Blaze: A Novel by Richard Bachman
|
List Price: Our Price: $3.65 You Save: $21.35 (85%) Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days Buy Used: from $0.01 (click here) Category: Book See more book details and other editions |
|---|
Book Reviews of Blaze: A Novel
Book Review: Exceeds expectations.
Summary: 5 Stars
It's hard to expect much from a book when it opens with the author telling you he felt so little for his own creation he didn't even keep the original typed copy.
But "Blaze," in my opinion, is a great read. It hooks you instantly with its sympathetically slow main character and rumbles along to its inevitable finale.
Stephen King always knows best what does and does not work in his novels, and he's correct that the flashbacks in this book are its highlight. Even though they occasionally veer into near Upton Sinclair-esque melodrama, they have a clean sentimentality that I loved. They may even be a little cliche, if we're being honest, but King has always been a master of the little details of spirit and humanity. That is on strong display here.
What King does brilliantly in this novel is take someone doing something absolutely horrible and make you love him. Blaze, a smart boy who had his brain scrambled by a drunk, abusive father, who now stands a massive 6'7", is the ultimate pulling-on-your-heartstrings "big dumb guy" -- he's the original John Coffey, really. Blaze is a small-time con artist whose partner dies right before their big final score can happen, and Blaze goes about it alone (along with the help of his partner's ghost). You almost have to shake your head in sympathy as Blaze imagines he's outsmarting everyone but is clearly laying down a trail that will easily lead right back to him. The unraveling of his crime is as obvious as how he will react to what he has taken.
Blaze's sad growing affection for the baby he kidnaps is so overly melodramatic it's almost comedic, but you can't stop it from affecting you. That's fully because of King's ability to take such a scenario and make you care.
"Blaze" is a straightforward, almost sappy, story from Stephen King -- and I definitely loved every sentimental moment of it.
Book Review: Really good
Summary: 5 Stars
I have been left dissapointed by King's last few books (especially since he seems to refuse to write horror anymore, which is what made him so popular) but I thought that Blaze was really good (I know it was written in 1973, so technically not a new book).
Not really a horror, more of adventure/thriller. Blaze, a huge man who is borderline-retarded from a head injury as a child, along with his dead parter (who still exists in Blaze's mind), kidnaps Joe, the baby boy of a rich family in order to claim $1 million ransom money. However, he ends up loveing the baby and wanting to keep it for himselves, leading to a massive police persuit.
These chapters are often alternated with chapters from Blaze's past which are just as good as the primary story line as the add really well to character development and explain why Blaze is the way he is.
The book also contains a 20 odd paged short story called Memory which King has written into a novel Called Duma Key (published January 2008). Unfortunatly this short story was absolute rubbish. It begins with a man in hospital after an accident. He feels angry all the time especially at his wife who wants a divorce. Then he leaves the hospital (after an entirely uneventful stay) and kills an injured dog to put it out of its misery...and it just ends there...it was weird there was no story line and the whole thing was totally pointless. I hope there's a lot more to Duma Key than there was to that.
Blaze itself was an excellent novel which I would reccomend to fans of King and/or Bachman.
Book Review: "Trunk Novel" a delight, regardless
Summary: 5 Stars
An early effort of Stephen King's pseudonym Richard Bachman, "Blaze" is a terse, hard-bitten novel reading like "Of Mice and Men" crossed with "Catcher in the Rye", dashed with liberal sprinkles of pulp/noir. Different from his usual fare, "Blaze" is a perfect example of King's story-telling range.
Ever since Clay Blaisdell's drunken father repeatedly threw him downstairs for eating Apple Jacks in the living room, he's been eternally falling. A once bright boy now soft in the head, Clay is three times as big as everyone else, and twice as a slow. Somehow he manages to survive, catching snatches of happiness where he can. Unfortunately, Clay's bright enough to know he can't make it by himself, but not smart enough to do anything about it.
Luckily, he hooks up with a small time hood named George. Unlike Clay, George is smart; he always has a plan. This leaves Clay to do what he does best: take orders. However, George is now dead - gutted in a knife brawl - leaving Clay to carry out their biggest heist ever: kidnapping a rich couple's baby. Guided by his dead partner's voice, Clay and a million dollar baby approach a cold fate on a frigid, winter night.
Though this is clearly an early work, readers will sense King's keen insight into human nature even here. Clay is never evil, merely misguided and star-crossed, and King's young narrative provokes emotions one wouldn't expect from a crime novel. Certainly another piece in the King legacy, "Blaze" is a fire worth warming up to.
Book Review: Bachman (King) does it again!
Summary: 5 Stars
This will only be my opinion, but I think this is one of the best Richard Bachman books by King. I feel that the Long Walk is the best Bachman book. Blaze comes in a close second. I couldn't put it down. Everytime a chapter ended I thought "I've gotta see what happens next." I have read a lot of reviews talking about feeling sorry for Blaze. I was curious how anyone could feel sorry for a child kidnapper, but found that I also felt sorry for him. Especially at the end.
To me the story was well paced, and flowed evenly. There wasn't a lot of description to bog down the story, but just enough to keep you going. King does a great job of not telling when the time period was while still telling you that it was in the last thirty years.
After finishing the book I felt sad. Also I thought a lot about the book for several days after finishing it. Not many books stick in my mind like that. So to wrap this up, I really feel this is an excellant book! If you want a great story that doesn't require reading seven-hundred pages, then you really should give this book a try.
Book Review: Of Mice and Men meets Crime Noir
Summary: 5 Stars
I am currently in my second read-through of Blaze, and it still strikes me that it takes a great novelist to get you to sympathize with a criminal. Blaze is both deplorable as well as instantly likeable in a sympathetic-leaning-towards-pity sort of way. You will end up wanting things to go well for him, down to the end. When he smiles, especially in the flashbacks, you end up smiling along.
I have nothing but praise for this book. It might be that it has been a good half-year since I last read it, but the story still hooked me, for example I still felt the same heart-wrenching sorrow over the section later dubbed "the fabulous blueberry summer." My first thought was "Man this kid didn't deserve half the things that were thrust upon him" followed by "Oh yeah, its a novel."
I don't think this story is for everyone, it WAS written by a much youngr King, and doesn't have the characterization or complexity of his later works. But if you are looking for a simple story with a lot of heart, you should check this one out.