The Dead Zone (1979)

Classic Stephen King. ( )

Johnny Smith is out with his girlfriend at a fairground, and after dropping her off, gets knocked over by a car. [return][return]He spends 7 years in a coma, and after coming around, so many things have changed. His girlfriend has married someone else and had a child. His body isnt performing like it used to, as his muscles have atrophied. His mother has gone all religious in her old age. And his latent psychic ability has come to the fore, which means he can "see" things by touching items. Most of these are useful - he finds a lost child for instance and identifies someone who has been kidnapping children.[return][return]However, he is put in a dilemma - how far would you go when you realise that one of the presidential candidates will get voted in and then "press the button", starting nuclear war. Knowing that he is dying, John makes a decision that he feels only he can make to stop things happening ( )

I have read a few books by Stephen King: The Stand and all seven (eight if you include The Wind through the Keyhole) volumes of The Dark Tower. In all of these books King takes time to tell the everyday aspects of his character’s lives. This is what makes us care about his characters and what invests us in his narrative. The Dead Zone is no different. Like his other novels, King plays with the theme that people need to do what they were made to do. Not that it is fate (well, in The Dark Tower there is always Ka so maybe it is fate…) but it is simply people’s natures that they are compelled to somehow address a problem or avert a catastrophe even if it is at the expense of their own life. In some sense then King’s character’s are noble in the face adversity. As awful as the situations are as King describes them, i still find his stories uplifting. How weird is that for an author who supposed to be writing horror? I very much enjoyed The Dead Zone.
I like this rating system by ashleytylerjohn of LibraryThing (https://www.librarything.com/profile/ashleytylerjohn) that I have also adopted:
(Note: 5 stars = rare and amazing, 4 = quite good book, 3 = a decent read, 2 = disappointing, 1 = awful, just awful.) ( )

After reading King's newer book, The Institute, I felt like this book might have some similar connections to it. I had never read The Dead Zone before so I wasn't sure and had to check it out based on the basics I knew of the story. I really did enjoy reading this book and I'm glad that I did. It was a sad story about a man who just wanted a normal life and got the ability to see into the future instead. I found it rather tragic honestly. I did really enjoy the story and look forward to reading more of King's work in the future. ( )

Classic. King is such a natural storyteller. I thought I'd read this aeons ago. but I only remembered the beginning, so I may not have finished it. I have resumed my quest to read Stevie's books in (more or less) chronological order.

This one is not really frightening like, say the Shining or It, it reads more like a thriller with supernatural overtones. You feel like you have been on a real journey by the end of the book, and it features a very tense finale, which is not true of all King books. The only very slight criticism is that the book is loosely plotted, more episodic in nature, though it's really no less compelling as a result.

The Dead Zone is justifiably considered a classic, and one of King's better books. I have to say, in the new audiobook version that was just released, James Franco does a very nice job with the narration. ( )