About the Book- Fairy Tale by Stephen King
Legendary storyteller Stephen King goes into the deepest well of his imagination in this spellbinding novel about a seventeen-year-old boy who inherits the keys to a parallel world where good and evil are at war, and the stakes could not be higher—for their world or ours.
Charlie Reade looks like a regular high school kid, great at baseball and football, a decent student. But he carries a heavy load. His mom was killed in a hit-and-run accident when he was ten, and grief drove his dad to drink. Charlie learned how to take care of himself—and his dad. Then, when Charlie is seventeen, he meets a dog named Radar and his ageing master, Howard Bowditch, a recluse in a big house at the top of a big hill, with a locked shed in the backyard. Sometimes strange sounds emerge from it.
Charlie starts doing jobs for Mr. Bowditch and loses his heart to Radar. Then, when Bowditch dies, he leaves Charlie a cassette tape telling a story no one would believe. What Bowditch knows, and has kept secret all his long life, is that inside the shed is a portal to another world.
King’s storytelling in Fairy Tale soars. This is a magnificent and terrifying tale about another world than ours, in which good is pitted gainst overwhelming evil, and a heroic boy—and his dog—must lead the battle.
“it’s the stories of our childhood that make the deepest impressions and last the longest.”
Read on for our review of Fairy Tale by Stephen King
Our Review of Fairy Tale by Stephen King
First things first. This is my first Stephen King book. I have never really felt the urge to pick King’s novel because I have always felt that King’s novels are a different league and not specifically my genre. So did Fairy Tale change my opinion? Well, the answer is both Yes and No. Yes for the fact that I wouldn’t mind picking up another Stephen King novel because Fairy Tale has given me a nice little preview of his writing and narration style. No, because Fairy Tale also gave me a preview of what a Stephen King novel would require of its readers. To absolutely let go of yourself and open your mind to some pretty wild and eccentric imagination…like really big flying cockroaches talking to your kind of eccentricities
The fairy tale is more of a modern-day Alice in Wonderland story with weird imaginary characters coming to life and interesting things happening left and right but as I said you really have to open up your imagination and creativity or else you will end up deducing and analysing and eye-rolling at the logistics of it all. Ironically I don’t think this fairy tale is suitable for kids. It’s way too dark and ahead for that.
My issue with the book is that I am not used to Stephen King’s style. Dark, weird, and creepy (all in good ways) so I had to take time to actually get into this landscape and spookiness. Mostly I was absorbed into the book because of my curiosity to see how far the book could take this eccentric world and its happenings. After a certain point, it was genuine storytelling and story arc that kept me interested and hooked to the book
The book goes from zero to 100 in almost the blink of an eye. At one point you are reading about this normal teenager and certain interesting events that happen to him and suddenly with a flick of a page, you are in this weird land with weird characters and places. So you are both shocked and intrigued. On one end your brain is like this is so creepy and weird and then on the other side you are like continue with the creepiness ..and while at it turn the level up a notch to make it more interesting (oh and it totally does…)
Even if I have never read a King novel, I was still aware of the kind of books he writes. So Fairy Tale delivers on that I guess. So sounding like a broken record, I would still say, open up your imagination and there is an interesting adventure ride. Part fun, Part creepy and part eye-roller marathon too.
Conclusion
Honestly, I don’t know how to feel about this book because even if I am trying to find semblance in everything that happened in the book, a part of me is well-satiated with the whole adventure ride the book provided. Plus there is no way you can’t fall in love with Radar (an adorable, formerly ferocious and now gentle giant, German Shephard). Actually, in a way, Radar is the star of the book. Also, I would recommend that one should go for the print version of the book because it has some amazing artwork. Truly a piece of art.
Squirrel Rating
