Misery (Stephen King)

Approval Rate: 52%

52%Approval ratio

Reviews 19

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  • by

    edt4226d

    Fri May 15 2009

    Goes to show that if you keep on writing year after year after year, in time you might actually get it right. Decades after he first started writing for men's magazines, King wrote this novel about a writer "appropriated" by a demented female serial killer in the winter wilderness of Colorado. It was the talented Kathy Bates who brought the character of Annie Wilkes to such vivid life on the movie screen, but even in King's novel, she's terrifying (real-life monsters are always more terrifying than fictional ones) and her sadism is unrestrained...in the movie, some punches were pulled. All of the flaws of King's writing that I deplore...unbelievable characters, idiotic dialogue, unconvincing endings, precocious kids...seem to be becoming less evident the older he gets. Maybe by the time he hits 90, he'll be writing like Poe? Maybe not, but if he continues to write like this, maybe I'll continue to read his stuff.

  • by

    dpostoskie

    Thu Apr 07 2005

    Movie was insane, Bates was perfect. The book, as all books seem to be, is better. But Bates brought that horrific woman to life.

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    badunsgirl

    Thu Nov 25 2004

    This book is great and the movie is just as great!! I read Misery and enjoyed every moment of it!

  • by

    harrycrumble

    Fri Oct 08 2004

    i think misery is a very chilling novel and is realistic! Im reading 'salems lot at the moment but its not having the same affect as misery!

  • by

    beatlesfanstev_eo

    Tue Jul 13 2004

    i never read the book but I did watch the movie and I loved it.

  • by

    metalhed

    Fri Apr 16 2004

    This is one of my favorite King novels. It is very distubing but the fact is that this sort of thing could really happen!

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    evileye

    Thu Apr 01 2004

    My first King novel, and it's still one of my favorite. It's disturbing & realistic at the same time, I love it!!

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    shazzab

    Mon Nov 17 2003

    I loved this book and had seen the film before reading it. I was horrified when reading the book to see that what Annie did to Paul was far worse then in the film. My heart was absolutely hammering every time he went out of his room and I just couldn't put it down. Cockadooie great book.

  • by

    president_x_d

    Mon Sep 22 2003

    The well known film based upon this book does a great job capturing the flavor of the novel. However, the film makes the writer's character a bit more sympathetic than the book does. The Paul Sheldon of the novel Misery is in many ways a jackass, but since we get a clear and well-rounded pictuire of the flawed author in this book I still found myself rooting for him. the punishments and tortures inflicted in the film are pretty tame compared to what happens to Sheldon in the novel, but that's all I'm going to say about it. I have to rate this a four since I'm rating the King novels "on the curve" vs. his other works. The novel is awesome and would get a 5 star rating in a general fiction list, but I have to rate King a little differently because there are so many novels to choose from... King newbies, if any exist, should know that some books are better than others in his library, but 90% are highly recommended.

  • by

    crimson_hunter

    Wed Sep 17 2003

    One very disturbing novel about Annie Wilkes's obsession with her favorite writer.

  • by

    ponerse

    Mon Jun 02 2003

    I rank Misery right up there in my top 3 Stephen King books. A must see movie also. Kathy Bates is one scary nurse.

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    evee_2002

    Thu Nov 28 2002

    Awesome book, One of his best. It was thrinlling and kept me reading. Anyone who hasnt read it. I suggest u do!

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    callmetootie

    Wed Aug 15 2001

    One of the scariest of Stephen King.

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    rtucker

    Mon Nov 27 2000

    It was a good book but I felt that it could have been better. I think that the suspense could have been better. It really didn't strike any emotions in me that were that strong.

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    vic11148

    Tue Nov 21 2000

    Living in an isolated house with a psychopathic wife is very scary. What she did to her husband was even more terrible. This book I kind of liked for it's content, but then it didn't really amaze me so much. I think the movie was better than the book.

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    shendley

    Wed Nov 01 2000

    This book scared the crap out of me. Stephen King has an excellent writing style. He knows how to keep you in suspense.

  • by

    menem80

    Wed Oct 25 2000

    Great characters. Too scary, invoking fear. Got involved with characters as far as liking and disliking them.

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    heugo9d7

    Tue Oct 17 2000

    Damn good book, really horrifying (if it happened to me). Made me cringe every now and then but in my opinion the bad lady's death should have been more gruesome.

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    moon156om

    Tue Oct 26 1999

    My favorite Stephan King novel by far. Fear builds in my throat whenever Annie comes home + the main character is out of his room.