Roadwork by Stephen King
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Book Reviews of Roadwork
Book Review: You Can Only Push a Man So Far.
Summary: 4 Stars
Written under his alter-ego of Richard Bachman, ROADWORK was King's first attempt at writing a typical mainstream novel (without the supernatural). The book takes place in the early -1970s and chronicles the last days of Barton George Dawes. Dawes is an Average Joe. He started working at a local laundry company right out of high school and has been there for over twenty years. He has a beautiful wife and a nice home in the town he grew up in. He has a lot of friends who care for him--people he grew up with, went to school with, have worked with, and went to church with. They're a close-knit community.
On the surface everything seems fine. But under the surface, there's a storm brewing. It started three years earlier when Barton's only son, Charlie, died because of a brain tumor. That shook up Dawes bad. A couple years later even more bad news came: a new highway extension is coming through town right where Dawes has lived his life. His house is set to be demolished as is the laundry business where he works. His home; everything he has spent his entire life working for and building is scheduled to come crashing down by a wrecking ball. Barton George Dawes has set on the sidelines long enough and isn't going to take it. Some people think he's gone crazy and maybe he has. Whatever the case, Dawes doesn't intend to give up his home without a fight and without trying to get even.
King has said that ROADWORK was a novel that he wrote as a way to deal with the death of his mother who died just as King was beginning to receive financial success as a writer. The story is a bit crude (in writing, not language) and begins rather slow (except for the introduction). Nevertheless, the book has a lot of emotional appeal and does a decent job of illustrating some of the pressures faced and forced upon an adult living in our post-modern consumer society. Also, the catalyst for Dawes last stand is the destruction of his home because of eminent domain. Eminent domain was an issue that was big in the 1970s, but faded away for awhile. However, eminent domain is becoming a huge issue again as communities, supported by a Supreme Court decision in 2005, attempt to rip people's homes and small businesses away to make way for parking lots, super-sized businesses and corporations, and aesthetic purposes.
Overall, even though ROADWORK is a much different work than fans of King might be used to reading, it is a very personal and emotional, yet relatable novel that is well worth reading.
Book Review: SOMETIMES LESS IS MORE
Summary: 4 Stars
YES I AGREE THAT THIS IS MORE LOW-KEY THAN MOST OF KING'S WORK, BUT I ABSOLUTELY LOVE IT. TRULY A CHARACTER STUDY, IN MANY WAYS I FOUND IT SIMILAR TO THE FILM 'ORDINARY PEOPLE' IN THAT IT IS ABOUT A MAN WHO IS SLOWLY COMING APART. THE WRITING STYLE IS AS INTENSE AS EVER, AND THERE ARE SEVERAL INTERESTING CHARACTERS IN IT APART FROM THE PROTAGONIST, BART DAWES. OVERALL, I THINK IT IS A MEDITATION ON DEATH AND WHAT IT MAY MEAN, BUT BELIVE THIS STORY ALSO EXPLORES OTHER THEMES SUCH AS LOSS, LOVE, DISAPPOINTMENT AND EVEN A STUDY ON OUR MOSTLY HOMOGINISED, LOW-RISK, SOMETIMES EMPTY-SEEMING SURBURBAN WAY OF LIFE IN THE LOUDLY LAUDED WESTERN WORLD. A SUPERIOR NOVELLA, RIGHT UP THERE WITH BOTH THE LONG WALK AND APT PUPIL. FROM A READER BASED NEAR THOSE GREEN PACIFIC WATERS MENTIONED IN ROADWORK.Book Review: Push a Man Too Far? Just ask Bart Dawes
Summary: 4 Stars
I suppose one can be pushed so far until the breaking point is reached. Barton Dawes is such a man who reached that point in 1974.
The novel is a mainstream Richard Bachman work. There's no supernatural, occult, or ghosts in it. Only a man teetering on the edge of sanity.
Mr. Dawes hasn't gotten over the untimely death of his young son. The government is taking his place of business & his house through eminent domain to build a freeway extension. Other of life's problems add to his shaky psyche. The only comfort he finds is in Southern Comfort.
The book is a serious departure for King. It may be one of his lesser known works. There are better King novels. But, don't pass on this one by any means. It has Bachman written all over it and that's not a bad thing at all
Book Review: Mixed feelings
Summary: 4 Stars
I had mixed feeling while reading this piece. It was incredibly depressing and compelling at the same time. King's use of allusion and metaphor were sublime and kept me reading when I would have put the book down in despair for the main character. But it was MEANT to be depressing, not horrifying, and it succeeds beautifully.
One of my favorite lines in the book was when he compared the word inoperable to tasting "rotten and juicy at the same time, like bad hamburger cooked rare". And when he referred to the antennas on the tops of the buildings to "Frightened hairs." That is absolutely brilliant writing. The whole book is like this; vivid and disturbing and completely articulate.
Book Review: Strong Piece of Bachman/King Cannon
Summary: 4 Stars
Kings best works were all written under the name Bachman, and here is a decent example (the best being Rage, the second being The Long Walk--this one comes in third.) This is the story of a man whos life is very quickly turned upside down, and what extend his stress leads to when, on top of everything else, he is to be kicked out of his home for the construction of a highway. One of the Bachman talents comes through strong yet again--the ability to sit you front row center in the mind of the character; you get the emotions, the reason, and the overwhelming ability to sympathize more strongly than you are usually allowed to in most other works of fiction.