I doubt you’ve ever heard of this ‘Stephen King’ fellow before. After all, he writes the kind of novels you simply wouldn’t be aware of. Luckily for you, I am here to guide you.
Christ, could you imagine if King fans were like most literature snobs? Jesus.
As it is, when someone finds out you’re not a Kingophile, they just call you names and assume it’s because you don’t fully understand The Dark Tower. Oh I understand it alright, come-come-commala, rice come a falla, sacrifice a someone to a ZZ Top song and don’t make me spoil the fucking ending for you. I will. Flee across the desert all you want, I will follow you.
It’s my belief that King is good by pure attrition. The man’s a machine. He writes so much that the law of averages alone dictates he must have some good stuff. By and large I’m not a fan. I find his short stories work better for me, because he doesn’t have room to bloat them out.
Misery is one of his exceptions to the rule. Although it is still pretty bloated, no one becomes an extra-dimensional spider, or turns out to be Randall fucking Flagg.
Misery is a story about just two characters. Paul ‘I’m not an author insert’ Sheldon - writer who looks like actor James Caan - and Annie Wilkes- Sheldon fan, shut-in, proud owner of a pet pig. When Sheldon’s car crashes, Wilkes is nice enough to find him and nurse him to health. His fame (yeah, because all writers are famous aren’t they? Fuck you) comes from his series of period drama novels about Misery Chastain- fair maiden extraordinaire. Though her chaste, upper-class adventures have put his kids through college and made him a household name, Sheldon has come to loathe her. He’s forced to keep writing about her insipid high-class existence when, like a Disney Princess, he wants to do more with his life.
To put it into context, he wants to be Mickey Spillane, but right now he’s Barbara Cartland. With that in mind, Sheldon has just killed her off in his new book and when Wilkes read is, she goes apeshit. She forces Paul to write a new Misery book just for her, which he does whilst trying to escape.
Firstly, Sheldon is an ungrateful shit. Aw, you’re sick of getting paid loads to basically not have a real job? Piss off back to the salt mines then if that’s how you feel. Just walk away from it. Do some coke like most hugely successful writers. See what I care.
Secondly, Wilkes is a cautionary tale for any famous person. Ultimately, if you want attention, you’ll get it, but it won’t always be the kind of attention you want. Not everyone will like you. You can’t demand that everyone like you with one hand whilst preaching equality and freedom of choice with the other. You put yourself out there and attention going to come in swathes, and no amount of hashtagging is going to save you. So shut up and write the damn book, Sheldon, or she’ll cut your other foot off.
What makes Misery stand out from King’s other works at the time is that it’s such a small, personal story. For once, King’s protagonist being a writer feels like its necessary to the story, rather than him just trying to forget that he once did shit jobs like the rest of us. The bulk of the novel takes place in one little room. It quickly becomes paranoid as Sheldon always has the nagging sense that Wilkes may be right outside the door
As the story progresses, Sheldon writes Misery’s Return for Annie and he actually gets into it. Annie’s bipolar outbursts and his fear of her become his muse to write the best book of his career. For the first time since the first Misery book, he’s writing it for something other than money, and it rejuvenates him as an artist the same way his other manuscript, Fast Cars does. We actually get to read parts of this new Misery book as he writes it, which serves as a window into King’s mind as he divulges parts of his own process and thoughts on the craft, something he would touch on years later in his autobiography, On Writing (2000). The way Sheldon thinks about and plots Misery’s Return, I actually found myself getting into it only for it to end when Sheldon stops writing it. It’s a fairly solid lecture from King disguised as a horror novel.
For 98% of the book, Sheldon only has Wilkes to talk to, and vice versa, so they get to know each other pretty well. We, as the reader, live with them in that little room Sheldon is locked in and because of this, their characters become much more fleshed out than the usual horror character tropes of:
Main horror novel character
● Cynical everyman who has seen shit
● Fucks like Sting
● Alcoholic to forget troubled past
● Wears a bomber jacket
Bad woman character
● Is DTF
● Is just sort of there until the very end when she is killed
While the book does have the signature King bloat of one word chapters, repetition of many, many themes (hope you like random insertions of ‘Africa’ and talks about the Bourka Bee Goddess’), and a general over-description of just about everything, the story in Misery is one of the most honed King has ever done.
Apparently the idea came from a nightmare King once had. Unsurprising really as he essentially shot from nothing to worldwide fame in such a short while. His name was everywhere in the 80’s. His fame was unsurpassed and you walk around any office today and you’ll still see a book or two of his on people’s desks. At the time there was a very real possibility of something like this happening to him.
As stated earlier, I’m not a huge fan of King, but I do have the utmost respect for him as an artist. Firstly, the guy came from nothing. No literary relatives and no friends in publishing circles wedged the door open for him. The guy’s done a plethora of manual labour jobs to make ends meet whilst chasing his dream and most of all, he’s very self-aware. He knows what he writes isn’t literary and he doesn’t care. He writes what he likes, because he likes it. He stuck to his guns and came out on top. That, to me, is the most commendable thing an artist can do.
Today Misery is mostly remembered for the 1990 movie starring James Caan and Kathy Bates, and is mostly remembered for the part when Bates breaks Caan’s foot with a block of wood and a sledgehammer (She cuts it off with an axe in the book). But for the man who once referred to himself as the literary equivalent of a Big Mac and Fries, Misery is a great achievement. I’d recommend this book to anyone wanting to read a solid horror novel.
Still, I give it a few years before the film is banned for its offensive stereotyping of the mentally ill, and a few centuries before pompous theatre actresses are discussing ‘Who is Annie Wilkes?’, because it’ll be illegal for women to be the villains.
Enjoyed this piece? Then 'like' The Crusades of A Critic on Facebook. Sam also has a Tech Noir novel, 'An Inside Joke', which can currently be viewed here; his first novella 'Iron Country' is available to buy here; a horror short story, 'We Must Never Found Out', published here; and finally, another short horror story 'Eagal' available to buy here. Phew.
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