Questions, thoughts, comments?

[Linda]

Joyland expressed perfectly the heartbreak of young love. The mystery story was perfect, and the writing was the best of Stephen King.

[Jade]

Sheri wrote: "I read the entire book and never figured out what "It's not white" meant. Does anyone know? It's driving me nuts. Why wouldn't Stephen King explain it in the end?"

Devin spotted the strands of white in Lane's hair earlier in the novel and assumed he was graying.

He later realises that "it's not white" - it's actually blond hair covered up with dye!

[Lori]

I really liked this book. Again, I think you need to go into it with no expectations. I was, however, taken aback by King's inclusion of a few things that did not exist in '73, like bottled water (given to Dev after he first "wears the fur") and microwaves (his landlady heats up some soup in one when he first agrees to rent from her). Odd for King. Still, an excellent read.

[Lori]

One other, Eddie's daughter was hit by a car because the woman driving was "yackin' on her phone". Prior to '73?

[Curt]

I REALLY liked King when I was a teen-ager, late 70s-early 80s, & still consider him a national treasure. Having only read a handful of his books since then(I swear, the man writes faster than I can read), I believe he tends to write with an interesting premise/plot-line, gets busy & lets the story take him where it will. Joyland's ending did seem a bit rushed & predictable, but that's a small issue, it was still a great ride. I've read On Writing (highly recommend) & his process is pretty well laid out along the lines I mention. That said,Joyland is a fun read, written with great dialogue, plot-twists & believable characters that I expect from King. It's not The Stand or The Green Mile but it also isn't It or Cujo; somewhere in between those & that's better than a lot of books I have read lately. Long live the King!

[Myst]

It wasn't what I expected. I thought there would be more digging into the mystery during the entire story rather than research happening offscreen.

That being said, I think it was a cute look into a boy's heartbroken summer job.

[Samantha]

I am about halfway throught the book, and so far I agree with some of the previous comments on how this isn't the usual horror story that would be expected from Stephen King. I was actually looking/hoping for something that would scare me, but this seems like this is more of a coming of age kind of story. I think it gives off the same kind of vibe the novella "The Body" did. That being said, this still a great story so far, I can't wait to see what happens in the end.

[Terry]

Thanks for the explanation. "It't not white" refers to the fact that the few strands of hair are not white, but blond. Hence, he's not getting old, his hair is dyed. Hence, he's hiding the fact that his hair is the same color as the killer's hair. Hence, he IS THE KILLER!!!!
A much better explanation than the one I came up with: the mom's bra is blue, rather than traditional white. The fact that I actually thought that might be the explanation ("you're gonna get lucky and see my mom's bra…") goes to show how desperate I was for an explanation.

[Vicki]

Could just be me, but I don't believe that most horror authors have ever seen "true evil."
I'm a paramedic. I've seen the results of this crap they write about with apparent glee - or whatever they call it that looks to me like sheer desire to yank out reactions from people. But I've turned 'hard' against it, as a doctor explained to one of those people doing a documentary for reality health care shows. Ones with titles like Trauma: Life in the ER, Untold Stories of the ER, and the like. The doctor said she wished terrible things still surprised her, b/c nothing does anymore. I wish the same, particularly bc people who like to read about all this hideous stuff one human does to others actually have no problem passing judgment on me if they think I'm a tad jaded. I've even heard writers proclaim that health care workers are too jaded; and what would you call it when writers are always showing a keen interest in writing about it and by extension nullifying your senses to it? The pique of Normalcy?
I don't like to read about the terrible things people do to each other for the sake of reading of the terrible things people do to each other.
For me, fictional violence either has to have a point to it - like what a person did to survive with the terrible thing that happened - or I can't read it.
And that's proof that I haven't become TOTally jaded. Only on the job, and as it looks to laypersons who have no idea what we REALLY feel.

[Papaphilly]

I am one of his constant readers dating back to 1977 and I loved this book. it reminds me of the old detective novels I read as a young man with just a hint of scandal. Incredibly well done.

[Mark]

Papaphilly wrote: "I am one of his constant readers dating back to 1977 and I loved this book. it reminds me of the old detective novels I read as a young man with just a hint of scandal. Incredibly well done."

I absolutely agree with you, S king has been with me most of my reading life and some of his books still have vivid memories for me when recalling them.

[Papaphilly]

Mark wrote: "Papaphilly wrote: "I am one of his constant readers dating back to 1977 and I loved this book. it reminds me of the old detective novels I read as a young man with just a hint of scandal. Incredi..."

Would have never guessed with Pennywise the
Clown as your Avatar. :)

[Roberta]

Wendy wrote: "I had to force myself to finish this. The characters were boring, the setting was dull and the story was non-existent. Stephen King is so talented. This read like it was written by a middleschoo..."

[Roberta]

Totally agree, it lacked the quality of Mercedes Man, which I thought he did a good job with character development and some excitement at the close.

[Barry]

To answer a couple of pending questions:

1) Devin never marries Annie. He meets a girl in a coffee shop ten years later and married her after about eight months.

2) Fred came to see Devin not to talk about Lane, but to tell him that Eddie had had another heart attack and died. That's what prompted Dev to ask Mike who the ghost was.

[Janine]

Orsayor wrote: "Sheri wrote: "I read the entire book and never figured out what "It's not white" meant. Does anyone know? It's driving me nuts. Why wouldn't Stephen King explain it in the end?"

Me too.. I was ..."

Sheri wrote: "I read the entire book and never figured out what "It's not white" meant. Does anyone know? It's driving me nuts. Why wouldn't Stephen King explain it in the end?"

I have been wondering this too, but seeing these comments I think that is what he meant.. Not white.. blond originally.. Thanks for the ideas. It was driving me nuts too and I just finished the book today! :)

[Wayne]

ITs not white is not referred to lanes hair because earlier in the book Mike tells Dev its white. then at the end he says its not white. I think he was talking about the shadow Rozzie seen over Dev

[F.C.]

I would best describe Joyland as Stephen King idling along in low gear, a simple story and a quick read with everything tied up at the end. If you go in expecting Salem's Lot or The Stand, then you will be disappointed.

[Nikki]

Phobos wrote: "This was a pretty bad book. Is this one he wrote while on the toilet or soemthing? I wasn't expecting much after reading The Colorado Kid but this was just boring."

I'm a huge King fan, but I really did not enjoy this book either. I had a hard time getting through it.

[Nikki]

I love King books, I love the thrill and excitement, I love the goosebumps you get from getting to the good parts! This book though, I waited the whole book for that and it never really happened. I can't say anything about the clothing or dialogue, as it didn't bother me at all, but to me it was just a crime story and lacked the true creepy King essence.

[Anne]

Joyce wrote: "I have a question; on page 277 he recounts the week, and says: "Then, on Thursday afternoon, Fred Dean had come to see me and his visit had nothing to do with Lane Hardy's death.
Except I thought i..."

I believe Fred came to tell Dev that Eddie Park had died at the hospital from a second heart attack and that’s why Dev wanted to know who the ghost was who told Mike he was in danger and got the mom to rescue him. . The ghost was a man inferring that it was Eddie

[Anne]

Lori wrote: "One other, Eddie's daughter was hit by a car because the woman driving was "yackin' on her phone". Prior to '73?"

I was also thrown off by the mention of modern technology. The microwave made be look to make sure I wasn’t off by couple of decades. I remember first seeing a microwave in mid 80s but it wasn’t a common appliance then and definitely not in early 70s.
I didn’t think the phone was a cell phone. The person on the phone was Eddies wife talking on her landline at home (I assume) instead of watching her young daughter.

[Isa]

Am I the only one who had a really hard time dealing with the sexism in this book? I really enjoyed the setting and the story overall but certain scenes and dialogues really ruined it for me. Anyone would like to discuss further?

[Papaphilly]

Laradal wrote: "Am I the only one who had a really hard time dealing with the sexism in this book? I really enjoyed the setting and the story overall but certain scenes and dialogues really ruined it for me. Anyon..."

You are missing the entire point of the book. It is style that is a throw back and he is being honest to the style of the hard detective genre and the timeline it happens within. There is a reason the series is called Hard Case. It is an homage.

[Papaphilly]

Anne wrote: "Lori wrote: "One other, Eddie's daughter was hit by a car because the woman driving was "yackin' on her phone". Prior to '73?"

I was also thrown off by the mention of modern technology. The microw..."

They were not a common appliance, but they were commercially available since about 1967. I remember my friends mom had one in 1971. I would have been about 9.