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Misery
Stephen King is arguably the most popular novelist in the history of American fiction. He owes his fans a love letter. Misery is it.
Paul Sheldon, author of a bestselling series of historical romances, wakes up one winter day in a strange place, a secluded farmhouse in Colorado. He wakes up to unspeakable pain (a dislocated pelvis, a crushed knee, two shattered legs) and to a bizarre greeting from the woman who has saved his life: "I'm your number one fan!"
Annie Wilkes is a huge ex-nurse, handy with controlled substances and other instruments of abuse, including an axe and a blowtorch. A dangerous psychotic with a Romper Room sense of good and bad, fair and unfair, Annie Wilkes may be Stephen King's most terrifying creation. It's not fair, for example, that her favorite character in the world, Misery Chastain, has been killed by her creator, as Annie discovers when Paul's latest novel comes out in paperback. And it's not good that her favorite writer has been a Don't-Bee and written a different kind of novel, a nasty novel, the novel he has always wanted to write, the only copy of which now lies in Annie's angry hands.
Because she wants Paul Sheldon to be a Do-Bee, she buys him a typewriter and a ream of paper and tells him to bring Misery back to life. Wheelchair-bound, drug-dependent, locked in his room, Paul doesn't have much choice. He's an entertainer held captive by his audience. A writer in serious trouble. But writers have weapons too...
Paul Sheldon, author of a bestselling series of historical romances, wakes up one winter day in a strange place, a secluded farmhouse in Colorado. He wakes up to unspeakable pain (a dislocated pelvis, a crushed knee, two shattered legs) and to a bizarre greeting from the woman who has saved his life: "I'm your number one fan!"
Annie Wilkes is a huge ex-nurse, handy with controlled substances and other instruments of abuse, including an axe and a blowtorch. A dangerous psychotic with a Romper Room sense of good and bad, fair and unfair, Annie Wilkes may be Stephen King's most terrifying creation. It's not fair, for example, that her favorite character in the world, Misery Chastain, has been killed by her creator, as Annie discovers when Paul's latest novel comes out in paperback. And it's not good that her favorite writer has been a Don't-Bee and written a different kind of novel, a nasty novel, the novel he has always wanted to write, the only copy of which now lies in Annie's angry hands.
Because she wants Paul Sheldon to be a Do-Bee, she buys him a typewriter and a ream of paper and tells him to bring Misery back to life. Wheelchair-bound, drug-dependent, locked in his room, Paul doesn't have much choice. He's an entertainer held captive by his audience. A writer in serious trouble. But writers have weapons too...
310 pages, Hardcover
First published June 8, 1987
18309 people are currently reading
523948 people want to read
About the author
Stephen King
2,393 books888k 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 36,803 reviews
November 22, 2016
Honestly, who among us hasn’t gotten frustrated with their favorite writer and felt like holding them prisoner while forcing them to write the exact book that we want?
Well, don’t do that because it would be wrong! What kind of twisted freaks are you people?!?
Paul Sheldon is a best selling author who just ended his popular series of romance/adventure novels by killing off the lead character, Misery Chastain. After finishing a new novel at a Colorado resort Paul has a car accident and awakes to find that his legs have been shattered, but that he’s been saved by his self-proclaimed number one fan, Annie Wilkes.
Unfortunately, Annie turns out to be more than just a little crazy, and when she learns that Paul killed Misery in the latest book she demands that he write a new one that brings back her favorite character. Held captive by a madwoman, Paul is almost helpless to resist the physical and psychological tortures she uses to get her way while insisting that it’s really for his own good.
This book seems eerily prophetic of King’s career in some ways. Uncle Stevie hadn’t yet frustrated readers of his Dark Tower series with long delays between books, and yet he absolutely nailed the self-righteous fury of a fan who feels somehow cheated out of what they deserve. You gotta think that later on King worried that he had some version of Annie out there just waiting to chain him to typewriter to finish DT. He was also years away from suffering his own enormous physical trauma after being hit by a car, but he still makes you feel every agonizing moment that Paul suffers from his accident and at Annie’s hands. Like Paul, King would also have the experience of returning to writing being a matter of overcoming physical pain but also finding it to be a way to escape it.
One of King’s biggest strengths is that he knows the power of a good story, and this plot serves him well by really letting him dig into that. Annie’s obsession with Misery is something that probably almost every reader can relate to, but what’s really interesting is how Paul’s need to tell the story becomes just as compelling as Annie’s threats. The set-up lets Uncle Stevie explore the whole notion of just why we gotta know what happens next as well as the rules that make it a satisfying resolution or a cheat.
I could make a pretty solid argument that this is King’s best book. He was very much at the peak of his powers here, and either the simple two person structure of the story or good editing kept this at a normal novel length. That’d become a rarity in his bloated books after this, and it does feel like King at his most disciplined. In Annie Wilkes he crafted a character worthy of being included in a Villain’s Hall of Fame, and he makes good use of her as a figure who can be terrifying, sometimes tragic, and weirdly humorous at times.
However, I’m not saying it’s my favorite King book. (Probably The Stand or the last Dark Tower hold that honor.) Why wouldn’t his best book be the one I enjoy most? Because he did just too good of job on making us feel Paul’s pain. Sure, this is a book about a man who suffered a terrible accident and then found himself brutalized at the hands of a psychopath so it makes perfect sense that Uncle Stevie would want us to ache along with Paul. Yet, it’s very hard to spend an entire book with a main character who is almost always at some level of agony without feeling worn down by it. It’s necessary for the plot, but it also makes it a slog at times.
So it's definitely among King’s best, but it's also one I haven’t read it nearly as many times as some of his others because it’s simply too damn tough to get through at times. Still it’s a 5 star ride if you grit your teeth and keep reading as Paul keeps on writing.
Well, don’t do that because it would be wrong! What kind of twisted freaks are you people?!?
Paul Sheldon is a best selling author who just ended his popular series of romance/adventure novels by killing off the lead character, Misery Chastain. After finishing a new novel at a Colorado resort Paul has a car accident and awakes to find that his legs have been shattered, but that he’s been saved by his self-proclaimed number one fan, Annie Wilkes.
Unfortunately, Annie turns out to be more than just a little crazy, and when she learns that Paul killed Misery in the latest book she demands that he write a new one that brings back her favorite character. Held captive by a madwoman, Paul is almost helpless to resist the physical and psychological tortures she uses to get her way while insisting that it’s really for his own good.
This book seems eerily prophetic of King’s career in some ways. Uncle Stevie hadn’t yet frustrated readers of his Dark Tower series with long delays between books, and yet he absolutely nailed the self-righteous fury of a fan who feels somehow cheated out of what they deserve. You gotta think that later on King worried that he had some version of Annie out there just waiting to chain him to typewriter to finish DT. He was also years away from suffering his own enormous physical trauma after being hit by a car, but he still makes you feel every agonizing moment that Paul suffers from his accident and at Annie’s hands. Like Paul, King would also have the experience of returning to writing being a matter of overcoming physical pain but also finding it to be a way to escape it.
One of King’s biggest strengths is that he knows the power of a good story, and this plot serves him well by really letting him dig into that. Annie’s obsession with Misery is something that probably almost every reader can relate to, but what’s really interesting is how Paul’s need to tell the story becomes just as compelling as Annie’s threats. The set-up lets Uncle Stevie explore the whole notion of just why we gotta know what happens next as well as the rules that make it a satisfying resolution or a cheat.
I could make a pretty solid argument that this is King’s best book. He was very much at the peak of his powers here, and either the simple two person structure of the story or good editing kept this at a normal novel length. That’d become a rarity in his bloated books after this, and it does feel like King at his most disciplined. In Annie Wilkes he crafted a character worthy of being included in a Villain’s Hall of Fame, and he makes good use of her as a figure who can be terrifying, sometimes tragic, and weirdly humorous at times.
However, I’m not saying it’s my favorite King book. (Probably The Stand or the last Dark Tower hold that honor.) Why wouldn’t his best book be the one I enjoy most? Because he did just too good of job on making us feel Paul’s pain. Sure, this is a book about a man who suffered a terrible accident and then found himself brutalized at the hands of a psychopath so it makes perfect sense that Uncle Stevie would want us to ache along with Paul. Yet, it’s very hard to spend an entire book with a main character who is almost always at some level of agony without feeling worn down by it. It’s necessary for the plot, but it also makes it a slog at times.
So it's definitely among King’s best, but it's also one I haven’t read it nearly as many times as some of his others because it’s simply too damn tough to get through at times. Still it’s a 5 star ride if you grit your teeth and keep reading as Paul keeps on writing.
November 13, 2007
'Misery' is a gruesome story of torture with blood, guts, and a psychopath. It's a well told tale, the characters are well developed and the fact that there are only two of them never gets boring. It's a real page turner, in fact I finished it tonight after getting off the subway on the platform before I walked home. But, this book is more than just a thriller, just like King is more than just a pulp writer.
I read an article by the ever optimistic and cheerful Harold Bloom in college about how dismayed he was that young people like Stephen King so much. All the literature crtics I've read hate King and it seems like it's just because people actually enjoy reading his work. Yeah, Bloom, I said 'work' just like I would about Tolstoy's 'work' because Stephen King as damned hard worker. Think of all the books he's churned out over the last few decades. I'd like to see Harold Bloom show enough imagination to write fiction instead of just criticizing it all the time.
I'm actually new to Stephen King's fiction. I've read a few of the essays and articles he's written and a really great graduation speech he gave at UMaine awhile ago in which he extolled the virtues of our mutual home state, but this is only my 3rd novel by him. I like this guy, and I know why too. It's not just because he makes me scream and I have a hard time putting his books down, it's because King loves writing. He has a real and self-aware relationship with what it means to be a writer. He knows he's not Tolstoy or Faulkner, he doesn't try to write that way. He knows how to tell a good god damned story and he has a passion for it. I appreciate his self awareness as a writer and the fact that he ackowledges how difficult the whole process is while not making us feel like he's somehow superior because he's figured out how to do it.
In 'Misery' it's almost like we get to watch King write this story. He doesn't just set us up for a crazy story and watch us discover things about his characters, it feels like he actually comes with us and makes the discoveries at the same time we do. That's what makes a good storyteller. And I don't give a damn if Bloom likes him or not.
I read an article by the ever optimistic and cheerful Harold Bloom in college about how dismayed he was that young people like Stephen King so much. All the literature crtics I've read hate King and it seems like it's just because people actually enjoy reading his work. Yeah, Bloom, I said 'work' just like I would about Tolstoy's 'work' because Stephen King as damned hard worker. Think of all the books he's churned out over the last few decades. I'd like to see Harold Bloom show enough imagination to write fiction instead of just criticizing it all the time.
I'm actually new to Stephen King's fiction. I've read a few of the essays and articles he's written and a really great graduation speech he gave at UMaine awhile ago in which he extolled the virtues of our mutual home state, but this is only my 3rd novel by him. I like this guy, and I know why too. It's not just because he makes me scream and I have a hard time putting his books down, it's because King loves writing. He has a real and self-aware relationship with what it means to be a writer. He knows he's not Tolstoy or Faulkner, he doesn't try to write that way. He knows how to tell a good god damned story and he has a passion for it. I appreciate his self awareness as a writer and the fact that he ackowledges how difficult the whole process is while not making us feel like he's somehow superior because he's figured out how to do it.
In 'Misery' it's almost like we get to watch King write this story. He doesn't just set us up for a crazy story and watch us discover things about his characters, it feels like he actually comes with us and makes the discoveries at the same time we do. That's what makes a good storyteller. And I don't give a damn if Bloom likes him or not.
December 26, 2021
man sure does like his words
October 8, 2025
4.25 stars! Reallyyyy enjoyed my first Stephen King book!! This entire book (mostly) takes place in one room with two characters. It’s so impressive to be able to write an entire novel with such limited number of settings and characters. It was also soo cool and eerie and unsettling to see how Annie’s mental state changed and got worse throughout the book and sometimes moment to moment. There were quite a few big moments that were also so gruesome and hard to read in the best horror filled way 🫣
And the ending!!! I was soooooo hooked and on the edge of my seat the entire ending.
The only reason I didn’t rate it higher is some moments in the beginning middle moved a little slow for me but overall great read! And the perfect start to spooky season 🎃
And the ending!!! I was soooooo hooked and on the edge of my seat the entire ending.
The only reason I didn’t rate it higher is some moments in the beginning middle moved a little slow for me but overall great read! And the perfect start to spooky season 🎃
February 20, 2020
¡JOYA!
Una de las mejores antagonistas ¡escalofriante!
Todo lo que necesita tener una novela de suspenso psicológico está en Misery.
Una de las mejores antagonistas ¡escalofriante!
Todo lo que necesita tener una novela de suspenso psicológico está en Misery.
November 24, 2021
El mejor libro que he leído de Stephen King. ¡Una genialidad! Me perturba, me encanta.
Audio reseña aquí
La mayor parte de los secuestros que se generan en el mundo son realizados para obtener dinero a cambio, para prostituir a sus víctimas, por venganzas, o simplemente por psicopatía del criminal. Ser secuestrado es sinónimo de vivir en una condición indigna y deplorable, y es algo que no debería ocurrir en ningún país del mundo. Pero, ¿qué pasaría si te encontraras un libro con este tema principal, y en vez de sentir compasión por el rehén, te recorriera por tu mente una extraña sensación de morbo por seguir conociendo más y más atrocidades realizadas por la antagonista de esta historia? Aunque parezca un disparate, no lo es. Eso, exactamente, es lo que viví y sentí tras leer esta maravillosa obra de Stephen King. Tiene escenas tan macabras, pero a la vez tan extraordinarias, que es inevitable no confundir la maldad con la genialidad. Soy consciente de que lo que voy a escribir es imprudente, teniendo en cuenta que me falta leer muchas obras muy distinguidas de este autor, como It, El resplandor o la saga de La Torre Oscura, pero sinceramente, teniendo en cuenta la calidad de esta obra, me atrevería a decir que acabo de leer la mejor obra de Stephen King. ¡Alucinante!
Todo comenzó hace unos meses cuando intentaba decidir mi próxima lectura. Mis opciones eran El padrino de Mario Puzo, El nombre de la rosa de Umberto Eco y, justamente, El resplandor de Stephen King. Tres nóvelas muy famosas, con un número de páginas similar, que observaba con detenimiento y titubeo porque sentía una gran ansiedad por leer esas historias en ese mismo instante, pero no lograba decidir cuál leer primero. Eso es algo que me ocurre frecuentemente y por ello intento premeditar mis próximas lecturas con anterioridad, pero en esa ocasión lo olvidé, mi cerebro se bloqueó y la elección esperada nunca apareció. Esa noche tanto sería mi coraje por culpa de mi indecisión que finalmente decidí no leer absolutamente nada. Sin embargo, la vida y los libros siempre tienen hermosas sorpresas en el momento más inesperado. Esto, porque aquella noche cuando guardaba aquellas obras, mis ojos se ubicaron en Misery y entonces minutos más tarde desaparecieron mis penas, y todo porque sin darme cuenta empezaría a leer esta historia con muchísima avidez. Curiosamente, en este mismo instante que estoy haciendo esta reseña, recuerdo que aún no leo aquellas obras que pensaba leer primero. Así son los libros, así es la vida de un lector.
Fue una historia que desde el inicio me atrapó. En estas primeras páginas se cuenta sobre el estado en trance que vive el protagonista de la historia, Paul Sheldon, después de sufrir un grave accidente de tránsito. Paul, siente que se está muriendo, y desde su estado delicado de salud, empieza a narrar de una manera increíble exactamente lo que está viendo y sintiendo en aquellos momentos. Desde ese preámbulo, el libro se ganó completamente mi atención porque descubrí que este personaje que usa Stephen, que por cierto es un escritor, tenía vida propia. Y sí, lo sé, Stephen King es un genio para crear personajes y hacerlos parecer reales en todas sus historias, pero este personaje es muy diferente, es único. Una cosa es que Stephen te narre desde el personaje las acciones que él realiza y combinándolo con sus conversaciones consiga armonizar su prosa para no hacerla pesada, pero otra muy diferente es que el personaje piense por sí mismo, imagine, deduzca lo que está ocurriendo, saque sus propias conclusiones y además transmita de una forma tétrica el dolor, el sufrimiento, el miedo, la angustia y el amor por su trabajo de una manera increíble. Paul Sheldon no es un personaje con frases épicas para rememorar, pero sí es uno que logra interpretar perfectamente el rol de escritor, ayudando a que el lector comprenda todo lo que tiene que esforzarse y vivir un autor para crear tan solo una sola obra. Como lectores muchas veces ignoramos y olvidamos que escribir no es fácil, por ello, libros como este nos sirven para comprender a esas personas que se dedican horas, semanas, meses y años intentando crear con lógica y con muchísima imaginación, una historia que pueda gustarle a sus lectores. Sí, el libro es de horror, pero incluso en la oscuridad hay luz, en la pobreza hay bondad, y en una historia de un secuestro hay belleza por el amor hacia nuestros amigos de papel.
¿Pero saben que es lo mejor? Que Paul Sheldon no es lo más sobresaliente de este libro. A pesar de que hay tanto por destacar de este personaje, lo mejor —sin duda alguna— se llama Annie Wilkes. Ella, es una de las mejores antagonistas que he conocido en mi vida. Es una mujer desquiciada, cruel, fría, sanguinaria y torturadora, pero a pesar de todo —y como pasa con muchísimos villanos— su comportamiento y proceder tiene una razón de ser. Aunque parezca un disparate, en el cerebro de Annie asesinar no es sinónimo de maldad, es ayudar a los demás a que puedan descansar del horrible mundo en el que vivimos. ¿Y saben qué? Por momentos no puedo negar que a veces sí le doy la razón a ella. Aun así, no es lo mismo asesinar por un código moral, que torturar física y mentalmente a tus presas; por lo tanto, la mejor frase que puede describir a Annie Wilkes es “Esa maldita perra está loca”. Espero no encontrarme nunca una persona como ella en mi vida, ¡Qué miedo daría tan solo conversar con alguien así!
Ahora bien, dos excelentes personajes con pensamientos tan diferentes ¿qué tienen en común? Esa respuesta se llama Misery. Misery, es un personaje femenino de una serie de libros que crea Paul Sheldon y que son muy populares en todo el mundo. El problema, es que Paul —al igual que Arthur Conan Doyle con su famosísimo Sherlock Holmes— está cansado de su personaje, y no soporta escribir más sobre ella por lo que ha decidido acabar con su personaje más popular. Su desagrado se debe a que las obras donde Misery no tiene aparición no son tenidas en cuenta, y Paul quiere ser reconocido por algo más que ser el creador de aquella emblemática mujer. Pero, Paul tiene un problema mucho más grande, y ese problema es que después de su accidente de tránsito aparece en casa de Annie Wilkes, quien dice ser su fan número uno, justamente por crear Misery. ¿Cómo se llevarán ellos dos? Eso es lo interesante del libro, descubrirlo. Quizás pueden sospecharlo, pero ni se imaginan las locuras que ocurren en aquella casa.
En cuanto a la prosa también me gustó demasiado. Aquí, Stephen usa capítulos cortos —como en 22/11/63— por lo que resulta muy atractivo para que el lector no detenga su lectura nunca. Pasa una hora y no lo notas, pasan dos y te emocionas, pasan tres y pierdes el control: Es una locura. Además, escribir una historia con capítulos cortos por lo general convierte un libro que puede ser denso, en uno ligero y muy adictivo, por lo que esta historia se lee rapidísimo a pesar de sus 400 páginas. Otro aspecto interesante de la prosa, son las secciones donde se presentan fragmentos de las nóvelas de Paul Sheldon. Estos capítulos son muy especiales, porque allí Stephen cambia completamente su estilo literario, e incluso no parecen escritas esas páginas por él, sino por el mismísimo Paul Sheldon. Hacer algo así es muy difícil, pero aquí, este autor, demuestra su verdadero don para escribir. Es un verdadero genio.
Debo reconocer que en algunos capítulos creí que la historia venía de más a menos, y que la obra se había transformado de un libro de terror a uno de misterio. Pero, una vez seguí avanzando, entendí que solo eran páginas de transición porque más adelante, en el último tercio, todo vuelve a ser tan impactante y terrorífico como en capítulos pasados. Asimismo, también confieso que en las primeras páginas no sabía si pensar que Paul era un visionario, o si realmente esa era su manera de analizar la situación. Inicialmente, creí que esa actitud de Paul sería una falla, pero después me quedó claro que no. Son pequeños detalles que podrían considerarse como «defectos», pero son tan insignificantes que me parece increíble que no haya logrado encontrar un desperfecto importante en algún aspecto de esta novela. Realmente Stephen ha hecho un trabajo de otro nivel, obras así son muy difíciles de igualar o superar.
A veces pienso que es más difícil dar una opinión neutral, y sin ofender, sobre un libro que no me ha gustado, pero luego, en ocasiones como esta, reflexiono y comprendo que no siempre es así. Esta novela me ha encantado, pero he sufrido muchísimo, pero muchísimo intentando escribir sobre este libro tan espectacular, y todo porque la sola mención de esta historia —o de alguno de los personajes— me hace sentir la necesidad de empezar a decir spoilers sin control. Créanme, es muy difícil controlarme, intentar reprimir palabras es una gran tortura; es tan difícil, que dos días después de terminar de leerlo intenté recomendárselo a mi hermano, pero sin querer resulté contándoselo todo: Lo siento querido hermano. Sé que Misery es una película muy famosa de 1990 y que quizás muchos conocen la historia por aquella cinta, pero ni así hay justificación para hacerle spoilers a aquellos (as) que por diferentes motivos nunca vieron la película y que no conocen absolutamente nada de esta novela. Por lo tanto, para aquellas personas quiero recomendarles que no vean la película, no sin antes leer este libro. En mi caso, yo nunca vi la película porque de pequeño en mi hogar solo teníamos un televisor y no solíamos observar películas de terror/horror por el miedo a soñarnos pesadillas. Pero, inmediatamente cuando finalicé esta lectura, busqué la película por internet, la descargué, la vi y aunque no puedo negar que es una gran adaptación, sinceramente no tiene comparación con este libro: El libro es mil veces mejor, así de simple. La otra recomendación es para aquellos que jamás han leído a Stephen King, pero que sienten interés por hacerlo para conocer al “amo del terror”. Sé que este autor tiene bastantes obras, y ante un catálogo tan grande es muy difícil elegir cuál leer, pero, si lo que buscan es una historia que los atrape, que los impacte, y que sea fácil y adictiva de leer, entonces este libro es lo que están buscando. No se arrepentirán, se los prometo, no se arrepentirán ni un solo segundo.
Termino completamente satisfecho, lo releeré en el futuro un sinfín de veces, y naturalmente seguiré leyendo muchas de las obras de Stephen King. Sé que muy probablemente ninguna de sus obras me hará sentir lo que he vivido con esta lectura, pero aún hay un camino largo por explorar y sé que voy a disfrutar sus demás obras. Libro súper recomendado.
Audio reseña aquí
La mayor parte de los secuestros que se generan en el mundo son realizados para obtener dinero a cambio, para prostituir a sus víctimas, por venganzas, o simplemente por psicopatía del criminal. Ser secuestrado es sinónimo de vivir en una condición indigna y deplorable, y es algo que no debería ocurrir en ningún país del mundo. Pero, ¿qué pasaría si te encontraras un libro con este tema principal, y en vez de sentir compasión por el rehén, te recorriera por tu mente una extraña sensación de morbo por seguir conociendo más y más atrocidades realizadas por la antagonista de esta historia? Aunque parezca un disparate, no lo es. Eso, exactamente, es lo que viví y sentí tras leer esta maravillosa obra de Stephen King. Tiene escenas tan macabras, pero a la vez tan extraordinarias, que es inevitable no confundir la maldad con la genialidad. Soy consciente de que lo que voy a escribir es imprudente, teniendo en cuenta que me falta leer muchas obras muy distinguidas de este autor, como It, El resplandor o la saga de La Torre Oscura, pero sinceramente, teniendo en cuenta la calidad de esta obra, me atrevería a decir que acabo de leer la mejor obra de Stephen King. ¡Alucinante!
Todo comenzó hace unos meses cuando intentaba decidir mi próxima lectura. Mis opciones eran El padrino de Mario Puzo, El nombre de la rosa de Umberto Eco y, justamente, El resplandor de Stephen King. Tres nóvelas muy famosas, con un número de páginas similar, que observaba con detenimiento y titubeo porque sentía una gran ansiedad por leer esas historias en ese mismo instante, pero no lograba decidir cuál leer primero. Eso es algo que me ocurre frecuentemente y por ello intento premeditar mis próximas lecturas con anterioridad, pero en esa ocasión lo olvidé, mi cerebro se bloqueó y la elección esperada nunca apareció. Esa noche tanto sería mi coraje por culpa de mi indecisión que finalmente decidí no leer absolutamente nada. Sin embargo, la vida y los libros siempre tienen hermosas sorpresas en el momento más inesperado. Esto, porque aquella noche cuando guardaba aquellas obras, mis ojos se ubicaron en Misery y entonces minutos más tarde desaparecieron mis penas, y todo porque sin darme cuenta empezaría a leer esta historia con muchísima avidez. Curiosamente, en este mismo instante que estoy haciendo esta reseña, recuerdo que aún no leo aquellas obras que pensaba leer primero. Así son los libros, así es la vida de un lector.
Fue una historia que desde el inicio me atrapó. En estas primeras páginas se cuenta sobre el estado en trance que vive el protagonista de la historia, Paul Sheldon, después de sufrir un grave accidente de tránsito. Paul, siente que se está muriendo, y desde su estado delicado de salud, empieza a narrar de una manera increíble exactamente lo que está viendo y sintiendo en aquellos momentos. Desde ese preámbulo, el libro se ganó completamente mi atención porque descubrí que este personaje que usa Stephen, que por cierto es un escritor, tenía vida propia. Y sí, lo sé, Stephen King es un genio para crear personajes y hacerlos parecer reales en todas sus historias, pero este personaje es muy diferente, es único. Una cosa es que Stephen te narre desde el personaje las acciones que él realiza y combinándolo con sus conversaciones consiga armonizar su prosa para no hacerla pesada, pero otra muy diferente es que el personaje piense por sí mismo, imagine, deduzca lo que está ocurriendo, saque sus propias conclusiones y además transmita de una forma tétrica el dolor, el sufrimiento, el miedo, la angustia y el amor por su trabajo de una manera increíble. Paul Sheldon no es un personaje con frases épicas para rememorar, pero sí es uno que logra interpretar perfectamente el rol de escritor, ayudando a que el lector comprenda todo lo que tiene que esforzarse y vivir un autor para crear tan solo una sola obra. Como lectores muchas veces ignoramos y olvidamos que escribir no es fácil, por ello, libros como este nos sirven para comprender a esas personas que se dedican horas, semanas, meses y años intentando crear con lógica y con muchísima imaginación, una historia que pueda gustarle a sus lectores. Sí, el libro es de horror, pero incluso en la oscuridad hay luz, en la pobreza hay bondad, y en una historia de un secuestro hay belleza por el amor hacia nuestros amigos de papel.
¿Pero saben que es lo mejor? Que Paul Sheldon no es lo más sobresaliente de este libro. A pesar de que hay tanto por destacar de este personaje, lo mejor —sin duda alguna— se llama Annie Wilkes. Ella, es una de las mejores antagonistas que he conocido en mi vida. Es una mujer desquiciada, cruel, fría, sanguinaria y torturadora, pero a pesar de todo —y como pasa con muchísimos villanos— su comportamiento y proceder tiene una razón de ser. Aunque parezca un disparate, en el cerebro de Annie asesinar no es sinónimo de maldad, es ayudar a los demás a que puedan descansar del horrible mundo en el que vivimos. ¿Y saben qué? Por momentos no puedo negar que a veces sí le doy la razón a ella. Aun así, no es lo mismo asesinar por un código moral, que torturar física y mentalmente a tus presas; por lo tanto, la mejor frase que puede describir a Annie Wilkes es “Esa maldita perra está loca”. Espero no encontrarme nunca una persona como ella en mi vida, ¡Qué miedo daría tan solo conversar con alguien así!
Ahora bien, dos excelentes personajes con pensamientos tan diferentes ¿qué tienen en común? Esa respuesta se llama Misery. Misery, es un personaje femenino de una serie de libros que crea Paul Sheldon y que son muy populares en todo el mundo. El problema, es que Paul —al igual que Arthur Conan Doyle con su famosísimo Sherlock Holmes— está cansado de su personaje, y no soporta escribir más sobre ella por lo que ha decidido acabar con su personaje más popular. Su desagrado se debe a que las obras donde Misery no tiene aparición no son tenidas en cuenta, y Paul quiere ser reconocido por algo más que ser el creador de aquella emblemática mujer. Pero, Paul tiene un problema mucho más grande, y ese problema es que después de su accidente de tránsito aparece en casa de Annie Wilkes, quien dice ser su fan número uno, justamente por crear Misery. ¿Cómo se llevarán ellos dos? Eso es lo interesante del libro, descubrirlo. Quizás pueden sospecharlo, pero ni se imaginan las locuras que ocurren en aquella casa.
En cuanto a la prosa también me gustó demasiado. Aquí, Stephen usa capítulos cortos —como en 22/11/63— por lo que resulta muy atractivo para que el lector no detenga su lectura nunca. Pasa una hora y no lo notas, pasan dos y te emocionas, pasan tres y pierdes el control: Es una locura. Además, escribir una historia con capítulos cortos por lo general convierte un libro que puede ser denso, en uno ligero y muy adictivo, por lo que esta historia se lee rapidísimo a pesar de sus 400 páginas. Otro aspecto interesante de la prosa, son las secciones donde se presentan fragmentos de las nóvelas de Paul Sheldon. Estos capítulos son muy especiales, porque allí Stephen cambia completamente su estilo literario, e incluso no parecen escritas esas páginas por él, sino por el mismísimo Paul Sheldon. Hacer algo así es muy difícil, pero aquí, este autor, demuestra su verdadero don para escribir. Es un verdadero genio.
Debo reconocer que en algunos capítulos creí que la historia venía de más a menos, y que la obra se había transformado de un libro de terror a uno de misterio. Pero, una vez seguí avanzando, entendí que solo eran páginas de transición porque más adelante, en el último tercio, todo vuelve a ser tan impactante y terrorífico como en capítulos pasados. Asimismo, también confieso que en las primeras páginas no sabía si pensar que Paul era un visionario, o si realmente esa era su manera de analizar la situación. Inicialmente, creí que esa actitud de Paul sería una falla, pero después me quedó claro que no. Son pequeños detalles que podrían considerarse como «defectos», pero son tan insignificantes que me parece increíble que no haya logrado encontrar un desperfecto importante en algún aspecto de esta novela. Realmente Stephen ha hecho un trabajo de otro nivel, obras así son muy difíciles de igualar o superar.
A veces pienso que es más difícil dar una opinión neutral, y sin ofender, sobre un libro que no me ha gustado, pero luego, en ocasiones como esta, reflexiono y comprendo que no siempre es así. Esta novela me ha encantado, pero he sufrido muchísimo, pero muchísimo intentando escribir sobre este libro tan espectacular, y todo porque la sola mención de esta historia —o de alguno de los personajes— me hace sentir la necesidad de empezar a decir spoilers sin control. Créanme, es muy difícil controlarme, intentar reprimir palabras es una gran tortura; es tan difícil, que dos días después de terminar de leerlo intenté recomendárselo a mi hermano, pero sin querer resulté contándoselo todo: Lo siento querido hermano. Sé que Misery es una película muy famosa de 1990 y que quizás muchos conocen la historia por aquella cinta, pero ni así hay justificación para hacerle spoilers a aquellos (as) que por diferentes motivos nunca vieron la película y que no conocen absolutamente nada de esta novela. Por lo tanto, para aquellas personas quiero recomendarles que no vean la película, no sin antes leer este libro. En mi caso, yo nunca vi la película porque de pequeño en mi hogar solo teníamos un televisor y no solíamos observar películas de terror/horror por el miedo a soñarnos pesadillas. Pero, inmediatamente cuando finalicé esta lectura, busqué la película por internet, la descargué, la vi y aunque no puedo negar que es una gran adaptación, sinceramente no tiene comparación con este libro: El libro es mil veces mejor, así de simple. La otra recomendación es para aquellos que jamás han leído a Stephen King, pero que sienten interés por hacerlo para conocer al “amo del terror”. Sé que este autor tiene bastantes obras, y ante un catálogo tan grande es muy difícil elegir cuál leer, pero, si lo que buscan es una historia que los atrape, que los impacte, y que sea fácil y adictiva de leer, entonces este libro es lo que están buscando. No se arrepentirán, se los prometo, no se arrepentirán ni un solo segundo.
Termino completamente satisfecho, lo releeré en el futuro un sinfín de veces, y naturalmente seguiré leyendo muchas de las obras de Stephen King. Sé que muy probablemente ninguna de sus obras me hará sentir lo que he vivido con esta lectura, pero aún hay un camino largo por explorar y sé que voy a disfrutar sus demás obras. Libro súper recomendado.
October 17, 2021
One room, a strange couple, and lots of innovative ideas to deal with writers' block and stop procrastinating fast. Or…
The most captivating thing about this novel is how permanent fear is escalating to more and more shocking and horrifying revelations, actions, and torture methods and how the feeling of insecurity and not knowing what comes next is slowly eating away the mental sanity of the protagonist while Annie is entering ultra bonkers mode.
Reminiscing about the art of writing. As so often, King is putting much of the über stoned, paranoid, maybe hearing voices, himself into it, especially about the creative process that, spoiler warning, duh, isn´t just unicorns and free floating creativity through rainbow colored sirup rivers that make one handsome, immortal, and smart when drinking from it, but thousands of years old (once something Aristotle didn´t get completely wrong and obstructed scientific process for millennia, incredible, what a fraud, he single handedly caused as much suffering in the humanities and even some hard sciences as a flying spaghetti monster ideology), often revolutionized rules, discipline, and training until perfection by writing every freaking day and edit and rewrite and cut and again from the beginning. As Brandon Sanderson, a kind of Stephen King of fantasy who also studied creative writing said, it´s possible to say after a few pages if this is a highly professional writer who does it for decades or a complete rookie. Just as with painting, music, etc., one can see or hear after a few moments if it´s a prodigy or an incompetent bumbler. People just seem to have a kind of romantic glorification of writing as an easygoing hobby and just don´t see the work behind it.
And here comes Annie, who may be crazy as heck, but does know how to distinguish between easy made, loveless garbage, and real art. These passages, especially the novel inside the novel the poor protagonist is forced to write, are especially precious for people who are interested in creative writing. Annie immediately detects each attempt to do average or bad work, giving a kind of short workshop about how to detect errors or logical fallacies. Better don´t try to chisel…
Strong female psycho characters are sadly so underrepresented in our modern culture and I jay at each mass murdering, raping (however), and torturing lunatic psycho goth succubus (damn hot too, although it may have been a male incubus before which makes me feel kind of irritated regarding my sexual identity and preferences), who leads emancipation to new levels. Men have been eating and mutilating females for millennia, so now is really the badly needed payoff day for femininity. Just, please, consume the other males, ok? Damn, I should definitively get my VPN and antivirus software pimped, I´m a bit hot too, thereby a not so unlikely target. Maybe one of these attractive monsters is reading this just now and tracking my IP address, planning the trip… But at least a good way to go, I hope, maybe it gets at least a bit naughty too so that it´s worth death.
I´m sorry for each poor forensic psychiatrist who will try to get behind the functioning of my psychopathological background in sociopathy and filth and maybe lose her/his mind by the way. Welcome to the club. Lols and rofls madly. Short commercial break…
However, I lost track in my sadomasochistic exreme horror torture porn fantasies again, sorry, I´m finished now, I mean, damn, facepalms, back to the show. (T)his talking about myself third person perspective style really escalated quickly…
I´m pretty sure that I mentioned how Tabitha King owned her husband by saying: „First, you wrote this novel about a writer caught by a mad fan. Then you wrote a book ( Geralds´game) about a woman chained to a bed. Next, you´ll write a book about a couch without anything happening.“ And I would totally buy it, thank you, mister King! I hope he gets bitten by a vampire and lives and writes forever, I would bring him victims so that he doesn´t have to starve. And become a vampire myself too, of course.
I´ve kind of a highly subjective feeling that Kings´drug and alcohol problems played in big here too, because the whole setting, the inability to escape, getting hooked on by a maniac, feeling trapped, and this immensely dense atmosphere of despair and fear could be seen as indicators of a soul haunted by addiction. Although it would have been much cozier for the protagonist if he would have been permanently high so that the suffering wouldn´t have mattered that much, as long as he got his shots, spliffs, and sniffs.
Tropes show how literature is conceptualized and created and which mixture of elements makes works and genres unique:
https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.ph...
The most captivating thing about this novel is how permanent fear is escalating to more and more shocking and horrifying revelations, actions, and torture methods and how the feeling of insecurity and not knowing what comes next is slowly eating away the mental sanity of the protagonist while Annie is entering ultra bonkers mode.
Reminiscing about the art of writing. As so often, King is putting much of the über stoned, paranoid, maybe hearing voices, himself into it, especially about the creative process that, spoiler warning, duh, isn´t just unicorns and free floating creativity through rainbow colored sirup rivers that make one handsome, immortal, and smart when drinking from it, but thousands of years old (once something Aristotle didn´t get completely wrong and obstructed scientific process for millennia, incredible, what a fraud, he single handedly caused as much suffering in the humanities and even some hard sciences as a flying spaghetti monster ideology), often revolutionized rules, discipline, and training until perfection by writing every freaking day and edit and rewrite and cut and again from the beginning. As Brandon Sanderson, a kind of Stephen King of fantasy who also studied creative writing said, it´s possible to say after a few pages if this is a highly professional writer who does it for decades or a complete rookie. Just as with painting, music, etc., one can see or hear after a few moments if it´s a prodigy or an incompetent bumbler. People just seem to have a kind of romantic glorification of writing as an easygoing hobby and just don´t see the work behind it.
And here comes Annie, who may be crazy as heck, but does know how to distinguish between easy made, loveless garbage, and real art. These passages, especially the novel inside the novel the poor protagonist is forced to write, are especially precious for people who are interested in creative writing. Annie immediately detects each attempt to do average or bad work, giving a kind of short workshop about how to detect errors or logical fallacies. Better don´t try to chisel…
Strong female psycho characters are sadly so underrepresented in our modern culture and I jay at each mass murdering, raping (however), and torturing lunatic psycho goth succubus (damn hot too, although it may have been a male incubus before which makes me feel kind of irritated regarding my sexual identity and preferences), who leads emancipation to new levels. Men have been eating and mutilating females for millennia, so now is really the badly needed payoff day for femininity. Just, please, consume the other males, ok? Damn, I should definitively get my VPN and antivirus software pimped, I´m a bit hot too, thereby a not so unlikely target. Maybe one of these attractive monsters is reading this just now and tracking my IP address, planning the trip… But at least a good way to go, I hope, maybe it gets at least a bit naughty too so that it´s worth death.
I´m sorry for each poor forensic psychiatrist who will try to get behind the functioning of my psychopathological background in sociopathy and filth and maybe lose her/his mind by the way. Welcome to the club. Lols and rofls madly. Short commercial break…
However, I lost track in my sadomasochistic exreme horror torture porn fantasies again, sorry, I´m finished now, I mean, damn, facepalms, back to the show. (T)his talking about myself third person perspective style really escalated quickly…
I´m pretty sure that I mentioned how Tabitha King owned her husband by saying: „First, you wrote this novel about a writer caught by a mad fan. Then you wrote a book ( Geralds´game) about a woman chained to a bed. Next, you´ll write a book about a couch without anything happening.“ And I would totally buy it, thank you, mister King! I hope he gets bitten by a vampire and lives and writes forever, I would bring him victims so that he doesn´t have to starve. And become a vampire myself too, of course.
I´ve kind of a highly subjective feeling that Kings´drug and alcohol problems played in big here too, because the whole setting, the inability to escape, getting hooked on by a maniac, feeling trapped, and this immensely dense atmosphere of despair and fear could be seen as indicators of a soul haunted by addiction. Although it would have been much cozier for the protagonist if he would have been permanently high so that the suffering wouldn´t have mattered that much, as long as he got his shots, spliffs, and sniffs.
Tropes show how literature is conceptualized and created and which mixture of elements makes works and genres unique:
https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.ph...
April 12, 2023
With the fore knowledge, I can definitely see how this was originally going to be a Richard Bachman book, with the carnage from the opening scene followed by darkness, madness and torture throughout! Lots of personal knowledge shared via Stephen King's addiction problems, gives this story even more power than the maelstrom of the Number One Fan herself. Some great pacing and segmenting, put me continually on a knife's edge. 8 out of 12, firm Four Stars.
2016 read
2016 read
August 14, 2019
a list of things this book was:
- disgusting
- disturbing
- a quick read, surprisingly
- really fond of using sexual assault as a metaphor (cool cool cool)
- harmfully stereotypical in terms of race (the Africa references/setting)
- harmfully stereotypical in terms of gender (so much man-goes-to-work woman-stays-home)
- honestly just pretty hateful toward women??
- all for using the n word without blinking, apparently
a list of things this book was not:
- scary
- all that great of a read for me
bottom line: i guess i get the stephen king appeal. but, uh. NOT A FAN.
note from future me: if you're a stephen king fan and you feel like writing at length in the comments of this about why i'm wrong and you're a Correct Intellectual, consider, instead, writing me a letter and then throwing that letter right in the garbage (either way, i'm not going to read it)
-----------
PRE-REVIEW
okay, stephen king. time to show me what all the fuss is about.
(in other words: this is my first stephen king book and i'm ready to scream in fear)
- disgusting
- disturbing
- a quick read, surprisingly
- really fond of using sexual assault as a metaphor (cool cool cool)
- harmfully stereotypical in terms of race (the Africa references/setting)
- harmfully stereotypical in terms of gender (so much man-goes-to-work woman-stays-home)
- honestly just pretty hateful toward women??
- all for using the n word without blinking, apparently
a list of things this book was not:
- scary
- all that great of a read for me
bottom line: i guess i get the stephen king appeal. but, uh. NOT A FAN.
note from future me: if you're a stephen king fan and you feel like writing at length in the comments of this about why i'm wrong and you're a Correct Intellectual, consider, instead, writing me a letter and then throwing that letter right in the garbage (either way, i'm not going to read it)
-----------
PRE-REVIEW
okay, stephen king. time to show me what all the fuss is about.
(in other words: this is my first stephen king book and i'm ready to scream in fear)
October 20, 2020
Reread
Damn, I can never get over that one scene!!! She's bat sh•t crazy!
Happy Reading! 🎃👻
Mel 🖤🐶🐺🐾
October 27, 2025
و لماذا لم نخطف د.تامر ابراهيم ليكمل لنا ثلاثية"الذي لم يمت؟فالاعوام تمر وتمر
و لماذا لم نخطف د.احمد خالدتوفيق لنعيد رفعت اسماعيل للحياة؟فقد كان يؤنسنا حقا
و لماذا لم يخطفوا د.ارثر دويل ليعيد شرلوك هولمز للحياة؟فهو قتله لمزاجه الخاص؟ لاننا عاقلين طبعا
منذ ان افاق بول شيلدون على انفاس تقتحم جهازه التنفسي قسرا برائحة الفانيليا و الشيكولاته ..أدرك ان احلى ايامه قد مضت إلى غير رجعة ..فهل من الممكن ان تعيش بسلام بعد ان قابلت" انى ويلكوكس "؟
فلتتامل جيدا تلك الممرضة الممتلئة البشوشة و ركز في لون السائل الذي تحقنك به..فقد تكون حقنتك الأخيرة 💉
ميزرى هي رعب دفين لدى كل مؤلف شهير تغريه الاجزاء المتعددة..احذر فقد تودي بك إلى حتفك ..ستصبح كلمة: اكتب هي كابوسك المقيم
ستظل اني ويلكوكس اغرب بطلات كينج و تتربع مع مهرج"الشيء"على القمة فهي : المعجبة رقم واحد. .لقب ساحر لولا اصرارها المرعب على أن يعيد كاتبها بطلتها المفضلة للحياة
.و لو بخطفه و احتجازه و تكسير ساقه مرارا🙈 و ما خفي أكثر بكثير..
من السهل ان يتحول هذا النمط من الروايات ثنائية الشخصيات إلى مسرحية مملة و لكن ليس هذه المرة
..جاءت الرواية كمطاردات مرعبة لن تنشر ابدا لتوم و جيري🐱🐀ا
ابي رجل علم رزين لا يهوى السينما و لكن يكفي "فيلم ميزري "فخرا انه الفيلم الوحيد الذي تابعه بحماس تفاعلى لم يتكرر ابدا..و هو بالفعل في جودة الرواية
و لماذا لم نخطف د.احمد خالدتوفيق لنعيد رفعت اسماعيل للحياة؟فقد كان يؤنسنا حقا
و لماذا لم يخطفوا د.ارثر دويل ليعيد شرلوك هولمز للحياة؟فهو قتله لمزاجه الخاص؟ لاننا عاقلين طبعا
منذ ان افاق بول شيلدون على انفاس تقتحم جهازه التنفسي قسرا برائحة الفانيليا و الشيكولاته ..أدرك ان احلى ايامه قد مضت إلى غير رجعة ..فهل من الممكن ان تعيش بسلام بعد ان قابلت" انى ويلكوكس "؟
فلتتامل جيدا تلك الممرضة الممتلئة البشوشة و ركز في لون السائل الذي تحقنك به..فقد تكون حقنتك الأخيرة 💉
ميزرى هي رعب دفين لدى كل مؤلف شهير تغريه الاجزاء المتعددة..احذر فقد تودي بك إلى حتفك ..ستصبح كلمة: اكتب هي كابوسك المقيم
ستظل اني ويلكوكس اغرب بطلات كينج و تتربع مع مهرج"الشيء"على القمة فهي : المعجبة رقم واحد. .لقب ساحر لولا اصرارها المرعب على أن يعيد كاتبها بطلتها المفضلة للحياة
.و لو بخطفه و احتجازه و تكسير ساقه مرارا🙈 و ما خفي أكثر بكثير..
من السهل ان يتحول هذا النمط من الروايات ثنائية الشخصيات إلى مسرحية مملة و لكن ليس هذه المرة
..جاءت الرواية كمطاردات مرعبة لن تنشر ابدا لتوم و جيري🐱🐀ا
ابي رجل علم رزين لا يهوى السينما و لكن يكفي "فيلم ميزري "فخرا انه الفيلم الوحيد الذي تابعه بحماس تفاعلى لم يتكرر ابدا..و هو بالفعل في جودة الرواية
October 28, 2022
The name of the man who had written the book was Paul Sheldon. He recognized it as his own with no surprise. ‘Sidewinder, Colorado,’ she said when he was finally able to ask the question. ‘My name is Annie Wilkes. And I am -‘
‘I know,’ he said. ‘You’re my number-one fan’
‘Yes,’ she said, smiling. ‘That’s just what I am’
Successful author Paul Sheldon has decided to transition from writing his popular romance series featuring Misery Chastain to publishing a crime fiction novel. After completing the manuscript, Paul, drunk and elated makes a snap decision to drive, instead of fly, back to New York City. Unfortunately for Paul the severe snow storm heading his way has other plans and Paul ends up in a serious car accident.
On her way home from purchasing livestock feed, Annie Wilkes (Paul’s number one fan!) rescues Paul from the scene of the accident. Annie takes Paul back to her remote home, feeds him copious amounts of pain medication and refuses to take him to the hospital despite his broken and mangled legs.
Days pass and Annie finally gets her hands on the latest installment in the Misery Chastain series. But when Annie discovers that Paul has killed off her beloved Misery she becomes blind with rage. She holds Paul prisoner while forcing him to write a new book. One that brings Misery back to life.
I don’t know how to describe what I’m feeling right now. The closest I can get, is how I imagine one would feel being run over by a truck and then dragged 5 kilometers down the road…..but in a good way??
This is an explosive novel, there is no denying that. The reason I believe this story is so powerful, is because of its plausibility. The concrete certainty that the acts narrated, can, and do, happen in real life. Stephen King has painted a deeply disturbing picture with captivating characters whose psychology is so deeply analyzed throughout the course of the book, that I felt 100% inside their heads. This is why I love Stephen King. No other author can do that to me.
I loved every second of this book. F’ing brilliant!
‘I know,’ he said. ‘You’re my number-one fan’
‘Yes,’ she said, smiling. ‘That’s just what I am’
Successful author Paul Sheldon has decided to transition from writing his popular romance series featuring Misery Chastain to publishing a crime fiction novel. After completing the manuscript, Paul, drunk and elated makes a snap decision to drive, instead of fly, back to New York City. Unfortunately for Paul the severe snow storm heading his way has other plans and Paul ends up in a serious car accident.
On her way home from purchasing livestock feed, Annie Wilkes (Paul’s number one fan!) rescues Paul from the scene of the accident. Annie takes Paul back to her remote home, feeds him copious amounts of pain medication and refuses to take him to the hospital despite his broken and mangled legs.
Days pass and Annie finally gets her hands on the latest installment in the Misery Chastain series. But when Annie discovers that Paul has killed off her beloved Misery she becomes blind with rage. She holds Paul prisoner while forcing him to write a new book. One that brings Misery back to life.
I don’t know how to describe what I’m feeling right now. The closest I can get, is how I imagine one would feel being run over by a truck and then dragged 5 kilometers down the road…..but in a good way??
This is an explosive novel, there is no denying that. The reason I believe this story is so powerful, is because of its plausibility. The concrete certainty that the acts narrated, can, and do, happen in real life. Stephen King has painted a deeply disturbing picture with captivating characters whose psychology is so deeply analyzed throughout the course of the book, that I felt 100% inside their heads. This is why I love Stephen King. No other author can do that to me.
I loved every second of this book. F’ing brilliant!
January 5, 2020
Please don't come at me with your torches and pitch forks, but for me, this was just fine. 🤷 I promise I'll explain!
July 15, 2016
To celebrate completing a novel, writer Paul Sheldon goes on a champagne-fueled drive in the Rocky mountains. He winds up in a near fatal car crash, but never fear. He's rescued by Annie Wilkes, his #1 fan...
I watched the film version of Misery in those antediluvian days before Goodreads, hell, before the Internet, and decided to finally read the novel when it showed up on my BookGorilla email one day. It was $2.99 very well spent.
Misery is a tale of obsession, addiction, and obsession. I wrote "obsession" twice but it's a such a big theme I thought it was justified. Annie Wilkes is obsessed with her favorite series of books starring Misery Chastain, written by that dirty birdie Paul Sheldon. Paul is obsessed with finishing the book Annie has demanded of him and probably addicted to writing. Also to codeine.
I've said it before but I'll say it again. If Stephen King wasn't addicted to scaring the bodily fluids out of people, he'd be a literary writer of some renown. The guy can flat out write. Just because he cranks out a best seller more often than most of us go to the dentist doesn't mean he's the real deal.
The scariest horror stories are the ones that could actually happen and Misery is one of those. Who among us hasn't had visions of being held captive when driving through a remote locale? Annie is so much more than the scene-chewing maniac she could have been. She has dimension and believes she's in the right, which is the mark of a great villain. Her background is very fleshed out and my heart sank as I learned her past along with Paul. How the hell was he going to escape that monster?
Paul's journey is painful, both to him and to the reader, thanks to King's skill. I had to make sure my foot was still attached a couple times. Annie puts him through hell and he finally gives her a taste of her own medicine but the ending is far from happily ever after.
As is usually the case, the book was a notch better than the movie. I've been easy with the 5's this year but I'll give this one a cockadoodie 5 out of 5 stars just the same.
I watched the film version of Misery in those antediluvian days before Goodreads, hell, before the Internet, and decided to finally read the novel when it showed up on my BookGorilla email one day. It was $2.99 very well spent.
Misery is a tale of obsession, addiction, and obsession. I wrote "obsession" twice but it's a such a big theme I thought it was justified. Annie Wilkes is obsessed with her favorite series of books starring Misery Chastain, written by that dirty birdie Paul Sheldon. Paul is obsessed with finishing the book Annie has demanded of him and probably addicted to writing. Also to codeine.
I've said it before but I'll say it again. If Stephen King wasn't addicted to scaring the bodily fluids out of people, he'd be a literary writer of some renown. The guy can flat out write. Just because he cranks out a best seller more often than most of us go to the dentist doesn't mean he's the real deal.
The scariest horror stories are the ones that could actually happen and Misery is one of those. Who among us hasn't had visions of being held captive when driving through a remote locale? Annie is so much more than the scene-chewing maniac she could have been. She has dimension and believes she's in the right, which is the mark of a great villain. Her background is very fleshed out and my heart sank as I learned her past along with Paul. How the hell was he going to escape that monster?
Paul's journey is painful, both to him and to the reader, thanks to King's skill. I had to make sure my foot was still attached a couple times. Annie puts him through hell and he finally gives her a taste of her own medicine but the ending is far from happily ever after.
As is usually the case, the book was a notch better than the movie. I've been easy with the 5's this year but I'll give this one a cockadoodie 5 out of 5 stars just the same.
February 11, 2021
AAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHH
Na madrugada quente e sebosa do dia 8 de fevereiro do calendário gregoriano, fazendo a meleca de 24 graus, ao lado de sua esbelta e dengosa esposa, deitado horizontalmente, editheus, homem fenotipicamente branco de 27 anos finaliza com dores emocionais o livro Misery by Stephen King.
Posso explanar com precisão que esta obra se resume a uma faca cutucando uma ferida exposta sem a presença de relaxantes musculares. Durante toda a leitura de meus olhos castanhos sem lentes de contato e com alto grau de miopia, senti um grande desconforto agonizante que precedia gotículas de água deslizando a pele superior da minha face frontal. Tive muita reluta em ler este livro devido ao alto nível detalhista do tio Stephen, mas garanto a você, pessoa com capacidade de leitura e acesso a internet, que essa característica apenas aflora ainda mais os momentos agoniantes.
Ponto positivo que também prendeu este jovem leitor quase calvo devido ao hereditarismo, foi a presença de capítulos curtos, que facilitam minha dificuldade de dar atenção às sentenças formadas por letras do alfabeto português.
Eu clamo perante a sua pessoa que pegue seus dedos posicionados nas mãos ligadas ao braço e tronco, que leia este livro, é uma história que com certeza agrada todo tipo de leitor.
Stephen King é nada mais que um gênio, merecedor dos lendários 5 edilikes, uma obra prima que com certeza deixará marcas em minha existência. Recomendo muito para você que procura uma obra de fácil leitura com profundidade e detalhismo que nos fazem ficar destrambelhado a cada chapter.
Para mais resenhas me siga na cube.tv, e caso queira mandar uma carta provisória editheus@forbes.gov.ed, agradeço a vossa atenção concedida nesse ambiente digital composto por números binários.
Na madrugada quente e sebosa do dia 8 de fevereiro do calendário gregoriano, fazendo a meleca de 24 graus, ao lado de sua esbelta e dengosa esposa, deitado horizontalmente, editheus, homem fenotipicamente branco de 27 anos finaliza com dores emocionais o livro Misery by Stephen King.
Posso explanar com precisão que esta obra se resume a uma faca cutucando uma ferida exposta sem a presença de relaxantes musculares. Durante toda a leitura de meus olhos castanhos sem lentes de contato e com alto grau de miopia, senti um grande desconforto agonizante que precedia gotículas de água deslizando a pele superior da minha face frontal. Tive muita reluta em ler este livro devido ao alto nível detalhista do tio Stephen, mas garanto a você, pessoa com capacidade de leitura e acesso a internet, que essa característica apenas aflora ainda mais os momentos agoniantes.
Ponto positivo que também prendeu este jovem leitor quase calvo devido ao hereditarismo, foi a presença de capítulos curtos, que facilitam minha dificuldade de dar atenção às sentenças formadas por letras do alfabeto português.
Eu clamo perante a sua pessoa que pegue seus dedos posicionados nas mãos ligadas ao braço e tronco, que leia este livro, é uma história que com certeza agrada todo tipo de leitor.
Stephen King é nada mais que um gênio, merecedor dos lendários 5 edilikes, uma obra prima que com certeza deixará marcas em minha existência. Recomendo muito para você que procura uma obra de fácil leitura com profundidade e detalhismo que nos fazem ficar destrambelhado a cada chapter.
Para mais resenhas me siga na cube.tv, e caso queira mandar uma carta provisória editheus@forbes.gov.ed, agradeço a vossa atenção concedida nesse ambiente digital composto por números binários.
January 16, 2024
Welcome to the fan club of nightmares, where Annie Wilkes reigns supreme.
Author, Paul Sheldon’s biggest fan Annie takes her devotion to a whole new level in which King digs deep into the darker corners of obsessive fandom and the human psyche.
Possibly my favourite Stephen King book I’ve read (thus far). Movie is also a worthy adaptation.
Author, Paul Sheldon’s biggest fan Annie takes her devotion to a whole new level in which King digs deep into the darker corners of obsessive fandom and the human psyche.
Possibly my favourite Stephen King book I’ve read (thus far). Movie is also a worthy adaptation.
May 24, 2019
"I am in trouble here. This woman is not right."
Paul Sheldon, the best-selling writer of the Misery novels, finds himself rescued from a car accident by his number one fan, Annie Wilkes. As the former nurse takes care of him in her home, she finds out he killed off Misery in his latest novel and decides to keep Paul as her prisoner as he writes Misery back to life.
I read a number of Stephen King books pre-bookstagram and pre-goodreads, therefore I have never written a proper review for these books. Revisiting these books through readalongs and listening to audiobooks while running or at the gym gives me the opportunity to do so! Unfortunately when I revisited Misery it was in the form of the audiobook... and I was not a fan (and most certainly NOT its number 1 fan). The narrator did such a brilliant job of conveying the truly insane character that is Annie Wilkes, but otherwise it was very monotonous and boring at times. BUT I know that's not really the case for the book itself.
Similar to Gerald's Game, the events of this book primarily take place in one location. Ordinarily that would bore the life out of me, but King has this ability to grab your attention and keep you hooked anyway. That being said, there are still some boring parts in this book - but they are very few and far between. It is literally quite impossible to look away during the interactions between Annie and poor Paul Sheldon. Anytime Annie is on the scene, she steals the show - it's those parts where it's just Paul's meandering thoughts that I would tune out of sometimes. This is much better portrayed in the movie for me.
Something else that the movie benefits from is cutting out the parts where Paul is writing his new Misery book. I honestly have never cared less about anything in my entire life. I just DO NOT care. This is fair enough when you're reading the book and can just quickly skim over these parts - however, this is much more difficult when listening to the audiobook. I quite honestly feel like this is one of those rare scenarios in which the movie is much superior to the book. It takes the GREAT story that King tells and trims it down to a really effective movie.
Annie Wilkes is one of King's most iconic characters and the story is one of his most terrifying, because there are no scary monsters or supernatural creatures, Annie is all human and 100% crazy. She also brings a lot of humour to the story (for me anyway), I can't help but crack up when she goes on rants about different things. And the scene with the axe... one of the most nail-biting, stressful and cringeworthy events I've ever read in a book.
I really like Misery, but I don't seem to regard it as highly as lot of other Constant Readers. I can't pinpoint what is exactly, I just know it wouldn't make my top 20 list. I guess I never really connected with it on a personal level, and so many other King books DO make me FEEL so many emotions, so... it just slides down the list a bit. I do think it would be a great starting point for new King fans, as it isn't particularly scary, it's more of a psychological thriller. A nice way to introduce yourself to Mr King's works.
3.5 stars.
Paul Sheldon, the best-selling writer of the Misery novels, finds himself rescued from a car accident by his number one fan, Annie Wilkes. As the former nurse takes care of him in her home, she finds out he killed off Misery in his latest novel and decides to keep Paul as her prisoner as he writes Misery back to life.
I read a number of Stephen King books pre-bookstagram and pre-goodreads, therefore I have never written a proper review for these books. Revisiting these books through readalongs and listening to audiobooks while running or at the gym gives me the opportunity to do so! Unfortunately when I revisited Misery it was in the form of the audiobook... and I was not a fan (and most certainly NOT its number 1 fan). The narrator did such a brilliant job of conveying the truly insane character that is Annie Wilkes, but otherwise it was very monotonous and boring at times. BUT I know that's not really the case for the book itself.
Similar to Gerald's Game, the events of this book primarily take place in one location. Ordinarily that would bore the life out of me, but King has this ability to grab your attention and keep you hooked anyway. That being said, there are still some boring parts in this book - but they are very few and far between. It is literally quite impossible to look away during the interactions between Annie and poor Paul Sheldon. Anytime Annie is on the scene, she steals the show - it's those parts where it's just Paul's meandering thoughts that I would tune out of sometimes. This is much better portrayed in the movie for me.
Something else that the movie benefits from is cutting out the parts where Paul is writing his new Misery book. I honestly have never cared less about anything in my entire life. I just DO NOT care. This is fair enough when you're reading the book and can just quickly skim over these parts - however, this is much more difficult when listening to the audiobook. I quite honestly feel like this is one of those rare scenarios in which the movie is much superior to the book. It takes the GREAT story that King tells and trims it down to a really effective movie.
Annie Wilkes is one of King's most iconic characters and the story is one of his most terrifying, because there are no scary monsters or supernatural creatures, Annie is all human and 100% crazy. She also brings a lot of humour to the story (for me anyway), I can't help but crack up when she goes on rants about different things. And the scene with the axe... one of the most nail-biting, stressful and cringeworthy events I've ever read in a book.
I really like Misery, but I don't seem to regard it as highly as lot of other Constant Readers. I can't pinpoint what is exactly, I just know it wouldn't make my top 20 list. I guess I never really connected with it on a personal level, and so many other King books DO make me FEEL so many emotions, so... it just slides down the list a bit. I do think it would be a great starting point for new King fans, as it isn't particularly scary, it's more of a psychological thriller. A nice way to introduce yourself to Mr King's works.
3.5 stars.
December 27, 2022
Isn’t it so good that you have a devoted fan encourage you to write a new book of the series that made you famous? And she also gives you free health service?
Well, Misery was one of the most disturbing plot lines KING crafted. Most of the people remember sweet Kathy Bates’ transition to very scary, obsessive fan Annie Wilkes. That performance earned her a golden statue that highly deserved. In Broadway Laurie Metcalf gave life to the complex, dangerous, thrilling character but she wasn’t as great as dear Kathy.
And KING collaborated with Sam Shaw to create Hulu series Castle Rock to show us the early days of Annie: younger, a single mother, trying to start a fresh life in the wrong place at the wrong time. The series also give us the background story of Annie help us understand she’s not born as villanelle, she turns into one later!
I enjoyed to read this book that tells us how far fans can confuse thin line between real life and the illusionary worlds the authors created! True obsession, confusion, violence, claustrophobic tones, the brilliant characterization allure you!
It’s gripping and effective story just like other works of the author! But it’s really spin tingling and so disturbing! You may forget the name of famous author Paul Shelton! But I am so sure you never forget cold blooded villanelle Annie Wilkes!
Well, Misery was one of the most disturbing plot lines KING crafted. Most of the people remember sweet Kathy Bates’ transition to very scary, obsessive fan Annie Wilkes. That performance earned her a golden statue that highly deserved. In Broadway Laurie Metcalf gave life to the complex, dangerous, thrilling character but she wasn’t as great as dear Kathy.
And KING collaborated with Sam Shaw to create Hulu series Castle Rock to show us the early days of Annie: younger, a single mother, trying to start a fresh life in the wrong place at the wrong time. The series also give us the background story of Annie help us understand she’s not born as villanelle, she turns into one later!
I enjoyed to read this book that tells us how far fans can confuse thin line between real life and the illusionary worlds the authors created! True obsession, confusion, violence, claustrophobic tones, the brilliant characterization allure you!
It’s gripping and effective story just like other works of the author! But it’s really spin tingling and so disturbing! You may forget the name of famous author Paul Shelton! But I am so sure you never forget cold blooded villanelle Annie Wilkes!
November 22, 2021
Two Sundays ago our family experienced a rather harrowing emergency situation. I'm thrilled to report that tragedy was averted; I'm less excited to share that my arm was broken in the process.
A broken arm is a perfectly acceptable price to pay for a whole family, but it is also a painful pain in the ass. And, because I'm a classic overachiever, I broke my arm in the “most painful way possible,” and I have been relegated to bone broth, limited mobility (to prevent the need for surgery) and left handed, one finger typing (damn it!).
As my convalescence began (10 long days ago), I found myself not only in pain and discomfort, but surprisingly more and more weepy as well. Melancholic, I believe they call it. So not my norm. A chipper friend quickly became flustered by my new, dark voice and demeanor and contributed that she bring me some “upbeat romantic comedies and light, humorous reads from the library.”
“Fuck that,” I cheerfully responded. “I'm reading Stephen King's Misery.”
Misery, in case you crawled out from under a rock or were just born, is one of Mr. King's most famous novels. Though I am a devotee of the King (and a total literary snob, by the way), I have always avoided his “horror” novels. I had assumed a “been there, done that,” attitude with Misery, having watched the movie. But, I'm so happy I finally read it. As usual, the book is an entirely different experience.
The basic premise, without any overt plot spoilers is this: A 42-year-old, twice divorced novelist named Paul Sheldon, who has become famous for a series he created (but loathes) called Misery, finishes a new manuscript (in a hotel about 15 minutes from my house!), and celebrates his original, not Misery related writing achievement by drinking copious amounts of champagne. He mistakenly heads out, drunk, into a winter storm and badly crashes his car on a mountain road near the fictional town of Sidewinder, Colorado.
Paul is badly injured. Left on his own in the storm, without immediate medical attention, he'd have most likely died. Lucky for him, a former nurse discovers his recently crashed car, brings him home and nurses him back to consciousness. When Paul “wakes” to his new reality, he is grateful to the nurse, the indomitable Annie Wilkes, but he is terrified and confused when he sees his mangled legs. Why hasn't she called for help?
Turns out Annie's a real psychopath. She's his “number one fan,” and no outside help will be needed for Paul's poor legs, which are pointing every which way but loose.
Mr. King introduces us to Annie:
She was a big woman who, other than the large but unwelcoming swell of the cardigan sweater she always wore, seemed to have no feminine curves at all—there was no defined roundness of hip or buttock or even calf below the endless succession of wool skirts she wore in the house (she retired to her unseen bedroom to put on jeans before doing outside chores). Her body was big but not generous. There was a feeling about her of clots and roadblocks rather than welcoming orifices or even open spaces, areas of hiatus.
Paul quickly realizes he's “in a jam,” but he also mistakenly believes himself to be in the worst mental and physical pain of his life: There comes a point when the very discussion of pain becomes redundant. No one knows there is pain the size of this in the world. No one. It is like being possessed by demons. (I hear you, Paul!).
It doesn't take Paul long to understand that the current pain he's in is child's play compared to what will come. He's barely begun his journey with Annie before he recognizes that she was a woman full of tornadoes waiting to happen, and if he had been a farmer observing a sky which looked the way Annie's face looked right now, he would have at once gone to collect his family and herd them into the storm cellar.
But Paul doesn't have family. Not really. He's got 2 ex-wives, no kids, no siblings, and parents who are only mentioned in the past tense. He's a loner, a lonely writer who wonders if anyone out there will even care enough to conduct a search for him.
And here's the meat for me: I fell in love with him.
Paul's sadness, his journey, the span of his suffering and grief are so tenable, so credible, too. We go deep into his psyche, learn his foibles and flaws and get taken along on some keen writing lessons, too.
Mr. Sheldon quickly earned a place in heart as my second favorite “King character” (second only to Jake Epping from 11/22/63.
So, you may be wondering. . . how gruesome does this get?
Gruesome, but only one scene made me truly sick to my stomach.
And, you may be wondering. . . Five stars, Julie? Really? Is it really that good?
Yes. Other than one cheesy lag in the middle, when the reader gets taken down Memory Lane, and most of Annie Wilkes's backstory is too conveniently spoon-fed to us, it's that good.
It's not 11/22/63, and it's not Lonesome Dove, but storytelling doesn't get much better than this, nor does it need to.
(Entire review typed with the pointer finger of my left hand.)
A broken arm is a perfectly acceptable price to pay for a whole family, but it is also a painful pain in the ass. And, because I'm a classic overachiever, I broke my arm in the “most painful way possible,” and I have been relegated to bone broth, limited mobility (to prevent the need for surgery) and left handed, one finger typing (damn it!).
As my convalescence began (10 long days ago), I found myself not only in pain and discomfort, but surprisingly more and more weepy as well. Melancholic, I believe they call it. So not my norm. A chipper friend quickly became flustered by my new, dark voice and demeanor and contributed that she bring me some “upbeat romantic comedies and light, humorous reads from the library.”
“Fuck that,” I cheerfully responded. “I'm reading Stephen King's Misery.”
Misery, in case you crawled out from under a rock or were just born, is one of Mr. King's most famous novels. Though I am a devotee of the King (and a total literary snob, by the way), I have always avoided his “horror” novels. I had assumed a “been there, done that,” attitude with Misery, having watched the movie. But, I'm so happy I finally read it. As usual, the book is an entirely different experience.
The basic premise, without any overt plot spoilers is this: A 42-year-old, twice divorced novelist named Paul Sheldon, who has become famous for a series he created (but loathes) called Misery, finishes a new manuscript (in a hotel about 15 minutes from my house!), and celebrates his original, not Misery related writing achievement by drinking copious amounts of champagne. He mistakenly heads out, drunk, into a winter storm and badly crashes his car on a mountain road near the fictional town of Sidewinder, Colorado.
Paul is badly injured. Left on his own in the storm, without immediate medical attention, he'd have most likely died. Lucky for him, a former nurse discovers his recently crashed car, brings him home and nurses him back to consciousness. When Paul “wakes” to his new reality, he is grateful to the nurse, the indomitable Annie Wilkes, but he is terrified and confused when he sees his mangled legs. Why hasn't she called for help?
Turns out Annie's a real psychopath. She's his “number one fan,” and no outside help will be needed for Paul's poor legs, which are pointing every which way but loose.
Mr. King introduces us to Annie:
She was a big woman who, other than the large but unwelcoming swell of the cardigan sweater she always wore, seemed to have no feminine curves at all—there was no defined roundness of hip or buttock or even calf below the endless succession of wool skirts she wore in the house (she retired to her unseen bedroom to put on jeans before doing outside chores). Her body was big but not generous. There was a feeling about her of clots and roadblocks rather than welcoming orifices or even open spaces, areas of hiatus.
Paul quickly realizes he's “in a jam,” but he also mistakenly believes himself to be in the worst mental and physical pain of his life: There comes a point when the very discussion of pain becomes redundant. No one knows there is pain the size of this in the world. No one. It is like being possessed by demons. (I hear you, Paul!).
It doesn't take Paul long to understand that the current pain he's in is child's play compared to what will come. He's barely begun his journey with Annie before he recognizes that she was a woman full of tornadoes waiting to happen, and if he had been a farmer observing a sky which looked the way Annie's face looked right now, he would have at once gone to collect his family and herd them into the storm cellar.
But Paul doesn't have family. Not really. He's got 2 ex-wives, no kids, no siblings, and parents who are only mentioned in the past tense. He's a loner, a lonely writer who wonders if anyone out there will even care enough to conduct a search for him.
And here's the meat for me: I fell in love with him.
Paul's sadness, his journey, the span of his suffering and grief are so tenable, so credible, too. We go deep into his psyche, learn his foibles and flaws and get taken along on some keen writing lessons, too.
Mr. Sheldon quickly earned a place in heart as my second favorite “King character” (second only to Jake Epping from 11/22/63.
So, you may be wondering. . . how gruesome does this get?
Gruesome, but only one scene made me truly sick to my stomach.
And, you may be wondering. . . Five stars, Julie? Really? Is it really that good?
Yes. Other than one cheesy lag in the middle, when the reader gets taken down Memory Lane, and most of Annie Wilkes's backstory is too conveniently spoon-fed to us, it's that good.
It's not 11/22/63, and it's not Lonesome Dove, but storytelling doesn't get much better than this, nor does it need to.
(Entire review typed with the pointer finger of my left hand.)
July 25, 2024
Misery was the next book on my re-read list whilst on my journey to reading all SK books in publication order. Easily one of my favourite books of all time and one of the best Stephen King books I've ever read.
The book starts so quickly and it's quite disorientating we follow our main character Paul who is in an accident and is slipping in and out of consciousnesses. We quickly realise that our main characters 'saviour' isn't what she seems. I think it is described perfectly in this line 'I am in trouble here. This woman is not right' wow what an understatement.
Paul is an author and we get to see into his mind quite intimately which is fascinating, Paul's imagination is both beautiful and terrifying. It does feel as if Stephen King is writing about himself at times because it feels so personal. If someone told me this had really happened to SK I think I would believe him - he describes everything with such clarity and emotion.
The descriptions of Annie are so amazing, her physical descriptions are very well done and you can come up with a clear picture in your mind. I think that the way SK describes her mentally though is perfection, its scary and horrifying but sometimes I can't help but feel sorry for Annie and wonder why she is the way she is.
The writing in this book is some of Stephen Kings best, it is so unnerving and suspenseful I never wanted to put this book down, I never knew what was coming or how it was all going to end. I can see why this is SK's biggest fear. He often has ending that fans don't agree with - I mean this could really happen to him, people do crazy things when there your number one fan and you do something that they don't agree with.
We also get to read a book inside a book which I think is so much fun! I would absolutely read Misery Returns. I don't want to go into spoilers, but some of the body horror in this is amazing and so vivid. If I had to recommend one Stephen King book it would be this one for sure.
The book starts so quickly and it's quite disorientating we follow our main character Paul who is in an accident and is slipping in and out of consciousnesses. We quickly realise that our main characters 'saviour' isn't what she seems. I think it is described perfectly in this line 'I am in trouble here. This woman is not right' wow what an understatement.
Paul is an author and we get to see into his mind quite intimately which is fascinating, Paul's imagination is both beautiful and terrifying. It does feel as if Stephen King is writing about himself at times because it feels so personal. If someone told me this had really happened to SK I think I would believe him - he describes everything with such clarity and emotion.
The descriptions of Annie are so amazing, her physical descriptions are very well done and you can come up with a clear picture in your mind. I think that the way SK describes her mentally though is perfection, its scary and horrifying but sometimes I can't help but feel sorry for Annie and wonder why she is the way she is.
The writing in this book is some of Stephen Kings best, it is so unnerving and suspenseful I never wanted to put this book down, I never knew what was coming or how it was all going to end. I can see why this is SK's biggest fear. He often has ending that fans don't agree with - I mean this could really happen to him, people do crazy things when there your number one fan and you do something that they don't agree with.
We also get to read a book inside a book which I think is so much fun! I would absolutely read Misery Returns. I don't want to go into spoilers, but some of the body horror in this is amazing and so vivid. If I had to recommend one Stephen King book it would be this one for sure.
March 6, 2020
I've been saying for the last year, since I originally read this, that I would come back and write a full review, but honestly, the immediate post-read reaction I wrote below sums it up pretty well. I absolutely freaking loved everything about Misery and I think Annie is one of the most terrifying villains I've ever read in my life. As someone who doesn't tend to enjoy most of King's longer works, please let me know in a comment if you have any recommendations for books of his that are closer to this one in length and overall feeling!
—————
original "review": march 2019:
me, a week ago: I dunno man I've tried a few King books and collections and maybe they're just not meant for me
also me, a week ago: I'm gonna give Misery a try but I'm not expecting too much tbh
me, now: WHAT IN THE NAME OF ALL THE OLD GODS DID I JUST READ, WOW
Full review coming soon! Thank you so much to the eternally beloved Ellyn for buddy reading this with me and motivating me to finally give it a try! 💗💗💗
—————
original "review": march 2019:
me, a week ago: I dunno man I've tried a few King books and collections and maybe they're just not meant for me
also me, a week ago: I'm gonna give Misery a try but I'm not expecting too much tbh
me, now: WHAT IN THE NAME OF ALL THE OLD GODS DID I JUST READ, WOW
Full review coming soon! Thank you so much to the eternally beloved Ellyn for buddy reading this with me and motivating me to finally give it a try! 💗💗💗
August 25, 2023
Novela muy recomendada por los lectores de Stephen King.
Empieza con una premisa original: un escritor de renombre está postrado con las piernas rotas en casa de una admiradora, después de haber sufrido un accidente de coche.
Lo que en principio parece algo bueno, se convierte poco a poco en una pesadilla para el escritor.
Me ha gustado bastante la novela. Los dos personajes son muy potentes, sobre todo, Annie Wilkes, la fanática admiradora de Paul Sheldon. El principio me ha resultado algo lento y repetitivo, pero he devorado la última parte con ansia.
Es la segunda novela que leo de King y no me arrepiento de haber empezado con este autor. Muy entretenido y bien escrito. A veces, estos adjetivos no siempre van juntos.
Mucho se ha escrito de esta novela, que tiene, también, su versión fílmica.
--------------------------------
A highly recommended novel for readers of Stephen King.
It begins with an original premise: a renowned writer is bedridden with broken legs at the home of an admirer, after having suffered a car accident.
What at first seems like a good thing gradually turns into a nightmare for the writer.
I quite enjoyed the novel. The two characters are very powerful, especially Annie Wilkes, Paul Sheldon's fanatical fan. I found the beginning a bit slow and repetitive, but I devoured the last part with eagerness.
This is the second novel I've read by King and I don't regret having started with this author. Very entertaining and well written. Sometimes these adjectives don't always go together.
Much has been written about this novel, which also has a film version.
Empieza con una premisa original: un escritor de renombre está postrado con las piernas rotas en casa de una admiradora, después de haber sufrido un accidente de coche.
Lo que en principio parece algo bueno, se convierte poco a poco en una pesadilla para el escritor.
Me ha gustado bastante la novela. Los dos personajes son muy potentes, sobre todo, Annie Wilkes, la fanática admiradora de Paul Sheldon. El principio me ha resultado algo lento y repetitivo, pero he devorado la última parte con ansia.
Es la segunda novela que leo de King y no me arrepiento de haber empezado con este autor. Muy entretenido y bien escrito. A veces, estos adjetivos no siempre van juntos.
Mucho se ha escrito de esta novela, que tiene, también, su versión fílmica.
--------------------------------
A highly recommended novel for readers of Stephen King.
It begins with an original premise: a renowned writer is bedridden with broken legs at the home of an admirer, after having suffered a car accident.
What at first seems like a good thing gradually turns into a nightmare for the writer.
I quite enjoyed the novel. The two characters are very powerful, especially Annie Wilkes, Paul Sheldon's fanatical fan. I found the beginning a bit slow and repetitive, but I devoured the last part with eagerness.
This is the second novel I've read by King and I don't regret having started with this author. Very entertaining and well written. Sometimes these adjectives don't always go together.
Much has been written about this novel, which also has a film version.
April 8, 2015
My whole life people have had a hard time handling my
I am also ridiculed for my obsession with Stephen King. I find his writing to be nothing short of amazing and people who aren't fans of his just think he writes “that horror and gore crap”. Surely a serious reader can’t be a King fan. According to a lot of people I know it works the same way when flipped around- a King fan cannot be a serious reader. Well, I will tell you I am both. I am a King fan and and a serious reader.
But, I’m not always a serious reviewer.
For you all I have compiled a list. This list is my defense:
Reasons Why I’m NOT the Real Life Annie Wilkes
1.) I would never harm Stephen King in any way, shape or form. Not intentionally anyway- I may accidentally harm him by tripping over my own feet in a rush to get to him and crash into him causing him to fall through a window. Or I might tackle him from behind in an attempt to hug him fiercely. I might even bite him just to see if he’s real. BUT I would not hurt him.
2.) I have never killed anyone. (I think legally I am required to say that…)
3.)I don’t have an unlimited supply of any type of narcotic. I have a cousin who’s a doctor, but he’s of the Straight and Narrow variety.
4.) I don’t have…..
lapses in my thoughts.
5.) I understand the severity of an addiction and understand fully that King has struggled with it in his past, therefore I wouldn't get him hooked on a painkiller to make him completely dependent on me.
6.) I wouldn’t want to have Stephen King in my home. Don’t get me wrong, I have a beautiful home, but his house is way fucking cooler. I mean- gargoyles on a wrought iron gate that looks like a spiderweb?! HOW fucking awesome.
7.) Being that I want to be in his house so bad, I would just like to sneak in a back window and hide in a cupboard and live in his house without him knowing for as long as possible. I’d sneak a shower in his shower, smell his clothes, lie on his side of the bed, lick his typewriter…you know those kinds of things.
8.) I want to be friends with Stephen King- not make him fear for his life. I think if he were to meet me he’d be completely charmed by my glowing personality and welcome me as one of his own by saying: “Welcome to the family, kid!” or something along those lines.
9.) I’d order take-out instead of making him eat all that soup in the event that he was in my home. We could eat Chinese food while watching old horror flicks together. BFFFL.
10.) My final point- my name is Stepheny, not Annie, so I can’t be her.
All around this was a great read- you should totally check it out.
And for the record, Stephen King, you have nothing to be afraid of.
Signed,
Your Number 1 Fan.
October 24, 2018
It took me longer than usual to get into this King book, which was largely down to the writing style. I felt it was different than his usual style (which is the one I adore so much). I had the same problem when reading The Shining. It was just lacking this "special something", and thus, I felt disconnected from the characters until about a halfway through.
However, all the stuff that was happening up until this point still had an effect on me and absolutely terrified me. And then came the big shift and I got really into it. As soon as I got to know the two main characters better, I got so excited and couldn't stop reading! It all got so interesting after a certain revelation and I was so relieved, because up until then, I had the feeling that I was missing out on whatever makes other people love this book so much.
After reaching the halfway point, the genre "Psychological Horror" was truly embodied. There is just something about Annie Wilkes that is constantly frightening, no matter what this woman does. After reading that King wrote her as the personification of cocaine, I totally understand why she is so terrifying, even in the (rare) moments when she is acting nice. I wish I had the right qualifications to analyze this book and its characters on a psychological level, because I bet it would incredibly interesting.
So even though it took me a while to be enthralled by the book, it is still definitely worth a read!
I'd also like to mention how much I appreciated the little snippets of the actual "Misery"-novels that were included in the story. It added a lot more depth and realism.
However, all the stuff that was happening up until this point still had an effect on me and absolutely terrified me. And then came the big shift and I got really into it. As soon as I got to know the two main characters better, I got so excited and couldn't stop reading! It all got so interesting after a certain revelation and I was so relieved, because up until then, I had the feeling that I was missing out on whatever makes other people love this book so much.
After reaching the halfway point, the genre "Psychological Horror" was truly embodied. There is just something about Annie Wilkes that is constantly frightening, no matter what this woman does. After reading that King wrote her as the personification of cocaine, I totally understand why she is so terrifying, even in the (rare) moments when she is acting nice. I wish I had the right qualifications to analyze this book and its characters on a psychological level, because I bet it would incredibly interesting.
So even though it took me a while to be enthralled by the book, it is still definitely worth a read!
I'd also like to mention how much I appreciated the little snippets of the actual "Misery"-novels that were included in the story. It added a lot more depth and realism.
November 16, 2019
I know I have an unpopular opinion on this one, but I thought this was just okay. I have a weird relationship with Stephen King books, I tend to either LOVE them or feel very meh about them, and unfortunately this one left me feeling very meh. The concept of of this book is great, and I love the idea of it: a huge fan of this author finds him in a car wreck and kidnaps him, forcing him to write the next book in a series about a girl named Misery which he has previously ended, and she's forcing him to re-write her story. Annie is an incredibly fascinating character to read about, she's one of those classic psychotic characters like Norman Bates or Hannibal Lectur. She was entertaining to read about, but I feel like because this book is told from Paul, the author's POV, it felt like it dragged at times for me.
I struggled through the first 50% of this book, I found it very slow and boring. Maybe this is because I read thrillers all the time, it's one of my favorite genres, but this book just didn't really thrill me the way I wanted it to. The story got a lot better towards the end and I really ended up liking the last third of it a lot, but it still isn't my favorite from Stephen King, and I guess I just went into it with too high of expectations.Pet Semetary remains as my favorite Stephen King novel. This was my buddy read for the month of November with my friends Jacqueline and Zoe!
I struggled through the first 50% of this book, I found it very slow and boring. Maybe this is because I read thrillers all the time, it's one of my favorite genres, but this book just didn't really thrill me the way I wanted it to. The story got a lot better towards the end and I really ended up liking the last third of it a lot, but it still isn't my favorite from Stephen King, and I guess I just went into it with too high of expectations.Pet Semetary remains as my favorite Stephen King novel. This was my buddy read for the month of November with my friends Jacqueline and Zoe!
November 9, 2025
It’s a bit strange, but it’s kind of a life hack to write a book first and then read "Misery". That way, the impact hits much harder.
The novel “Misery” by Stephen King is at once a thriller, a psychological drama, and a powerful metaphor for the relationship between an author and their audience. It is not just a story about a writer held captive by his obsessed fan; it is a tale about the power to create and to destroy, about the thin line between inspiration and fear.
The main character, Paul Sheldon, is a novelist who becomes the victim of his biggest fan, Annie Wilkes. She rescues him after a car accident but gradually transforms from a kindhearted nurse into a sadistic jailer, consumed by his work. Their relationship forms the core of the story, a painful dance between creator and admirer, control and dependency.
Annie Wilkes is one of the most terrifying characters King has ever created precisely because she is entirely human. She is not a monster from another world or a supernatural being. She is an ordinary person consumed by fiction, and that is where the true horror lies: sometimes the monsters come with a face that could caress you before it destroys you.
Paul, on the other hand, is a metaphor for the author himself. Through him, King explores the fear of becoming a prisoner of one’s own success. Annie represents the audience that demands the same thing over and over again, the familiar story, the familiar hero, the familiar ending. But for an artist who wants to be free, he must “kill his Misery,” both literally and symbolically.
One of the novel’s most striking themes is the idea of pain as a source of inspiration. Paul writes to survive, literally. The act of storytelling becomes a fight for life; creation itself becomes salvation. In this way, King turns writing into both physical and spiritual survival, and horror into a form of catharsis.
Stylistically, “Misery” is lean, focused, and psychologically precise. King abandons his usual supernatural motifs; the terror here is purely human. The confined setting of the house, the physical agony, the dependency, and the slow disintegration of sanity give the novel the feel of an intense stage play, where every gesture and every silence adds to the nightmare.
Ultimately, “Misery” is a novel about obsession, not only that of fans, but of the artist himself, who cannot escape the need to create. It is a story about the power of words and about the fine boundary between inspiration and madness.
Pre_read:
It’s Stephen King season, so of course I have to do a marathon! I’m starting with this book — you have no idea how long I’ve been wanting to read it, and it’s finally in my hands!
The novel “Misery” by Stephen King is at once a thriller, a psychological drama, and a powerful metaphor for the relationship between an author and their audience. It is not just a story about a writer held captive by his obsessed fan; it is a tale about the power to create and to destroy, about the thin line between inspiration and fear.
The main character, Paul Sheldon, is a novelist who becomes the victim of his biggest fan, Annie Wilkes. She rescues him after a car accident but gradually transforms from a kindhearted nurse into a sadistic jailer, consumed by his work. Their relationship forms the core of the story, a painful dance between creator and admirer, control and dependency.
Annie Wilkes is one of the most terrifying characters King has ever created precisely because she is entirely human. She is not a monster from another world or a supernatural being. She is an ordinary person consumed by fiction, and that is where the true horror lies: sometimes the monsters come with a face that could caress you before it destroys you.
Paul, on the other hand, is a metaphor for the author himself. Through him, King explores the fear of becoming a prisoner of one’s own success. Annie represents the audience that demands the same thing over and over again, the familiar story, the familiar hero, the familiar ending. But for an artist who wants to be free, he must “kill his Misery,” both literally and symbolically.
One of the novel’s most striking themes is the idea of pain as a source of inspiration. Paul writes to survive, literally. The act of storytelling becomes a fight for life; creation itself becomes salvation. In this way, King turns writing into both physical and spiritual survival, and horror into a form of catharsis.
Stylistically, “Misery” is lean, focused, and psychologically precise. King abandons his usual supernatural motifs; the terror here is purely human. The confined setting of the house, the physical agony, the dependency, and the slow disintegration of sanity give the novel the feel of an intense stage play, where every gesture and every silence adds to the nightmare.
Ultimately, “Misery” is a novel about obsession, not only that of fans, but of the artist himself, who cannot escape the need to create. It is a story about the power of words and about the fine boundary between inspiration and madness.
Pre_read:
It’s Stephen King season, so of course I have to do a marathon! I’m starting with this book — you have no idea how long I’ve been wanting to read it, and it’s finally in my hands!
October 23, 2021
Wow! What a gruesomely disturbing ride Mr King! I must admit, I watched Misery years ago, and I remember not thinking much of it, as it didn't really make me squeamish. In the case of "Misery" I think the book was better, and it took the term "Fucked up" to a new height.
Although this was a great read, I found I didn't love this as much as Pet Sematary, but it was still classic King writing, and it kept me pretty unsettled, until the very end.
And, talking of unsettled, lets talk about Annie Wilkes. What a woman! She is probably one of the most disturbingly crazy female characters in fiction. I find her layered, and by that I mean that she's a real mixed bag. You really never know what you're going to get. I cannot say I LIKE her character, because, lets face it, she's pretty evil, but she is interesting. The way she lives her life for one. She doesn't fit in to society, so she distanced herself from it on her little farm with her animals- until she met Paul Sheldon. And that is when shit hits the fan, and we learn, incredibly quickly actually, that nobody fucks with Annie Wilkes.
I found myself rather on edge with this, eager to know what stunt Annie might pull next, especially if Paul made her angry. There was one scene, and I found myself thinking " Wow, he's not seriously written THAT, has he?" Obviously, the answer to that, was a yes. It's King. There is nothing he won't write about, especially when his words are able to crawl into the very depths of your mind, and set up home there for a while. This was another grand novel from King, and I'm itching to read my next!
Although this was a great read, I found I didn't love this as much as Pet Sematary, but it was still classic King writing, and it kept me pretty unsettled, until the very end.
And, talking of unsettled, lets talk about Annie Wilkes. What a woman! She is probably one of the most disturbingly crazy female characters in fiction. I find her layered, and by that I mean that she's a real mixed bag. You really never know what you're going to get. I cannot say I LIKE her character, because, lets face it, she's pretty evil, but she is interesting. The way she lives her life for one. She doesn't fit in to society, so she distanced herself from it on her little farm with her animals- until she met Paul Sheldon. And that is when shit hits the fan, and we learn, incredibly quickly actually, that nobody fucks with Annie Wilkes.
I found myself rather on edge with this, eager to know what stunt Annie might pull next, especially if Paul made her angry. There was one scene, and I found myself thinking " Wow, he's not seriously written THAT, has he?" Obviously, the answer to that, was a yes. It's King. There is nothing he won't write about, especially when his words are able to crawl into the very depths of your mind, and set up home there for a while. This was another grand novel from King, and I'm itching to read my next!
October 30, 2021
“[I]t was still a long time before he was finally able to break the dried scum of saliva that had glued his lips together and croak out ‘Where am I?’ to the woman who sat by his bed with a book in her hands. The name of the man who had written the book was Paul Sheldon. He recognized it as his own with no surprise.
‘Sidewinder, Colorado,’ she said when he was finally able to ask the question. ‘My name is Annie Wilkes. And I am – ’
‘I know,’ he said. ‘You’re my number-one fan.’
‘Yes,’ she said, smiling. ‘That’s just what I am…’”
- Stephen King, Misery
Stephen King’s Misery was published all the way back in 1987. It was later made into a near-classic movie that won Kathy Bates an Academy Award. It has been parodied, referenced on The Simpsons, made into memes, and otherwise entered the bloodstream of pop culture, from which it has never left. For all that, having just read it for the first time, it still feels fresh, surprising, and audacious.
It is also absolutely iconic.
Only the briefest of summaries is in order, not just because of Misery’s ubiquity, but because it is so devilishly simple. This is not a sprawling King epic with extensive world building, intricate supernatural systems, or complex mythologies. This is – to use television parlance – a bottle episode, with almost all the action taking place inside a single bedroom.
That bedroom belongs to a former nurse named Annie Wilkes. Annie is a huge fan of a series of historical romance novels featuring a protagonist named Misery Chastain. The author of those books is Paul Sheldon who – despite his fantastic success – feels creatively stifled, and has decided to kill off Misery and write a “serious” novel. Just after finishing this new opus, Paul gets drunk, hops in his car, and ends up in a wreck near Sidewinder, Colorado (a place familiar to fans of The Shining). He is rescued – in a coincidence that is never dwelled upon – by superfan Annie. At first Annie seems well meaning. Then she discovers that Paul has killed Misery, a bit of news that she takes poorly. Annie essentially takes Paul hostage and forces him to write a new Misery book, one that brings the character back to life without any narrative cheating.
King tells the story in the third-person, from the limited perspective of Paul. Much has been read into this character, as it contains more than a few autobiographical details. Like King, Paul feels that he had been relegated to a specific genre, and yearns to stretch his literary muscles. Like King (at the time), Paul has some rather serious substance abuse issues. It is impossible not to feel like many of Paul’s beliefs, especially about the nature of fandom, is King talking – and, frankly, whining – to his own audience. One is even tempted to say that in making Annie – unstable, possibly deranged, and degenerating – the villain, King is borderline insulting the masses who line up to purchase every new title.
Of course, a lot of what gives Misery its punch is the specificity of Paul’s observations about the writing life. Generally, I dislike it when writers focus on writers. It feels too much like navel-gazing. King comes close to that line here, especially when he hammers at the notion that Paul is suffering – quite literally – for his craft. Still, I liked King’s venom, especially since Paul is otherwise very much a stock figure from his multiverse: glib; given to lengthy internal monologues; imbued with an encyclopedic knowledge of rock ‘n roll, movies, and television; and prone to laughing out loud at jokes that are simply not funny.
Facing off against Paul is Annie, one of the more memorable baddies of King’s career. Unlike some of King’s other famed antagonists, such as the Overlook in The Shining, the nightmare-shifting clown from It, and the burial ground in Pet Sematary, Annie is a human being, not a mystical entity. She has no extraordinary powers or connection to dark magic. She is not a vampire or werewolf or alien. Aside from some rudimentary surgical abilities, Annie’s main talent is an absolute conviction towards seeing things through to the end. Though we never get inside her head, King does good work in tracing an interesting arc, one in which Annie is given shifting dimensions. That’s not to say that she is nuanced, only that she is not pure evil. If one wanted, one might even find some sympathy for a woman whose crumbling mental state seems beyond her ability to control. In any event, Annie is frightening and unforgettable.
Misery is psychological horror, bounded by the physical reality of the real world. For much of its length, King relies on tension over every other element. Ultimately, though, King is King, and things get gross. Like many of his vintage novels, Misery walks right up to the line of bad taste, pauses for a moment, and then gleefully hops over. Even with foreknowledge of some of the things that happen, I was still surprised at the graphic, forensic detail that King deploys in executing his set pieces. The violence is limited, the body count relatively low, but there are still buckets of blood spilled in these pages.
This is often cited among King’s upper-tier works. While this is a defensible ranking, I’ll admit that Misery is not among my favorites. The main problem is that I simply didn’t like Paul Sheldon all that much. Since the whole project rests on the question of whether Paul escapes or remains captive, lives or dies, that’s sort of an issue. I also had some quibbles with the pacing. Normally – as many of you know – I am in the bigger-is-better camp when it comes to novels. But in this instance, the 368-page Misery (trade paperback edition) feels a bit bloated. A lot of this comes from King’s puckish decision to excerpt long sections of Paul’s new Misery entry. This book-within-a-book conceit is funny at first, then quickly outstays its welcome. In short – pun intended – Misery might have packed more punch had it been a bit more economical and efficient. Finally, King relies on quite a few cheap tricks and jump scares, especially towards the end, so that the climax of Misery starts to mirror one of the lesser Halloween or Friday the 13th sequels.
These criticisms are rather minor, especially given King’s propensity for creating enduring images. It is not surprising that so many of his novels have been turned into movies, because he is a cinematic writer. Even confining his tapestry to a small room in an isolated farmhouse, with a dramatically pared-down dramatis personae, King effortlessly creates a tableau that is vivid, grotesque, and unforgettable. Misery could have felt like a writing exercise from the Iowa Writer’s Workshop, an experiment in minimalist settings and cast lists, something approaching a two-person play. Instead, in King’s assured hands, it is another minor masterpiece.
‘Sidewinder, Colorado,’ she said when he was finally able to ask the question. ‘My name is Annie Wilkes. And I am – ’
‘I know,’ he said. ‘You’re my number-one fan.’
‘Yes,’ she said, smiling. ‘That’s just what I am…’”
- Stephen King, Misery
Stephen King’s Misery was published all the way back in 1987. It was later made into a near-classic movie that won Kathy Bates an Academy Award. It has been parodied, referenced on The Simpsons, made into memes, and otherwise entered the bloodstream of pop culture, from which it has never left. For all that, having just read it for the first time, it still feels fresh, surprising, and audacious.
It is also absolutely iconic.
Only the briefest of summaries is in order, not just because of Misery’s ubiquity, but because it is so devilishly simple. This is not a sprawling King epic with extensive world building, intricate supernatural systems, or complex mythologies. This is – to use television parlance – a bottle episode, with almost all the action taking place inside a single bedroom.
That bedroom belongs to a former nurse named Annie Wilkes. Annie is a huge fan of a series of historical romance novels featuring a protagonist named Misery Chastain. The author of those books is Paul Sheldon who – despite his fantastic success – feels creatively stifled, and has decided to kill off Misery and write a “serious” novel. Just after finishing this new opus, Paul gets drunk, hops in his car, and ends up in a wreck near Sidewinder, Colorado (a place familiar to fans of The Shining). He is rescued – in a coincidence that is never dwelled upon – by superfan Annie. At first Annie seems well meaning. Then she discovers that Paul has killed Misery, a bit of news that she takes poorly. Annie essentially takes Paul hostage and forces him to write a new Misery book, one that brings the character back to life without any narrative cheating.
King tells the story in the third-person, from the limited perspective of Paul. Much has been read into this character, as it contains more than a few autobiographical details. Like King, Paul feels that he had been relegated to a specific genre, and yearns to stretch his literary muscles. Like King (at the time), Paul has some rather serious substance abuse issues. It is impossible not to feel like many of Paul’s beliefs, especially about the nature of fandom, is King talking – and, frankly, whining – to his own audience. One is even tempted to say that in making Annie – unstable, possibly deranged, and degenerating – the villain, King is borderline insulting the masses who line up to purchase every new title.
Of course, a lot of what gives Misery its punch is the specificity of Paul’s observations about the writing life. Generally, I dislike it when writers focus on writers. It feels too much like navel-gazing. King comes close to that line here, especially when he hammers at the notion that Paul is suffering – quite literally – for his craft. Still, I liked King’s venom, especially since Paul is otherwise very much a stock figure from his multiverse: glib; given to lengthy internal monologues; imbued with an encyclopedic knowledge of rock ‘n roll, movies, and television; and prone to laughing out loud at jokes that are simply not funny.
Facing off against Paul is Annie, one of the more memorable baddies of King’s career. Unlike some of King’s other famed antagonists, such as the Overlook in The Shining, the nightmare-shifting clown from It, and the burial ground in Pet Sematary, Annie is a human being, not a mystical entity. She has no extraordinary powers or connection to dark magic. She is not a vampire or werewolf or alien. Aside from some rudimentary surgical abilities, Annie’s main talent is an absolute conviction towards seeing things through to the end. Though we never get inside her head, King does good work in tracing an interesting arc, one in which Annie is given shifting dimensions. That’s not to say that she is nuanced, only that she is not pure evil. If one wanted, one might even find some sympathy for a woman whose crumbling mental state seems beyond her ability to control. In any event, Annie is frightening and unforgettable.
Misery is psychological horror, bounded by the physical reality of the real world. For much of its length, King relies on tension over every other element. Ultimately, though, King is King, and things get gross. Like many of his vintage novels, Misery walks right up to the line of bad taste, pauses for a moment, and then gleefully hops over. Even with foreknowledge of some of the things that happen, I was still surprised at the graphic, forensic detail that King deploys in executing his set pieces. The violence is limited, the body count relatively low, but there are still buckets of blood spilled in these pages.
This is often cited among King’s upper-tier works. While this is a defensible ranking, I’ll admit that Misery is not among my favorites. The main problem is that I simply didn’t like Paul Sheldon all that much. Since the whole project rests on the question of whether Paul escapes or remains captive, lives or dies, that’s sort of an issue. I also had some quibbles with the pacing. Normally – as many of you know – I am in the bigger-is-better camp when it comes to novels. But in this instance, the 368-page Misery (trade paperback edition) feels a bit bloated. A lot of this comes from King’s puckish decision to excerpt long sections of Paul’s new Misery entry. This book-within-a-book conceit is funny at first, then quickly outstays its welcome. In short – pun intended – Misery might have packed more punch had it been a bit more economical and efficient. Finally, King relies on quite a few cheap tricks and jump scares, especially towards the end, so that the climax of Misery starts to mirror one of the lesser Halloween or Friday the 13th sequels.
These criticisms are rather minor, especially given King’s propensity for creating enduring images. It is not surprising that so many of his novels have been turned into movies, because he is a cinematic writer. Even confining his tapestry to a small room in an isolated farmhouse, with a dramatically pared-down dramatis personae, King effortlessly creates a tableau that is vivid, grotesque, and unforgettable. Misery could have felt like a writing exercise from the Iowa Writer’s Workshop, an experiment in minimalist settings and cast lists, something approaching a two-person play. Instead, in King’s assured hands, it is another minor masterpiece.
August 18, 2019
★★★★ /5
Stephen King is an author whose books I always enjoy and Misery was not an exception. I really liked the first part of the book, I founded it very compelling and fascinating, others were a little bit disappointing but I still enjoyed reading them. In addition, it was very psychologically heavy book so it took me a long time to read, but on the other hand writing style really fitted the story.
It was good book, but not my favorite.
Stephen King is an author whose books I always enjoy and Misery was not an exception. I really liked the first part of the book, I founded it very compelling and fascinating, others were a little bit disappointing but I still enjoyed reading them. In addition, it was very psychologically heavy book so it took me a long time to read, but on the other hand writing style really fitted the story.
It was good book, but not my favorite.
December 2, 2022
لماذا لم نخطف د.تامر ابراهيم ليكمل لنا ثلاثية "الذي لم يمت"؟ فالاعوام تمر و تمر
و لماذا لم نخطف د.احمد خالد توفيق لنعيد رفعت اسماعيل للحياة؟..فقد كان يؤنسنا حقا
و لماذا لم يخطفوا ارثر كونان دويل ليعيد شرلوك هولمز للحياة؟ فهو من قتله لمزاجه الخاص😈لاننا عاقلين طبعا
منذ ان افاق بول شيلدون على انفاس تقتحم جهازه التنفسي قسرا برائحة الفانيليا و الشيكولاته ..أدرك ان احلى ايامه قد مضت إلى غير رجعة ..فهل من الممكن ان تعيش بسلام بعد ان قابلت" انى ويلكوكس "؟
فلتتامل جيدا تلك الممرضة الممتلئة البشوشة و ركز في لون السائل الذي تحقنك به..فقد تكون حقنتك الأخيرة 💉
ميزرى هي رعب دفين لدى كل مؤلف شهير تغريه الاجزاء المتعددة..احذر فقد تودي بك إلى حتفك..ستصبح كلمة: اكتب هي كابوسك المقيم
ستظل اني ويلكوكس اغرب بطلات كينج و تتربع مع مهرج"الشيء"على القمة فهي : المعجبة رقم واحد. .لقب ساحر لولا اصرارها المرعب على أن يعيد كاتبها بطلتها المفضلة للحياة
.و لو بخطفه و احتجازه و تكسير ساقه مرارا🙈 و ما خفي أكثر بكثير
من السهل ان يتحول هذا النمط من الروايات ثنائية الشخصيات إلى مسرحية مملة و لكن ليس هذه المرة
..جاءت الرواية كمطاردات مرعبة لن تنشر ابدا لتوم و جيري🐱🐀ا
ابي رجل علم رزين لا يهوى السينما و لكن يكفي "فيلم ميزري"فخرا انه الفيلم الوحيد الذي تابعه بحماس تفاعلى لم يتكرر ابدا و هو بالفعل في جودة الرواية
و لا انصح بقراءة كينج مترجما ابدا
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