First off, I want to say that I've never been a personal fan of Stephen King's works. I've read the majority of them, and I've said in the past that I respect the quality and exquisite craftsmanship of his novels and the reach of his influence. He is truly talented, but I never really truly felt like I connected with any of his pieces. I'm reminded that this man is not just a popular writer by any means (and experienced a feeling I can describe only as giddy) upon discovering his correct usage of "effect" as a verb and a casually thrown in "simulacrum".
There are several things that I kept mulling over or questioning as I read through the first three parts. I'm very sure that King doesn't idly throw in Al's cautionary words to Jake regarding anachronisms like cell phones and recently minted coins. I'm really hoping this is merely foreshadowing a clash later in the book where a "future" possession falls into the wrong hands, like someone obtaining Epping's list of game scores. We'll see how that turns out. Oddly enough, right after I finished that section of the novel, I attempted to buy a soda from the vending machine and got frustrated because it kept spitting my dime out. Upon closer inspection, it was a 1964 silver dime, and led to an afternoon lost in a daydream about a time-traveler to the future (our present) wondering why his old money doesn't work anywhere. I was mildly amused by this coincidence.
I'm also very intrigued by the Card Man, and hope that the colors of his cards bear some real significance by the end of the book. The change in color to black when Epping discovers him dying made me wonder if there was some proportional relationship to the level of difficulty Epping will face during that trip back in time, like his very own threat level meter. Thoughts? What do you envision the significance of the card colors to be?
So far, the character I'm most taken with, understandably, is Miz Mimi. Her sass, brass, and class evoke a multitude of feelings: jealousy, envy, adoration, and the obvious intense sadness. The attitude with which she handles her prognosis and faces the end of her life with determination and an almost blasé mindset makes her instantly likeable. The humor-infused barbs she trades with Jake and her keen scrutiny and analysis of his character make me want to be a little bit tougher myself.
I saw the Yellow (then Orange then Black) Card Man as a reflection of Al's state, somehow. He seems to be connected with Al, in some way, and is worse off when Al is dying. Al dies by his own hand, in the end, as does the then-Black Card Man. I don't know what the connection is, yet, whether he was meant to be a kind of guide for Al and died because Jake wasn't supposed to use the portal, or if someone else was supposed to take his place eventually to serve as a guide or gatekeeper for Jake, but I took his presence and death to be a reflection of Al's state.
ReplyDeleteOoh! I'm fixated on the mystery of the yellow card man, and I didn't think about the connection between the yellow card man and Al!
DeleteI never made a connection between the Yellow Card Man and Al Templeton's health, but after reading your thoughts, I can't help but smack myself on the forehead.
DeleteI took the Yellow Card Man as an indicator of things to come. Jake's first visit was just as Al said it would be. The second time, the card was orange and his time in 1958 was a bit rougher, a training mission if you will. The final trip down the rabbit hole found our man holding a black card and dead from an apparent suicide. Is this an foreshadowing of Jake's future? I didn't dwell too much on the Yellow Card Man and honestly, I forgot about him for my reading because I got too distracted by the story. I know he's important somehow, but I'm okay waiting to know until his importance is revealed.
what crazy timing about your 1964 dime! what i like about jake is, for the most part, he's smart. when he realizes he has his cell phone and modern coins, he does away with them. and aside from some betting mishaps, he listens to his gut and learns from his mistakes. i hate when, as a reader, you want to practically leap into a book to yell at-slash-strangle a character who is being totally idiotic.
ReplyDeletei don't know what i think about the yellow card man. but i love the suspense he adds. i think that's another example of what a good writer king is. the fact that there is a minor character who is probably warning/foreshadowing something is awesome. if i wrote this, jake would emerge into 1958 everytime just to the same smell of cigarette smoke and factory fumes. no foreshadowing in sight.
When Jake tossed his cell phone and sealed envelope full of post 1958 change into the pond, I couldn't help but wonder if that pond would dry up or flow into a larger body of water (due to a flood perhaps?) and reveal the modern day items? Their discovery would definitely have quite the butterfly effect, especially if the phone still turned on. This could be possible. I washed and dried my fiance's cell phone by accident and it still worked.
DeleteYou washed and dried a cell phone?! Haha. I've done that with a flash drive, and it still worked too. I bet you freaked out when it came out of the dryer.
DeleteI was definitely worried that Jake's "future" items resurface somehow as well and cause a major plot twist.
DeleteAnd Grace, that's pretty crazy about the survival of the washed phone. I've seen ones that have briefly been submerged come out okay, after being taken apart and dried (a bowl of rice is a great trick!), but never prolonged submersion AND agitation like that.
I really like Miz Mimi, too. She seems like someone you wouldn't be able to pull one over on.
ReplyDeleteI asked the same question about the yellow card man. He makes me so nervous.