![]() He grew up in the titular town, and he has some bad memories of it. All human life is here, as the saying goes: and they all want to know who the stranger is that's just moved to town. We're given a vivid description, details and foibles, before the town is populated with a cast of characters to rival any soap opera. Jerusalem's Lot is the main character here, a warm-up for what King would later do with his beloved fictional towns of Derry and Castle Rock. After a short prologue, where it's established that a tall man and a young boy survive whatever it is we're about to read (and end up in the far sunnier climes of Mexico), we meet the town itself. The most impressive thing about the book is how long it takes for anything really to happen. ![]() ![]() Good job that Salem's Lot was – and still is – a hugely impressive novel, then. So, when Stephen King went from the quasi-plausible abuse-terror of Carrie to vampires, there must have been some worried readers (and, probably, publishers). Readers of the debut want to be satisfied by the follow-up readers who heard about the first but didn't bite want to be wowed by the concept enough to pick it up and those who hated the debut want you to fail. ![]() The expectations of what you'll deliver – especially off a success – are phenomenal. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |