Needful Things: The Last Castle Rock Story

I read Needful Things when it was initially published and watched the movie as well, but in my opinion, there's nothing like hearing this author narrating one of his best works. Mr. King makes this story come alive as he knows firsthand the intonations, local jargon/dialect and feelings of each character because he wrote it. I have a good imagination, but hearing this from "The Horses Mouth" is a rare treat indeed. He evokes humor, creepiness, sympathy and much more. The characters jump out at you and you feel as though you're a citizen of Castlerock. I'm not here to review the content of the book - even though it's one of my favorites. I'm here to convince those that really love it to give it a listen. You won't be disappointed.

Great read in my opinion. Goes into the true heart of everyone. We all have things we want bad to the point were some people think they need.

Ending could have been more explanatory but overall a great read

I apologize that this is more commentary than review, but many other reviews go into the details of the plot. Let me just say that this book's Evil One plays his game with people's greatest longings, pitting one against the other, while creating carnage and destruction in the process. As it plays out, it is irresistible. Splendid Stephen King.

However. . .after reading most of the Stephen King novels, I find myself always approaching his resolutions warily. He draws me (and, presumably, you) into a wonderfully imagined situation where average people are enmeshed in some horrific web of evil, at which point he sometimes suffers an imagination cramp (or loses interest?) and starts blowing things up, revealing his Bad Guy as the father of all horrors--usually through a series of skin-splitting, gooey, pus-coated transformations. In other words generally laying waste, over many pages, with familiar Stephen Kingish gadgets.

I was loving Desperation, for instance, but found myself increasingly frustrated by his endless digressions, page after page describing the rotting disintegration or gory destruction of various characters.

The greatest disappointment for me, however, was Rose Madder, where his unusually straight approach to a frighteningly real character--an abused and pursued woman--was sustained until the very end, when he suddenly shoved the whole problem into a painting on the wall and brought on one of his monsters. Perhaps dealing with the plight of a woman cornered by a truly brutal man was more than King wanted to deal with. We'll never know.

So as the dynamite was being planted in Needful Things, I began to hear my Another Apocalyptic Ending alarm. But, happily, it faded. When all the bang boom crash became merely the background for a far more satisfying and original resolution, I found myself much relieved. A contented feller.

The epilogue, in fact, even left me laughing. It's a nice little twist.

Last thing: Was I the only one that found himself/herself snerkling at King's black humor descriptions of
the Faithful out in the storm, pounding away on each other as their town blows up around them?

Well the book was a trip it was cool but also pretty scary to go along with everything else. Killing a kid to get a baseball card is screwed up, don't you think. It's a good thing that man stopped it all. Facing a mass murderer like that takes guts. They get into a big scruffle then the man throws the mass murderer into the big fire place. That's awsome. To be honest, I kind of felt bad for the guy but at the same time I didn't. So with a mass murderer dead, the town goes back to normal. But I don't think the guy who killed the mass murder will have a normal life from the drama. But I don't think he'll have guilt following him. Castle Rock, the small town in Maine, was the perfect place for a mass murderer.

Needful Things focuses on what the town of Castle Rock thinks is a great bargain when it turns out, they're paying more than what they've bartered for.

The characters are well written and developed; King has a way of telling how each character feels through 3rd person. Everything is tied together at the end of the novel making it very enjoyable.

Thanks to this book, I became a Stephen King fan.