Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
King at his best (again!), 26 Jun 2007
A lot of the more recent Stephen King novels have been quite poor to say the least, with books like Rose Madder and From A Buick 8 being two of the worst he has ever written. Dreamcatcher on the other hand is surprisingly absolutely brilliant. The story is tense and exciting and can be extremely clever and imaginative too. The characters are all very believable and the four main characters are all likeable.
The story is of four kids whose lives were changed forever when they save a child, named Duddits, from being bullied. The four friends now grown up and have completely separate lives but always meet for an annual hunting trip. On this year's trip they are faced with an alien invasion and a near psychotic army Colonel, Kurtz.
The alien invasion begins when Jonesy discovers a man walking in the woods who complains of stomach problems due to berries he had eaten. Jonesy then notices a red mark on the man's cheek, who exhibits extremely foul flatulence. Beaver, another of the four friends, returns and they observe a large pack of animals who all have markings similar to the stranger's. When they return, the man is dead in the bathroom. This man, the animals, and eventually a female all share similar symptoms, and learn that they are infected with a virus that the Army scientists have nicknamed "The Ripley". The friends discover that the infection causes its host to form partially grown, worm-like aliens and call them "sh*t weasels", because they incubate inside the human body, exiting through their backside and look like red weasels. One of the four friends, Jonesy, becomes under the control of "Mr. Gray", an unpleasant alien who has found a way into Jonesy's mind. The characters then begin a fight to stop Mr. Gray from implementing a scheme to infect a large number of people with the virus and to prevent their annihilation by Kurtz and his followers. This task requires the help of Duddits, now an adult, who is dying of leukemia.
Dreamcatcher, like some of my other favourite King books such as Misery, Pet Semetary, IT, The Green Mile, The Shining and Carrie, will definitely be one of my "read every 5 years" books, as it is easily as much of a classic as any of the ones I've mentioned.
Also, if you've seen the film and either didn't like it or didn't understand it, if you read the book, all of the weird bits will make sense and will make it a truly enjoyable film too.
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8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Dreamcatcher, 3 Jul 2002
For those of you new to Stephen King, don't judge a book by the cover titles of films made for them. With the notable exceptions of The Shawshank Redemption, Stand by Me and a few others most of King's numerous short stories, books and novellas haven't translated well to celluloid. That said, Dreamcatcher is an excellent way to introduce new readers to Stephen King and for past fans of his work it is an opportunity to reacquaint and immerse in writing typical of his style.
However, although Dreamcatcher has many key elements of the horror genre, it is (at least partially) a science fiction book. Not so much little green men, instead grey androgynous aliens with ESP and plots to take over the world. Less Disney and more X-Files.
With dark intent the book centres around five childhood friends all linked by their own thought processes and by a dreamcatcher; a native American charm to ward off evil and catch nightmares. To survive they must battle alien viruses, mutated weasels and military officials with murderous agendas, while in a race against time to save the planet. Some will live and others won't but in Dreamcatcher King rouses sympathy, apathy, love or hatred for all his characters; even fleeting personalities who warrant only a page but contribute to the story by showing depth to the main characters or by tying up loose ends.
An enjoyable read all around, I can thoroughly recommend Dreamcatcher. It should delight new readers and welcome home old friends. If you want a book with a bit of a bite, Dreamcatcher has very sharp teeth!
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5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Back To The Old Formula, 2 Dec 2003
Like quite a few other Stephen King books, (e.g. “Christine”, “Needful Things”, “The Tommyknockers”, “Desperation” and even “Misery”), the story starts off with life going on as normal. We go from there to an uneasy feeling that not everything’s as it should be. Then things start to get slightly skewed with the protagonists feeling just a little nervous. They don’t know exactly what’s wrong, but something’s not right. Finally, all hell breaks loose and you are left with no doubt that you have just passed into Stephen King’s realm, and through all the unreality, you still get the faint glimmer that this impossible situation just could be possible. We’re faced with aliens in the woods, a possible threat to humanity and average guys who, on the surface, aren’t really equipped for the fight. You will probably want to read this book if:
- You’re a Stephen King fan who really enjoyed The Tommyknockers.
- You want to read a new explanation for all of those supposed UFO sightings over the years.
- You enjoy epic, save-the-world stories that, let’s face it, could never happen – could they?
You probably won’t want to read this book if:
- You didn’t enjoy The Tommyknockers.
- You like the action at a sustained fast-pace. The book does tend to lose momentum mid-way through.
- You have a thing about profanity.
Although the story is rather formulaic, this formula is the reason I read Stephen King books.
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