Blogs by David A. Schwinghammer
IF IT BLEEDS
6/13/2020 10:22:15 AM
Except for "The Life of Chuck" King is a bit redundant. You get the sense that you've read most of this before
Stephen King's story collection includes four novella-length stories, the best of which is “The Life of Chuck”.
I especially liked that one because it reminded me of John Donne's “No Man is an Island” and his proviso “Each man's death diminishes me.” Chuck is an accountant who appears to be retiring after thirty-nine years juggling numbers. For some reason there are billboards extolling Chuck's achievement. In reality Chuck is dying at age 39, and it appears the rest of humanity is going with him because each man contains multitudes.
Holly Gibney of the Mr. Mercedes mystery trilogy returns in the title selection “If It Bleeds”. Holly is now the head of the detective agency, Finders Keepers. Some sneaky devil has left a bomb at the local Middle School, ostensibly meant for a class that had a long-distance relationship with a school in Scotland. Holly sees something odd about the reporter covering the bombing. This one is more of your typical King story. Think about the clown character sticking his head out of the manhole cover in IT.
The first story “Mr. Harrigan's Phone” is about a nine-year-old boy, Craig, who takes a job reading, watering plants and doing minor dusting for a retired billionaire, Mr. Harrigan. His father's reaction is that Harrigan is cheap for only paying Craig five bucks an hour. He is only minimally bothered by the possibility Harrigan may be a perv. He's not. Craig is an inveterate reader having assumed the job of reading the LESSONS at his local Methodist church. Mr. Harrigan is in the congregation and is impressed. They read some very heavy fare including Conrad's THE HEART OF DARKNESS. But Harrigan sends Craig birthday, Valentine's and Christmas cards that include lottery tickets, one of which returns five thousand dollars for Craig. Eventually King reverts to form when Harrigan dies and Craig calls him on his iPhone, which Harrigan had reluctantly accepted as a gift from Craig. He answers.
The fourth one is about a writer who experiences writer's block every time he tries to write a novel. I was wondering when the rat would show up. Let's just says the rat takes a Faustian role as it negotiates a deal with Drew Larson to finish a novel he had started at his cabin and was cruising along until he caught the Flu and a killer storm hit upper Maine, putting the brakes on Drew's efforts. Drew thinks he's dreaming the whole thing, but is haunted when everything happens according to the agreement.
I have read some excellent King short story collections, including THE SKELETON CREW; I don't think there was a bad story in that compilation. He's actually a better short story writer than he is a novelist IMHO. This one seems a bit redundant, although I would like to see more mysteries from King. Holly Gibney is a very likable character.
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