Reading Between the Pages: UR by Stephen King
Greeting all you Deadites, it’s time for the next installment of what I like to call Reading Between the Pages.
Reeling from a painful break-up, English instructor and avid book reader Wesley Smith is haunted by his ex-girlfriend’s harsh and hurtful parting words. He buys an e-book reader and soon finds he can use the device to glimpse realities he never imagined and discovers literary riches beyond his wildest dreams…and all-too-human tragedies that surpass his worst nightmare. This is the plot summary for Stephen King’s latest work UR.
I love Stephen King’s work. He has a way of taking an object we take for granted, gives it life and then twist the realities in which it lives. The latest device is an Amazon Kindle. He has also done this with cell phones in Cell and stationary bikes in Stationary Bike. The last two I will reserve talking about later.
So for now let’s focus on the Kindle. But before I get back to the book, let me give you a brief history on my relationship with the writer.
I think it started when I read Misery. I was in college and had just finished mid-term exams. I went to the bookstore looking for something to occupy my time until classes resumed. I picked up the paperback not realizing it would lead to a 2 day marathon session. From the time I cracked the spine, I was riveted and barely took time to eat, drink or use the restroom. And in the two days it took to finish the book, I think I got about three hours of sleep.
Prior to reading Misery, I had read a couple of other books by Mr. King but for whatever reason, I wasn’t impressed. After I finished Misery and my breathing returned to a normal gate, I went back to the store and picked up a couple more books written before Misery. As before, I found myself in another marathon session as I consumed the words within the books as if they were food satisfying a wolfish appetite. Since that fateful day when I innocently walked into the bookstore looking for something to kill time, I have been a huge fan of Stephen King…maybe his number one fan.
UR is no different than Misery. As before, I was hooked before I could put a really good crack in the spine. I immediately liked Wesley Smith, the English instructor, and thought of some of the professors I had when in college. He is a likable nerdy guy who has enough social skills to relate to his students but seems a little retarded in other social scenes. Hell, I could have dated this guy….and have.
When Wesley receives his Kindle, I found myself smiling and grimacing as he fumbles with unfamiliar technology. I have found myself in numerous situations trying to help friends and family set up devices that are foreign to them. My parents spent six months doing nothing but playing solitaire before they learned how to use Windows XP. But when Wesley discovers the urs, my breathing sped up as if I were in a foot race, my mind flashed back to my college days and I read faster and faster before I finally reached the end, slammed the book shut and thought about calling the paramedics because heart was hammering so hard I thought it might burst through my shirt.
*Pause*breathe*relax*
UR is a suspenseful and horrific story about possibilities, alternate realities and trendy technology. It awakens the imagination to wonder what you would do if you had the knowledge and power to stop a catastrophic event. And if the catastrophe was thwarted, would you suffer the ramifications of stopping it?
I definitely recommend UR. While it’s not the same type of horror/suspense as Misery, Pet Cemetery or The Shinning, it will leave you breathless and make the hair on the back of your neck stand at attention.
Next time, I will be switching gears and looking at Jim Butcher’s Proven Guilty. However if there’s something you are interested in and want to know if it’s good before investing the money, please drop me a line and I give you an honest review of it.
