Stephen King's "Dead Zone": reader reviews, summary, critics' review

2024 Author: Leah Sherlock | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 05:25

Reviews of Stephen King's "Dead Zone" will interest all fans of this American writer, who is considered a master of horror and detective stories. This book is also written by him with elements of a political thriller, which makes it especially interesting. In this article, we will give a summary of the novel, talk about reader reviews and various reviews of critics on it.

Creating a novel

Reviews of Stephen King's "Dead Zone" have mostly been rave. The writer conceived this book, inspired by the Watergate scandal. It is interesting that he called this work his first real novel with a serious plot and subtexts, a complex thematic structure.

It was in Stephen King's "Dead Zone" that the city of Castle Rock, Maine, first appeared. The events of many of his other works took place there. Castle Rock waspractically written off from Durham - a typical city for New England. Both the real and the fictitious settlement were founded in the late 18th century and are home to approximately four thousand people, who are predominantly middle class.

King has repeatedly stated that he is proud of this novel, as it tells about really serious things - the mood of America and the political structure.

Interestingly, the ending of the novel resembled an incident that took place in 1935. Then the young doctor Karl Weiss killed presidential candidate Huey Long, who then reminded many of Adolf Hitler. The message contained in this novel, in some way, justifies the murder, characterizing the hero from the positive side.

One of the primary ideas that King came up with when he started writing The Dead Zone was a person with the ability to foresee the future. The novel was completed in 1976.

Summary

Summary of "The Dead Zone" by Stephen King will allow you to quickly familiarize yourself with the main events of this novel without even reading it. In the prologue, readers will recognize two characters. They are Johnny Smith, who suffers a head injury while skating, and Greg Stilson, who sells Bibles. It is noticeable that the latter dreams of greatness and suffers from emotional problems.

Then events take us to 1970. Johnny already lives in Eastern Maine, works as a school teacher. He invites his girlfriend, whose name is Sarah, to take a walk in the park.attractions. On the wheel of fortune, he demonstrates incredible luck, winning a large sum of money. Returning home that evening, the hero gets into a car accident. Luck in an instant turned away from Johnny Smith. He spends the next four and a half years of his life in a coma.

Incredible abilities

The contents of Stephen King's "Dead Zone" will convince you that this is truly an outstanding and mesmerizing work. During the time that he spends in the hospital, the father finally loses hope that his son will recover. His ex-girlfriend is getting married. Only a religious mother continues to believe, remaining true to her ideas.

She turns out to be right. Smith comes to his senses. After spending four and a half years in a coma, he discovers phenomenal abilities in himself - the gift of clairvoyance. Visions become available to him during short insights. At the same time, one of the parts of the brain remains closed to him. This is called the "dead zone". He completely forgot some dates, geographical objects and numbers.

Smith's first predictions are starting to come true. For example, he predicts a successful operation for the son of one of the nurses. Then he assures the doctor that his mother, lost during the war, is still alive. Stephen King's description of The Dead Zone is so captivating that it should encourage many to read the book in its entirety.

Journalists begin to talk about the abilities of the main character. Meanwhile, Smith returns to his usual work, starts againteach. Soon he has severe headaches. Fuel is added to the fire by one of the reporters, who assures that all his abilities are sheer quackery and swindle. Another blow is the death of his mother, who manages to tell him that God gave him an unusual gift for the sake of fulfilling a certain mission.

Police help

Telling the contents of King's "Dead Zone", we will focus only on the main events of the work. You can find out all the details only by reading the novel in its entirety. Johnny is trying to return to normal life, but the police turn to him for help. Sheriff asks for help in catching a serial killer.

Smith, using his gift, finds out that the maniac is one of the police officers named Frank Dodd. He commits suicide, but before that he manages to confess to his deed.

Stilson returns to the novel again, who turns into a successful businessman, wins the election of the mayor of the city of Ridgeway. Then, with the help of blackmail and extortion, he gets into the House of Representatives.

Smith is in trouble again. Because of his gift, he develops a controversial reputation at school. He is forced to quit. The protagonist moves to New Hampshire, where he begins to work as a mentor to a young guy named Chuck. Johnny shows an interest in politics, and is very worried about a rally at which Stilson speaks.

Vision for the future

In Johnny's life there is a meeting with Jimmy Carter. After shaking his hand, he sees that he will become president. TouchingStilson, Johnny realizes that he is facing a man who will start the Third World War by using nuclear weapons.

The he alth of the protagonist is constantly deteriorating. He is looking for ways to stop Greg. The idea of murder makes him disgusted.

In a new vision, he warns Chuck against going to a school prom at a restaurant that is about to be destroyed by lightning. The young man's father is skeptical about these words, reluctantly allowing the party to be held at his home. In the midst of the holiday, everyone is already becoming aware of the dead schoolchildren, who still went to the party.

Decoupling

At the end of the novel, it becomes clear what the book "Dead Zone" by Stephen King is about. Smith discovers that the FBI agent who was investigating the incidents involving Stilson exploded in his own car.

The protagonist leaves for Phoenix, where he starts working as a road maintenance specialist. At the doctor's appointment, he is told that the headaches are caused by a brain tumor. He has a few months to live.

He refuses the operation. Buys a rifle, planning to kill Stillson. During a rally, he shoots at a politician, but misses. His bodyguard was wounded. At this moment, Stilson grabs the child, hiding behind him like a human shield. One of the reporters manages to capture this moment.

Johnny was wounded by return fire. Dying, he once again touches Greg, convinced that his career is completely ruined. The terrible future has changed. There will be no war.

Perception levels

In "Deadzone" there are four levels of perception at once. It is important to realize this for understanding the work. These are the historical, symbolic, political and personal-psychological levels. In a simplified form, the book may seem like a parable about the confrontation between the forces of Good and Evil in the modern world. a cursory reading, the existing allusion is practically not felt due to the large number of details, a significant everyday layer.

The reader on the pages of the novel is faced with the social ills of provincial America. These are corrupt officials, impoverished farmers, high crime rates, corrupt policemen. Ordinary citizens are becoming increasingly disillusioned with the future prospects of their country.

At the same time, some observers found the structure of the novel very strange. However, most still recognized its benefits, which provide a certain ominousness and constant unpredictability.

Characteristics of the main characters

It's worth recognizing that the protagonist of King's novel "The Dead Zone" is the embodiment of an average person. This is a lanky and clumsy intellectual with the most common name and surname. It is such a character, according to the author, who is able to recognize evil from a distance, as well as to assess its true extent.

The series of various incidents that the author prepared for the hero had only one goal - to show his true face, to prove that he is a real humanist, who almost immediately began to be actively compared with Jesus Christ andDon Quixote.

The gift of foresight, which he possesses, very soon turns into a real curse for him. It becomes a kind of projection of King's own reflections on the fate of his own generation. The murder, which becomes the climactic scene, appears not as an act of terror, but as a ritual sacrifice. As a result, Smith becomes one of the most positive characters in King's work. This is a sincere peacemaker who wishes happiness to all people around.

His antagonist is a character named Greg Stilson. At first, he is on the fringes of King's Dead Zone, appearing in various social disguises. This is the "father of the city", and the priest, and the congressman. Stilson comes to the fore only in the second part of the novel, when he tries on the image of a "laughing tiger", which is able to enchant anyone with sparkling political demagoguery.

It is worth recognizing that the hero, who owns telepathic abilities, behaves ridiculously and irrationally throughout the book. In essence, Stilson is a fascist dressed in populist garb. The author draws him in his youth with broad strokes, demonstrating cowardice, arrogance, and hooliganism. The qualities that were inherent in him at that time. The beginnings of his hatred lie in contempt for the family, which is a sharp and noticeable contrast with Johnny's parents, who truly love their son. Greg's intentional identification with a tiger allows him to be depicted as a beast, which was an important image for the author.

When describing compulsive killer Frank Dodd, critics sawa clear influence on King Edgar Allan Poe as well as Jim Thompson's The Killer Inside Me.

It is worth noting that although the themes of childhood and family are not key in the novel, the relationship between parents and children determines the future of the characters. Their actions, behaviour, inferiorities and fears. For example, Frank's mother teaches him to be afraid of his own sexuality and hate it in himself, which eventually results in serial killings and disgust for women.

Interestingly, the image of Johnny's own mother was inspired by the author's religious upbringing, which he himself received in childhood.

Reviews

It's fair to say that there were mostly rave reviews for Stephen King's The Dead Zone. Readers noted that the novel is very easy to read, and the story is simply mesmerizing. There is a lot of action in the text, which was not always typical for the literature of that time. After the book, there is a pleasant aftertaste, a desire to think and discuss everything again. This was noted by almost all readers in the reviews of the "Dead Zone" by Stephen King.

They also liked the fact that the book grabbed attention literally from the first pages and then did not let go until the very end. There is a real feeling of complete immersion in the events taking place. In reviews of King's "Dead Zone", the writer's fans argued that not all of his novels are so elaborate and bewitching.

Succeeds in the course of the story and sincerely empathize with the main character. The author has done everything possible so that the reader is on his side, understands himactions, motives and deeds. For what and why does he take this or that step. In reviews of the book "The Dead Zone" by Stephen King, those who have already read it note that this is an amazing opportunity to immerse yourself in an amazing and unique world created by the master of horror and thrillers.

It is important that, in addition to a fascinating plot, the author raises many really important and sensitive topics, reflects on the philosophical issues that concern humanity. For example, the gift of the protagonist to see the future as a result turns out to be not a reward for him, but a punishment. Makes him constantly face difficult moral and human choices. All this makes the novel one of the best by this author. Most readers come to this opinion in the reviews of Stephen King's "Dead Zone".

Critic Reviews

Critics and literary reviewers noted that the author pays much attention to the theme of transformations and metamorphoses in this novel. In the future, this image will appear in many famous works.

Many who knew how the novel was created noted that it was a difficult period for the writer, which became the peak of alcohol and drug oblivion. In a sense, he himself turned from an ordinary writer into a monster, "thanks" to beer and cocaine.

At the same time, most reviews of Stephen King's "Dead Zone" contain the assertion that this is one of his best works. The book was a success among readers, and its author proved that he could not only compose gothic sensations, but also write real seriousnovels.

It is interesting that the novel "Dead Zone" by Stephen King was very unexpectedly received in the USSR. Soviet critics saw in it the theme of the impending political catastrophe that must occur as America inexorably approaches fascist totalitarianism. All this could end in war for all mankind. They also wrote about the topic of American civil responsibility for the fate of their homeland.

Critics around the world at the same time highly appreciated how the author works with form and content. A leisurely and measured chronicle describing American everyday life begins to seriously disturb over time. In the narrative, elements of horror and an unconventional detective are felt, a romantic plot develops in parallel, one can meet criticism of the political system existing in the United States. Among the undoubted advantages of the work, it is worth highlighting the classic King's antagonist, as well as a confident narration in which there are no sagging or false notes. Compared to one of his previous novels, The Stand, this one was quite compact. The absence of monsters was also credited to the author, which made the story even more realistic.

In this book, he returns to the idea that luck is an extremely limited resource for a person. When it ends, suffering invariably comes into life. Moreover, there are direct analogies with the real life of the author himself. So, King's successful writing career almost ended when he was hit by a car. And for Johnny Smith, luck also turns around on the wheel of fortune.accident.

Literary critics saw a significant influence on King from Ray Bradbury. Also, the author himself admitted that he was inspired by a German fairy tale called "Faithful Johannes".