Reviews of the "Dead Zone" by Stephen King will interest all fans of this American writer, who is considered a master of horror and detective stories. He also wrote this book with elements of a political thriller, which makes it especially interesting. In this article we will give a brief summary of the novel, tell about readers' reviews and various reviews of critics on it.
Creating a novel
Reviews of the "Dead Zone" by Stephen King were mostly enthusiastic. 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 the "Dead Zone" of Stephen King that Castle Rock in Maine first appeared. The events of many of his other works took place in it. Castle Rock was almost decommissioned from Durham, a typical city for New England. Both the real and the fictional settlements were founded at the end of the 18th century. About four thousand people live in them, and they are mainly of the middle class.
King has repeatedly claimed to be proud of this novel, as it talks 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 a young doctor, Carl Weiss, killed the presidential candidate Huey Long, who then reminded many of Adolf Hitler. The message in this novel in some way justifies the murder, characterizing the hero on the positive side.
One of the primary ideas that King pushed off when he started writing the Dead Zone book is a person with the ability to predict the future. The novel was completed in 1976.
Summary
A summary of Stephen King’s “Dead Zone” allows you to quickly get acquainted with the main events of this novel, without even reading it. In the prologue, readers recognize two characters. This is Johnny Smith, who gets a head injury while skating, and Greg Stilson, who sells the Bibles. It is noticeable that the latter dreams of greatness and suffers from emotional problems.
Then events take us back to 1970. Johnny already lives in East Maine, works as a teacher at school. He invites his girlfriend, whose name is Sarah, to take a walk in the amusement park. On the wheel of fortune, he shows incredible luck, winning a large amount of money. Returning home that evening, the hero gets into a car accident. Good luck turned away from Johnny Smith in an instant. He spends the next four and a half years of his life in a coma.
Incredible abilities
The content of the "Dead Zone" by Stephen King will convince you that this is truly an outstanding and bewitching work. During the time that he spends in the hospital, the father finally loses hope that his son will recover. His already ex-girlfriend is getting married. Only a religious mother who remains faithful to her ideas continues to believe.
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 inspirations. In this case, one of the areas 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 begin to come true. For example, he predicts the successful outcome of an operation for the son of one of the nurses. Then he assures the doctor that his mother, who was lost during the war, is still alive. The description of the "Dead Zone" by Stephen King is so fascinating that it should encourage many to read the whole book.
Journalists begin to talk about the abilities of the protagonist. Meanwhile, Smith returns to his usual work, begins to teach again. Soon he has severe headaches. Oil 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 fulfillment of 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 will be able to find out all the details only by reading the entire novel. Johnny is trying to return to normal life, but the police are turning to him for help. The sheriff asks to help capture the serial killer.
Smith, using his gift, finds out that the maniac is one of the policemen named Frank Dodd. He commits suicide, but before that he manages to confess to the deed.
Again, Stilson returns to the novel, who turns into a successful businessman, wins the mayoral election of Ridgway. Then, through blackmail and extortion, he enters the House of Representatives.
Smith is having trouble again. Because of his gift, he has an ambiguous reputation at school. He is forced to quit. The main character moves to New Hampshire, where he begins to work as a mentor for a young guy named Chuck. Johnny shows an interest in politics; he is very worried about the rally at which Stilson speaks.
Vision of the future
In Johnny’s life, he meets Jimmy Carter. Shaking his hand, he sees that he will become president. Touching Stilson, Johnny realizes that in front of him is a man who will start the Third World War by using nuclear weapons.
The health of the protagonist is constantly deteriorating. He is looking for ways to stop Greg. He disgusts the idea of ​​murder.
In a new vision, he warns Chuck of going to a school ball in a restaurant that should burn out from a lightning strike. The father of the young man is skeptical of these words, reluctantly allowing a party at home. In the midst of the holiday, everyone already knows about the dead schoolchildren, who still went to the party.
Denouement
In the final of the novel, it becomes clear what the book "Dead Zone" by Stephen King is about. Smith finds out that the FBI agent who investigated the Stilson incident exploded in his own car.
The main character leaves for Phoenix, where he begins to work as a specialist in road maintenance. At the doctor’s appointment, he is informed that headaches are caused by a brain tumor. He has only a few months left to live.
He refuses the operation. He buys a rifle, planning to kill Stilson. During the rally, he shoots at a politician, but misses. His bodyguard was injured. At this moment, Stilson grabs the child, hiding behind it like a human shield. One of the reporters manages to remove this moment.
Johnny was wounded by return fire. While dying, he once again touches Greg, making sure that his career is completely destroyed. The terrifying future has changed. There will be no war.
Levels of perception
In the "Dead Zone" immediately four levels of perception. It is important to realize this in order to understand the work. These are historical, symbolic, political and personality-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. At the same time, it must be recognized that with a cursory reading, the existing allusion is practically not felt due to the large number of details, a significant household layer.
The reader on the pages of the novel is faced with the social diseases of provincial America. These are corrupt officials, poor farmers, high crime rates, and corrupt cops. Ordinary citizens are increasingly beginning to become disillusioned with the future prospects of their country.
At the same time, the structure of the novel seemed very strange to some observers. However, the majority nevertheless recognized its advantages, which provide a certain ominousness and constant unpredictability.
Characteristics of the main characters
It is worth recognizing that the main character of King’s novel "Dead Zone" is the embodiment of an average person. This is a lanky and awkward 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 evaluate its true scale.
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 was a real humanist, who almost immediately began to actively compare with Jesus Christ and Don Quixote.
The gift of foresight that he possesses very soon turns into a real curse for him. It becomes a kind of projection of King’s thoughts 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 heroes in King's work. This is a sincere peacemaker who wishes happiness to all the people around.
His antagonist is a character named Greg Stilson. Initially, he is on the periphery of King's Dead Zone book, appearing in various social masks. This is the "father of the city", and the priest, and congressman. Stilson comes to the fore only in the second part of the novel, when he tries on himself the image of a "laughing tiger" that is capable of captivating any sparkling political demagogy.
It is worth recognizing that the hero, possessing telepathic abilities, throughout the book behaves ridiculously and irrationally. In fact, Stilson is a fascist dressed in populist clothes. The author paints him in his youth with wide strokes, showing cowardice, arrogance, 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 the parents of Johnny, who sincerely love their son. Greg’s deliberate identification with the tiger allows him to be represented in the form of a beast, which was important for the author.
In describing Frank Dodd's compulsive killer, critics saw a clear influence on King Edgar Allan Poe, as well as Jim Thompson's novel, “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, behavior, inferiority and fears. For example, Frank's mother teaches him to be afraid of his own sexuality and hate it in himself, which ultimately translates into serial killings and an aversion to women.
Interestingly, the image of Johnny's mother himself was inspired by the author's religious education, which he himself received in childhood.
Reviews
Admittedly, there were mostly rave reviews about Stephen King’s Dead Zone. Readers noted that the novel is read very easily, and the narrative simply fascinates them. The text has a lot of action, which was not always characteristic of the literature of that time. After the book there remains a pleasant aftertaste, a desire to once again think and discuss everything. This was noted by almost all readers in reviews of the "Dead Zone" by Stephen King.
He liked the fact that the book grabbed the 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 current events. In reviews of King’s “Dead Zone”, the writer’s fans claimed that not all of his novels are so elaborate and mesmerizing.
It is possible in the course of the story and sincerely empathize with the main character. The author did everything possible so that the reader was on his side, understand his actions, motives and actions. For the sake of what and why he takes this or that step. In reviews of the book "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 horrors 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 questions that concern humanity. For example, the gift of the protagonist to see the future as a result is not a reward for him, but a punishment. It makes him constantly face a difficult moral and human choice. All this makes the novel one of the best for this author. To this opinion in the reviews of the "Dead Zone" by Stephen King comes the majority of readers.
Critic Reviews
Critics and literary observers noted that the author pays great attention to the topic of transformations and metamorphoses in this novel. In the future, this image will be found in many famous works.
Many who knew how the novel was created noted that this was a difficult period for the writer, which became the peak of alcohol-drug oblivion. In a sense, he himself turned from an ordinary writer into a monster, "thanks" to beer and cocaine.
However, most reviews of the "Dead Zone" by Stephen King contain the statement that this is one of his best works. The book was a success among readers, and its author proved that he can not only compose Gothic sensations, but also write real serious novels.
Interestingly, the novel "Dead Zone" by Stephen King was very unexpectedly received in the USSR. Soviet critics saw in it the theme of an impending political catastrophe, which should happen because America is inexorably approaching fascist totalitarianism. All this can end in a war for all of humanity. They also wrote about the topic of American civil liability for the fate of their homeland.
Critics around the world praised how the author works with form and content. A leisurely and measured chronicle describing American everyday life, over time, begins to seriously disturb. In the narrative, elements of horror and an unconventional detective are felt, a romantic plot is developing at the same time, one can find criticism of the political system existing in the USA. Among the undoubted merits of the work, it is worth highlighting the classic King's antagonist, as well as a confident narrative in which there are no sagging or false notes. Compared to one of his previous novels, Confrontation, this one turned out to be quite compact. The author was also credited with the absence of monsters, which made the narrative 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 to life. Moreover, direct analogies are observed with the real life of the author himself. So, King’s successful writing career almost ended when his car hit him. And for Johnny Smith, luck on the wheel of fortune also turns into an accident.
Literary scholars 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."