Misery

by Stephen King

Author:

Stephen King was born on the 21^st of September, 1947 in Portland, Maine. When King was two years old, his father left the family. King won a scholarship award to the University of Maine and later taught English, while his wife, Tabitha, got her degree. The publication of his first novel "Carrie" in 1973 and its subsequent film adaptation set him on his way to his present position as the perhaps best - selling author of the world. He lives with his wife and their three children in Bangor, Maine, his home state and the place where he feels he really belongs. As many of Stephen King's books have been made into films, the screen version of Misery was one of the most popular films of 1990.

Summary:

Paul Sheldon is a world-famous writer. On his way to deliver the typewritten pages of his latest book "Fast Cars", he has an accident on a snow-covered road in Colorado. Annie Wilkes finds Paul after his accident and takes him home to look after him. And though the woman who saved him is one of his greatest admires, she is also dangerous insane and has a criminal past. In her lonely country house, she has Paul, his legs badly broken and in extreme pain, completely in her power. When she learns what Paul has just done to Misery Chastain, her favourite character from his books, Paul gets in deep trouble. Annie is determined to stop him killing Misery and to write different kinds of books. She forces him to burn the typescript of "Fast Cars" and to write a new novel: "Misery's Return". Moreover she causes much pain to Paul. So she amputates Paul's feet and thumb with an axe or she does not give him his medicine to which he has become addicted. Furthermore she kills a policeman who is looking for the missing Paul Sheldon. When Paul is ready with his new Novel he finds a way to kill Annie. Paul is found by two policemen and brought into hospital. There his legs slowly recover and the doctor makes him a new foot. "Misery's Return" sells millions of copies and is the best novel Paul has ever written.

Interpretation:

"Misery" is a story by Stephen King, a master of horror and so "Misery" is a masterpiece of horror: An insane and criminal woman has an injured man as a prisoner, and it is up to her what happens to him. She can let him alive or kill him. Annie knows very well how to cause pain because he had been a nurse. The only question is how much can a man stand.

Characters:

Paul Sheldon is a world famous author, coming from a hotel in the mountains in Colorado where he usually finishes his books. He has a very bad luck in luck as the "Dragon Lady" Annie Wilkes finds his crashed car. He is mentally strong enough to stand the physical and psychological pain Annie imposes on him. His patience finally saves his live when he catches the right moment to kill and escape Annie. The positive side-effect of the horror he goes through is his best-selling novel ever, which he only writes to satisfy his tormentor.

Annie Wilkes is very solid and strong for a middle aged woman. She was once a nurse, but because of some mysterious deaths in her hospitals she was fired. She was never found guilty of one of her many murders, neither of one in the hospital nor of her family or her "lover". She occasionally loses her "centre": for periods of time which only last for seconds, there is nothing solid in her. Everything about her is in motion with no basis on which to rest. These are the moments of her being absolutely insane - but she does not remember them.

Opinion:

I did not like the book very much because it was simply awful to read all the detailed descriptions of e. g. his "operation", though King knows how to maintain tension in a book with other means of language.