Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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14 of 15 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Sometimes "read" is better...., 18 Feb 2001
By A Customer
This is probably not the most sophisticated or deeply plotted Stephen King book - it is one of his early works and that shows. Pet Sematary is, however, the most absorbing and haunting novel I have ever read and is full of a black humour that remains with you long afterwards.The concept is simplicity itself - happy all-American family move to their dream house in rural Maine and make friends with the kindly old couple across the street. This, of course, is the world of Stephen King - so everyone has a secret and nothing is quite as it seems. The one thing you can be sure of is that nobody is likely to live happily ever after... The book is certainly bleak and not to be recommended if you're feeling depressed ! But, however intense the emotions that it evokes, the joy of meeting some of King's most believable and sympathetic characters and the experience of discovering just what is out there in the woods behind the Creed house are certainly worth it. I have read this book countless times, but have never forgotton the pleasure of discovering it initially, when every plot development was new. If you are about to read Pet Sematary for the first time I envy you - enjoy !
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10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
This is a book to die for., 6 Jul 1999
By A Customer
My advice to you is not to read this book whilst sitting alone in the house at night with only the cat for company because i can guarantee you that you will not be able to sleep.This is the story of Dr Lous Creed, his wife Rachael and their two children, Ellie and Gage who move from Chicago to Ludlow, Maine. Here they become friends with an elderly couple across the street, Jud and Norma Crandall. One night Jud takes Louis up to the Pet Sematary and beyond to a magicial place, an indian buiral ground. From here on in this is truly Stephen King at his best. I realised that this was not the best book to take to read on holiday whilst lying on a sundrenched beach, with nothing much to occupy my mind with during the day i found at night my imagination running wild and have to admit to having to sleep with the lights on. After having read this book ask yourself one question - If you were in the same position as Louis Creed whould you do the same thing? My answer: Under the circumstances and bearing the state of my mind, then probably yes. Quite a frighting thought. If you are Stephen King's Number One Fan than this book is a MUST HAVE!
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
King could have explored so much more with this story..., 9 Jan 2009
THIS REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS!
Pet Sematary was my first Stephen King novel. Though not a major disappointment, the book did not fulfil the expectations I had in mind when starting off. Since I finished the book about a week ago, I have not lost the feeling that King could have explored so much more.
The basic plot of the story can be summarised in a few sentences: Louis Creed and his wife Rachel move together with their two young children, Ellie and Gage, to Maine, where Dr Creed takes up a new job in the Univeristy's medical centre. Soon after settling at their new home, Dr Creed becomes friends with Jud, his elderly neighbour, who has lived in the house opposite all his life. Jud takes the Creed family on an excursion to the Pet Sematary, a place where local children bury their dead pets. Most of the pets buried in this cemetery are victims of the heavy traffic on the road, which also happens to run past the Creed family home.
A few months down the line, whilst Rachel and the children are spending Thanksgiving with Rachel's parents in Chicago, the Creeds' cat, Church, is run over by a lorry. Initially, Louis is at a loss and does not know how to break the news to his daughter. During the very same night, however, Jud comes up with a solution to Louis's problem and takes him beyond the Pet Sematary to an ancient Micmac burial site, where Church is subsequently entombed. A few days later Church returns, but only his outer shell resembles the tomcat he once was.
Nevertheless, life goes on in the Creed family household, and even though the cat's behaviour has altered significantly, the events of this fateful night remain Louis's secret. Tragedy returns when Gage, the youngest child, is fatally injured on the same road. Unable to cope with his son's death, Louis decides to bury Gage at the Micmac burial ground against Jud's ominous warnings...
Contrary to the experiences of other reviewers, I found Pet Sematary to be a very emotional book. Rather than inducing feelings of suspense or fear, in my own opinion the novel conveys the moral message that, even if we had the power to awaken the dead, it is more fruitful (and safer) to come to terms with the death of a loved one. King's novel was most convincing when talking about Louis's feelings of guilt after his son's tragic death. Altogether I felt that the book was too long and contained too many, superfluous details. At the same time, following Gage's return and his somewhat inexplicable killing spree, it felt that King was almost in a rush to end the story. Whilst he fills pages talking about the return of the tomcat and his changed appearance, it is hard to form an impression of Gage after his return from the burial ground. Frankly, I couldn't quite understand why he would return and kill both Jud as well as his mother straight away. The story therefore effectively ended when it could have become most intrigiung. Rather than killing most off the characters off, I think it would have been quite interesting to witness Gage interact with the remaining members of his family...
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