Duma Key

I would have given it 4 stars, but there were parts where the lack of research drove me nuts. For one, a person must prepare a canvas for oil paints--not simply stretch the canvas. Secondly, oils take days to dry. Simple things like that should have been an easy bit of research. King admits that he is lazy with research, though, so I don't begrudge him it overmuch.

It’s funny, I read King’s Florida beach novel during a brutally cold Minnesota winter storm. Thirty below, not windchill, just straight up bone chilling cold. We also got plenty of accompanying snow. In this 600-page beast, King still transported me to burning sandy beaches and dangerous tropical storms. It begins with a construction-site accident, a man horrifically injured and the corresponding confusion, loss, pain, and brutal recovery that accompanies such an accident. King published this book in 2008, just about nine years after his experience with a terrible accident that led to his own vicious injuries and ruthless recovery, after a van struck him on one of his walks. He clearly draws on his personal experience and it makes show more his writing on pain and suffering honest and raw. The protagonist named Edger leaves his home in the Twin Cities and relocates to the mythical “Duma Key” to recover physically and emotionally. King owns a home in ‘nearby’ Casey Key, where I’m sure he did his own recovery and found more inspirations for this book.

Somehow the story feels familiar yet extremely different. The familiarity comes from a variety of plot lines and themes. A sinister supernatural force, slowly revealing it self over the course of the story. A protagonist who, like King, is an artist, and finds himself thrust into the spotlight. A rich set of characters that come together to support the main character in overcoming the supernatural evil. You can see pieces and parts of this story in many of his other works.

However, in many ways, it is one of his more unique books. The location is far from Maine, starting in St. Paul, Minnesota, but quickly moving to Florida’s gulf coast. Just this change in scenery creates an extremely different feel than most of his works. The main character is a painter. And while King clearly draws on the similarities of writing, this also differentiates this story from the many others where the main character is an author. King includes twelve delightful little vignettes titled, “How to Draw a Picture”, throughout the story. These departures really added to my enjoyment.

As always King excels at make character’s reactions to supernatural events feel believable. He also peppers his stories with wonderful observations and little revelations that make his writing so enjoyable.

“Just looking into that mild flat sunlit calm is healing. It’s a big word isn’t it? Gulf, I mean. Big enough to drop a lot of things into and watch them disappear.”

He also follows his own advice and bravely ‘kills his darlings’. No spoilers, but he did make the final third of the story hard to swallow for me. An event I won’t reveal not only made me sad, I felt it made Edger’s actions somewhat off at the end. It’s probably just me, I just hate to even imagine that kind of loss. For me it made the first two thirds more enjoyable then the end of the book. But it’s not a bad ending, I just didn’t enjoy it as much as I loved the first two thirds.

I loved the characters such as Wireman and Jack. Jack is a can-do, good to the last drop, young friend that falls into Edger’s life in Duma Key. And Wireman is this unique, kindred spirit, that immediately connects with Edger and has wonderful little sayings throughout the story. The three of them make the perfect team and are easy to root for, but also provide genuine concern when they are in peril.

In the end, this is another magnificent King ghost story, just one with a ghost ship and buried treasure. One where you feel like your friend Stephen is telling you, fireside during a thunderstorm. It’s making the hair on the back of your neck standup, but you don’t want it to end. This is another example of why I think so many people have such affection for King. By the last page, you’ll feel like you know him as well as any friend you have, and as Wireman says, that muchacho, can only come from some seriously honest and talented writing. show less

I used to crave Stephen King’s books! In my 30s and 40s, I read just about every one almost as soon as they came off the press, but all that stopped about 20 years ago. I’m not quite sure why. I suspect I slowly ceased to be interested in the supernatural and turned my attention to other types of fiction. But I remember very fondly the eerie, skin-crawling terror that would come over me as I read his works, my personal favorites being The Shining, and Misery.

What caused me to read Duma Key? Well, somewhere in the many newspapers and magazines I read routinely, I came across an enthusiastic review of Stephen King’s latest supernatural thriller, and that old urge absolutely overpowered me—the urge to read a book once again that show more would frightened me out of my skin. I asked myself: Was it possible for Stephen King to work his supernatural literary magic on me after all these years and take me to the brink of terror and beyond? I honestly hoped so. But after finishing the book, I am sorry to report that the answer is no—it didn’t work. I could no longer suspend my disbelief and, like a child once again, enjoy the pleasures of a good scary story.

I’m afraid it is my loss—the problem is probably me, not the book or the author. Some people must just outgrow the ability to enjoy the supernatural. Perhaps it’s because in the last twenty years I’ve become all too aware of actual worldwide atrocities—e.g., psychopathic torture killings, sadistic rapes, genocide, ethnic massacres, global warming, ecological destruction, and countless other worldwide barbarisms. As a result, the supernatural seems just plain silly.

Did I enjoy Duma Key? Yes, in a way, I did. The story of a powerful businessman destroyed by a freak construction accident and redeemed through art—now, that was fascinating. There is considerable sophistication and psychological depth to the story. So indeed, I found the first two-thirds of the book—the part where King takes meticulous care to develop his characters and their relationships with one another—totally intriguing. In particular, I loved King’s portrayal of the close father-daughter bond between the main character, Edgar Freemantle, and his youngest daughter, Ilse. But the last part where the supernatural events started to kick in with increasing intensity…well, there is where my pleasure dwindled, and frankly, I eventually couldn’t wait for the book to end.

Will I ever read another Stephen King book? If he sticks to the purely supernatural, the answer is: probably not. But I really like King—the man can write! I admire his careful character development and casual, in-the-moment prose and dialogue. If he ever chooses to write another eerie purely psychological thriller, I’ll probably take the bait and read it. Better still, King might do something entirely new in his mature years and start writing literary fiction. In interviews he makes it clear that he loves to read literary fiction, maybe he’ll pick yet another pseudonym and turn his prodigious skill away from thrillers and the supernatural in a wholly new, and perhaps more purely literary direction. Now, that’s something I’d love to see! And, why not? Personally, I think he might do it very well and surprise us all. show less

It took Stephen King his entire life to write this book.0619f_dumakey

After a debilitating job-site accident wealthy contractor Edgar Freemantle is left with one arm, a barely functioning hip, and scrambled mental faculties. When he threatens his wife’s life with a plastic knife and she decides that she can take no more, his therapist suggests a change of scenery. So begins Freemantle’s second life: in a big pink house on Duma Key, Florida he discovers a latent talent for painting and a supernatural mystery that’s been haunting the island for nearly a century. As his skill grows, along with powers seemingly granted by his missing arm, so does the danger to everyone he loves.

Quite simply, this is King at his best. The supernatural show more elements are as strong and sinister as those in It or ‘Salem’s Lot. Freemantle’s friendships with former-lawyer-with-a-current-brain-injury Wireman, college student Jack, and Elizabeth Eastlake are as rich as any he’s ever written. There are insights on art and creativity that could just as easily have come from his non-fiction work On Writing. King draws much from his own struggle to recover artistically from being hit by a van and his experiences as an artist and father. The mythology, the textural details of the Florida locale, the peek into the world of visual arts..it’s really good, you guys. That’s what I’m saying.

The way the dread builds from mere despair to out-and-out unstoppable horror is unparalleled. How King found somewhere lower than “suicidal divorcé amputee” to take his main character, and made me enjoy it, is a spectacular mystery for the ages. I stayed up all night reading this one, and I could see myself doing it again.

I have no complaints with the novel, but I did see a Goodreads reviewer call it “sentimental” (as a negative trait). The novel is sentimental, about art and family and loss and recovery, I just don’t agree that that’s a bad thing. show less

For me, this was one of the most resonant of King's works in his modern era--call it the post-accident era. King has always excelled by writing about what scares him, and making the journey a vivid one. I think "The Shining," for instance, was largely inspired by the secret fear that plagues every writer: what if the well runs dry? "Pet Sematary" centered on the fear of losing a child, something every parent knows too well.

"Duma Key" is an exploration on the nature of creativity, and the realization that the creative spark inside isn't necessarily something we individually own. Sometimes, it owns us.

The book's haunting messages are even more startling because a large swath of it--certainly half--is something most "Intro to Creative show more Writing" classes will tell you to avoid: Single Character on Stage. In addition, most of the true action in the book happens in the last 50 pages or so, with more than a little of it told as flashbacks. Also no-nos in the eyes of writing instructors everywhere.

Yet in spite of this, or perhaps because of it, King pulls it all together to make it all magical. Thank God he didn't follow through on that hinted-at retirement. show less

Nearly killed in an accident on a construction site, King’s main character, Edgar Freemantle needs a change of scenery to help him recover, and heads to Duma Key. After a few weeks of recovering physically, mentally engaging in a new artistic endeavor, and developing new friendships, Edgar’s life takes a turn for the worse.

A long, deliberate build up of the characters and their relationships leads to a deep investment for the reader. I cared what happened to Edgar and his friends. I appreciate King’s restrained hand in building up the characters before he pulls the rug out from under the reader. I enjoy his skill in building a story around the reader’s growing awareness of the character’s inner compulsions and core needs. show more This really helped me develop a eye for how carefully one needs to build characters so that readers connect with.

King's skills on full display. show less

Ranks up there as one of the best books King has ever written. I will write a more complete review when I have more time, but for those who doubted King still had it in him, look no further. It has none of the fusty closeness of Lisey's story or the detached lameness of Cell. It does have warmth, true friendship, dread, and a horrifying moment that made me gasp (he's never done this to me before). Yes, it is horror, but at heart it is a powerful story of the ancient battle of good v. evil.

Here's more;
Constant Readers know that things have been a bit hit or miss for Mr. King. Spotty. Opinions vary widely over each new book. A love/hate relationship ensues. When King is firing on all cylinders it is an amazing experience. It’s his very show more excellence that makes his mediocrity so miserable to the Constant Reader. We KNOW what he is capable of and are highly unsatisfied with anything but.

As good as Duma Key is (and for me it ranks up there with The Stand), I am still wary of King these days. After all, I thought he was back when I read Hearts In Atlantis, only to be sucker punched by From a Buick Eight and Cell. Every author is allowed to stumble, but these were sprawled out, flat on your face, ‘did anyone see that’ moments. I mourned. Then read Lisey’s Story which was trying in the extreme, but rewarding in the end. Lights glimmered on the horizon. The advanced press for Duma Key hailed it as a masterpiece. All right and good except that you can find someone to say this about anything these days.
Still I bought it.

And it consumed my life for 3 days.

A lot of other King works will float into your head as you read this; The Crate, Shawshank, The Green Mile, The Body. At the core of those and of Duma Key is friendship, loyalty and all the good things about humanity and the fight against ancient evil to preserve those things.

Duma Key wraps around you and makes you feel welcome. Sure, Edgar’s tale of pain and mental breakdown is sad, but the world in which King drops him is tender, healing and alive with discovery. Weird things happen, but are both benevolent and beneficial so you stay lulled. Eddie and Wireman’s friendship is something to be envied. Their straight off the bat understanding of each other is as uncanny as any within the pages of King’s novels. Without effort or explanation, they fall into each other’s lives and rhythms with barely a ripple on the surface. They bond, sure and fast. I think each of us longs for a person like this in our lives. Wireman is the perfect guide for Eddie in this new stage of his life. Their other lives were similar as were the soul-altering circumstances to their ends. Something deeper brought them both to Duma Key, but neither wants to think of that now.

Of course it can’t last. If we know anything about King it is his gift of destruction. This beautiful, understanding world of great discovery and talent reclaimed will be pulled down utterly, completely and without remorse. During the build up and the commencement of such, I simultaneously felt the pull of the narrative and also the dread. I admit to deliberately pausing and taking breaks just to savor this. It is that delicious quality to the dread that keeps you going though. Part of you wants to stop, to preserve the idyll for as long as possible. Part of you wants to keep going to see the complete desolation and the evil up close. This is what makes King’s writing so magical.

That and his obvious love for his characters. Wireman and Eddie are the most prominent, but Elizabeth shines through as someone so wonderful, I totally understand Wireman’s devotion to her. She is frail and Alzheimer’s has her fast in its grip. After decades of being a hot shit, this is hard to take for the people who’ve known her a long time. Eddie mourns the time he did not know her. Personally I don’t think it was all Alzheimer’s keeping her mentally distant. I think it was the psychic bandages and wrapping she created for herself in order to survive as an adult after her childhood. So muffled is her memory, that what does come through is thought to be the babblings and ravings of a mad woman.

King’s cryptic hints and foreshadowing tell us differently though. With each chapter he ratchets up the tension and the dread. Something horrible is coming and it cannot be stopped. Eddie has been wielding its terrible power, but he doesn’t know he’s being used; lulled into a trusting state. He knows there is a dangerous edge to what he does through his painting trances, but he thinks he can control it. After all, he’s a grown man and Elizabeth was only a tiny girl child when it took her.

The moment when he realizes he can’t literally made me gasp out loud. The ethereal had been made real with a solidity that couldn’t be denied. The ancient evil that preys on human kind must be stopped again. But this is not Randall Flagg. Nor is it as pervasive as It. But like all of King’s bogeymen, it is just as unexplained and persistent, rising up again and again to satisfy itself at our expense. This one reminded me of the evil presence in Pet Sematary. Centralized, old and extremely pissed off. The ending is a mixed blessing and untethered. I drifted on my emotions for days after finishing, just waiting to wash up on shore again. show less