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Cujo
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Cujo - book 12
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Angie, Constant Reader
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Jan 01, 2019 10:39AM
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Hi Fellow Readers and Stephen King Enthusiasts,First of all, happy New Year to you all.
Second, since I have joined this Stephen King Re-read discussion group I have found that I am usually one of the last each month to post my review. However, this holiday provided a lot of reading time and I find myself spending it with Uncle Stevie and Michael Connelly, which is an interesting reading combination. Below is the link to my review of Cujo. Needless to say, I loved it!
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
If you have any questions or comments on my thoughts, please let me know.
Best wishes, Scott.
I am just over the halfway point. I had forgotten how good this one was. One of the more unsettling books - but then my family always kept large dogs and the thought of a beloved family pet getting rabies ...
Agreed. This is one really good book, but very unsettling at the same time. Happy New Years!
This was my first time reading Cujo and while I enjoyed it, I don't think it aged very well. The era of cell phones has ruined the kind of fear and intensity King was trying to build. On the other hand, I appreciated the well-written tension between (view spoiler). Which is kind of surprising, considering this was written during the coke years.
Summer wrote: "This was my first time reading Cujo and while I enjoyed it, it didn't age very well. The era of cell phones has ruined the kind of fear and intensity King was trying to build. On the other hand, ..."
What if your cell battery was dead and you didn’t have your charger with you? Or you forgot your cell phone? Or you are in a cell phone dead zone? I think it could still work with a cell phone. I am sure we have all had one of these situations occur at least once if not more.
Nancy wrote: "What if your cell battery was dead and you didn’t have your charger with you? Or you forgot your cell phone?..."That's a great point, and I think that's how a lot of thriller/horror work gets around that problem. I think in general the world has just moved on, to borrow a phrase. People expect a lot more connectivity these days so even if a cell phone were dead or forgotten, I don't think people would wait as long as the characters did before worrying or taking action. We were a lot more patient when everyone had landlines and it was the luck of the draw getting someone on the phone, but we're a lot more impatient for reassurance these days.
I don't think cell phones have caused the story to age poorly at all. I mean we read classics and there weren't even telephones when they are set, much less cell phones. It's up to the reader to put themselves into the situation.
Summer wrote: "but we're a lot more impatient for reassurance these days..."You never met my daughter, LOLOLOL. She would send a text that started something like “OMG, guess what?” I text back “what?” and if I was lucky I would get a reply 8 hours later. Maybe the next day.
Kandice hit the nail on the head for how I feel about that. Cell phones weren’t invented yet for many of King’s books. He’s an old geezer hahahah
Nancy wrote: "Summer wrote: "but we're a lot more impatient for reassurance these days..."You never met my daughter, LOLOLOL. She would send a text that started something like “OMG, guess what?” I text back “w..."
LOL :) But I have to admit being kind of like that too. I put my phone down and don't notice text messages coming in from over a day sometimes. If someone sends them from an iPhone it's grand as I get them on my laptop or iPad but messages from Android devices have to wait until I notice them on the phone:)
Maria Hill wrote: "Nancy wrote: "Summer wrote: "but we're a lot more impatient for reassurance these days..."You never met my daughter, LOLOLOL. She would send a text that started something like “OMG, guess what?” ..."
I know someone with a Samsung Pune and I receive them on my iPad. Interesting...
Nancy wrote: "Summer wrote: "but we're a lot more impatient for reassurance these days..."You never met my daughter, LOLOLOL. She would send a text that started something like “OMG, guess what?” I text back “w..."
That sounds familiar that is my son all over he will ask a question and you supply the answer and if your lucky 8 to 48 hrs later he will ask what you are talking about.
Heather wrote: "Kandice hit the nail on the head for how I feel about that. Cell phones weren’t invented yet for many of King’s books. He’s an old geezer hahahah"a lot of us are old geezers LOL.
mrbooks wrote: "Heather wrote: "Kandice hit the nail on the head for how I feel about that. Cell phones weren’t invented yet for many of King’s books. He’s an old geezer hahahah"a lot of us are old geezers LOL."
Well, you are older than me so that does make you an old geezer. I’m a spring chicken compared to you, LOLOLOLOL
Ouch that hurt, LOL I guess I opened myself up for it...
mrbooks wrote: "Ouch that hurt, LOL I guess I opened myself up for it..."I’m not that far behind you. Just remember though, you will always be older than me 😁.
Thanks for the reminder you will have to play catch up 😁
Nancy wrote: "mrbooks wrote: "Ouch that hurt, LOL I guess I opened myself up for it..."I’m not that far behind you. Just remember though, you will always be older than me 😁."
And I'll always be older than all of you. But, even though I thought originally that the advent of the smartphone made a lot of this storyline obsolete, the truth is it either works as a period piece or one or two well-placed sentences or ideas, as Nancy says, could just get rid of the issue, and the situation would be as dire as King paints it. And don't forget the most horrific possibility of all: you have a cell phone, you make the calls, you send the texts, you contact the emergency responders, and no one answer... no one comes.
I think Nick's scenario of no one answering or coming to your age DESPITE having the ability to call them, is almost more scary than having no way to communicate at all!
Kandice wrote: "I think Nick's scenario of no one answering or coming to your age DESPITE having the ability to call them, is almost more scary than having no way to communicate at all!"It is! Usually if I text my husband who is waiting in the car a question and he doesn’t reply I get annoyed. Imagine if no one replied to a call or text for help?
Kandice wrote: "I think Nick's scenario of no one answering or coming to your age DESPITE having the ability to call them, is almost more scary than having no way to communicate at all!"And even though we're all ultra-connected not getting a response is still one of the most common occurrences.
I can sit next to my wife and place a message on WhatsApp family group for all to see and it will take 5 min for her to get the message. While my son 20 miles away will get the message in nano seconds and respond immediately.
Starting this tonight. I haven’t read it since it came out in mass market paperback in 1982.
Does anyone else think the house they live in used to be Frank Dodd’s house? That would make sense (to me at least) as to the closet haunting in Tad’s room and why Tad knows so much about Dodd. He couldn’t povvlible have gotten that info from around town. He is only 4 and goes to pre-school only a few days a week part time. Why else mention Dodd so much?
Nancy wrote: "Does anyone else think the house they live in used to be Frank Dodd’s house? That would make sense (to me at least) as to the closet haunting in Tad’s room and why Tad knows so much about Dodd. He ..."I've always thought that opening was the most terrifying thing I've ever read. Could be Dodd's house, sure.
Nancy wrote: "Does anyone else think the house they live in used to be Frank Dodd’s house? That would make sense (to me at least) as to the closet haunting in Tad’s room and why Tad knows so much about Dodd. He ..."Pretty good theory.
Nancy wrote: "Does anyone else think the house they live in used to be Frank Dodd’s house? ..."That would be cool, but here's what we know:
The Dodds lived on a side street, five houses from Main Street, while the Trentons lived at 83 Larch Street, second house from the corner of Main Street.
Michael wrote: "Nancy wrote: "Does anyone else think the house they live in used to be Frank Dodd’s house? ..."That would be cool, but here's what we know:
The Dodds lived on a side street, five houses from Main..."
I tried looking through The Dead Zone to see if I could find where they lived and didn’t see that. What page was that on? I only saw a part where Bannerman said the Dodd house is two blocks away. That didn’t help. I wanted something more specific.
If that’s the case then it seems odd that he keeps bringing up Dodd so much and there isn’t any correlation for the monster in Tad’s closet.
It would have been better if he just left the bit at the beginning about a past monster in Castle Rock and now there is a new monster. Don’t keep bringing up Dodd. This isn’t the same level as Easter Eggs and mentioning past characters in passing etc.
The exact working at the beginning was “The monster never really dies.....It came to Castle Rock again....”That implies same monster...so Dodd and Cujo where inhabited by the same monster? The monster was in his closet at the same as Cujo? Can a monster be in multiple places at the same time?
Nancy wrote: "The exact working at the beginning was “The monster never really dies.....It came to Castle Rock again....”That implies same monster...so Dodd and Cujo where inhabited by the same monster? The mo..."
My take on all this is that Dodd was the monster and that Cujo was just a rabid dog. I don't think the monster moved from one to the other. I've just started my re-read so I'll have to see how that theme evolves. I read Cujo before the dead zone and ended up being disappointed in the dead zone because Dodd wasn't featured more prominently. I'll let you know what I think as I get more deeply into it.
Happy New Years to everyone here! I just finished Cujo and thought it was a really good book. I could foresee this situations playing out in many parts of the country still today especially in my part of Alaska where cell phone signal is non existent haha Anyway really enjoy the book! That ending...man!
I look forward to reading along with you guys throughout the year and really enjoy reading your takes on the story!
Nick wrote: "Nancy wrote: "The exact working at the beginning was “The monster never really dies.....It came to Castle Rock again....”That implies same monster...so Dodd and Cujo where inhabited by the same m..."
I feel the same way that Dodd was the monster and Cujo was just a rabid dog. But he sure mentions Dodd a lot. It bothers me that he does if there isn’t a reason.LOL Even little Tad “hears” him talking in his head at one point with too much detail for a 4 yr old that wasn’t even born or lived in Castle Rock at the time of Dodd’s death.
Nancy wrote: "... I only saw a part where Bannerman said the Dodd house is two blocks away. ..."That's close. Just a few more paragraphs down (second from the end of "13" in Chapter Sixteen, or just a couple paragraphs before "14"):
"They stepped out of the doorway . . .. They turned onto a side street and five houses down Bannerman stopped in front of a small and neat New England saltbox."
I'm late to the party but I should be starting Cujo this weekend.
Michael wrote: "Nancy wrote: "... I only saw a part where Bannerman said the Dodd house is two blocks away. ..."That's close. Just a few more paragraphs down (second from the end of "13" in Chapter Sixteen, or j..."
If I just kept scanning the page...LOL
I feel the same way that Dodd was the monster and Cujo was just a rabid dog. But he sure mentions Dodd a lot. It bothers me that he does if there isn’t a reason.LOL Even little Tad “hears” him talking in his head at one point with too much detail for a 4 yr old that wasn’t even born or lived in Castle Rock at the time of Dodd’s death..”I always assumed that Stephen was just working out in his own head the concept of an evil lurking in a town that would make the town itself evil. Dodd was infected by the evil during his life, becoming the boogie man and the monster in the closet for Tadd's generation. The evil may even have directed the unfortunate event with Cujo and the bats.
I always thought that IT in Derry was the result of Stephen working out how this evil being at the centre of a town would be and what effects it would have on the townsfolk with the children being the most vulnerable.
But I think it is deliberately left open to interpretation.
Maria Hill wrote: "I feel the same way that Dodd was the monster and Cujo was just a rabid dog. But he sure mentions Dodd a lot. It bothers me that he does if there isn’t a reason.LOL Even little Tad “hears” him talk..."I think you got it. Maria. All the eveil in Derry can be traced back to IT.
Now here is an unfortunate point that I might as well bring up. King says he was totally out of it. So stoned/drunk that he doesn't even remember writing it. "Too bad," he adds. "I really liked that book." So maybe everything he did at this point was purely intuitive.
Another famous King book that I haven't read. I did watch the movie. I am going to try to get the book so I can read it and then read through this thread and comment!
Yes I was aware that this was the book he doesn’t remember writing due to being high etc- impressive when you think about it !
Maria Hill wrote: "Yes I was aware that this was the book he doesn’t remember writing due to being high etc- impressive when you think about it !"Very impressive. King is such an intuitive writer that he does great work even when he isn't aware of what he's doing. Talk about talent. Of course, there are those who say that his writing hasn't been as good since he got away from the liberating power of drugs and alcohol. Guess who ever said that didn't read 11/22/63, or Duma Key.
I'm about halfway through this and can't believe the insight King has into his characters. The marital affair with all its complexity is amazingly well done. Both parties blame themselves and then each other and it goes round and round. As for affairs, all this analysis is typical, but how about a more simple relational: two people find each other so attractive that they forget about their vows and obligations and they just want to DO IT. All the rationalization and self-doubt comes after that. In this story, King does us all a favor by giving us a third party who is such a low-life that the wife ends the affair immediately. Then the guy proves just what a bastard he really is. Great storytelling and all in the background of that rabid dog story.
Nick wrote: "Maria Hill wrote: "Yes I was aware that this was the book he doesn’t remember writing due to being high etc- impressive when you think about it !"Very impressive. King is such an intuitive writer..."
I think his writing changed - but then you expect work to change as people get older. I agree that 11/22/63 is some of his best stuff. I will need to reread Duma Key - don't remember it very well to be honest !
What you don't remember Big Pink
mrbooks wrote: "What you don't remember Big Pink"I saw one of the swimming pool construction shows a few years ago and the house reminded me of Big Pink. Because, well...for obvious reasons. It was also in Florida.
Maria Hill wrote: "Nick wrote: "Maria Hill wrote: "Yes I was aware that this was the book he doesn’t remember writing due to being high etc- impressive when you think about it !"Very impressive. King is such an int..."
I loved Duma Key, a father-daughter story and with maybe his best comic character... Wireman.
Spoilers ahead.The first time I read Cujo was as a teen. I remember liking it, and it was one of the books that convinced me to become a Constant Reader and a dedicated fan. Now that I read it again, I enjoyed it even more.
I absolutely love the idea of going inside Cujo's head and hearing his thoughts. It makes the story so much more creepy, and terrifying. Even though I remembered there were deaths, I forgot how tragic two of them were. I had to stop listening to the audiobook for a bit, after Tad was taken out of the car.
The other interesting thing I found was that the frequent reference to Frank Dodd from The Dead Zone made me want to read that one again. I think I will.
Elazar wrote: "Spoilers ahead.The first time I read Cujo was as a teen. I remember liking it, and it was one of the books that convinced me to become a Constant Reader and a dedicated fan. Now that I read it aga..."
I was amazed that King could write believably from the point of view of Cujo, both as a normal dog and then as mad.
King also writes convincingly from the point of view of a dog in The Eyes of the Dragon. Quickly form the POV of a woodchuck in Under the Dome. He is so good at seeing the thoughts of the other. We've talked about how well he writes form the eyes of a woman. I think he must be one of the most empathetic humans on the planet.
Stephen King Fans
Books mentioned in this topic
On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft (other topics)The Eyes of the Dragon (other topics)
Under the Dome (other topics)
