Pet Sematary by Stephen King (audiobook): When I was a teenage King fan, I skipped this book because I heard it wasn’t good. I watched the 1989 film adaptation and didn’t like it, which confirmed in my mind that I was right to skip the book.
Lately, though, I’ve heard a lot of positive things about the book, so I gave it a try. I listened to the audiobook narrated by Michael C. Hall of
Dexter fame. He’s great at portraying all the characters, especially the kindly old neighbor Jud Crandall. The writing is tighter than King’s usual prose, with no rambling, excessive description, or “red herring” subplots.
Like some of King’s other novels, this reads more like a family drama with occasional horror elements. In fact, for the first half, those two aspects don’t integrate well. The family drama is wonderful at depicting domestic life and the grieving process, while the horror stuff feels tacked-on. But in the second half, the drama and horror readily meld and explode.
I can understand why King considers this book his scariest story. The main antagonist of the story isn’t supernatural horror, but the banal horror of grief, which all people experience, which does not kill you but can slowly consume you, and from which no one can save you. I’m glad I didn’t read this book in my teenage years, because I probably would not have appreciated this.
King’s depiction of the mourning process stunned me, and I can understand why some may find it therapeutic. In his foreword, King mentions that the book is inspired by real-life events. But he was still in his 30s when he reluctantly submitted this book for publication. Had he experienced such profound grief by then, so that he could so convincingly recount it? Or is he just that good a writer?
After finishing the book, I watched the 2019 film adaptation. While I like it more than the 1989 version, and it has some interesting deviations from the book, it lacks the book’s introspection. 6 of out 8 ayuhs.
