Ronnie G. (frenchgiant) reviewed on 11/7/2010 + 22 more book reviews

Helpful Score: 1

As autumn approached I thought it would be good to crack open a creepy book. You know, the kind that makes you a little hesitant to read directly before falling asleep for the night...the kind that makes you reach into a room and blindly search for the light switch before stepping through the threshold. Sadly, "Bag of Bones" does not fit this description.

I picked up my copy of "Bag of Bones" back in '98 and for one reason or another, perhaps the fact that I horde books for example, I never got around to reading it. Finally, as I hovered over my bookshelf trying to decide which to crack open (I was already sold on reading a King novel and was choosing between "It", "The Stand" and "Bag of Bones") I plucked the shortest in length (at a concise 732 pages) and thus sealed my fate. There was no turning back.

I'm really not sure what to make of this novel, which centers around a husband/writer grieving over the loss of his wife, a small town custody battle, and some angry ghosts. Perhaps the fact that I was expecting something different led to my distaste for this book, similar to all of the disgusted folks who thought M. Night Shyamalan's "Lady in the Water" would be a horror flick, as the previews seemed to insinuate. While King's name is typically synonymous with horror novels, I've come to really enjoy some of his departures from horror, such as "Under the Dome (loved it!) and "Eyes of the Dragon," so it's not that he needs to scare me out of my mind in order for me to enjoy his work. Just keep my interested Stephen! That's all I ask!

Ultimately I found the novel to be unbearably slow moving at times and probably 200 to 300 pages too long. I'm not one to shy away from a lengthy novel mind you, and typically I prefer them, however the sloth-like pace of the story attributed to my overall frustration. I found the story to be incredibly dull and uninteresting at times, with King using a few well placed creepy scenes (i.e. the very frightening basement "knocking scene") as well as a few unexpected plot twists as the glue to hold everything together.

Unfortunately by the close of the book I realized that I really didn't care as much about the outcome of the book as I did about simply completing it. Being that avid book reader that you are I'm sure you've experienced this phenomenon one too many times yourself, and it's never pretty is it?

Bottom line - Only crack this one open if you enjoy prolonged periods of boredom followed by nightmare free, sleep filled nights.

Back to all reviews by this member
Back to all reviews of this book
Back to Book Reviews
Back to Book Details