ELEVATION by Stephen King (Scribner, October 2018) Hardcover, 146 pages. ISBN: 1982102314 / 9781982102319. Literary Awards: Goodreads Choice Award For Horror 2018.
Summary from the Goodreads website . . . . .
The latest from legendary master storyteller Stephen King, a riveting, extraordinarily eerie, and moving story about a man whose mysterious affliction brings a small town together—a timely, upbeat tale about finding common ground despite deep-rooted differences.
Although Scott Carey doesn’t look any different, he’s been steadily losing weight. There are a couple of other odd things, too. He weighs the same in his clothes and out of them, no matter how heavy they are. Scott doesn’t want to be poked and prodded. He mostly just wants someone else to know, and he trusts Doctor Bob Ellis.
In the small town of Castle Rock, the setting of many of King’s most iconic stories, Scott is engaged in a low grade—but escalating—battle with the lesbians next door whose dog regularly drops his business on Scott’s lawn.
One of the women is friendly; the other, cold as ice. Both are trying to launch a new restaurant, but the people of Castle Rock want no part of a gay married couple, and the place is in trouble. When Scott finally understands the prejudices they face–including his own—he tries to help.
Unlikely alliances, the annual foot race, and the mystery of Scott’s affliction bring out the best in people who have indulged the worst in themselves and others.
My review on the Goodreads website . . . .
This is probably the least horrific of anything King has written, in spite of Elevation being given a Goodreads Readers Choice Award for Horror Novel.
Who cares what genre or sub-category it falls into as long as it entertains? It certainly gripped me within several pages (King has a real knack for that) and kept me engaged for a few days as I pored over King's writing style and set-ups. Otherwise, I could have finished this in one day.
I guess by a very broad definition it could be considered horror, so I went along with the crowd and put it on my horror bookshelf, along with fantasy, magical-realism and supernatural. Using the broad definition as a measuring gauge, it fits those categories as well.
King essentially has written a feel-good novel, and it's a beautiful example of human determination, persistence, and optimism. Beyond the surface issue of a middle-aged man coming to grips with an unexplainable affliction that will most likely end his life, Elevation also fields themes of tolerance and acceptance, prejudice, small town provincialism and small town community/bonding, an objective approach to negative situations, and finding commonality. The ending was very satisfactory.
I wanted to give some indication of what this is about without spoiling anything. A lot of readers were disappointed by this, but I recommend it. Especially if you want to read something that will leave you warm inside. There's hope for us, as long as writers assist by showing us the way.
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