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Dreamcatcher
What might be done to human beings by the "Other"--whether the "Other" be vampires, demons or creatures from outer space--is always in competition for absolute horror with what we do to ourselves. Stephen King has, in his time, played with both sources of the nightmarish and in Dreamcatcher, the first complete novel since his near-fatal accident, he gives us both.
Four childhood friends, united by secrets, are caught in the quarantine zone when something crashes into the remote forests of Maine; and the question becomes who will avoid being eaten alive by alien fungi, torn from the inside by alien ferrets, possessed by alien minds or menaced by a psychotic military commander to whom ruthlessness has become a macho ego trip?
The Earth is in peril as well, needless to say, but most of our attention is taken up with a few men caught on the edge, and where the most important thing in the world turns out to be the fact that four small boys saved a fifth from a beating.
This has the hall-marks of a good King novel--memorable catchphrases whose meaning we only gradually learn and a sense of how it feels to be human. --Roz Kaveney
879 pages, Paperback
First published February 20, 2001
3353 people are currently reading
93728 people want to read
About the author
Stephen King
2,383 books890k 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 4,207 reviews
February 14, 2022
I know I am in the minority again. I did not like this one at all. Not only that, but I hate when a good horror book turns into science fiction and throws aliens at me. If I wanted aliens, I would go read Aliens (shout out to Ripley and Jones). King builds a world like no other. He has the ability to transport you anywhere with his words. However, don't transport me to the mothership in the middle of a horror book. He has done that in several books. So yeah, if you want baby aliens using your butt hole as a means to take you over, this is the book for you. As for me, I was afraid to use the bathroom for weeks after seeing the movie.
April 22, 2021
Four old friends catch up in a snow laden Maine, when things get FUBAR. Their friendships and their take on reality, are tested to the utmost by the ongoing events, that see chaos, death and the US Army enter Maine!
First time reading (this is my 2002 review!), and what starts off as a horror read, somehow turns into a sci-fi one, a bit like The Tommyknockers. Loathed by many, and liked by many! I'm a bit on the fence, in that I liked the initial build up, and the core sci-fi concepts were pretty cool, but it's the backstory of the friends that is golden that proves yet again how well King can write about friendships adn what they can bring. 7 out of 12.
First time reading (this is my 2002 review!), and what starts off as a horror read, somehow turns into a sci-fi one, a bit like The Tommyknockers. Loathed by many, and liked by many! I'm a bit on the fence, in that I liked the initial build up, and the core sci-fi concepts were pretty cool, but it's the backstory of the friends that is golden that proves yet again how well King can write about friendships adn what they can bring. 7 out of 12.
November 22, 2016
As I was going up the stair
I meet a man who wasn't there;
He wasn't there again today!
I wish, I wish he'd stay away.
Well, what a ride that was...
Rating this book was quite hard. I'm still not sure if I'm okay with giving it 3 stars, because it had so many good characters, parts and plot twists, so one part of me feels like giving it 5 stars. But then again, at some parts, it left me feeling miserable and asking myself if I was ever going to finish it, so because of that, the other part of me think that it deserves only 2 stars. So I guess I'll just have to settle and give it 3 (3.3) stars. But still, I don't think I've ever wished that Goodreads had a half-star system, as much as I do now.
Dreamcatcher is a book about alien invasion, but it's unlike any other alien invasion book. Also, it is unlike any other Stephen King's book that I've read. The book started out great. I actually loved the first half. I loved getting to know our main characters, I loved the plot, and I loved how King introduced aliens. There were even some scenes that creeped me out, and at some parts I even had to stop reading for a few seconds. But then, somewhere in the middle, something happened, and the book unfortunately got worse. It started dragging on and at some parts it became flat out boring. Then, maybe 50 pages before the end, the pace picked up again, and it got back to being amazing. I absolutely loved the way it ended, and how everything came together.
When it comes to characters, just like in any other King's work, they were my favorite part of this book (well, at least some of them were). I loved our main four characters (Henry and Jonesy especially). I also loved Duddits, and even Owen. But, on the other hand, there is Kurtz - a character I absolutely despised. And he is the main reason why I had problems with this book. I think that his character was completely unnecessary. I loved reading from everyone's point of view except from his. And the irony was that his chapters got bigger and bigger as the book went on. In my opinion, he brought nothing to the story, and was only there to make it longer. If his character was removed from the story I don't think that anything important in the plot would change.
In the end, even though this book made me question my sanity a few times, I'm still glad that I've read it. Even though it had some bad parts, it also had so many more amazing parts.
I meet a man who wasn't there;
He wasn't there again today!
I wish, I wish he'd stay away.
Well, what a ride that was...
Rating this book was quite hard. I'm still not sure if I'm okay with giving it 3 stars, because it had so many good characters, parts and plot twists, so one part of me feels like giving it 5 stars. But then again, at some parts, it left me feeling miserable and asking myself if I was ever going to finish it, so because of that, the other part of me think that it deserves only 2 stars. So I guess I'll just have to settle and give it 3 (3.3) stars. But still, I don't think I've ever wished that Goodreads had a half-star system, as much as I do now.
Dreamcatcher is a book about alien invasion, but it's unlike any other alien invasion book. Also, it is unlike any other Stephen King's book that I've read. The book started out great. I actually loved the first half. I loved getting to know our main characters, I loved the plot, and I loved how King introduced aliens. There were even some scenes that creeped me out, and at some parts I even had to stop reading for a few seconds. But then, somewhere in the middle, something happened, and the book unfortunately got worse. It started dragging on and at some parts it became flat out boring. Then, maybe 50 pages before the end, the pace picked up again, and it got back to being amazing. I absolutely loved the way it ended, and how everything came together.
When it comes to characters, just like in any other King's work, they were my favorite part of this book (well, at least some of them were). I loved our main four characters (Henry and Jonesy especially). I also loved Duddits, and even Owen. But, on the other hand, there is Kurtz - a character I absolutely despised. And he is the main reason why I had problems with this book. I think that his character was completely unnecessary. I loved reading from everyone's point of view except from his. And the irony was that his chapters got bigger and bigger as the book went on. In my opinion, he brought nothing to the story, and was only there to make it longer. If his character was removed from the story I don't think that anything important in the plot would change.
In the end, even though this book made me question my sanity a few times, I'm still glad that I've read it. Even though it had some bad parts, it also had so many more amazing parts.
January 8, 2022
Just another King book that I've read at least 3 times. I loved it! No review. Everything has been said. It's classic King.
December 22, 2022
King 's books are a hit or miss for me. This is one of those rare occasions that I enjoy the movie adaptation WAAAAY more than the book itself. One of King's best books to movies!
There's no reason for this book to be 23 hours long, the rambling is so tiresome. It started out great before the four friends knew what was up, and I thought I will love this one. Then I was lost after 10 hours into it. I had a hard time picking it up, and it took me 2 months to finally finish it. 😭💤
There's no reason for this book to be 23 hours long, the rambling is so tiresome. It started out great before the four friends knew what was up, and I thought I will love this one. Then I was lost after 10 hours into it. I had a hard time picking it up, and it took me 2 months to finally finish it. 😭💤
December 14, 2008
Let me say at the outset: I am a HUGE Stephen King fan, and I've read all the novels and short stories, as well as his rather wonderful books on writing.
Unfortunately, Dreamcatcher is a bloated, vacuous, dreadful piece of self-indulgence that mostly goes to show that King has apparently gotten so famous that no one dares edit him or tell him that he's written a bad book.
The pointless repetition in this door-stop of a novel is staggering beyond belief (and, ultimately, stultifying as well). King beats you over the head with his 7th-grade brand of peepee/caca humor (I presume it's supposed to be funny, if you think scores of pages with people reacting to fetid flatulence is funny) until you're ready to join forces with Tipper Gore. He gives his main characters an annoying set of catch-phrases (meant to be all down-homey Maine) that they say over and over and over and over and over like verbal tics until they sound like mental defectives. He needlessly involutes the plot, requiring the reader to go back and forth in time-which must have seemed like a nifty device at some point in the writing, but which is ultimately just a nightmare (and not the good kind) of padding and disorganization.
Since I also love (or have loved) the 'potboilers' of Grisham, Crichton, et al., I note an increasing trend among these writers (case in point: Tom Clancy's tumid *Sum of All Fears*): to write obese and flabby novels (high-cholesterol plot, no unneeded fiber such as character development) that all but completely ignore the reader and keep winking ingratiatingly at the screenwriter over your shoulder. Personally, I'm a little sick of it.
Thankfully, you don't have to give up good writing in order to enjoy action-oriented, heavily plotted suspense fiction-consider the truly wonderful series of carefully constructed books by Lincoln Child and Douglas Preston or Dan Brown's DaVinci Code.
Meanwhile, I'm giving this book one star because that's the lowest rating you can give; in reality, it shouldn't even show up on the scale.
Unfortunately, Dreamcatcher is a bloated, vacuous, dreadful piece of self-indulgence that mostly goes to show that King has apparently gotten so famous that no one dares edit him or tell him that he's written a bad book.
The pointless repetition in this door-stop of a novel is staggering beyond belief (and, ultimately, stultifying as well). King beats you over the head with his 7th-grade brand of peepee/caca humor (I presume it's supposed to be funny, if you think scores of pages with people reacting to fetid flatulence is funny) until you're ready to join forces with Tipper Gore. He gives his main characters an annoying set of catch-phrases (meant to be all down-homey Maine) that they say over and over and over and over and over like verbal tics until they sound like mental defectives. He needlessly involutes the plot, requiring the reader to go back and forth in time-which must have seemed like a nifty device at some point in the writing, but which is ultimately just a nightmare (and not the good kind) of padding and disorganization.
Since I also love (or have loved) the 'potboilers' of Grisham, Crichton, et al., I note an increasing trend among these writers (case in point: Tom Clancy's tumid *Sum of All Fears*): to write obese and flabby novels (high-cholesterol plot, no unneeded fiber such as character development) that all but completely ignore the reader and keep winking ingratiatingly at the screenwriter over your shoulder. Personally, I'm a little sick of it.
Thankfully, you don't have to give up good writing in order to enjoy action-oriented, heavily plotted suspense fiction-consider the truly wonderful series of carefully constructed books by Lincoln Child and Douglas Preston or Dan Brown's DaVinci Code.
Meanwhile, I'm giving this book one star because that's the lowest rating you can give; in reality, it shouldn't even show up on the scale.
October 2, 2025
„Мечтите остаряват преди мечтателите...“
„Капан за сънища“ е страхотен роман, към който нямах големи очаквания, но силно ме впечатли... Стивън Кинг по много увлекателен начин поднася тази мрачна, но и изключително интересна история!
Четирима приятели, които са родени и израстнали в култовото градче Дери, притежават телепатични способности. Джоунси, Хенри, Пит и Бобъра са поели по различни пътища в живота, но се срещат веднъж годишно в ловна хижа в Джеферсън Тракт. В последно време често се сещат за техния приятел Дудитс, когото не са посещавали от години. Той страда от синдрома на Даун, а навремето момчетата са го спасили от банда грубияни... Дудитс обаче може да „вижда Дирята“, а след като са му помогнали, те също са получили тази невероятна способност. По време на последната среща в хижата, точно в тази местност се появява извънземна форма на живот, която иска да се разпространи по цялата Земя. Районът своевременно е отцепен от военните, които са ръководени от тотално откачилия Курц. Впоследствие се случват много опасни, странни и вълнуващи събития, като от героите зависи оцеляването на цялото човечество...
„Джоунси изпусна слушалката и вдигна поглед към талисмана — ефирна паяжина, която се полюшваше на течението. Припомни си фраза от телевизионната комедия, която харесваха като деца: „Където и да си, там си.“ Вървеше с други любими изказвания от серията „Нов ден, същият късмет“ и с годините дори го измести, тъй като момчетата започнаха да се чувстват по-възрастни и по-изтънчени. „Където и да си, там си.“ Но ако се съди по думите на Хенри, това не бе вярно. Където и да си въобразяваха, че се намират, всъщност не бяха там.“
„Капан за сънища“ е страхотен роман, към който нямах големи очаквания, но силно ме впечатли... Стивън Кинг по много увлекателен начин поднася тази мрачна, но и изключително интересна история!
Четирима приятели, които са родени и израстнали в култовото градче Дери, притежават телепатични способности. Джоунси, Хенри, Пит и Бобъра са поели по различни пътища в живота, но се срещат веднъж годишно в ловна хижа в Джеферсън Тракт. В последно време често се сещат за техния приятел Дудитс, когото не са посещавали от години. Той страда от синдрома на Даун, а навремето момчетата са го спасили от банда грубияни... Дудитс обаче може да „вижда Дирята“, а след като са му помогнали, те също са получили тази невероятна способност. По време на последната среща в хижата, точно в тази местност се появява извънземна форма на живот, която иска да се разпространи по цялата Земя. Районът своевременно е отцепен от военните, които са ръководени от тотално откачилия Курц. Впоследствие се случват много опасни, странни и вълнуващи събития, като от героите зависи оцеляването на цялото човечество...
„Джоунси изпусна слушалката и вдигна поглед към талисмана — ефирна паяжина, която се полюшваше на течението. Припомни си фраза от телевизионната комедия, която харесваха като деца: „Където и да си, там си.“ Вървеше с други любими изказвания от серията „Нов ден, същият късмет“ и с годините дори го измести, тъй като момчетата започнаха да се чувстват по-възрастни и по-изтънчени. „Където и да си, там си.“ Но ако се съди по думите на Хенри, това не бе вярно. Където и да си въобразяваха, че се намират, всъщност не бяха там.“
December 12, 2014
so I had a dream last night where Graham and Brian and Steve and I were all back in Seattle, and it was like it was before, four friends who were different from each other but still really connected, like brothers, and we were having adventures and serious talks and stupid talks and good times and bad times and it was all just so sweet and real, like things had never changed. of course things change and these are still my friends, but change is change and so Brian and Steve still aren't talking when they should both be bonding as fathers and leaders in their fields and as men, but change happens and now they can barely be in the same room together. and Graham - I still love him of course, I still love all of them, but I can't even remember the last time I saw Graham. these days I feel closer to Dave and to Jill, which is odd to consider because honestly back in the day they felt like satellites of the four of us. oh the small little tragedies and realities of life, the changes and the sweet memories and the never going back.
so there's a book called Dreamcatcher and it is about four friends and their histories together and the long times apart and their annual hunting trip. four great friends who were different from each other but still really connected, like brothers. four friends who grew up together; four individuals who are deeply characterized like they are all people the author knows, or maybe all different pieces of the author himself, made separate. or maybe both are true. it is easy to see your friends as a kind of extension of yourself, different but similar, four different sides of a square that is still one basic shape, one thing.
Dreamcatcher is not just about those friends but I sort of wish it had been. it is Stephen King's second version of an Aliens Attack! story and there is a lot to enjoy and speculate about, the telepathy and the strange forms that the aliens take and the government overreaction and spores and infections and two hilariously over-the-top villains. King is a great writer, he can craft a solid, fast-paced narrative and turn it into a great big tome without making it feel especially bloated. I like a thrilling adventure filled with horror and action, sure. but I really wanted to read more about those four friends and their lives together and apart. when one died it felt much too soon because I totally got him and yet there was still so much more to see. then when another died I felt genuinely sad - and not even because of the death itself, which made narrative sense - but because now there was a second story, a second life, that was all finished up in the book and that I still wanted to go on. King's humanism and his skill at giving you characters who the reader can implicitly, deeply understand almost works against him in Dreamcatcher, at least for me. I found myself wishing that this was a different book, one that wasn't a novel about an alien invasion but was instead all about these four friends, their histories and their futures, their annual hunting trips where they could be their true selves. I wanted all of that instead of aliens.
still, good book. and the cover is awesome, meaningful even:
so there's a book called Dreamcatcher and it is about four friends and their histories together and the long times apart and their annual hunting trip. four great friends who were different from each other but still really connected, like brothers. four friends who grew up together; four individuals who are deeply characterized like they are all people the author knows, or maybe all different pieces of the author himself, made separate. or maybe both are true. it is easy to see your friends as a kind of extension of yourself, different but similar, four different sides of a square that is still one basic shape, one thing.
Dreamcatcher is not just about those friends but I sort of wish it had been. it is Stephen King's second version of an Aliens Attack! story and there is a lot to enjoy and speculate about, the telepathy and the strange forms that the aliens take and the government overreaction and spores and infections and two hilariously over-the-top villains. King is a great writer, he can craft a solid, fast-paced narrative and turn it into a great big tome without making it feel especially bloated. I like a thrilling adventure filled with horror and action, sure. but I really wanted to read more about those four friends and their lives together and apart. when one died it felt much too soon because I totally got him and yet there was still so much more to see. then when another died I felt genuinely sad - and not even because of the death itself, which made narrative sense - but because now there was a second story, a second life, that was all finished up in the book and that I still wanted to go on. King's humanism and his skill at giving you characters who the reader can implicitly, deeply understand almost works against him in Dreamcatcher, at least for me. I found myself wishing that this was a different book, one that wasn't a novel about an alien invasion but was instead all about these four friends, their histories and their futures, their annual hunting trips where they could be their true selves. I wanted all of that instead of aliens.
still, good book. and the cover is awesome, meaningful even:
May 22, 2021
An awesome story from the genius mind of Stephen King. An absolute masterpiece. 10 of 10 stars!
September 21, 2023
I loved the start of this book. It started so strong.
The four main characters are all developed so well with their own personal qualities. Beaver has his "beaverisms," for example.
However, around the halfway mark, it starts to fall apart and becomes confusing and repetitive. I believe 200 pages could have been easily shaved off.
It's a great concept, but it's poorly edited.
The four main characters are all developed so well with their own personal qualities. Beaver has his "beaverisms," for example.
However, around the halfway mark, it starts to fall apart and becomes confusing and repetitive. I believe 200 pages could have been easily shaved off.
It's a great concept, but it's poorly edited.
July 2, 2019
For all those people who call this a shitweasle of a novel, I would like like point out that it does exactly what it sets out to do. Maybe the usual King fan comes to the chopping block expecting nothing but detailed flawed characters and some rather heartwrenching stuff before a paranormal beastie chomps down.
But I would like to posit that SK IS a fan of Science Fiction. :) Sure, a few of his SF tales like Lawnmower Man and Tommyknockers might not get the love that they deserve, but remember, he also wrote that little epic called the Dark Tower. :)
So let's break this down a bit. We literally get to the heart of the novel through our guts at the beginning, Shitweasels and all, playing on all the paranoid fantasies of... um... SO MANY PEOPLE... by bringing in anal probing aliens. With a particularly gross twist, thank you very much, Mr. King. And then we get into the whole telepathy thing, the Aliens-type setup, and even a Theodore Sturgeon *More Than Human* homage with a very special special person holding this group of old friends together.
For the longest time I got the idea that it was kinda a Tommyknockers part 2, but then I laughed aloud when we got a massive direct reference to the boys and girl from IT, including Pennywise, and then I started seeing a lot more combined references to all his other novels. As per usual, but nicely solid and world-buildy. :)
In the end, I'm frankly rather amazed at what King pulls off here. Massive military action, chases, alien invasions and spore people and shitweasles and more, we even get a Battle For Your Mind. :) Dreamcatcher, indeed.
What is this book? A traditional horror as per usual? Nope. This is a great mashup that builds on the full Crimson King mythology, thank you very much. :) Pretty hardcore, too.
So why does it get a lot of hate?
Parts are juvenile and crass and other parts are free-range weird. But I like both on ocassion, so this is something I can snuggle up to. *ahem* or stay on the pot with. :)
But I would like to posit that SK IS a fan of Science Fiction. :) Sure, a few of his SF tales like Lawnmower Man and Tommyknockers might not get the love that they deserve, but remember, he also wrote that little epic called the Dark Tower. :)
So let's break this down a bit. We literally get to the heart of the novel through our guts at the beginning, Shitweasels and all, playing on all the paranoid fantasies of... um... SO MANY PEOPLE... by bringing in anal probing aliens. With a particularly gross twist, thank you very much, Mr. King. And then we get into the whole telepathy thing, the Aliens-type setup, and even a Theodore Sturgeon *More Than Human* homage with a very special special person holding this group of old friends together.
For the longest time I got the idea that it was kinda a Tommyknockers part 2, but then I laughed aloud when we got a massive direct reference to the boys and girl from IT, including Pennywise, and then I started seeing a lot more combined references to all his other novels. As per usual, but nicely solid and world-buildy. :)
In the end, I'm frankly rather amazed at what King pulls off here. Massive military action, chases, alien invasions and spore people and shitweasles and more, we even get a Battle For Your Mind. :) Dreamcatcher, indeed.
What is this book? A traditional horror as per usual? Nope. This is a great mashup that builds on the full Crimson King mythology, thank you very much. :) Pretty hardcore, too.
So why does it get a lot of hate?
Parts are juvenile and crass and other parts are free-range weird. But I like both on ocassion, so this is something I can snuggle up to. *ahem* or stay on the pot with. :)
April 24, 2016
I have read this a few times now and I think that the older I get, the more I see and get out of this book. While it's definitely true that King is repeating some themes and tropes from his previous books, I think that the relationships and the connections depicted here are some of the most touching, at least in my mind.
I love the way that King can bring forth such strong emotions in me. There were times when I literally had to set this book down because I couldn't see for crying - and those are some of the most mundane sections of the book. The introduction of Duddits both hurt and restored my faith in humanity. The cruelty in that scene, and the way that it was stood up against, both brought me to tears. In fact, just about every scene containing Duddits brought me to tears this time around. Because he's just so innocent and it hurts me to see him hurt - even if that hurting is just missing someone.
I think that this has a lot to do with the changes in my own life, and how I see certain unfairnesses now, and want to protect against them. I'm just a big ol' softy these days.
Anyway - I think my previous review of this book is likely to be much better than this one. I covered a lot of the ground that I would want to talk about already over there.
But some things stuck out at me this time around - such as the concept of rape, what constitutes rape, and especially of how men deal with rape. It's interesting to me how public opinion of this has shifted in recent years. It used to be that the concept of male rape was inconceivable. Men couldn't be raped. End of story. But here, we have two different men use the term "rape" to describe the violation of their minds, and both times it's just kind of glossed over and the method of dealing with it is to ignore it and pretend that it didn't happen. Which is, of course, supremely unhealthy and terrible advice.
The first time, it's mentioned out loud to another man, who tells him to "let it go" as though a violation of that kind is something that one should not even acknowledge had happened, as if it's an invalid feeling to have about such an event.
The second time, it's the victim himself who internally feels that "there were times when he thought he might be the only man on earth who truly understood what it was to be raped." And that "some things were better forgotten."
This one is both understandable and incredibly condescending at the same time to me. What he'd gone through is absolutely rape, even though there was no sex involved. His body and his mind had been violated in the most intimate and horrific way and he could not stop it from happening. The part that bothers me though is the assumption that he's the only one to understand what it feels like. Because, while I know that there were no other cases exactly like his - he was in fact NOT the only one to have been violated in that way, and he KNOWS he was not. He witnessed and was present for all of the other cases that happened in the book as well. But this assumption that he's the only one diminishes the violation of others.
In a way, all telepathy is a violation, right? It's an invasion of our right to privacy. So technically, everyone who had their minds "read" in this book was violated - raped, if you will. Yet this one character feels like he's the only one.
I can understand, because in the context of this book, he was "special" - but he was far from the only one, and I think, were he to see the broader implications of what happened, and what could have happened, not just in the life or death sense, he would have a better understanding and a bit more empathy for others, and it might help him deal with it better.
But that's just me and my bleeding heart going off again.
Anyway, that's one nitpick I have about this book. Another is that it does drag a bit in the back half, and the chase goes on for a bit too long before the final resolution.
“Prepare to engage enemy . . . bogey’s airspeed not sufficient for intercept. Suggest we get out and walk.” – Air Force Pilot
Other than that, I think that there's a lot to like about this book. I would suggest having something of a strong stomach though. It can get a little... squicky.
I love the way that King can bring forth such strong emotions in me. There were times when I literally had to set this book down because I couldn't see for crying - and those are some of the most mundane sections of the book. The introduction of Duddits both hurt and restored my faith in humanity. The cruelty in that scene, and the way that it was stood up against, both brought me to tears. In fact, just about every scene containing Duddits brought me to tears this time around. Because he's just so innocent and it hurts me to see him hurt - even if that hurting is just missing someone.
I think that this has a lot to do with the changes in my own life, and how I see certain unfairnesses now, and want to protect against them. I'm just a big ol' softy these days.
Anyway - I think my previous review of this book is likely to be much better than this one. I covered a lot of the ground that I would want to talk about already over there.
But some things stuck out at me this time around - such as the concept of rape, what constitutes rape, and especially of how men deal with rape. It's interesting to me how public opinion of this has shifted in recent years. It used to be that the concept of male rape was inconceivable. Men couldn't be raped. End of story. But here, we have two different men use the term "rape" to describe the violation of their minds, and both times it's just kind of glossed over and the method of dealing with it is to ignore it and pretend that it didn't happen. Which is, of course, supremely unhealthy and terrible advice.
The first time, it's mentioned out loud to another man, who tells him to "let it go" as though a violation of that kind is something that one should not even acknowledge had happened, as if it's an invalid feeling to have about such an event.
The second time, it's the victim himself who internally feels that "there were times when he thought he might be the only man on earth who truly understood what it was to be raped." And that "some things were better forgotten."
This one is both understandable and incredibly condescending at the same time to me. What he'd gone through is absolutely rape, even though there was no sex involved. His body and his mind had been violated in the most intimate and horrific way and he could not stop it from happening. The part that bothers me though is the assumption that he's the only one to understand what it feels like. Because, while I know that there were no other cases exactly like his - he was in fact NOT the only one to have been violated in that way, and he KNOWS he was not. He witnessed and was present for all of the other cases that happened in the book as well. But this assumption that he's the only one diminishes the violation of others.
In a way, all telepathy is a violation, right? It's an invasion of our right to privacy. So technically, everyone who had their minds "read" in this book was violated - raped, if you will. Yet this one character feels like he's the only one.
I can understand, because in the context of this book, he was "special" - but he was far from the only one, and I think, were he to see the broader implications of what happened, and what could have happened, not just in the life or death sense, he would have a better understanding and a bit more empathy for others, and it might help him deal with it better.
But that's just me and my bleeding heart going off again.
Anyway, that's one nitpick I have about this book. Another is that it does drag a bit in the back half, and the chase goes on for a bit too long before the final resolution.
“Prepare to engage enemy . . . bogey’s airspeed not sufficient for intercept. Suggest we get out and walk.” – Air Force Pilot
Other than that, I think that there's a lot to like about this book. I would suggest having something of a strong stomach though. It can get a little... squicky.
August 28, 2019
Not my favourite Stephen King book, by any stretch of the imagination, but still a brilliant story. The character of Duddits broke my heart, rarely do I cry when reading a book, but numerous times I had to stop reading because I felt overwhelmed.
At times I did feel like the book was a tad long, and the story could have been shorter. However, when you're reading Stephen King, it is still a joy to read his words, even if overdone.
Such a touching story around the theme of friendship.
At times I did feel like the book was a tad long, and the story could have been shorter. However, when you're reading Stephen King, it is still a joy to read his words, even if overdone.
Such a touching story around the theme of friendship.
February 16, 2020
Sorry sorry sorry but I just couldnt'get thru this story and didn't get to liking it. Should I try again? Nah, too many good books waiting for me. Haven't gone past 40 pages or so. Maybe when the movie is on tv I'll try it again....
December 16, 2015
Whew... There's a lot that I want to say about this book, and I'm not really sure where to start. I first read this book back in... oh, 2002 or 2003, maybe, and I can absolutely say that I did NOT get much out of it. Sure, it's still a thrill ride, still entertaining, but it was definitely not his best, in my, somewhat oblivious opinion. But see... I was something of a King Re-reader back then. I had my favorites - 'The Stand', 'The Shining', 'The Talisman', 'Needful Things' - to name a few, and I read, and re-read, and re-read those favorites, so, I wasn't as well versed on my King Universe back then as I am now.
Now, having read many more of King's "inter-related" books, I see the threads that bind them all together. Reading this again now was like... well, kind of like meeting a cool person at a bar, having a really interesting conversation with them, and then 7 years later finding out they are a long lost relative. That feeling of recognition is the same, although probably toned down a little since this is a book and NOT a long lost relative. Many, many times though, my eyes popped open and I'm like "OH! That's a reference to...!" or "WOW! I see where he's going!" etc.
For instance, the number 19 crops up many times, as does the color red (or crimson, if you like that better), as does the theme of children bonding for life and for better or for worse, no matter where their adulthood may take them, King's own accident, etc. But in addition to the many references to King's other works and life (which I've barely even touched on), there are references here to many external things that I never recognized before. Things like twice calling Duddits a "tribble", which is a reference to Star Trek, or like the red growth that is very reminiscent of the mossy red flora from 'The War of the Worlds' by H.G. Wells (and speaking of, Dean Koontz borrowed the idea for his semi-recentish book 'The Taking'), or the "Turn the dial up to 11" line from the movie "This is Spinal Tap".
Aside from all of these references, the story itself was a "pisser", as Beaver would say. Three parts sci-fi, one part fantasy and a tablespoon-full of tongue-in-cheek prophecy, it's definitely a rollercoaster. I mentioned to friends when I started this book (or maybe I just wrote it down, I dunno) that it reads like a movie. Lots of King's books do, which is possibly why so many have been adapted, but this one especially felt that way to me. I would set the book down for a minute, to freshen my drink, or move a cat-paw that was creeping oh-so-subtly onto the page because everyone knows that cats can't sleep next to a reading human unless they are obstructing the view in some way, and it would be just like I pressed the pause button. When I pick the story back up, I'm right back where I was, like the interruption never occurred.
We start out meeting Pete, Beaver, Jonesy and Henry as adults, and then throughout the story we find out about their childhood and what (and who) bonded them together. Beaver is my favorite character. Dubbed such an appealing and cool nickname due to his habit of always chewing on a toothpick, he has a foul mouth and a heart of gold. I love the way King describes Beaver, and shows us his general character in three sentences: "His glasses started to unfog then, and he saw the stranger on the couch. He lowered his hands, slowly, then smiled. That was one of the reasons Jonesy had loved him ever since grade school, although the Beav could be tiresome and wasn't the brightest bulb in the chandelier, by any means: his first reaction to the unplanned and unexpected wasn't a frown but a smile." This passage makes me love him too. He's got a bit of innocence about him... and a kind of raunchy purity.
I'm not going to go into the rest of the guys, that would take a long time... but I would like to talk about the characters. Suffice it to say that each of the friends are perfect and flawed in their own ways, but none of them are as dear to me as Beaver. I love Duddits too, who is really innocent perfection epitomized. He's got Down Syndrome, and with that a kind of extrasensory ability that makes him special- probably more special than anyone else.
Roberta Cavell, Duddits's mom, is another of my favorite characters. She's got very small parts in this story, but each and every one of them touch my heart. The woman is almost saintly! When Duddit's leaves with Henry, and Roberta crumples, it just breaks my heart. King spent barely two pages on this, but I felt it as if it was happening to me.
Abe Kurtz, the main military madman, is plain old crazy like a fox and as unpredictable as a tornado. Owen Underhill is Kurtz's right hand man, but one who happens to still have a spark of humanity in him. And speaking of humanity, this brings me to Mr. Gray...
Mr. Gray is an alien life form whose sole purpose is to survive by any means necessary. Not just himself, but his race. These aliens are alien in every sense of the word. They are inhuman, don't understand humans, don't understand our emotions or thoughts or anything. They just seek to continue to exist and emotionlessly do what it takes to ensure that. They are smart, but in a wily, calculating way. Mr. Gray finds and infiltrates Jonesy's body, in a kind of "Invasion of the Body Snatchers" way. (This happens quite early in the story, so I'm not giving anything away, don't worry.) What happens then though, to Mr. Gray specifically, is very interesting to me.
King is really a master at showing us what humanity looks like. All parts of it. His stories are all people stories in which horror or gore or whatever is used to bring out the best and worst in us. If King ever had a theme, that's it. But here we have an inhuman, emotionless, calculating being who has none of that - only a relentless will to propagate. And then King shows us how this being starts to become human. And this I find fascinating, because it's one thing to plumb the depths of someone's soul and find out who they really are, but it's something else entirely to watch someone becoming that person.
"Becoming" is usually depicted as that which we know turning into something we don't know, something that terrifies or horrifies us. People turning into monsters, vampires, or werewolves are the most common supernatural cases. But slowly slipping into madness is another case, and 'The Shining' comes instantly to mind as Jack becomes more and more unstable and dangerous. But here we have an alien becoming human - craving food, thrilling in the human emotions that it's never before experienced, enjoying curiosity for the first time, feeling the rush of adrenaline and wanting more and more - and I thought it was fascinating to see humanity being the unknown and feared trait... to see things from the other perspective.
Anyway, I really did enjoy this story this time around. I enjoyed it the first time, but this time I feel like I got so much more out of it. This book is entertaining in its own right, but much much more so for the Constant Reader who can spot all the references embedded within it. :)
Now, having read many more of King's "inter-related" books, I see the threads that bind them all together. Reading this again now was like... well, kind of like meeting a cool person at a bar, having a really interesting conversation with them, and then 7 years later finding out they are a long lost relative. That feeling of recognition is the same, although probably toned down a little since this is a book and NOT a long lost relative. Many, many times though, my eyes popped open and I'm like "OH! That's a reference to...!" or "WOW! I see where he's going!" etc.
For instance, the number 19 crops up many times, as does the color red (or crimson, if you like that better), as does the theme of children bonding for life and for better or for worse, no matter where their adulthood may take them, King's own accident, etc. But in addition to the many references to King's other works and life (which I've barely even touched on), there are references here to many external things that I never recognized before. Things like twice calling Duddits a "tribble", which is a reference to Star Trek, or like the red growth that is very reminiscent of the mossy red flora from 'The War of the Worlds' by H.G. Wells (and speaking of, Dean Koontz borrowed the idea for his semi-recentish book 'The Taking'), or the "Turn the dial up to 11" line from the movie "This is Spinal Tap".
Aside from all of these references, the story itself was a "pisser", as Beaver would say. Three parts sci-fi, one part fantasy and a tablespoon-full of tongue-in-cheek prophecy, it's definitely a rollercoaster. I mentioned to friends when I started this book (or maybe I just wrote it down, I dunno) that it reads like a movie. Lots of King's books do, which is possibly why so many have been adapted, but this one especially felt that way to me. I would set the book down for a minute, to freshen my drink, or move a cat-paw that was creeping oh-so-subtly onto the page because everyone knows that cats can't sleep next to a reading human unless they are obstructing the view in some way, and it would be just like I pressed the pause button. When I pick the story back up, I'm right back where I was, like the interruption never occurred.
We start out meeting Pete, Beaver, Jonesy and Henry as adults, and then throughout the story we find out about their childhood and what (and who) bonded them together. Beaver is my favorite character. Dubbed such an appealing and cool nickname due to his habit of always chewing on a toothpick, he has a foul mouth and a heart of gold. I love the way King describes Beaver, and shows us his general character in three sentences: "His glasses started to unfog then, and he saw the stranger on the couch. He lowered his hands, slowly, then smiled. That was one of the reasons Jonesy had loved him ever since grade school, although the Beav could be tiresome and wasn't the brightest bulb in the chandelier, by any means: his first reaction to the unplanned and unexpected wasn't a frown but a smile." This passage makes me love him too. He's got a bit of innocence about him... and a kind of raunchy purity.
I'm not going to go into the rest of the guys, that would take a long time... but I would like to talk about the characters. Suffice it to say that each of the friends are perfect and flawed in their own ways, but none of them are as dear to me as Beaver. I love Duddits too, who is really innocent perfection epitomized. He's got Down Syndrome, and with that a kind of extrasensory ability that makes him special- probably more special than anyone else.
Roberta Cavell, Duddits's mom, is another of my favorite characters. She's got very small parts in this story, but each and every one of them touch my heart. The woman is almost saintly! When Duddit's leaves with Henry, and Roberta crumples, it just breaks my heart. King spent barely two pages on this, but I felt it as if it was happening to me.
Abe Kurtz, the main military madman, is plain old crazy like a fox and as unpredictable as a tornado. Owen Underhill is Kurtz's right hand man, but one who happens to still have a spark of humanity in him. And speaking of humanity, this brings me to Mr. Gray...
Mr. Gray is an alien life form whose sole purpose is to survive by any means necessary. Not just himself, but his race. These aliens are alien in every sense of the word. They are inhuman, don't understand humans, don't understand our emotions or thoughts or anything. They just seek to continue to exist and emotionlessly do what it takes to ensure that. They are smart, but in a wily, calculating way. Mr. Gray finds and infiltrates Jonesy's body, in a kind of "Invasion of the Body Snatchers" way. (This happens quite early in the story, so I'm not giving anything away, don't worry.) What happens then though, to Mr. Gray specifically, is very interesting to me.
King is really a master at showing us what humanity looks like. All parts of it. His stories are all people stories in which horror or gore or whatever is used to bring out the best and worst in us. If King ever had a theme, that's it. But here we have an inhuman, emotionless, calculating being who has none of that - only a relentless will to propagate. And then King shows us how this being starts to become human. And this I find fascinating, because it's one thing to plumb the depths of someone's soul and find out who they really are, but it's something else entirely to watch someone becoming that person.
"Becoming" is usually depicted as that which we know turning into something we don't know, something that terrifies or horrifies us. People turning into monsters, vampires, or werewolves are the most common supernatural cases. But slowly slipping into madness is another case, and 'The Shining' comes instantly to mind as Jack becomes more and more unstable and dangerous. But here we have an alien becoming human - craving food, thrilling in the human emotions that it's never before experienced, enjoying curiosity for the first time, feeling the rush of adrenaline and wanting more and more - and I thought it was fascinating to see humanity being the unknown and feared trait... to see things from the other perspective.
Anyway, I really did enjoy this story this time around. I enjoyed it the first time, but this time I feel like I got so much more out of it. This book is entertaining in its own right, but much much more so for the Constant Reader who can spot all the references embedded within it. :)
November 19, 2022
I kept putting off reading Dreamcatcher for quite some time, years in fact. I kept pushing it aside because I had heard time and time again that it wasn't one of Stephen King's better works. I should have known better.
I want to write this review without spoilers even though it's been out there for a couple of decades now. This book is particularly difficult to review without spoilers. I'm going to focus mainly on my emotional responses to what I read. We'll see how this goes.
Dreamcatcher starts out with a group of four very close friends: Jonesy, Pete, Beaver, and Henry. They have been inseparable since they were kids. In the opening of the book the friends are adults and on an annual hunting trip they've observed since they were kids. The actual story progresses very slowly at this point because we're learning about the dynamics of the friendship and getting glimpses of the past and how they met a very special person - Duddits.
Just typing the name Duddits makes my heart happy. Stephen King is able to capture the pure love and joy of his character perfectly. If you've read The Stand you'll understand my love for Duddits when I compare his character to Tom Cullen. You just want to hug him and not let go. As kids, they boys do a very brave thing. They're in Derry, Maine (setting of It), where kids are strangely disappearing and have been for years. So when they stumble upon a special needs child in need of help, they help!
King is very good at portraying pre-adolescent friendships. It's one of the most appealing things about It and The Body. The way the kids interact and banter makes me love the characters. And their pure love and care for Duddits makes me love them even more.
There are many flashbacks throughout the book, which don't bother me too much. But what does drag me out of the story is just when I'm into the storyline of our four primary characters and Duddits we get torn away from that plot line to a completely different setting with completely different characters and we're introduced to the cold hearted Abraham Curtis and the men under his command. This seriously hurts my brain. I'm finally flowing with the story, the characters, and wait! Here's a whole new set of characters in a completely different situation to adjust to! Enjoy!
They all come together in the end to try to save the world, of course. But are they all on the same page? Of course not! Are they all really intent on saving the world? And from what? You'll need to read the book to learn the answers to those questions. I'm not sharing them here! I did get a little confused about the whole tie-in with the dreamcatcher itself within the story. Things get a bit out there with what's reality, what's imagined reality, what's completely imagined. Or is it imagined? I don't know. I'm still trying to figure it all out. Maybe you'll have better luck!
I will need to watch the movie. It looks to be about middle of the road with ratings on IMDb. But Timothy Olyphant plays Pete. That's all the excuse I need to watch anything. As for the book, I'm giving it 4 out of 5 stars. I enjoyed it quite a bit. It wasn't perfection, but it wasn't anywhere near as bad as I had feared it might be.
Oh, I need to add some trigger warnings! Everyone knows that Stephen King isn't above causing harm to young children and/or animals in his books. There is a scene with harm to a dog. There is mention of suicidal thoughts. And there is some awful bullying portrayed. But it does take place in Derry - home of some of the worst bullies in the real or imagined world, in my opinion!
I want to write this review without spoilers even though it's been out there for a couple of decades now. This book is particularly difficult to review without spoilers. I'm going to focus mainly on my emotional responses to what I read. We'll see how this goes.
Dreamcatcher starts out with a group of four very close friends: Jonesy, Pete, Beaver, and Henry. They have been inseparable since they were kids. In the opening of the book the friends are adults and on an annual hunting trip they've observed since they were kids. The actual story progresses very slowly at this point because we're learning about the dynamics of the friendship and getting glimpses of the past and how they met a very special person - Duddits.
Just typing the name Duddits makes my heart happy. Stephen King is able to capture the pure love and joy of his character perfectly. If you've read The Stand you'll understand my love for Duddits when I compare his character to Tom Cullen. You just want to hug him and not let go. As kids, they boys do a very brave thing. They're in Derry, Maine (setting of It), where kids are strangely disappearing and have been for years. So when they stumble upon a special needs child in need of help, they help!
King is very good at portraying pre-adolescent friendships. It's one of the most appealing things about It and The Body. The way the kids interact and banter makes me love the characters. And their pure love and care for Duddits makes me love them even more.
There are many flashbacks throughout the book, which don't bother me too much. But what does drag me out of the story is just when I'm into the storyline of our four primary characters and Duddits we get torn away from that plot line to a completely different setting with completely different characters and we're introduced to the cold hearted Abraham Curtis and the men under his command. This seriously hurts my brain. I'm finally flowing with the story, the characters, and wait! Here's a whole new set of characters in a completely different situation to adjust to! Enjoy!
They all come together in the end to try to save the world, of course. But are they all on the same page? Of course not! Are they all really intent on saving the world? And from what? You'll need to read the book to learn the answers to those questions. I'm not sharing them here! I did get a little confused about the whole tie-in with the dreamcatcher itself within the story. Things get a bit out there with what's reality, what's imagined reality, what's completely imagined. Or is it imagined? I don't know. I'm still trying to figure it all out. Maybe you'll have better luck!
I will need to watch the movie. It looks to be about middle of the road with ratings on IMDb. But Timothy Olyphant plays Pete. That's all the excuse I need to watch anything. As for the book, I'm giving it 4 out of 5 stars. I enjoyed it quite a bit. It wasn't perfection, but it wasn't anywhere near as bad as I had feared it might be.
Oh, I need to add some trigger warnings! Everyone knows that Stephen King isn't above causing harm to young children and/or animals in his books. There is a scene with harm to a dog. There is mention of suicidal thoughts. And there is some awful bullying portrayed. But it does take place in Derry - home of some of the worst bullies in the real or imagined world, in my opinion!
April 14, 2021
"Hearts were made to be broken and minds were made to be changed..."
Right, listen in! Let's get something straight here. Stephen King's Dreamcatcher has something of a negative reputation amongst his constant readers. Is that reputation deserved? Jesus christ-bananas NO! Dreamcatcher is an excellent read and very, very underrated. Let me tell you why.
So the book centres around a group of boyhood friends, away for a spot of winter hunting. As things transpire this is a case of wrong place, wrong time as this coincides with an alien invasion! What's the chances?
But as so often with Stephen King novels the set up which drives the narrative is not the heart beat of the story. What is, is the enduring friendship which exists with five of the best characters this author has written. He illustrates this perfectly as only King can and each of them are so relatable and endearing they literally jump off the page. Another key feature is how there can be one or two moments in a person's life that can define it and having the moral courage to make the right decision can shape and change you as a person and as a friend.
"The body is either stupid or infinitely wise, but in either case it is spared the terrible witchery of thought; it only knows how to stand its ground and fight until it can fight no more."
So why does this novel get a large amount of criticism you ask? From what I gather there's a perception that this book is overwritten. I strongly disagree. There's a great deal of character development, but this all plays a part in creating a strong cast of heroes and villains. I love that stuff as King makes the mundane parts of life so impactful. Special mention here goes to Beaver, Jonesy and Duddits. Wait till you meet them and you'll see what I mean. And what a great bad guy Kurts is. A full on psychopath and he revels in it. Great stuff.
Anyway, that's enough of me rambling on. Don't want to get accused of overwriting. I feel you Steve buddy. Just give this book a chance, give it a read and join the Dreamcatcher appreciation club.
November 12, 2007
This was an amazing book. Even though it took me 3 months to read it was worth it. Anyone who wants to read this book must be prepared for sleepless nights and illusions. Stephen King is a fantastic writer who uses such descriptions it makes you feel that right behind you there is an alien waiting to take your energy. Throughout this book I tried figuring out what the title meant and how it relates to the book. By the end I love how the last few pages are devoted to explaining things and making eveything clear. I feel that Stephen King wrote this book to explain we're all in a dream, and it's got us in this hold that we can't let go of. There was a lot of different parts to this book, and being in the 10th grade you try to find how they all connect with one another and what everything symbolizes. By the end everything just comes together. At first I thought there was a lot of "fluff" and unnecessary details but I realize the book is the perfect amount of pages to tell the story that Stephen King wanted to convey. This is an intense book, with such twists and turns it will keep you reading.
May 10, 2024
See. I tried to tell everyone that bacon saves lives and nobody believed me. Sweet, sweet redemption.
Ummmmm… what can I say about this but woof. This one blew my mind in all the wrong ways. It has every bloated, meandering, garrulous quality of SK without any of the fantastical, captivating, life-giving qualities that usually redeem his stories for me. For a man who notoriously writes without an outline, this drug-induced fever dream of a ludicrous nightmare desperately needed some structure and editing. Not drugs. It definitely didn’t need any more drugs.
Ummmmm… what can I say about this but woof. This one blew my mind in all the wrong ways. It has every bloated, meandering, garrulous quality of SK without any of the fantastical, captivating, life-giving qualities that usually redeem his stories for me. For a man who notoriously writes without an outline, this drug-induced fever dream of a ludicrous nightmare desperately needed some structure and editing. Not drugs. It definitely didn’t need any more drugs.
October 5, 2025
Aliens attack Maine, a homicidal poop is trapped in a toilet, and one of the characters uses his shoe as a telephone. That's about all I remember from "Dreamcatcher", not one of Stephen King's finest, I daresay. Still, I remember enjoying it, years ago when I first read it. I vaguely recall the mediocre movie, too, which featured a stellar cast including Morgan Freeman, Thomas Jane, Timothy Oliphant, and Tom Sizemore. And the homicidal poop, playing himself. One of the weirdest alien invasion stories I've ever read.
The infamous "shit weasel" scene, in which Jason Lee is about to be eaten, thus ending his acting career...
The infamous "shit weasel" scene, in which Jason Lee is about to be eaten, thus ending his acting career...
February 4, 2025
Ya so this was not one of my favorite King books. The writing was great and some parts kept me going, don't get me wrong, but Lord I had to keep myself from getting sick in the first 200 pages. Is it weird that I could handle the Chestbursters in the Alien franchise, yet I can't handle the ones coming out the back door? LOL
June 17, 2024
I Loved Dreamcatcher!!!🌟
Story 10/5
Narration 5/5
Dreamcatcher by Stephen King is in my humble opinion, a masterpiece! I loved it very much.
I don’t know why I waited so long to read it. Maybe I was waiting for a recommendation, from the right buddyread.
I knew nothing about this story when I started it, and I’m grateful about that. I had no preconceptions to pollute my enjoyment of this very good book.
The story is very original in the manner it has been told.
The reader follows what is happening to a group of five friends, bound by a unique friendship, when they come face to unexpected enemies.
I loved the way their complex personalities and bonds, have been developed by Stephen King.
I enjoyed the mystery, the action, the thriller and even the gory moments in this story.
Duddits, my favorite character will stay with me forever. He is such a wonderful fictional character!!
I highly recommend Dreamcatcher to people with a huge imagination, whom likes well written tales.
Story 10/5
Narration 5/5
Dreamcatcher by Stephen King is in my humble opinion, a masterpiece! I loved it very much.
I don’t know why I waited so long to read it. Maybe I was waiting for a recommendation, from the right buddyread.
I knew nothing about this story when I started it, and I’m grateful about that. I had no preconceptions to pollute my enjoyment of this very good book.
The story is very original in the manner it has been told.
The reader follows what is happening to a group of five friends, bound by a unique friendship, when they come face to unexpected enemies.
I loved the way their complex personalities and bonds, have been developed by Stephen King.
I enjoyed the mystery, the action, the thriller and even the gory moments in this story.
Duddits, my favorite character will stay with me forever. He is such a wonderful fictional character!!
I highly recommend Dreamcatcher to people with a huge imagination, whom likes well written tales.
August 14, 2007
I've got good news and bad news. The good news is, Dreamcatcher is not just a rehash of It. The bad news is it's a rehash of The Tommyknockers, too, which is perhaps my least favorite of all of King's works.
All right, maybe that's not quite fair. Dreamcatcher does involve aliens, a secret in the woods, and telepathy, but it's not exactly a carbon copy of The Tommyknockers. It re-uses pieces of many of King's works. There's the "adults who bonded as children and did a great thing" theme from It. There's also the "child with a great secret power" trope from The Shining and/or Firestarter. Granted, Duddits is technically an adult, but he is retarded and therefore retains, quite literally, the mind of a child, as evidenced by everyone calling him by his childhood name. Duddits is also reminiscent of Tom Cullen from The Stand, as another example of the sweet and noble retarded person who, after enduring great hardship, saves the day, or at least a piece of it. Speaking of The Stand, let's talk about a nasty, virulent disease that wipes out around 99% of the population. Granted, in this case the "disease" is actually a creature, and the affected area is relatively small, but within that area, the terminal rates are about the same.
So what's the big deal, you ask? King has always re-used certain themes in his work: kids in danger, life in Maine, narrators who are writers; why am I harping on this one book in particular? I'm harping on it because he doesn't bring anything new to plate this time. In the past, these themes were simply a framework of familiarity to hang a new story on. It was fun for long-time readers to get the references to previous characters and stories, and to feel like they knew the territory. We've been to Derry and Castle Rock so many times it feels like we belong there. But in Dreamcatcher, it doesn't feel like King's using similar elements. It feels like he's telling the same stories, albeit in bits and pieces and mixed around some. You know how you feel when you watch a movie adaptation of a Stephen King book? With a few notable exceptions, they just don't get it right. The casting is a little bit off or the script keeps the wrong parts of the story (or loses the wrong parts). The bones of the book you loved are there, but the mad doctor put them together all wrong, attaching a femur to a vertebra, or the skull to a kneecap. That's how Dreamcatcher felt to me: right pieces, wrong place.
King is an amazing storyteller; he always has been. Even the books I didn't particularly like, I finished. I find that I get caught up in his stories despite myself, and I have to follow through to the end. Maybe that's the crux of my displeasure with Dreamcatcher; I know King is capable of so much more. Authors aren't perfect. Some books are going to be better than others. You just hope that over the course of a career, the good books outweigh the weak ones.
All right, maybe that's not quite fair. Dreamcatcher does involve aliens, a secret in the woods, and telepathy, but it's not exactly a carbon copy of The Tommyknockers. It re-uses pieces of many of King's works. There's the "adults who bonded as children and did a great thing" theme from It. There's also the "child with a great secret power" trope from The Shining and/or Firestarter. Granted, Duddits is technically an adult, but he is retarded and therefore retains, quite literally, the mind of a child, as evidenced by everyone calling him by his childhood name. Duddits is also reminiscent of Tom Cullen from The Stand, as another example of the sweet and noble retarded person who, after enduring great hardship, saves the day, or at least a piece of it. Speaking of The Stand, let's talk about a nasty, virulent disease that wipes out around 99% of the population. Granted, in this case the "disease" is actually a creature, and the affected area is relatively small, but within that area, the terminal rates are about the same.
So what's the big deal, you ask? King has always re-used certain themes in his work: kids in danger, life in Maine, narrators who are writers; why am I harping on this one book in particular? I'm harping on it because he doesn't bring anything new to plate this time. In the past, these themes were simply a framework of familiarity to hang a new story on. It was fun for long-time readers to get the references to previous characters and stories, and to feel like they knew the territory. We've been to Derry and Castle Rock so many times it feels like we belong there. But in Dreamcatcher, it doesn't feel like King's using similar elements. It feels like he's telling the same stories, albeit in bits and pieces and mixed around some. You know how you feel when you watch a movie adaptation of a Stephen King book? With a few notable exceptions, they just don't get it right. The casting is a little bit off or the script keeps the wrong parts of the story (or loses the wrong parts). The bones of the book you loved are there, but the mad doctor put them together all wrong, attaching a femur to a vertebra, or the skull to a kneecap. That's how Dreamcatcher felt to me: right pieces, wrong place.
King is an amazing storyteller; he always has been. Even the books I didn't particularly like, I finished. I find that I get caught up in his stories despite myself, and I have to follow through to the end. Maybe that's the crux of my displeasure with Dreamcatcher; I know King is capable of so much more. Authors aren't perfect. Some books are going to be better than others. You just hope that over the course of a career, the good books outweigh the weak ones.
December 15, 2020
This one turned out to be a whirlwind of a story full of chaos and turmoil. This was an enjoyable read for me. One of the main things I look for when reading King is character development. This story definitely does not disappoint in that regard. I was really able to get an understanding of just how close these five friends were. I feel like King always has some pretty strong opinions about the government. He tends to make them out to be super corrupt and disreputable. (how like life) I'm sure I'm in the minority, but I like when King writes a sci-fi story. It's something he does well in my opinion. This story has so much excitement and goings-on. I wouldn't quite say it's non-stop action, but it's close. There was some pretty gross parts that I won't go into here but yeah unappetizing. Definitely a five star book for me. I would recommend this to anyone looking for more of a sci-fi story with some horror elements here and there.
June 13, 2022
Aliens explode … out of our backsides?
Yeah, bit of a weird and vulgar book. To be fair, it’s well written. The theme of friendship is amazingly put on display here. With four interesting characters. And the alien invasion story is pretty creepy and very entertaining. Still, really vulgar.
Not the best Stephen King book but still pretty good.
Yeah, bit of a weird and vulgar book. To be fair, it’s well written. The theme of friendship is amazingly put on display here. With four interesting characters. And the alien invasion story is pretty creepy and very entertaining. Still, really vulgar.
Not the best Stephen King book but still pretty good.
March 5, 2024
3.5 Stars
I read this after The Tommy Knockers and didn't enjoy this one as much tbh.
4 childhood friends meet every year at a cabin in the woods to go hunting.
After Jonsey finds a man wandering in the woods, he brings him back to the cabin to warm up, and strange things start to happen.
Meanwhile, a quarantine is starting to happen in the same area.
Another book about alien invasion, which I found dragged in places.
It's Stephen King, though, who is very detailed in his writing.
The name Dreamcatcher is what these 4 men have in common.
Their stories and dreams are because of it.
As much as I enjoy Stephen King, this book wasn't for me.
I read this after The Tommy Knockers and didn't enjoy this one as much tbh.
4 childhood friends meet every year at a cabin in the woods to go hunting.
After Jonsey finds a man wandering in the woods, he brings him back to the cabin to warm up, and strange things start to happen.
Meanwhile, a quarantine is starting to happen in the same area.
Another book about alien invasion, which I found dragged in places.
It's Stephen King, though, who is very detailed in his writing.
The name Dreamcatcher is what these 4 men have in common.
Their stories and dreams are because of it.
As much as I enjoy Stephen King, this book wasn't for me.
April 10, 2018
It took me eleven days to finish this 882-page of a beast, and I savored the amazing experience!
Dreamcatcher is one of Stephen King's most hated books; almost everyone who's read it tells me to stir away from it, that it's a piece of sh-tty writing . . . And oh man, how wrong they are,
This book is pure fun, and a brilliant action-packed piece from start to end. There are tons of stuff that are happening in this book, and several sub-plots, which include, among many, the Alien storyline and the underlining theme of friendship between our protagonists.
Although the Alien storyline was strong, I was more captivated with the friendship-line of the story. It touches upon the human emotions and empathy for those who are different from us, what is just and what is wrong, and what makes us who we are: Our decisions and our actions.
In terms of characters, some of the characters here were very well-developed, and several, sadly, were not-fully developed (or never), which bogged me a little bit. But Duddits, who is with Down-Syndrome, has made this book more emotional, and even more powerful, as the character-development of the four friends is signaled by their mutual care and love for him.
With this book, Stephen King's first fully-length novel after the accident which almost got him killed, you could feel and taste his pain, struggling through physical and mental distress, his anger, but also the sense of not letting go and 'staying on the line'. It feels as if King's pain is streaming down into the abyss of consciousness as it does with Jonesy.
There is a hugely disgusting small section (in the beginning) in the book that I think irritated lots of readers from continuing the story. My advice is just keep reading, and put these scenes behind your back once you are done with them.
Lastly, what can I say, this is definitely a new favorite by Stephen King. It enthralled me, it shocked, and most importantly, it moved me.
This was a buddy-read with my Goodreads friend Patricio, with whom I am looking forward to discuss our different views.
Dreamcatcher is one of Stephen King's most hated books; almost everyone who's read it tells me to stir away from it, that it's a piece of sh-tty writing . . . And oh man, how wrong they are,
This book is pure fun, and a brilliant action-packed piece from start to end. There are tons of stuff that are happening in this book, and several sub-plots, which include, among many, the Alien storyline and the underlining theme of friendship between our protagonists.
Although the Alien storyline was strong, I was more captivated with the friendship-line of the story. It touches upon the human emotions and empathy for those who are different from us, what is just and what is wrong, and what makes us who we are: Our decisions and our actions.
In terms of characters, some of the characters here were very well-developed, and several, sadly, were not-fully developed (or never), which bogged me a little bit. But Duddits, who is with Down-Syndrome, has made this book more emotional, and even more powerful, as the character-development of the four friends is signaled by their mutual care and love for him.
With this book, Stephen King's first fully-length novel after the accident which almost got him killed, you could feel and taste his pain, struggling through physical and mental distress, his anger, but also the sense of not letting go and 'staying on the line'. It feels as if King's pain is streaming down into the abyss of consciousness as it does with Jonesy.
There is a hugely disgusting small section (in the beginning) in the book that I think irritated lots of readers from continuing the story. My advice is just keep reading, and put these scenes behind your back once you are done with them.
Lastly, what can I say, this is definitely a new favorite by Stephen King. It enthralled me, it shocked, and most importantly, it moved me.
This was a buddy-read with my Goodreads friend Patricio, with whom I am looking forward to discuss our different views.
August 2, 2019
It almost physically pains me to give a Stephen King book such a low rating because I love his writing so much. But this book is just such a hot mess that it’s my least favourite King book of all time. I thought The Tommyknockers was horrid but somehow this one managed to be a hell of a lot worse. This book is just a confusing mess to me, I didn’t know what was going on half the time and when I did know all I could think was WTF. And not in a good way! I think it’s safe to say that this is most definitely not King’s best work.
March 14, 2016
First of all, let me say I can understand why some folks don't care for this one, and I don't blame you. No, I'm not saying I didn't like it, after all, I gave it 4 stars. Just saying I can understand considering there were some issues that tested my patience. First of all, this story is all over the place and I can see where a reader might get tired of trying to follow the threads (or the strings of the dreamcatcher). And secondly, this lunker could have been shortened a bit.
As for me, I managed to stay on course ( I suspect I may have had some help from Duddits) and in the long run (a very long run) I found the story to be entertaining. Maybe it's my age, but I'm not too much into the farting scenarios in recent literature. But hey, these were farting aliens! So yeah, I count it as a life lesson. If E.T. ever tells me to pull his finger...forget about it!
January 11, 2013
So bad I wanted to burn my copy so that no one else would have to read it.
Seriously. Farts and creatures entering the world from a person's 'back door' do not a good horror novel make. The first time this happens in the book I actually laughed aloud.
Use the book as a paperweight, a doorstop, or a teething toy for your dog. Just don't bother trying to read it.
Seriously. Farts and creatures entering the world from a person's 'back door' do not a good horror novel make. The first time this happens in the book I actually laughed aloud.
Use the book as a paperweight, a doorstop, or a teething toy for your dog. Just don't bother trying to read it.
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