MISERY by stephen king

I have read this book several times and love any excuse to read it again.

One of the things that amazes me each time I read this book is that it is such a simple premise. Woman kidnaps writer. Woman tortures writer. Writer must escape. That’s it for 300+ pages. What’s really impressive is that there is not one part of the book that is boring. On page nine, Paul knows that “Annie Wilkes was dangerously crazy.” By page 201, Paul knows that “If he meant to get out of this, he would have to kill her.” From a writer’s perspective it is simply impressive that Annie’s craziness can be built up for 200 pages and it never seems boring or redundant.

Another thing that impresses me about this book is the chapters from Paul’s novel. Not that I wanted more of that story or anything. There are several pages of excerpts throughout the novel. In a way, it’s a little weird to get such long portions of a book…especially when you realize it’s portions of a fictional character’s book. In a way though, it makes Paul seem very realistic. I’m reading parts of his book. So, when Annie tortures him, it’s that much more real.

One of the creepiest parts of the book for me is when Paul finds Annie’s book with all of the newspaper clippings. (It is also a nice touch of irony that she has her own book that she’s written.) The book itself is creepy because it is confirmation that she crazy and that she’s almost proud of it. She knows what she’s doing and she’s okay with it. But then there’s that moment when she explains to him how she knows he read the book. She tells him that she placed hairs – from her own head – across the book. When she saw that the hairs were broken, she knew that he had read the book. She may be crazy, but she’s smart. She thinks of all those little details. This also works to increase the tension because Paul really has his work cut out for him if he is going to get away from her.

It’s also interesting that Annie may not be the only psycho. Annie is clearly crazy and I don’t think any explanation is required there. Paul is crazy too, although, his is a different kind of crazy. At first, he’s hooked on pain killers. His injuries are serious enough to justify pain medications, but if he takes everything that she gives him then he runs the risk of never being in a state of mind where he can escape. And then he is confined to a wheelchair and is trapped in her house. There are a lot of factors that influence the way he thinks and the decisions he makes. While Annie is crazy on her own, her actions force Paul into a state of mind where he's unstable/crazy.

The strength of this book is that it conveys Paul’s frustrations perfectly. As a reader, I feel like I can experience his fear, anger, and desperation. As a writer, I want to know how to take such a simple concept and make it so amazing.