March 2011's SK Flavor of the Month - Needful Things

Wow. It's already March.

The last few days, I've been reading William Hope Hodgson's The House on the Borderland. It was interesting and short, but not really my kind of thing. It made me look forward to the end of the month and Needful Things.

Also, 'The Sun Dog' wound up being my favorite of the novellas in Four Past Midnight and I was looking forward to reading one more Castle Rock book.

*Sigh* I don't know how long it took me to find an English copy of Needful Things...couldn't seem to find it anywere and I don't like buying things over the internet...I'm constantly scared something might go wrong and I'd lose my money...I was finally able to buy it a few months ago (together with Pet Sematary and Nigh Shift which I've also been looking for for quite a while) and now I need to spend all my reading time to the books I need to read for my English classes while Needful Things is slowly being covered with dust between my other TBR books. And after all that time searching for it! Oh the torture!

I always wonder how some members here seem to manage reading 3 to 4 books at the same time. I'm already scared I'd mix things up if I read 2 books at the same time :D

I have read Four Past Midnight a while ago (Dutch version that is), I really loved it. The Library Policeman was probably my favorite story because it was so very dark and disturbing.

Edit: #1: I just read your profile description...I also love horror and fantasy...I've got a certain weakness for those old Victorian ghost stories and those very influencial authors such as E.A. Poe and Lovecraft. I recently discovered Steinbeck and Hemingway in my English classes. We had to read Of Mice and Men and The Old Man and the Sea and both made quite an impression on me...especially Steinbeck. I'd like to read some more of him soon

I read NT not long ago, and so will only probably dip into it now and again, but it's probably my favorite SK, so I hope others get into it and enjoy it, too.

Leland Gaunt is such a rancidly delicious name for a villain. And he more than does justice to it.

That's a book I haven't read since high school... and I do not think I've ever read it in English. So might as well join you and reread it :)

Definitely one of King's best... and anyone who's been put off by the film version, don't be!

"I," Gaunt said, "am from Akron."
"Is that in England?"
"That is in Ohio," Leland Gaunt said gravely, and then revealed his strong, irregular teeth in a sunny grin.

Don't know why, but that passage during Brian's first trip to Needful Things always sticks in my mind, in a strange, understated way it somehow sums Gaunt up.

I've only read the first thirty pages or so. Gaunt just asked Brian what he would like. Anyway, you can tell that King was firing on all cylinders when he wrote this one.

I noticed as I was reading The Sun Dog that King benefits from writing about the Rock. He's always good at writing about small towns anyway, but he knows all these various character's back-stories, and that adds an extra layer to it. Does for me anyway.

Yeah, this is one of the best SK-novels have read. However, I might skip this particular reading as it is not long ago I read it last time.

#2: Don't worry about buying books over the internet. Just use a little common sense and everything will be just fine. In the last 10 years or so I have made hundreds of international purchases from Amazon and from the Amazon Marketplace and I have never experienced any problems. If a book occasionally was lost in the mail the seller has made a refund without any arguments at all. There is just one thing, though. You probably save a lot of money by not buying stuff over the internet :)

This book is so much better than I remember. I remember liking it, but it didn't stand out.

Reading through it now, it seems inspired by Peyton Place (a book I read earlier this year). He takes the idea of exposing a picture perfect town's dirty little secrets to a ludicrous extreme. I like that!

Does anyone else feel this way, or is it just me?

I agree, he exposes them all with such malicious glee that I know he's enjoying himself. Even Brian gets the treatment.

Just got it yesterday. I am about 50 pages in and loving it. King is definitely in his wheelhous here. I agree he does well with small towns and all the relationships and character flaws he can flesh out.

Yeah, Needful Things is sort of like all those other 'small town' novels ('salem's Lot, It, The Tommyknockers), but on steroids.

Oh, and I forgot to reply earlier, but #3 is right. Leland Gaunt is a wonderful villainous name. Honestly, I like the name better than Randall Flagg.

I forget what page I'm on, but Danforth 'Buster' Keeton just got home as Nettie Cobb was scrambling out of his house.

The book is well written enough that I feel bad about what is about to come down on the town. Without it, there wouldn't be much of a story, but I don't want to see bad stuff happen to these people, even 'Buster' and Wilma. Though I really won't mind seeing the bitter end of... oh, I forget his name. The jerk with the fox tail.

Is that Hugh Priest with the fox tail? he was a slimy jerk. Then again, none of them is too wonderful, but I suppose that's the point.

Yeah! Hugh Priest! That's him. I'll be glad to see him get what's his.

I was going to say his comeuppance, but I'm not sure if that is appropriate. Guant's supernatural influence is undeniable. But at the same time, I feel like King wants us to see that these are people acting (at least partly) of their own free will. There's a religious argument in here somewhere. Just how much free will do the people who purchased things from Guant have?

Anyway, I've read a bit further. Gaunt just called Brian to tell him not to take the easy way out. I'm kind of surprised he did that. I'd figure he'd be in his shop, gleefully rubbing those long fingered hands together, waiting for Brian to do himself in.

And Ace is back in town. I just can't help but think of him as Keiffer Sutherland. He was so good in Stand By Me. And since I know what he looks like nowadays, every time I read about Ace I'm picturing current Keiffer in the role.

It's kind of sad, because even though King is using his own character, when I read about Ace it feels like watching an old TV show and seeing 'special guest appearance' in the credits.

I'm the same way with Ace - Sutherland all the way. Luckily though, I had the good sense to avoid the movie Needful Things, so all other characters are mine.

I saw the movie, but it was so long ago, I don't remember any of the actors except for Max Von Sydow as Gaunt. And even so, I'm picturing Ian McKellen as Gaunt. It's funny because I don't normally assign an actor to a part in a book, but with Gaunt (and Ace) I just can't help it.

I finished Reading the book a couple days ago. Just a great story and I really enjoyed it.

I was intrigued by the way that King shows our readiness to turn on each other, if only minimally prompted, for the sake of greed. Really that's what at the heart of the story. Our greed blinds us to the true worth of our objects and to thinking clearly. It's only at the very end that folks begin to see clearly and to see all the flaws in the "pranks" and in their merchandise.

Gaunt is an evil villain who is pretty sly and knows how to weave a web, but it is only because the rest of the town is so willing to climb into it believing it's a plush bed when in fact it's a death trap.

#16 Yeah, I agree with you about how easy it is to turn on each other. Though for some of the people, it isn't even greed. Some of them just liked playing their 'pranks'. Maybe it just doesn't take much for people to turn on each other.

The background tension of Casino Nite running through the book was great. It was never a major focus, but was always there to ratchet up the town's nerves.

I don't think it's ever made clear, but I get the feeling Mr. Gaunt is supposed to be the devil himself, not just some random supernatural baddie. If so, I like the idea that the devil isn't going around signing contracts in blood and collecting souls. He's more of a bastard, destroying places and people for entertainment value.

I have about 180 pages left. I noticed that the last two hundred pages or so are like a Rube Goldberg machine. All of Mr. Gaunt's pranks are playing out and causing unexpected actions (Pratt attacking the deputy causing the police to miss Hugh). I get the feeling King was cackling as he wrote the last section of the book. It's horrible and fun.

Hey, I finished the book last night. I have no clue why it too me this long to read it as I really enjoyed it.

The ending was a little silly, but thinking back on the rest of the book, King was setting it up all along.

One nice thing about reading Needful Things right after Four Past Midnight (which was an error on my part. We shoulda been reading The Drawing of the Three) was that I was able to catch the ending. Junction City, Iowa; Sam Peebles and Naomi Higgins sounded so familiar...

I'm going to skip this book for now and get back into the group read with The Drawing of the Three.

This was my second reading of needful things. It was great to be back in Castle Rock. These are my favorite King novels. I love the way he describes the townsfolk.

But I still feel sorry voor Brain. Just think it could have ended a little bit better for him. But King doesn't spare many.

Yeah, Brian was kind of a shocking turn. But then if King could be predicted to be soft he would become boring.

I didn't reread Needful Things this time. Would it be too spoiler-y to ask someone to remind me of Brian's fate?

I do remember that he was the first one to sell his soul. I always thought he was a tragic figure, a corrupted innocent. Unlike some of the other customers, he didn't deserve it, in my opinion.

What the hey, I'll tell. Skip this post if you don't wanna know:
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Brian shoots himself with a shotgun in the garage.

It's especially shocking because you are convinced that Brian is one of those golden boys King likes to write about. You figure his experience with Gaunt will likely leave him scarred, but that by relying on his own inner fortitude, he'll make it through.
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Oh yes, I remember now. Thanks! That was a rough one. And undeserved, I think, since many of the other town residents who bought from Gaunt seemed to all but ask for their fates.

It's been pretty quiet around here lately! I'll just say that I'm still toddling along in Needful Things...and purposefully avoiding the spoilers above. This is my favorite kind of King--jumping around from person to person, so you get little bits of the story as you go along and get to see things from everyone's perspective.

And on a side note, my issue of Entertainment Weekly has SK's summer reading list, if I can find a link for it I'll post it eventually...

I just finished Needful Things. This is one of my favorite King's.

Hi folks, I left King alone for a bit but I tried Needful Things this month and I'm back as a serious fan.
Now I suppose I had better find the other Castle Rock books. This one will take some beating.
I'm glad I hadn't seen the movie, but I can still see images in my head, even if I don't know the USA. Great! oldstick.