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Der Buick.
Der junge Ned Wilcox, dessen Vater vor genau einem Jahr im Polizeidienst ums Leben gekommen war, jobbt im Sommer 2002 bei genau dieser Polizeieinheit. Er fühlt sich wohl im Kreise der ehemaligen Kollegen seines Vaters, da sie ihm helfen, seinen schmerzlichen Verlust zu verarbeiten. Doch schon bald beschäftigt Ned anderes, denn als er durch die Fenster eines alten Schuppens blickt, kann er dort einen mit einer Plane abgedeckten Wagen entdecken, der offenbar schon lange da steht. Plötzlich hört er ein scheifendes Geräusch und traut seinen Augen nicht: Die Plane ist vom Wagen gerutscht. Und Ned wird das komische Gefühl nicht los, dass der alte Buick, der nun zum Vorschein kommt, die Plane abgeschüttelt hat, um ihn beobachten zu können. Total verrückt!
Er kann nicht glauben, was ihm da widerfahren ist, und spricht Sandy, den Sergeant der Truppe, darauf an. Von ihm bekommt er eine gruselige Geschichte zu hören: über einen nachtblauen Buick Roadmaster '58, der eines Morgens im Jahre 1979 auf einer Tankstelle auftauchte und genauso wenig ein Buick, wie sein Fahrer im schwarzen Mantel ein Mensch war...
Er kann nicht glauben, was ihm da widerfahren ist, und spricht Sandy, den Sergeant der Truppe, darauf an. Von ihm bekommt er eine gruselige Geschichte zu hören: über einen nachtblauen Buick Roadmaster '58, der eines Morgens im Jahre 1979 auf einer Tankstelle auftauchte und genauso wenig ein Buick, wie sein Fahrer im schwarzen Mantel ein Mensch war...
496 pages, Hardcover
First published September 24, 2002
1491 people are currently reading
37728 people want to read
About the author
Stephen King
2,614 books886k followersStephen Edwin King was born the second son of Donald and Nellie Ruth Pillsbury King. After his father left them when Stephen was two, 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 them. 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 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 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 met Tabitha Spruce in the stacks of the Fogler Library at the University, where they both worked as students; they married in January of 1971. 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 were gathered into the Night Shift collection or appeared in other anthologies.
In the fall of 1971, Stephen began teaching English 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.
Stephen attended the grammar school in Durham and 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 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 met Tabitha Spruce in the stacks of the Fogler Library at the University, where they both worked as students; they married in January of 1971. 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 were gathered into the Night Shift collection or appeared in other anthologies.
In the fall of 1971, Stephen began teaching English 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.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 3,000 reviews
February 23, 2017
You ever make a meal comprised only of a bunch of leftovers that don’t really match? That’s how you end up eating half a Salisbury steak with the sweet-n-sour chicken from last night’s take-out. Stephen King loves doing that only it’s with books instead of food.
Here we have a hunk of Christine served up with stray bits from The Tommyknockers, and it’s all done using one of his preferred methods of having a character tell a long rambling story. Uncle Stevie then seasons it up with a lot of wistful thoughts on days gone by. Call it King Casserole Surprise.
The story here is told to the teenage son of a Pennsylvania State Police Trooper who was killed in the line of duty, and it’s about a strange car that his father impounded twenty years before. The car was abandoned at a gas station and at first glance was a 1954 Buick 8 Roadmaster in pristine condition, but closer examination shows a lot of odd things that indicate the car isn’t a car at all. After one of their troopers disappears they all believe that the Buick is somehow responsible, and they decide to keep the car stashed in a shed at their headquarters. Supposedly it’s to protect the public, but there’s also a healthy amount of curiosity that turns into near obsession on the part of some of the troopers including the dead boy’s father who spends the next two decades trying to unravel the secret of the Buick.
This is not one of King’s best books, and one of the biggest problems is that he tries to have it both ways. A large point of the story is supposed to be that there are some mysteries that we’ll just never solve, and that we have to make peace with that when we run across it. Which is fine, but if you’re going to play it that way then the mystery of the Buick needs to really be unknowable. What King does instead is to beat us over the head with that theme of acceptance, but then he pretty much goes ahead and tells us what the car is anyhow.
Plus, the weird things the Buick does get fairly predictable. Yeah, I know, that’s part of the point. The story makes it clear that the car and it’s occasional crazy happening became just part of the routine for everyone who knew it was back there, but then King has to have it unleash unspeakable horrors a couple of times which make it hard to believe that anyone could just go to work every day knowing it was back there instead of just being an oddity they deal with once in a while. The cops also seem to take the disappearance of one of their own fairly lightly.
While this comes in at a relatively tight 350 pages for a later work by Uncle Stevie it just doesn’t feel like there’s enough story here to justify it. As it stands it would have made a better short story or novella, but at this length it feels like there’s both too much and not enough at the same time.
Despite all my misgivings I kinda like this one, but it’s for mainly personal reasons. My mother worked as a dispatcher for the sheriff’s department of our rural Kansas county when I was growing up, and their office was just a block away from my grandmother’s house who would watch us when the folks were working. I spent a lot of time hanging around there, and this book, which details the humdrum everyday stuff that happens around any cop shop, reminds me of those times when I’d sit in their kitchen listening to the chatter of the guys in the office and on the radio. So it’s pure nostalgia that gets me to boost this from two stars to three. I make no apologies for that.
Here we have a hunk of Christine served up with stray bits from The Tommyknockers, and it’s all done using one of his preferred methods of having a character tell a long rambling story. Uncle Stevie then seasons it up with a lot of wistful thoughts on days gone by. Call it King Casserole Surprise.
The story here is told to the teenage son of a Pennsylvania State Police Trooper who was killed in the line of duty, and it’s about a strange car that his father impounded twenty years before. The car was abandoned at a gas station and at first glance was a 1954 Buick 8 Roadmaster in pristine condition, but closer examination shows a lot of odd things that indicate the car isn’t a car at all. After one of their troopers disappears they all believe that the Buick is somehow responsible, and they decide to keep the car stashed in a shed at their headquarters. Supposedly it’s to protect the public, but there’s also a healthy amount of curiosity that turns into near obsession on the part of some of the troopers including the dead boy’s father who spends the next two decades trying to unravel the secret of the Buick.
This is not one of King’s best books, and one of the biggest problems is that he tries to have it both ways. A large point of the story is supposed to be that there are some mysteries that we’ll just never solve, and that we have to make peace with that when we run across it. Which is fine, but if you’re going to play it that way then the mystery of the Buick needs to really be unknowable. What King does instead is to beat us over the head with that theme of acceptance, but then he pretty much goes ahead and tells us what the car is anyhow.
Plus, the weird things the Buick does get fairly predictable. Yeah, I know, that’s part of the point. The story makes it clear that the car and it’s occasional crazy happening became just part of the routine for everyone who knew it was back there, but then King has to have it unleash unspeakable horrors a couple of times which make it hard to believe that anyone could just go to work every day knowing it was back there instead of just being an oddity they deal with once in a while. The cops also seem to take the disappearance of one of their own fairly lightly.
While this comes in at a relatively tight 350 pages for a later work by Uncle Stevie it just doesn’t feel like there’s enough story here to justify it. As it stands it would have made a better short story or novella, but at this length it feels like there’s both too much and not enough at the same time.
Despite all my misgivings I kinda like this one, but it’s for mainly personal reasons. My mother worked as a dispatcher for the sheriff’s department of our rural Kansas county when I was growing up, and their office was just a block away from my grandmother’s house who would watch us when the folks were working. I spent a lot of time hanging around there, and this book, which details the humdrum everyday stuff that happens around any cop shop, reminds me of those times when I’d sit in their kitchen listening to the chatter of the guys in the office and on the radio. So it’s pure nostalgia that gets me to boost this from two stars to three. I make no apologies for that.
August 4, 2022
A young man wants to know more about his recently killed cop dad, so his dad's colleagues end up telling him all about the strange Buick 8 in shed B and the connected strange occurrences tied to it. An OK mystery, built around the concept that the truth may not necessary set you free / give you closure. The story, and thus, the book itself, feels like it is not overly interesting. A Stephen King book, that I may never read again! The downside of being a huge multi-bestselling writer, is that they'll publish anything you write? 5 out of 12.
2017 read; 2004 read
2017 read; 2004 read
February 1, 2021
I think I’m in an unpopular opinion situation but as GR is glitching as I write this, who knows!! Either way, I enjoyed the book! I didn’t find it boring at all! I like books that ramble on
And I loved the audio, although, I think I missed a few things!! But I didn’t like the dog part damn it!
The end!
Mel 🖤🐶🐺🐾
And I loved the audio, although, I think I missed a few things!! But I didn’t like the dog part damn it!
The end!
Mel 🖤🐶🐺🐾
February 5, 2022
“It's funny how close the past is, sometimes. Sometimes it seems as if you could almost reach out and touch it. Only… Only who really wants to?”Unpopular opinion here, but for me From a Buick 8 has always been one of King’s favorites. What can I say - you love what you love.
Well, how do I love thee? Let me count the ways, or something akin to that.
Maybe it’s the lack of a traditional ending that neatly explains everything? Sometimes I do get a kick out of mysteries that insist on remaining mysteries and stay unsolved even at the end of the story. I mean, Stephen King’s propensity for writing endings that fizzle when compared to usually fantastical buildup is so well-known that Uncle Stevie himself made a self-deprecating cameo in the latest movie version of “IT” (funnily enough, the end of that movie, although different from King’s version, was still less than satisfactory).
So maybe one of the reasons why I always loved Buick 8 is that it does not really have a resolution. It’s really just the buildup, and the rest is up to you. The strange unknown remains mostly unknown. The mysteries that are never satisfactorily solved, the endings that are not conclusive, the questions that have no definite answers - these can be frustrating as hell, but can also ring true - and for me this one does.
“Tell me everything. But — this is important — tell me a story, one that has a beginning and a middle and an end where everything is explained. Because I deserve that. Don't shake the rattle of your ambiguity in my face. I deny its place. I repudiate its claim. I want a story.”Or maybe it’s because it is one of King’s “quieter” action-light stories that has my favorite King’s trademarks, focusing mostly on the life of regular people in a small police force in a backwoods community. King is at his best writing about people in quaint towns going about their normal routines, living lives and just getting on - even in the face of some really weird shit happening. He shines here as usual - connections and relationships between people are his forte.
“I knew what he was trying so say, and I knew something else at the same time: the boy would never quite understand the way it had really been. How mundane it had been, at least on most days. On most days we had just gone on. The way people go on after seeing a beautiful sunset, or tasting a wonderful champagne, or getting bad news from home. We had the miracle of the world out behind our workplace, but that didn't change the amount of paperwork we had to do or the way we brushed our teeth or how we made love to our spouses. It didn't lift us to new realms of existence or planes of perception. Our asses still itched, and we still scratched them when they did.”King is quite good touching on the themes of loss and grief. Does it consume you or do you move on? How do you process the loss? What and who do you hang on to? Who is there for you when everything is bleak and lost?
“It killed my daddy!' he shouted in a child's voice, but it wasn't me he was shouting at. He couldn't find whatever it was he wanted to shout at, and that was precisely what was killing him.”Maybe it’s the writing which is solid as always. Some of his best, even.
“Seen in that light, the whole idea of curious cats attaining satisfaction seemed slightly absurd. The world rarely finishes its conversations.”Maybe it’s the ability to show (not tell) what makes us human and what makes us monsters. Or both.
“Up until then, what I'd mostly felt was sorry for him. Everything I'd done since he started showing up at the barracks had been based on that comfortable pity. Because all that time when he'd been washing windows and raking leaves and snowblowing his way through the drifts in the back parking lot, all that time he'd kept his head down. Meekly down. You didn't have to contend with his eyes. You didn't have to ask yourself any questions, because pity is comfortable. Isn't it? Pity puts you right up on top. Now he had lifted his head, he was using my own words back at me, and there was nothing meek in his eyes. He thought he had a right, and that made me mad. […] He thought he had a right and I wanted to make him sorry.”Maybe it’s the bits of nostalgia without romanticizing the past - as King knows how to do well.
“But all that is in the yet-to-be. We are in the past now, in the magical land of Then.”Maybe it’s just that I love what I love.
'You don't know where you came from or where you're going, do you?' I asked him. 'But you live with it just the same. Don't rail against it too much. Don't spend more than an hour a day shaking your fists at the sky and cursing God.'All I know if that I re-read it multiple times and it still fascinates me.
'But — '
'There are Buicks everywhere,' I said.”
4 stars.
——————
Also posted on my blog.
October 16, 2021
"I thought of telling him I didn't know about reasons, only about chains—how they form themselves, link by link, out of nothing; how they knit themselves into the world. Sometimes you can grab a chain and use it to pull yourself out of a dark place. Mostly, though, I think you get wrapped up in them. Just caught, if you're lucky. Fucking strangled, if you're not."
After Curtis Wilcox, a well liked member of Troop D, is killed by a drunk driver, his son Ned starts to visit the barracks where he worked. The troopers take a liking to Ned and begin to tell him about the "Buick 8" a mysterious 1954 Buick Roadmaster that has sat in storage in Shed B at the barracks for 25 years. In 1979 the midnight blue Buick was left at a gas station by a mysterious driver who disappeared. Never to be seen again.
The car, they soon discover, is not a car at all. It appears to be a regular Buick but the steering wheel is immobile, the dashboard instruments are props, the engine has no working parts and the ignition wires go nowhere, the exhaust system is made out of glass and the car heals itself when damaged.
One day, not long after being impounded, the Buick starts to humm. All radio and television signals go dead and suddenly, large flashes of purple light start coming from inside the Buick.
Time goes by and the flashes and humming continue. Occasionally, after one of these occurrences the Buick will ‘give birth’ (expel from its trunk) to strange plants and creatures that are not like anything from our world.
Then, one of Troopers disappears. Seemingly while in the vicinity of the Buick…
'From A Buick 8' was a polarizing read for me. It started off strong with an interesting backstory and the mystery surrounding the arrival of the Buick. It had that creepy crawly, alien creature, sci-fi thing going on that I love! I adored all of the characters and genuinely cared about them and their relationships with each other. They had loyalty and dependence among them and it was actually really beautiful.
Then we coasted along for a while……...
I started to skim and that’s always a bad sign. Usually when my attention wanes like that I’ll start writing the book off. But, I stopped and told myself the reason I was skimming was because I’m not particularly interested in cars or car talk and that isn’t the novel’s fault. So, I went back in with a renewed outlook and surprise I ended up really enjoying this!
‘From a Buick 8’ is a well structured mystery spanning decades that ultimately centres around a son’s search for the truth behind his father’s death. It is a moving, melancholy story about time and loss.
Highly recommend 👌🏻
After Curtis Wilcox, a well liked member of Troop D, is killed by a drunk driver, his son Ned starts to visit the barracks where he worked. The troopers take a liking to Ned and begin to tell him about the "Buick 8" a mysterious 1954 Buick Roadmaster that has sat in storage in Shed B at the barracks for 25 years. In 1979 the midnight blue Buick was left at a gas station by a mysterious driver who disappeared. Never to be seen again.
The car, they soon discover, is not a car at all. It appears to be a regular Buick but the steering wheel is immobile, the dashboard instruments are props, the engine has no working parts and the ignition wires go nowhere, the exhaust system is made out of glass and the car heals itself when damaged.
One day, not long after being impounded, the Buick starts to humm. All radio and television signals go dead and suddenly, large flashes of purple light start coming from inside the Buick.
Time goes by and the flashes and humming continue. Occasionally, after one of these occurrences the Buick will ‘give birth’ (expel from its trunk) to strange plants and creatures that are not like anything from our world.
Then, one of Troopers disappears. Seemingly while in the vicinity of the Buick…
'From A Buick 8' was a polarizing read for me. It started off strong with an interesting backstory and the mystery surrounding the arrival of the Buick. It had that creepy crawly, alien creature, sci-fi thing going on that I love! I adored all of the characters and genuinely cared about them and their relationships with each other. They had loyalty and dependence among them and it was actually really beautiful.
Then we coasted along for a while……...
I started to skim and that’s always a bad sign. Usually when my attention wanes like that I’ll start writing the book off. But, I stopped and told myself the reason I was skimming was because I’m not particularly interested in cars or car talk and that isn’t the novel’s fault. So, I went back in with a renewed outlook and surprise I ended up really enjoying this!
‘From a Buick 8’ is a well structured mystery spanning decades that ultimately centres around a son’s search for the truth behind his father’s death. It is a moving, melancholy story about time and loss.
Highly recommend 👌🏻
May 22, 2021
“We'll outwait you,' I said to the thing in the shed. 'We can do that.' It only sat there on its whitewalls, and far down in my head the pulse whispered: Maybe
… and maybe not.”
In terms of evil cars and Stephen King, Christine will assuredly be the one that comes to the mind for most people… not so for me. I will think of a Buick, one that doesn't work (at least not how a car should work) and one that just sits there waiting for you to come to it rather than the other way around.
Ned Wilcox is growing up, he's about to decide what to do with his life, but before that he's going to spend some time with state police of Troop D in rural Pennsylvania. It's not that he's done anything wrong, it's more that he's trying to find out about his father; a state trooper who was recently killed in an accident. He does yardwork there, odd jobs and listens to stories… until one day he finds a Buick in a shed. Then he'll learn a totally different aspect about his father, and a secret the troopers have been keeping for over twenty years.
This is, in my (not so) humble opinion, the most underrated of Stephen King's novels. You'll note I did not say best, I said underrated. This is King examining stories at a time when he announced his intention to retire. He obviously decided against that (just look at how many books he's published since this was released), but it was obviously on his mind in the writing process and it shows. It's a book filled with doubt in many ways. It's not King with a traditional monster story, but almost an essay on stories, just told in horror form. The entire book is about stories. How they move us, how they inform us, and yes, how sometimes they are unsatisfying. The bulk of the story is set on a single evening with all members of Troop D telling Ned about the history of the Buick and this spans a time period of 25 years. We see characters come and go and see how lives progress for better or worse. Some people fade out, and never get a proper conclusion to their tales, other's shine center stage.
In some ways this is structured in a way that will frustrate people. There is build up at times without payoff… but unlike some of King's books where it seems like he just forgot under the bulk of all he was trying to carry along, here it is intentional. It is calculated to show you how traditional narratives and real life often just don't mix. Sure, this should be obvious to people… but sometimes we need a reminder. 4/5 stars.
… and maybe not.”
In terms of evil cars and Stephen King, Christine will assuredly be the one that comes to the mind for most people… not so for me. I will think of a Buick, one that doesn't work (at least not how a car should work) and one that just sits there waiting for you to come to it rather than the other way around.
Ned Wilcox is growing up, he's about to decide what to do with his life, but before that he's going to spend some time with state police of Troop D in rural Pennsylvania. It's not that he's done anything wrong, it's more that he's trying to find out about his father; a state trooper who was recently killed in an accident. He does yardwork there, odd jobs and listens to stories… until one day he finds a Buick in a shed. Then he'll learn a totally different aspect about his father, and a secret the troopers have been keeping for over twenty years.
This is, in my (not so) humble opinion, the most underrated of Stephen King's novels. You'll note I did not say best, I said underrated. This is King examining stories at a time when he announced his intention to retire. He obviously decided against that (just look at how many books he's published since this was released), but it was obviously on his mind in the writing process and it shows. It's a book filled with doubt in many ways. It's not King with a traditional monster story, but almost an essay on stories, just told in horror form. The entire book is about stories. How they move us, how they inform us, and yes, how sometimes they are unsatisfying. The bulk of the story is set on a single evening with all members of Troop D telling Ned about the history of the Buick and this spans a time period of 25 years. We see characters come and go and see how lives progress for better or worse. Some people fade out, and never get a proper conclusion to their tales, other's shine center stage.
In some ways this is structured in a way that will frustrate people. There is build up at times without payoff… but unlike some of King's books where it seems like he just forgot under the bulk of all he was trying to carry along, here it is intentional. It is calculated to show you how traditional narratives and real life often just don't mix. Sure, this should be obvious to people… but sometimes we need a reminder. 4/5 stars.
January 15, 2009
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 office lot. Don't get too close, don't get too interested and when stuff comes out of it... run. What's important here is the draw, the raw fascination that comes with the unknown.
It's a mistake to compare Buick 8 to Christine simply because the two stories are about cars. For one thing, the Buick isn't really a car... it's a metaphor on one level, and an otherwordly artefact on another. Christine was full of murderous rage, both possessed by and possessing her owners - the Buick is never conclusively considered sentient.
A further difference between Christine and Buick, is the ending - Christine is a fully formed story, with a beginning, lots of guts, and the perfect horror-story ending. Buick is a story about how stories really unfold (an increasing preoccupation in King's writing) and how they don't necessarily come tied up neatly with all four corners properly inside the wrapping. In this respect, Buick has more in common with later work, such as The Colorado Kid, and even Cell or the Dark Tower.
Buick 8 is readable, thought-provoking and full of things that make you shudder. It's an important part of any King collection.
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 office lot. Don't get too close, don't get too interested and when stuff comes out of it... run. What's important here is the draw, the raw fascination that comes with the unknown.
It's a mistake to compare Buick 8 to Christine simply because the two stories are about cars. For one thing, the Buick isn't really a car... it's a metaphor on one level, and an otherwordly artefact on another. Christine was full of murderous rage, both possessed by and possessing her owners - the Buick is never conclusively considered sentient.
A further difference between Christine and Buick, is the ending - Christine is a fully formed story, with a beginning, lots of guts, and the perfect horror-story ending. Buick is a story about how stories really unfold (an increasing preoccupation in King's writing) and how they don't necessarily come tied up neatly with all four corners properly inside the wrapping. In this respect, Buick has more in common with later work, such as The Colorado Kid, and even Cell or the Dark Tower.
Buick 8 is readable, thought-provoking and full of things that make you shudder. It's an important part of any King collection.
August 27, 2020
I don't think this is the best novel I've read. It's not even Stephen King's best. It is my favorite though. It's the novel I've reread most often. This was at least my fifteenth reading of it and I still had fun.
October 15, 2015
2.5 Stars
OMGOSH, I really can't believe I'm rating a Stephen King novel 2.5 Stars, but From A Buick 8 turned out to be a real "clunker" of a read for me.
The story begins enticingly when a mysterious man dressed in black rolls into a gas station for a fill-up and forthwith disappears leaving his evil vintage car behind. Unfortunately though, except for a few freaky monster moments and light shows, the plot was long, lacking and laborious.
A rare disappointment from The King!
May 3, 2023
Rating: ⭐⭐⭐
Genre: Horror
Stephen King's "From a Buick 8" is a horror book about a strange vehicle that seems to have supernatural powers. The tale is told from the point of view of a team of law enforcement officials who have been charged with investigating this extraordinary car and its peculiar qualities.
The novel starts with an eighteen-year-old boy called Ned inquiring about his father's death, who used to work with the same team of police officers. They tell him about the car that is parked in shed B and how they think that it might act as a portal to another world.
When compared to the other Stephen King books that I have read, I honestly believe that this novel was, at best, just OK. I believe that King is capable of much more than this. The tale, although having moments that were suitably intriguing, never managed to pique my interest. It seems to me that the many points of view did the story a great injustice. Why Stephen King would want to say the same thing over and over again is beyond my comprehension. There is no denying the striking similarity between this book and the author's previous work, "Christine." Didn't the author feel that writing about a supernatural car only once was sufficient? The question is, why did he do it twice?
Genre: Horror
Stephen King's "From a Buick 8" is a horror book about a strange vehicle that seems to have supernatural powers. The tale is told from the point of view of a team of law enforcement officials who have been charged with investigating this extraordinary car and its peculiar qualities.
The novel starts with an eighteen-year-old boy called Ned inquiring about his father's death, who used to work with the same team of police officers. They tell him about the car that is parked in shed B and how they think that it might act as a portal to another world.
When compared to the other Stephen King books that I have read, I honestly believe that this novel was, at best, just OK. I believe that King is capable of much more than this. The tale, although having moments that were suitably intriguing, never managed to pique my interest. It seems to me that the many points of view did the story a great injustice. Why Stephen King would want to say the same thing over and over again is beyond my comprehension. There is no denying the striking similarity between this book and the author's previous work, "Christine." Didn't the author feel that writing about a supernatural car only once was sufficient? The question is, why did he do it twice?
May 20, 2020
"How does it feel, how does it feel?
To be on your own, with no direction home
A complete unknown, like a rolling stone!"
-- Bob Dylan
Why do I choose Dylan lyrics to open a review? Two reasons - 1.) author King's title was inspired by the track called 'From a Buick 6,' from Dylan's 1965 album Highway 61 Revisited, which contained the classic tunes 'Tombstone Blues' and the above-quoted 'Like a Rolling Stone,' and 2.) by the book's conclusion I realized my time would've been better spent instead just listening to said album.
I've read a fair amount of King, but mostly his 70's and 80's output. (I consider IT one of my all-time favorites, and much enjoyed a dozen or so of his other books as well - I even read Gerald's Game in nearly one sitting over twenty year ago.) However, I have to wonder if my co-worker friend is onto something, as she has repeatedly advised me "His work after his [1999] accident isn't as good."
The story here, in a superficial outline, sounds like a sure thing - highway patrol cops versus a likely supernaturally-powered old-school automobile in Pennsylvania (my home state - woot woot!). I can tell King did his research, both geographically and with the region's state police. There are some great, quotable lines like "[The old sergeant] called law enforcement 'a case of good men doing bad chores'" (page 335) and "[Cops] - we clean up the messes and we always know the truth" (page 345).
But . . . I kept waiting for the expected "it was a normal day . . . and then EVIL came to town" moment - you know, maybe some shocking vehicular mayhem on the turnpike - but nearly the entire narrative was a talking-head, long-winded slow burn of a tale. The so-called suspense and/or action felt like it was non-existent until the final thirty pages. The title vehicle spends 99% of its time locked in a shed! How can this story feature a possibly demonic or evil alien '53 Buick Roadmaster (if that's what it really was) and have it parked / impounded for the duration of the book?! I guess I was simply hoping for something well-written but yet sort of schlocky like the 70's horror B-movie The Car (though NOT necessarily just a retread of King's Christine), so I was pretty disappointed by this effort.
To be on your own, with no direction home
A complete unknown, like a rolling stone!"
-- Bob Dylan
Why do I choose Dylan lyrics to open a review? Two reasons - 1.) author King's title was inspired by the track called 'From a Buick 6,' from Dylan's 1965 album Highway 61 Revisited, which contained the classic tunes 'Tombstone Blues' and the above-quoted 'Like a Rolling Stone,' and 2.) by the book's conclusion I realized my time would've been better spent instead just listening to said album.
I've read a fair amount of King, but mostly his 70's and 80's output. (I consider IT one of my all-time favorites, and much enjoyed a dozen or so of his other books as well - I even read Gerald's Game in nearly one sitting over twenty year ago.) However, I have to wonder if my co-worker friend is onto something, as she has repeatedly advised me "His work after his [1999] accident isn't as good."
The story here, in a superficial outline, sounds like a sure thing - highway patrol cops versus a likely supernaturally-powered old-school automobile in Pennsylvania (my home state - woot woot!). I can tell King did his research, both geographically and with the region's state police. There are some great, quotable lines like "[The old sergeant] called law enforcement 'a case of good men doing bad chores'" (page 335) and "[Cops] - we clean up the messes and we always know the truth" (page 345).
But . . . I kept waiting for the expected "it was a normal day . . . and then EVIL came to town" moment - you know, maybe some shocking vehicular mayhem on the turnpike - but nearly the entire narrative was a talking-head, long-winded slow burn of a tale. The so-called suspense and/or action felt like it was non-existent until the final thirty pages. The title vehicle spends 99% of its time locked in a shed! How can this story feature a possibly demonic or evil alien '53 Buick Roadmaster (if that's what it really was) and have it parked / impounded for the duration of the book?! I guess I was simply hoping for something well-written but yet sort of schlocky like the 70's horror B-movie The Car (though NOT necessarily just a retread of King's Christine), so I was pretty disappointed by this effort.
March 19, 2018
I avoided this novel for years, in fear that it would be a 'Christine' part 2 situation. Well, I was wrong.
It's actually an extremely better novel, in my opinion. Scarier? No. More exciting? Definitely not. More entertaining? No. Better written? Yes.
George A Romero used zombies to explore deeper meanings of civilization in his films. Stephen King does the same thing in his novels, just with the supernatural/unexplained, and usually a car is involved in some way as well. Buick 8 is about dealing with loss; whether you allow yourself to move on from death or let it become your life; themes explored in an earlier King novel 'Pet Sematary' as well as in 'Revival'.
The major complaint to this novel is how nothing happens & it lacks resolution. King foreshadows this by having Ned Wilcox express his anger with Sandy; he begs for a story, for a beginning middle and end with everything explained. Sandy gets angry and explains how that isn't how it works. This tease should prepare the reader.
The imagery of the creatures from the Buick is a love letter to Lovecraft that's beautifully signed by King; the overall imagery of the novel rivals the ones found in the phenomenal novel 'Insomnia'. The character building is, of course, front & center; Troop D is a great & underrated 'Ka-Tet' of the Stephen King Multiverse.
Side note; for someone who grew up with no father, King writes father & child relationships so painfully well it can hurt one's heart.
Overall, the novel lacks the action found in works like 'Misery' or 'The Dark Half' but is heavy on structure & characters & themes, I will re-read with glee. As further time has gone by, I consider 'From a Buick 8' to be my favorite King work post-accident. An important novel in King's career as it displays his maturity as an author. The boldest claim I can make about 'From a Buick 8' is this: it could just be the best written tale of King's career. To me, King will be remembered by literary snobs for three of his novels: 'Bag of Bones', 'Hearts in Atlantis', and 'From a Buick 8'.
It's actually an extremely better novel, in my opinion. Scarier? No. More exciting? Definitely not. More entertaining? No. Better written? Yes.
George A Romero used zombies to explore deeper meanings of civilization in his films. Stephen King does the same thing in his novels, just with the supernatural/unexplained, and usually a car is involved in some way as well. Buick 8 is about dealing with loss; whether you allow yourself to move on from death or let it become your life; themes explored in an earlier King novel 'Pet Sematary' as well as in 'Revival'.
The major complaint to this novel is how nothing happens & it lacks resolution. King foreshadows this by having Ned Wilcox express his anger with Sandy; he begs for a story, for a beginning middle and end with everything explained. Sandy gets angry and explains how that isn't how it works. This tease should prepare the reader.
The imagery of the creatures from the Buick is a love letter to Lovecraft that's beautifully signed by King; the overall imagery of the novel rivals the ones found in the phenomenal novel 'Insomnia'. The character building is, of course, front & center; Troop D is a great & underrated 'Ka-Tet' of the Stephen King Multiverse.
Side note; for someone who grew up with no father, King writes father & child relationships so painfully well it can hurt one's heart.
Overall, the novel lacks the action found in works like 'Misery' or 'The Dark Half' but is heavy on structure & characters & themes, I will re-read with glee. As further time has gone by, I consider 'From a Buick 8' to be my favorite King work post-accident. An important novel in King's career as it displays his maturity as an author. The boldest claim I can make about 'From a Buick 8' is this: it could just be the best written tale of King's career. To me, King will be remembered by literary snobs for three of his novels: 'Bag of Bones', 'Hearts in Atlantis', and 'From a Buick 8'.
October 21, 2011
You have a favorite restaurant. They serve a new four-course meal each time you visit (the fourth being dessert) and you always leave feeling full and satisfied. But this time you notice the "Under New Management" sign. But you're not worried. They're still doing great business and the line is around the block. Fortunately, you made reservations.
As the courses progress, you notice the flavors are bland, uninteresting, and redundant. Maybe the chef is having an off night. You push through it, because dessert is your favorite. Sometimes it hits your palette with a POW! and it's all you ever wanted in a dessert. Sometimes its flavors are elusive, mysterious, and that makes it just as delicious.
The waiter removes the empty plate that held the third course and suddenly the "New Management" is standing at your table, smiling.
"Sir," he says, "there will be no dessert tonight, I'm afraid. You see, our philosophy is that the destination is not nearly as important as the journey. We hope you've enjoyed your meal and that you learned something in the process."
But, unexpectedly at this point, the waiter appears with your dessert after all, along with a small note card upon which is written a skeletal recipe for said dessert. It's not extensive, but it gives you a good enough idea of what it actually is, or could be. You realize this completely contradicts what the Management just told you, but you take a bite anyway only to discover it is just as disappointing as the rest of the dinner. Meanwhile, the chef is frowning from the kitchen and complaining how much fun he had making it and that should be enough.
I get it. Honestly. But don't hand me a cake made from old flour, egg substitute, and sugar-free frosting then tell me it's the process used to create it that makes it worth eating.
As the courses progress, you notice the flavors are bland, uninteresting, and redundant. Maybe the chef is having an off night. You push through it, because dessert is your favorite. Sometimes it hits your palette with a POW! and it's all you ever wanted in a dessert. Sometimes its flavors are elusive, mysterious, and that makes it just as delicious.
The waiter removes the empty plate that held the third course and suddenly the "New Management" is standing at your table, smiling.
"Sir," he says, "there will be no dessert tonight, I'm afraid. You see, our philosophy is that the destination is not nearly as important as the journey. We hope you've enjoyed your meal and that you learned something in the process."
But, unexpectedly at this point, the waiter appears with your dessert after all, along with a small note card upon which is written a skeletal recipe for said dessert. It's not extensive, but it gives you a good enough idea of what it actually is, or could be. You realize this completely contradicts what the Management just told you, but you take a bite anyway only to discover it is just as disappointing as the rest of the dinner. Meanwhile, the chef is frowning from the kitchen and complaining how much fun he had making it and that should be enough.
I get it. Honestly. But don't hand me a cake made from old flour, egg substitute, and sugar-free frosting then tell me it's the process used to create it that makes it worth eating.
October 21, 2017
Just finishing off another rereading of this one, which, I gotta say, stands up remarkably well to repeated readings ... in fact, I couldn't help but notice this time around that From a Buick 8 actually gets more and more frightening each time I read it. Quite counterintuitive. Knowing that 90-to-99% of readers will not understand what I'm about to say here, I just love this book. It has some of the most gorgeous writing SK has done anywhere, and when you compare it with, I don't know, Firestarter or another of his earlier offerings, it's quite clear that the man has very much become a writer over the years, a craftsman with a deep, deep knowledge of his craft. All those thousands (!) of pages of practice, well, he wasn't just crankin’ ’em out, he was learning along the way, getting better all the time. True, he could always scare the crap out of you, and he was arguably the best at this when he was a younger writer ... but sometimes I wonder how much of this was also due to the fact that he was specifically going for just that reaction, more even than trying to tell a story, or fashion a sentence. Also, we've — at least I've — gotten used to big Steve and his tricks, and it's harder to scare the crap out of me than it was when I read Pet Sematary, which did indeed scare the crap out of me and keep me up till 5am one fine night in early 1984.
My initial review follows; it's less a review than a somewhat acerbic "counterpoint" to some know-nothing, dismissive pseudo-reviews of people who presumed to know what they were talking about even if they "dnf"-ed this book ... as if the very fact of their being unable to finish a book was itself evidence of its literary deficiencies.
(Original Review)
A much better book than most people think ... you just have to take it on its own terms. It's ridiculous to say "nothing happens" in this book just because (a) the action is subtler than most SK novels, and (b) the plot unfolds mostly through the telling of narrators relating stories of the past. Regarding the latter - that's exactly how the story of Wuthering Heights is told ... and nobody would try to argue that "nothing happens" in that book. So let's all grow up, relax a little, and maybe try again. This is really a wonderful book.
My initial review follows; it's less a review than a somewhat acerbic "counterpoint" to some know-nothing, dismissive pseudo-reviews of people who presumed to know what they were talking about even if they "dnf"-ed this book ... as if the very fact of their being unable to finish a book was itself evidence of its literary deficiencies.
(Original Review)
A much better book than most people think ... you just have to take it on its own terms. It's ridiculous to say "nothing happens" in this book just because (a) the action is subtler than most SK novels, and (b) the plot unfolds mostly through the telling of narrators relating stories of the past. Regarding the latter - that's exactly how the story of Wuthering Heights is told ... and nobody would try to argue that "nothing happens" in that book. So let's all grow up, relax a little, and maybe try again. This is really a wonderful book.
October 12, 2020
Hard to classify this book as horror or science fiction. The story goes that a mysterious man drives into a service station in Pennsylvania in a beautiful Buick 8. The attendant fills the tank while the driver uses the bathroom but never returns to the car.
Eventually the car is towed to a shed out back of the local Police Station but the driver is never found. The Buick is not what it seems as it occasionally emits a strange purple light and hums. Officer Curtis Wilcox is one of the two police officers that tows the car back to the shed and over time he becomes fascinated with the car and what it is doing. Although the whole of the station look after the car, it is Curtis who records the events and they are becoming more bizarre.
All of this happens some years ago and the book is divided between THEN and NOW by chapter. The THEN is the story as it runs, the NOW is a series of conversations held between police and the son of Officer Wilcox who has passed away.
The story itself is not one of King's strongest but I respected it a little more when I read the Author's note at the end about how he arrived at writing it. The biggest gripe I had was that the story is mainly told through the conversations between the police and Ned Wilcox. It reads more like a tale told rather than a story followed.
Eventually the car is towed to a shed out back of the local Police Station but the driver is never found. The Buick is not what it seems as it occasionally emits a strange purple light and hums. Officer Curtis Wilcox is one of the two police officers that tows the car back to the shed and over time he becomes fascinated with the car and what it is doing. Although the whole of the station look after the car, it is Curtis who records the events and they are becoming more bizarre.
All of this happens some years ago and the book is divided between THEN and NOW by chapter. The THEN is the story as it runs, the NOW is a series of conversations held between police and the son of Officer Wilcox who has passed away.
The story itself is not one of King's strongest but I respected it a little more when I read the Author's note at the end about how he arrived at writing it. The biggest gripe I had was that the story is mainly told through the conversations between the police and Ned Wilcox. It reads more like a tale told rather than a story followed.
May 25, 2021
Una novela que disfruté de principio a fin. Creo que está injustamente criticada.
January 1, 2016
A veces, cuando alguien lo pasa mal, le ayudan más personas de las que esperaba. Y a veces, aun así, no es suficiente.
Empezaba tan bien este libro... Al principio pensaba que me iba a encantar, pero a medida que avanzaba se me hacía cada vez más aburrido. Lo bueno es que no es pesado, entonces se puede leer rápido. No obstante, en relación con la historia, es muy lenta y repetitiva.
Lo siento, Steve, pero no me gustó.
Empezaba tan bien este libro... Al principio pensaba que me iba a encantar, pero a medida que avanzaba se me hacía cada vez más aburrido. Lo bueno es que no es pesado, entonces se puede leer rápido. No obstante, en relación con la historia, es muy lenta y repetitiva.
Lo siento, Steve, pero no me gustó.
May 20, 2024
This was a weird one, and that’s saying a lot when it involves the king of weirdness himself. Yes, it’s another supernatural car story, but this one presents itself with such a different set of metaphysics that it feels entirely novel, and unlike King’s other forays into automobile homage. It took a LONG time for this to sink its teeth into me, but it finally took hold in the last third and I must say that I thoroughly enjoyed its fantastical fangs. I’ve heard this talked about as being Dark Tower adjacent, but I feel like that’s a stretch. This one stands on its own as a Lovecraftian cosmic tale.
Character I Loved & Hated
Loved Curt Wilcox because a life-dominating obsession is something I completely get, and is something I’m constantly trying to evade
Hated Brian Lippy for being an unhinged, violent, angel-dusted criminal who paints the inside of cop cars with the vilest of materials
Themes
Fascination with the unknown and the detrimental effects that obsession can have on the human psyche, and how that manifests into life-impacting consequences
Thing I’ll walk away with
The term special brown icing will forever haunt me
Character I Loved & Hated
Loved Curt Wilcox because a life-dominating obsession is something I completely get, and is something I’m constantly trying to evade
Hated Brian Lippy for being an unhinged, violent, angel-dusted criminal who paints the inside of cop cars with the vilest of materials
Themes
Fascination with the unknown and the detrimental effects that obsession can have on the human psyche, and how that manifests into life-impacting consequences
Thing I’ll walk away with
The term special brown icing will forever haunt me
December 18, 2014
I can see why some Stephen King fans found this book unsatisfactory. It is relatively slow-moving, inconclusive, relies on implict, rather than explicit menace, and seems at times almost existential in its depiction of death and the mundane. It dares to tell a story that ends on a question mark, and challenges and subverts all the standard tropes of the standard horror novel. However, to me these are the very things that make the book stand out as it does - in fact, I think this may be the most interesting and adventurous of King's novels so far (and yes, I count myself a fan). So don't read it expecting another CHRISTINE; don't expect to come away with too many answers, and do read it with an open mind. I think it's an extraordinary piece of literary fiction - and published under a different name, would probably have won awards.
July 21, 2024
Not sure why I gave this book a two-star rating back in 2004, but it has been 20 years since I read it, and I'll trust my original initial gut-rating. I remember liking the idea of a car that wasn't a car; rather an incomprehensibly alien organism disguising itself as a car, kind of like an organic transformer. I do remember thinking that the story wasn't as up to par for Papa King. It was definitely not his best. Still, King at his most mediocre tends to be better than many other horror writers out there. I may have to give this another try sometime.
September 3, 2021
Never buy a car from Stephen King… loved this one!
April 3, 2016
First off, let me just say this book literally took me all month to get through and it was relentlessly slow. I kept hoping, wishing the story would pick up the pace but it just never did. If you're looking for one of those quick, enjoyable King fixes that we all know and love, this is not the book I'd recommend. I read it because it was the book selection of the month for the group and I would have eventually read it anyway.
I really wanted to rip this book apart and rate it a 1 star but that's really a knee-jerk reaction to my frustration at the slowness of the storytelling and the lack of a big, satisfying conclusion. To be fair, the writing is excellent, the promise is there, the weirdness that King likes to inject into his books is there, but I can fully understand why this book just misses the mark with some readers. I haven't read many reviews for this book because frankly I just don't bother reading reviews before I read something. It muddies my perception before I even dive in so I just don't do it anymore.
This is a book about storytelling and that's the point (I believe...I am often considered wrong so don't take my word as fact!). The theme keeps slapping you across the face, (while dozing from the slow pace), when you're dragging yourself through the chapters. I liken this book to sitting on a old, rickety porch somewhere in a small town, where time seems to stand still and stories are the language of the land, listening to some weathered old timers filling the youngin's heads with exaggerated legends from a lifetime ago. That's how I feel walking away from this one anyways.
I'd say if you're a King fan, go ahead and pick this sucker up...eventually, you know when you have absolutely nothing else to do or read.
I really wanted to rip this book apart and rate it a 1 star but that's really a knee-jerk reaction to my frustration at the slowness of the storytelling and the lack of a big, satisfying conclusion. To be fair, the writing is excellent, the promise is there, the weirdness that King likes to inject into his books is there, but I can fully understand why this book just misses the mark with some readers. I haven't read many reviews for this book because frankly I just don't bother reading reviews before I read something. It muddies my perception before I even dive in so I just don't do it anymore.
This is a book about storytelling and that's the point (I believe...I am often considered wrong so don't take my word as fact!). The theme keeps slapping you across the face, (while dozing from the slow pace), when you're dragging yourself through the chapters. I liken this book to sitting on a old, rickety porch somewhere in a small town, where time seems to stand still and stories are the language of the land, listening to some weathered old timers filling the youngin's heads with exaggerated legends from a lifetime ago. That's how I feel walking away from this one anyways.
I'd say if you're a King fan, go ahead and pick this sucker up...eventually, you know when you have absolutely nothing else to do or read.
June 8, 2022
Didn’t hate it but wasn’t his best work either.
May 4, 2020
This is why I reread Stephen King.
I read From a Buick 8 back in 2010, maybe 2011? I was still very new to King, and had not yet experienced his backlog as a whole—therefore I wasn’t privy to just what an important summary of his career this book was when it released in ‘02. It was on the promo tour for this book King, addled with pain from getting run over in ‘99 and facing down the Dark Tower finale, threatened retirement and seemed frustrated with the whole damn thing, the business of telling stories and trying to find answers in them.
This book isn’t widely loved because it isn’t neatly “wrapped up”. The Buick is never fully explained . . . at this point is that even a spoiler? I hope not! Yeah, King allows his characters to make guesses, but the titular “Buick 8” is nothing more than an avatar of the unexplainable, inexplicable bad shit life sometimes throws at us. As one character points out late in the novel, we know not from where we came or where we’ll go after we die, and we have to try living with that the best we can.
This book simply wouldn’t have worked had it been written by a younger writer, or a more inexperienced writer. If King had published this even a decade earlier it would’ve been totally different—and probably not so successful. It’s King‘s sure character work and ability to evoke dread (along with lessons learned after that 1999 accident) that brings this book to life. It explores themes that would become prevalent for King later in the 2000s: pain and mourning, existential dread, the horror of human illness. You can maybe fight a supernatural monster; fighting Cancer or Alzheimer’s sometimes seems a helluva lot scarier. Buick 8 is fueled with Dreamcatcher‘s anger and confusion, but this is the work of a writer with a clearer head. It doesn’t hurt it features some of King’s best prose, rivaling Bag of Bones and Duma Key.
Has this book entered my top 10? Yeah, maybe; the competition is awfully fierce, but this book really spoke to my soul. This is the exploration of a son grieving his father, looking for answers when there really are none. I can’t think of anything more human than that.
I read From a Buick 8 back in 2010, maybe 2011? I was still very new to King, and had not yet experienced his backlog as a whole—therefore I wasn’t privy to just what an important summary of his career this book was when it released in ‘02. It was on the promo tour for this book King, addled with pain from getting run over in ‘99 and facing down the Dark Tower finale, threatened retirement and seemed frustrated with the whole damn thing, the business of telling stories and trying to find answers in them.
This book isn’t widely loved because it isn’t neatly “wrapped up”. The Buick is never fully explained . . . at this point is that even a spoiler? I hope not! Yeah, King allows his characters to make guesses, but the titular “Buick 8” is nothing more than an avatar of the unexplainable, inexplicable bad shit life sometimes throws at us. As one character points out late in the novel, we know not from where we came or where we’ll go after we die, and we have to try living with that the best we can.
This book simply wouldn’t have worked had it been written by a younger writer, or a more inexperienced writer. If King had published this even a decade earlier it would’ve been totally different—and probably not so successful. It’s King‘s sure character work and ability to evoke dread (along with lessons learned after that 1999 accident) that brings this book to life. It explores themes that would become prevalent for King later in the 2000s: pain and mourning, existential dread, the horror of human illness. You can maybe fight a supernatural monster; fighting Cancer or Alzheimer’s sometimes seems a helluva lot scarier. Buick 8 is fueled with Dreamcatcher‘s anger and confusion, but this is the work of a writer with a clearer head. It doesn’t hurt it features some of King’s best prose, rivaling Bag of Bones and Duma Key.
Has this book entered my top 10? Yeah, maybe; the competition is awfully fierce, but this book really spoke to my soul. This is the exploration of a son grieving his father, looking for answers when there really are none. I can’t think of anything more human than that.
March 2, 2019
2.5 stars
Even when King’s ideas are a little off, I will always appreciate his execution! He’s just such a gifted storyteller that I’ll always be happy to sit down and let him spin a yarn! This seems like quite an odd compliment to give if you happened to glance down at my rating for this one already, but I stand by it!
.
From a Buick 8 is certainly one of King’s strangest plots! A group of state troopers find themselves in possession of a bizarre car that seems just *off* somehow after it’s left at a gas station by a mysterious stranger who subsequently disappears... the story is told in Then and Now sections, which I found a bit redundant until the last 100 pages, as the the Now sections were just telling the reader who was narrating the Then sections... Anyway! After they acquire the Buick, a series of strange events take place over the years, with light storms, insidious thoughts in the heads of those who go near the car, and strange alien births from its trunk... Yeah, it’s bizarre!
.
Although I’m always pulled into King’s narration, I do think that 400 pages was too long for this particular story. He loves his possessed cars (Trucks, Mile 81) and I think this one would have worked better as another short story or perhaps a novella. Yes we all love reading about weird, alien creatures, but that’s not enough to hinge 400 pages on, and I didn’t feel the same connection to the characters as I usually do with King books, which is a shame!
.
BUT, it cannot be denied that I found it entertaining, a bit silly, sometimes a bit sad, and it moved along at a steadyish pace despite its over-length. I think if you’re not planning on reading all of King’s work anyway, maybe pass over this one unless you super love stories about alien cars.
Even when King’s ideas are a little off, I will always appreciate his execution! He’s just such a gifted storyteller that I’ll always be happy to sit down and let him spin a yarn! This seems like quite an odd compliment to give if you happened to glance down at my rating for this one already, but I stand by it!
.
From a Buick 8 is certainly one of King’s strangest plots! A group of state troopers find themselves in possession of a bizarre car that seems just *off* somehow after it’s left at a gas station by a mysterious stranger who subsequently disappears... the story is told in Then and Now sections, which I found a bit redundant until the last 100 pages, as the the Now sections were just telling the reader who was narrating the Then sections... Anyway! After they acquire the Buick, a series of strange events take place over the years, with light storms, insidious thoughts in the heads of those who go near the car, and strange alien births from its trunk... Yeah, it’s bizarre!
.
Although I’m always pulled into King’s narration, I do think that 400 pages was too long for this particular story. He loves his possessed cars (Trucks, Mile 81) and I think this one would have worked better as another short story or perhaps a novella. Yes we all love reading about weird, alien creatures, but that’s not enough to hinge 400 pages on, and I didn’t feel the same connection to the characters as I usually do with King books, which is a shame!
.
BUT, it cannot be denied that I found it entertaining, a bit silly, sometimes a bit sad, and it moved along at a steadyish pace despite its over-length. I think if you’re not planning on reading all of King’s work anyway, maybe pass over this one unless you super love stories about alien cars.
August 9, 2022
I am an avid constant reader so I know that some of his novels can feel as if they start out slow because he is the master of the slow burn and takes a lot of time for back story and character development however I have to say this one was realllly slow. In fact out of 350 pages it didn't pick up until page 225 and it took me quite a while to get through it, an embarrassingly long time to be honest.
However the last 125 pages made up for it and helped me realize that some, not all, of the long setup was necessary.
The end in particular was wonderful and had a twist I was not expecting.
I would give this a 3.5 if I was able.
However the last 125 pages made up for it and helped me realize that some, not all, of the long setup was necessary.
The end in particular was wonderful and had a twist I was not expecting.
I would give this a 3.5 if I was able.
Currently reading
June 25, 2017I know. I know.
I'm reading it anyway.
I'm reading it anyway.
May 31, 2024
2002 - I just didn't "get" it.
October 2014
The first (and second) time I read this book the extent of my thoughts were “Hmmm...I just didn’t get it.” I gave it 2 stars and called it good. I’ve always felt a little guilty about that. Not only because I generally adore everything King writes on principal, but also because I obviously didn’t care enough to write a bit more.
I have been on a Colorado Kid/Haven kick for the last ten months or so. For anyone unfamiliar with either of those, the novel was written by King specifically for the Hard Case Crime label and is basically the telling of an unsolvable mystery. There simply is no answer to the questions that arise from the tale. Unlike King’s normal fare there is also not a drop of anything supernatural or magical. It’s “the facts and just the facts ma’am.” at their most basic level. Haven is a television show based on the town and characters he created in the book that actually explains the mystery. Quite a bit of supernatural WTFery is used to explain, but I love it.
The reason I explained all that is that I feel this was King’s practice for The Colorado Kid. Nothing much happens in Buick 8. The entire novel, just like TCK, is a re-telling of events that happened long ago. Well, to be fair, one new thing happens at the end, but it hardly adds anything to the story. In Buick 8, a car is abandoned and the owner is never found. Unlike TCK supernatural WTFery abounds. The Buick is obviously from another place. An “other” place. It occasionally gives off light storms, lowers the temperature in its vicinity, and even “births” otherworldly creatures and things from its trunk.
The car is kept and cared for by a troop of patrolmen. They keep all mention of it off the books, but are aware of its quirks and take measures to keep it safe and keep those in its vicinity safe. One particular trooper, Curt, becomes a bit obsessed with it. He logs the car's activity, dissects its physical offerings, and basically just studies it. The troopers take turns guarding the Buick when it’s in its active phases and keep the Buick’s secrets. When the Buick actually takes a few things from our world back to wherever it came from, the troopers cover that up as well.
The reason I feel this book shares so much with The Colorado Kid is that there is no resolution. We never know where the car came from, how it got here, why it’s here in the first place, and really we get no end to the story. The narrative just sort of stops.
It’s a pretty freaky coincidence that a character is run over in the story and his “accident” shares many details with King’s own van mow down despite the book being begun before said accident and not finished until well into his recovery. King was amazed at how little he needed to change or add to make the accident in the book realistic.
I enjoyed the novel being set in Pennsylvania instead of King’s more natural Maine or Florida locales. He says the idea came to him while he was in Pennsylvania and so that’s where the story stayed. Good for him!
October 2014
The first (and second) time I read this book the extent of my thoughts were “Hmmm...I just didn’t get it.” I gave it 2 stars and called it good. I’ve always felt a little guilty about that. Not only because I generally adore everything King writes on principal, but also because I obviously didn’t care enough to write a bit more.
I have been on a Colorado Kid/Haven kick for the last ten months or so. For anyone unfamiliar with either of those, the novel was written by King specifically for the Hard Case Crime label and is basically the telling of an unsolvable mystery. There simply is no answer to the questions that arise from the tale. Unlike King’s normal fare there is also not a drop of anything supernatural or magical. It’s “the facts and just the facts ma’am.” at their most basic level. Haven is a television show based on the town and characters he created in the book that actually explains the mystery. Quite a bit of supernatural WTFery is used to explain, but I love it.
The reason I explained all that is that I feel this was King’s practice for The Colorado Kid. Nothing much happens in Buick 8. The entire novel, just like TCK, is a re-telling of events that happened long ago. Well, to be fair, one new thing happens at the end, but it hardly adds anything to the story. In Buick 8, a car is abandoned and the owner is never found. Unlike TCK supernatural WTFery abounds. The Buick is obviously from another place. An “other” place. It occasionally gives off light storms, lowers the temperature in its vicinity, and even “births” otherworldly creatures and things from its trunk.
The car is kept and cared for by a troop of patrolmen. They keep all mention of it off the books, but are aware of its quirks and take measures to keep it safe and keep those in its vicinity safe. One particular trooper, Curt, becomes a bit obsessed with it. He logs the car's activity, dissects its physical offerings, and basically just studies it. The troopers take turns guarding the Buick when it’s in its active phases and keep the Buick’s secrets. When the Buick actually takes a few things from our world back to wherever it came from, the troopers cover that up as well.
The reason I feel this book shares so much with The Colorado Kid is that there is no resolution. We never know where the car came from, how it got here, why it’s here in the first place, and really we get no end to the story. The narrative just sort of stops.
It’s a pretty freaky coincidence that a character is run over in the story and his “accident” shares many details with King’s own van mow down despite the book being begun before said accident and not finished until well into his recovery. King was amazed at how little he needed to change or add to make the accident in the book realistic.
I enjoyed the novel being set in Pennsylvania instead of King’s more natural Maine or Florida locales. He says the idea came to him while he was in Pennsylvania and so that’s where the story stayed. Good for him!
August 25, 2022
Out of the remaining few King novels I've still yet to read, this had the least appeal.
An evil car felt way to similar to Christine, though of course I was paying one of my favourite authors a disservice as obviously he'll try something different - instead it was the way that the narrative was told through a series of recollections was the reason why this one didn't really hold my attention and possibly why it's constantly overlooked.
The plot itself was actually quite interesting as Ned wants to learn more about his farther who was killed by a drunk driver and spends his time with the Pennsylvania State Police force.
It's here that he learns about the vintage car in storage.
I loved the mystery surrounding the vehicle and that set it aside from the other car that King has written about.
The use of it being a metaphor was really effective.
The reason why I struggled so much with this so much was due to thr past narrations between the various members of Troop D didn't feel distant enough and muddling up the numerous characters made for a frustratingly unsatisfying read.
An evil car felt way to similar to Christine, though of course I was paying one of my favourite authors a disservice as obviously he'll try something different - instead it was the way that the narrative was told through a series of recollections was the reason why this one didn't really hold my attention and possibly why it's constantly overlooked.
The plot itself was actually quite interesting as Ned wants to learn more about his farther who was killed by a drunk driver and spends his time with the Pennsylvania State Police force.
It's here that he learns about the vintage car in storage.
I loved the mystery surrounding the vehicle and that set it aside from the other car that King has written about.
The use of it being a metaphor was really effective.
The reason why I struggled so much with this so much was due to thr past narrations between the various members of Troop D didn't feel distant enough and muddling up the numerous characters made for a frustratingly unsatisfying read.
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