Firestarter (Signet)
by Stephen King
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Book Summary Information
Author: Stephen KingEdition: Mass Market Paperback
Published: 1981-08-01
ISBN: 0451167805
Number of pages: 416
Publisher: Signet
Book Reviews of Firestarter (Signet)
Book Review: Absolutely Amazing--though a bit structurally unbalanced
Summary: 4 Stars
What can I say about Stephen King? That he is the most amazing writer I've read since Mark Twain? Or that he creates characters and dialog that are so true-to-life and inventive? That his prose soars like a Gulfstream? Yes, these and a lot more.
I've read King as a teenager, and now in my 30s, I decided to read some of the earlier novels I've bypassed before. Firestarter is the first of these novels, and when I read it, I nearly cried at some of the scenes. I just couldn't believe how well-written they were. Case in point: when the dad and the girl goes to the farmer's house, and the dad's trying to convince the farmer what his girl could do, and when the bad guys show up. That one brilliant scene--the dialog, the realistic action, etc.--encapsulates everything that is brilliant about Stephen King. John Grisham can't write such a scene. Neither can Michael Crichton or Dennis Lehane or, God help us, James Patterson.
The story itself, though, suffers a lot in comparison to King's preternatural writing talent. The government is experimenting on college students (yeah, right!) to give them extrasensory powers, and two people have a kid, and that kid can throw fireballs. Haha. Of course, the easiest thing the parents could've done is to alert the papers from the get-go, but noooo, they had to wait--well, the dad does anyway because the wife gets offed before the novel even begins--until it was too late. So logically, Firestarter, like all of King's novels, are on very shaky ground. And structurally, King can shrink it a bit--esp. the overly long denouement. So a point off.
But it doesn't matter. You don't read Stephen King for tight structure and high concept--that would be Dan Brown and Ira Levin--but for his prose, dialog, and character development, which are, again, amazing. You read Stephen King for the interaction between the dad and his little girl, and smile and curse the brillaint villain John Rainbird, the modern-day Injun Joe.
So read this book, and witness truly one of the great talents in the English language.
Summary of Firestarter (Signet)
Innocence and beauty ignite with evil and terror as a young girl exhibits signs of a wild and horrifying force.Mystery & Thrillers Books
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