Card Drawn:
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| That tagline is hilarious. |
Another spade card and also my first short story by Stephen King. As
one of the most popular and successful authors on the planet, he
is inextricably associated with the horror genre. Admittedly, I have never been a big fan of his work and The Lawnmower Man does not exactly help to persuade me otherwise. This
is not a slight against him and has more to do with my own personal
preferences--he is undoubtedly talented and knows how to write a compelling story filled with plenty of scares along the way. His twisted imagination is the stuff of nightmares. I honestly have no idea how he manages to come up with so many of these weird and macabre stories.
The 'Lawnmower man' himself is a demonic and vile creature that only Stephen King could conjure. However, the actual story turned out to be a little too silly for my liking and quickly veers into screwball antics instead of delivering any spine-tingling thrills. Rather, it was actually more shocking to me for its absurdity and gratuitous violence than anything else. Then again, horror is all subjective, right? I am sure that others might have a different reaction and find it completely terrifying. What is most scary to me is that this humdrum story was adapted into a feature length film in the 1990's starring a young Pierce Brosnon! I'm somewhat curious to see how terrible this will be.
If you are looking for a story containing deep layers of meaning or complexity, look elsewhere. King is far more interested in shock value and transporting the reader into his nefarious depiction of suburban life. As a a staunch defender of genre fiction, this story along with many of King's other works would not be traditionally considered "serious literature" although I find such notions to be elitist and quite egregious. Personally, any work of art, especially literature, ought to stand on its own merits regardless of genre. Unfortunately, this story failed to resonant with me on any level, whether it be emotionally (not enough scares) or in a thought-provoking way. I will still probably read more Stephen King at some point since there has to be some hidden gems in his extensive short-story collections.
Please let me know in the comments below if you have any other Stephen King recommendations!
The 'Lawnmower man' himself is a demonic and vile creature that only Stephen King could conjure. However, the actual story turned out to be a little too silly for my liking and quickly veers into screwball antics instead of delivering any spine-tingling thrills. Rather, it was actually more shocking to me for its absurdity and gratuitous violence than anything else. Then again, horror is all subjective, right? I am sure that others might have a different reaction and find it completely terrifying. What is most scary to me is that this humdrum story was adapted into a feature length film in the 1990's starring a young Pierce Brosnon! I'm somewhat curious to see how terrible this will be.
If you are looking for a story containing deep layers of meaning or complexity, look elsewhere. King is far more interested in shock value and transporting the reader into his nefarious depiction of suburban life. As a a staunch defender of genre fiction, this story along with many of King's other works would not be traditionally considered "serious literature" although I find such notions to be elitist and quite egregious. Personally, any work of art, especially literature, ought to stand on its own merits regardless of genre. Unfortunately, this story failed to resonant with me on any level, whether it be emotionally (not enough scares) or in a thought-provoking way. I will still probably read more Stephen King at some point since there has to be some hidden gems in his extensive short-story collections.
Please let me know in the comments below if you have any other Stephen King recommendations!
I read the anthology Night Shift ages ago and remember absolutely nothing about The Lawnmower Man. Probably for the best. The movie, which I also haven't seen in quite a while, I remember being quite different and not *that* bad.
ReplyDeleteHi Katherine! Indeed, you probably don't remember this story because it was completely forgettable, har har.
DeleteWow, I just watched the trailer and couldn't stop laughing. This looks like it could be one of those "it's so bad, it's actually good" kinda cult movies! haha
LIke you, horror isn't usually my genre of choice even though I'm able to have at least an appreciation for it. I haven't read a lot of Stephen King. Also like you said, I think he can be an incredible story-teller. I was really shocked (not in the typical way) when I read his short story "The Reach". It's very good and might be considered one of his "hidden gems". It's not necessarily horror but it does deal with death as a theme. I highly recommend it!
ReplyDeleteCool, I will definitely read "The Reach" and hopefully Stephen King can redeem himself. Thanks for the recommendation Dale!
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