central character's relationship with his wife transforms throughout the story. A fast-paced story that captures his horrible weight loss vividly.
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Read in February, 2008
recommended to Ashley by:
my grandma recommends it for: mature highschool students or adults
Thinner by Stephen King is about a lawyer, Billy Halleck, who runs over and kills an old gypsy lady. Her father, who has a nose condition, curses him as well as the sheriff and the judge; he does this because he wants justice.
Billy Halleck's curse was to get thinner, which is exactly what happens. The three hundred pound Billy eventaully turns into an unhealthy man with no fat on his body.
What happens is a mystery... read the book and you'll find out.
MOVIE- Do NOT watch the movie...more
Billy Halleck's curse was to get thinner, which is exactly what happens. The three hundred pound Billy eventaully turns into an unhealthy man with no fat on his body.
What happens is a mystery... read the book and you'll find out.
MOVIE- Do NOT watch the movie...more
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Great macabre story from Stephen King. Fun easy read and great for the beach or some quite time. Not really all that scary, but still has some spooky characters. One of his better books.
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this might be the only King book I have ever read as I`m not a big fan of scary books. I should probably just suck it up and read more to see if it bothers me as much as I think it may.
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i liked this book because it talked aout how bad things an get for someone. it was a great story and i enjoyed reading it.
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An eerie tale of a gluttonous lawyer cursed by a gypsy family whose matriarch he ran over and killed. This was certainly not my favorite "Bachman Book", but honestly, I did enjoy that whole collection. I guess the 2 stars are relative to what I would have given Rage or The Long Walk (one of my all time favorites). I read the whole collection consecutively and honestly for a long time, I thought these were categorized as short stories. I don't think that's accurate, but I do think that ...more
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Read in January, 1987
A friend suggested this book in college. I'm not usually a Stephen Kind fan but this was a good book. It's got an Ender's Game type ending and I liked it. I don't know if it would be as good the second time around but who knows.
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As a person who's rarely satisfied with her weight, I must say I thought long and hard about dieting after reading this book. King gives us yet another reminder to be careful what we wish for because we just might get it in spades, the grass is always greener, etc.
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Read in October, 2008
so much fuller than the movie, which I also liked :)
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