Response 10: Nov 17

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All my love for Stephen King has been carried away --audj, Mon, 14 Nov 2005 23:13:53 -0500 reply
I hate reading books in order, so of course, I picked out the story with what I believed was the most interesting title. “All That You Love Will Be Carried Away” is the story of Alfie Zimmer. Alfie is probably one of the saddest characters I’ve come across in a short story. He lives a lonely life away from his family, almost continually on the road and always selling gourmet frozen dinners. But he explains to us that that isn’t really what he’s been doing the whole time. What he’s actually been doing is writing down bits of graffiti that he thinks is hilarious or interesting or crazy. But when you drive all the time, you have to find a hobby, and Alfie found smoking. Now it’s going to kill him, but he doesn’t want to die that way. I found it surprising that Alfie thought so little of himself. My father has been a car salesman for many years, and though he has moved up in the ranks, he still closes deals. He has always told me that in order to be a good salesman, you must be confident. Alfie is not. He is haunted by a feeling of inferiority to the people he sells to and to the people writing graffiti. He talks about how maybe he’d write a book, but that he probably wouldn’t because it would be too small and no one would appreciate it. These are things that an insecure person says. I think the reason Alfie is insecure is because he has gender issues. His favorite graffiti were all about pooping, which is the one common toilet position men and women share. There was evidence of gender role confusion throughout the text. When he sits down on the bed in his overcoat, King writes that it spreads out like a skirt. He talks about the male storekeepers not thinking much of him in a jacket, that he HAD to wear the overcoat. He also talks a lot about the farmer’s wife and what she might be doing. All that fantasizing wasn’t sexual, but sounded to me more like a longing to participate. He refers to his son as playing video games but his daughter as taking a bubble bath and reading-both are serious conditionals for gender. Some of the collections of graffiti have homosexual tendencies, like sucking off Jim Morrison and Trojan Gum. I found the gross references to corpses unnecessary and overly isolated. They weren’t scary as much as they were out of place. On an episode of ‘Family Guy’ there’s a joke about Stephen King as creating silly characters. He’s sitting in a chair across from his agent, and the agent says, “What do you have for me?” He says, “Um,” and grabs a lamp and starts yelling, “Ooooo, Lamp Monster!!” This seems to have the same effect. Yes, a corpse reminds us all of death, but not the death he’s shooting for. I found the end hopeful, not scary or even sorrowful. In general, I like what I’m reading, but as I said, the gender roles seem confused and the death was so out of place. I guess I’ll get over it.

BrieanneL? --Michelle, Tue, 15 Nov 2005 21:36:36 -0500 reply
After I began reading this book I found myself unable to put it down. I am not a huge fan of Stephen King, but I find his writing somewhat enjoyable. This book in particular was extremely easy to read. One person commented in class about the style of his writing being very elementary. I did notice that it was written in a way that could be read once and be completely comprehended. This is kind of different than most of the books that we have read this semester. After reading most of the books this semester I had to think into them in order to understand exactly what the author was trying to say. This book was exactly the opposite. It didn’t take any thinking to understand the authors meaning. I liked the way that they author clearly stated all of the stories. Even though it was not at all challenging it made it more entertaining for me to read. The first story Autopsy Room Four was different and in a way lame. At the same time however, I found it to be very suspenseful. Maybe I liked this story because deep down while growing up this has always been a fear of mine. I remember watching a movie when I was little about somebody being buried alive. I can’t remember the title but the character that was supposed to be dead was actually in somewhat of the same condition as the character in this story. The character’s family in the movie started to wonder after they had already buried him. By the time they decided to check he was really dead. They knew they had made a mistake because he had left claw marks on the ceiling of the casket, where he was trying to get out. This movie haunted me constantly as a child. I always had nightmares about it. This is probably the reason that I enjoyed this story. A lot of people in the class said that this didn’t have a very scary plot, I disagree entirely. I will agree that this isn’t the typical horror story. Most horror stories have some type of spirit or evil human being that does the killing and makes the story scary. In this story it’s the thought of human mistake that terrifies him. I think this adds a higher level of horror to it because this at one time was a reality. Not as much today as in an earlier time, but at one time this was actually a threat to people. I think that King dragged the story on too long. He could have achieved the same level of horror in a shorter explanation of the characters experience. I wasn’t really fond of the way the book ended. It seemed to me that it was very unrealistic. Although I don’t know exactly what goes on during an autopsy, I find it hard to believe that a doctor would ever begin playing with a corpse’s genitals. I guess this was an interesting way for the doctors to finally realize that he was alive. I personally just thought that it would have been a better ending if it were something a bit more believable. Over all from what I have read, I think that this will probably be one of my favorite books that we’ve read so far.

Charlotte Harris --charris3, Wed, 16 Nov 2005 11:54:53 -0500 reply
I will admit that I’m not a big Steven King fan. I never have been. Although what I have read so far is not all that bad. Since we are reading short stories again I have always wondered if people have a set way of deciding what order that they will go in. I found the little not above the Contents page where he said that he just used a deck of cards for his story. That how he drew them out of the pack was the order that they went in. That would probably be something that I would do. Doing things the odd way. The story that I have enjoyed out of the first four was the first one. Autopsy in Room Four. I would say that they way he wrote it reminded me a lot of Edger Allen Poe’s writing style but even still I found myself getting really into the story. I felt myself as I was reading trying to see if there was anything else that I could think to show that I was still alive. I also was thinking more of he was hit in the head with someone’s golf ball not been bitten by a snake. But just these types of stories helps us try to understand or bring back the fear of death that we all have. If not the fear of death the fear of doctors or other medical personal that make you feel worse or don’t know what it is that you have. It also made me think about how many people that happens to.

jamie green --jamieallison, Wed, 16 Nov 2005 14:06:52 -0500 reply

When I was about to begin the Stephen King book, “Everything’s Eventual,” I was a little hesitant because I am not a big fan of gory things and I hate scary books. But, so far it is not as bad as I thought. The story “Autopsy in Room 4” I think made the biggest impact on me. The story is about a man who is having an autopsy done on his body but he is not actually dead. This is probably one of the scariest things that can happen to someone. The story reminded me of an episode of Nip/Tuck. In the show Nip/Tuck, the surgeons were doing surgery on a girl but she was able to hear the doctors and feel everything during the surgery, the anesthesia did not completely knock her out. This reminded me of the Stephen King story because I could not imagine people touching my body or anything like that and talking about me when I am right there and trying to scream to them but being unable. I have never really had a fear of being buried alive, but this is a scary thought to think that people could be poking you and examining you but not know you are alive. This story was not at all what I had expected. I have never read anything from Stephen King before, but I have heard a lot and I was expecting a lot of gore and just all around disgusting things to be happening, but that was not really what was happening in this story. Another thing about Stephen King that I feel is that his writing is geared toward a younger audience. His writing was really easy to read and seemed elementary. His sentences were simple and I did not think that it was at all challenging to read. Not that simple writing is bad, but I think that his writing was a little too elementary for me to enjoy. I t seems like you do not have to look for a deeper meaning in anything that is written and it just is what it says. I guess I like books that have deeper meanings and you have to think about the text in order to know what it really means. I also think, like what was mentioned in class that he uses humor in his writing maybe to appeal to a younger audience. Some things that he uses seem that they might be a little juvenile. The part when he starts to get an erection when the female doctor touches him just seems like something that will make a young boy laugh. I think that is Stephen King’s main audience, young males.

Eerie not scary-jbradley --jbradley, Wed, 16 Nov 2005 20:14:48 -0500 reply
At the beginning of the semester, when we got the list of books that we were going to read the only book, well author, which was familiar, was Stephen King. I have heard many people of all ages rant and rave about his books so I have been looking forward to reading this book. I think his “elementary” style of writing makes his books understandable for young adults+ and it is the unique element that contributes to his world renowned popularity. Just after reading “Autopsy Room Four” I can see why he is THE international bestseller. Yes, this story along with the other three are nothing like a gruesome, gory horror story, but they contain the same suspense which is what makes them scary. What I also liked about his style of writing were the details and descriptions that he gave to the simplest things, basically his use of similes, metaphors and sarcasm. Although, as much as I have enjoyed the stories and they’re easy to read, I feel like they drag on and on until the climax and then they just end…….what happened next King? I liked both “Autopsy Room Four” and “All That You Loved Will Be Carried Away,” they both have a person describing an unusual situation and for the reader its like being in their heads. These stories are interesting because I was reading about a person still alive on an autopsy table and the thought process of someone right before they want to commit suicide. For me, these situations are so rare to think about and that’s what makes them eerie and scary, especially reading it from their point of view and perspective. In “Autopsy Room Four” even though Howard was in a panicky and disturbing situation, I thought the sarcastic comments he made were very humorous. Like making fun of the male doctors referring to them as “Baywatch” macho hunks and making comments basically referring to the “experts” as dumb asses, which they were. I think with everything going on around Howard at certain moments he actually thought he was dead and that’s what made it most disturbing, to see him try to understand if he was really dead vs. continuing to fight to get the doctors attentions to stop the procedure from occurring, like on page 15, “..And they didn’t exactly go crazy with the lubricant...but then, why would they? I’m dead, after all. Dead,” and on page 19, “No big deal my little Baywatch buddy, but you also missed the fact that I AM STILL ALIVE, AND THAT IS A BIG DEAL!” Then in “All That You Loved Will Be Carried Away,” I also thought for such a morbid and depressing situation, King still managed to add humor to his character, Alfie. I thought the bathroom writings were funny and kind of neat and weird that he “collected” the phrases as he traveled to various restrooms. Both of these stories were good, but I wish there were more to the endings. But I did like how King added the sub notes at the endings of each, it gave both a little more to think about.

It's Funny... --Kgifford, Thu, 17 Nov 2005 00:27:46 -0500 reply
So far, I really like the book Everything’s Eventual. It is curious that I have never read Stephen King before but I have heard about his work over and over again. Many of my friends and some of my family read him all the time but they could never get me to read his books. I just though they would be too gory and confusing for me to understand it let alone want to read it. I think it is interesting that it took a literature class to convince me to read some of his work. I though his work was supposed to be scary but I just find it funny. I have read a good bit of the book and so far, I like most of it. The story about devil, I think it is called The Man in the Black Suit, would generally scare me. It is the subject rather than the story that would do it because the unknown scares me more than anything else does. I am afraid of what I do not understand or what is going to happen because I do not understand it. I do not know why I though it was funny instead of scary. It is just that he make something that is normally a very creepy subject for me and turns it into something humorous. I think my favorite part of that story was the devil eating the big fish whole. I was just imagining his mouth gaping wide with the tail of the fish hanging out of it while his jaws are in a shark like shape as he chases the boy. It still makes me smile when I think about it. I do not think all the stories are the best though. The story, which comes right after it, bored me. I think the story about the traveling salesman was the least likeable though it had nothing that interested me. The feeling, of All That You Love Will Be Carried Away, did not fit what the fact that there was going to be a suicide by the end of the story. The guy does not even have the typical emotions or thoughts that someone would have if they were thinking about killing themselves. I t just seems unrealistic. The graffiti portions of the story seemed to be more important than the character killing himself. I guess it was supposed to be but it did not seem to fit where the story was trying to lead us. The ending was the best part and even then, it was ruined buy King’s postscript of the story. After starting this book, I cannot wait to start reading some of his other books. I hope they are as interesting as this set of stories is to me. I am thinking the same about the rest of this book.

Amanda Drake --adrake, Thu, 17 Nov 2005 02:05:35 -0500 reply
Stephen King has lost his touch. What happened to true terror? It has been replaced by popular cliches and melodramatic endings. I am not saying the stories in Stephen King's Everything's Eventual are not well written works of fiction, but where is the horror we expect from King? I was disappointed. Even my favorite story thus far, The Man in the Black Suit, had a twist of overused cliche with the way the story was introduced in the form of a feeble and dying old man recounting the story in his journal for others to read after he passed away. So corny! Besides that aspect though, it was a very good story. It felt like a old timey fable as I read it. I liked King's detail to smell and the reaction of the world around the man who was the devil (the grass welting, etc). This story would have been better though, if it had been told completly from the 9 year old boys perspective, instead of incorporating his later on adult figure into it. Another story that I enjoyed except for that one but... part was All That You Love Will Be Carried Away. It was a great story with creative and interesting ideas. A traveling sales man with a compulsive addiction to collecting graffiti is so interesting! The clips shared with us were amusing, but I found myself partly horrified with the man's almost obsessive deciphering of their literary purposes. I'm sure the kind of people who take the time to etch things into bathroom walls about poopie would be terribly amused to know someone out there is trying to find hidden depth and reason in their spelling choice. The man seemed crazy to me. Even with his worrying about people finding him crazy after his actual suicide, I was still pretty convinced he was insane. I guess I made this assumption from the scattered way King shared his thoughts and reasoning with us. Once again King sold out, though, with the ending. I liked how it was left kind of a cliff hanger, leaving us to wonder "did he or didn't he", much as After the Quakes tales did, but then take the time to read King's afterthought and you find that King attended for him to live. It's like "Okay, thanks for ruining that one". Autopsy was another one that left me thinking well, okay, that's interesting and scary to think about... but where is the horror story shock and death? Maybe my brain is warped from to many horror movies and terror-ridden novels, but this is suppose to be Stephen King here! Maybe he should forget the short story angle and focus on his novels after all, despite his need to feed homage to his original art. Don't get me wrong though, I do enjoy this book and its stories. I just went into it expecting something different. As far as urban legend like tales with predictable plots go, this is a fantastic and quick read. I am excited to read more and discover maybe at least one that leaves goosebumps on me and convinces me that King has not sold out to mass media production.

Autumn Means --ameans, Thu, 17 Nov 2005 12:02:40 -0500 reply
A good bit of the class discussion on Tuesday addressed these questions: Is this literature or not? Should we be reading this in class; why or why not? Before having Everything’s Eventual assigned for this class, I had never read anything written by Stephen King. In fact, like several other people in the class, I dismissed King’s fiction as elementary. Having seen bits and pieces of some movies based on Stephen King books, I decided it was ridiculous, nonsensical, not worth my time. Without having read any of his fiction, I made a snap judgment that Stephan King’s writing was shallow and that I’d get nothing out of reading it – I thought it would require no thought, no reflection, and no brainpower whatsoever. My opinion is changing a little, after having read the beginning of this short story collection, though. I will state, still, that I don’t really enjoy King’s writing style and could quit reading the stories half-way through and not feel like I’ve missed out on some spectacular ending. More than the stories themselves, though, King’s notes and introductions are what have helped shift my opinion. The very first thing you come across when beginning this book is the paragraph introduction King displays before the contents. In this short paragraph, King explains his method of selecting the order in which to present his stories for this collection. He took “all the spades out of a deck of cards plus a joker”, shuffled the cards, dealt them, and the order they came out was the order the stories would appear in the book. At the end of the paragraph, King states “Next collection: selected by Tarot”. I thought this was amusing, and it made me respect King a little. It shows that he realizes he’s a goofy guy who writes easy, crazy fiction for the masses…and seems to view it all as a big joke. He’s having fun and not worrying about the people who don’t think he writes good literature. Also in that first paragraph, King says that determining the order of stories using this amusing strategy “actually created a very nice balance between the literary stories and the all-out screamers.” This is an example of Stephen King recognizing and admitting that half the stories he writes are just “all-out screamers” that are meant to entertain and thrill, not to make you think about any great philosophical issues or change your view on the world (okay, so I’m being a little dramatic, but you get the point..). At the same time, though, he is also stating a case in his defense; he’s claiming that half of the stories are “literary stories”. He is trying to present himself as a writer who is educated, can write well, develop intricate plots and ultimately create fiction that is literary. Even though he spends half the time just having fun with words and imagined, horrifying situation, he is also capable of creating literature that has depth and meaning. One of these stories that would be considered a “literary story” is The Man in the Black Suit. In his note at the end of the story, King explains that with this story he is paying “hommage” to Nathaniel Hawthorne’s story “Young Goodman Brown”. He modeled his story after a successful piece of literature that came before his time. In this sense, King is establishing that he has knowledge of literature and the ability to recycle successful narratives to his benefit. He is writing himself into a literary tradition, just as Virgil modeled his epics after Homer, and just as Dante had Virgil as his guide in the Divine Comedy. It turned out pretty well for those authors; we still read those epics today! So…isn’t Stephen King, indeed, literature that may stand the test of time, become classic, canonical? Maybe; I guess we’ll see.

Jennings (Jay) Lyons --jlyons5, Thu, 17 Nov 2005 13:37:21 -0500 reply
Everything’s Eventual is the first selection from Stephen King I have ever read. After reading a few stories from it, I would say I really like him and his style of writing. The stories I have read in particular haven’t been that scary. The stories are more about a fear or not having any reason to live. They are kind of scary topics if you think about it. Not enough be like “Oh My” but just scary enough to make you think it was. I really like King’s style though. He’s really descriptive which allows for the reader to have a “I’m-in-the-story” feeling. Visualization is really important in the understanding and entertainment of a story. I also like how contemporary he is. He uses many references to popular works of the current time. The short story from King’s book that I would like to respond to is titled “All That You Love Will Be Carried Away”. The story revolves around Alfie Zimmer who is at point in his life where he’s working a lot and feeling so lonely that he feels his life isn’t worth living anymore. Alfie is a forty-four year old traveling gourmet frozen food salesman that has a wife and two children. During Alfie’s traveling, he managed to develop a spiral notebook full of random graffiti from anywhere imaginable in public places. This notebook of his findings is considered to be his greatest achievement by himself. Alfie has been struggling in life; and has been battling with himself on whether it would be easier to fight for a better life or to end the one he has by shooting himself. The only thing that Alfie feels he has to live for is to make a mass publication of his work in collecting the large amounts of graffiti. I would really like to know why he’s being so selfish, why does he feel is life is so miserable that living for his wife and children isn’t worth it. The reader doesn’t know. The reader just witnesses the battle with himself on the contemplating suicide. One moment in the story, Alfie actually had the gun in his mouth but stopped because he didn’t want the followers his death to find his unexplained work to lead them to think he was crazy. Alfie then debates with himself on whether he should dispose of his notebook and how to dispose of it. He eventually comes to the conclusion that he was going to base his life’s longevity on whether the lights in an old farmhouse that he has been admiring would turn on within the next sixty seconds. He had a hard time letting go of the notebook, but King never lets the reader know what happened to Alfie. He ends the story with the reader hoping and praying that Alfie would see the light to a brighter future.

Katie Amos - Everything's Eventual --kamos, Thu, 17 Nov 2005 13:49:16 -0500 reply
I am one person who has never read anything written by Stephen King up until the book Everything’s Eventual. I had no idea what to expect from him after all that I’ve heard from other people who are big fans, so I went into this book with an open mind and no opinions. Many people in class and here in the wiki discussions have voiced their dislike for this book due to the fact that it seems too simple or elementary for something written by Stephen King. I, on the other hand, found this book a nice vacation from every other story, book, project, and test I have been dealing with in this point in the semester. Sometimes what a person needs is a little entertainment, and I feel as though that’s just what King does with his book, as he seems to be even entertaining himself throughout the entire thing.

The story I found most interesting was “The Man in the Black Suit”. I enjoyed it because it reminded me of a story I might be told by my grandfather or crazy uncle. I also thought the image King produces of the Devil is one I could see, smell, and hear, very clearly in my mind’s eye. For example, the man telling the story describes the Devil, on page 46, as having solid eyes which were like “orangey-red of flames in a wood stove”, and on page 47 as smelling of “[…]?the smell of burnt matches. The smell of sulfur.” The man says the Devil’s fingers were long and white with long yellow claws sticking out of them, and he also mentions that heat radiated out of his mouth and the grass died wherever he sat. Such images to me are ones that I don’t feel leave much to the imagination.

I also like the fact that the man in the story, Gary, is writing the whole tale down in a journal and has never told anyone the truth of what happened that day. He has kept it to himself all those years and he has obviously paid the price. I feel that because Gary met the Devil that day, it caused him to live a straight and good life in fear that he sin and meet the Devil again who once tried to eat him.

Overall I think the story is a quick and easy read that is full of wonderful imagery. One of the best parts of the story is when Gary goes back with his father to the stream, and his father investigates the dead grass and smelly creel. I believe that he knows the story Gary is telling him has truth to it, but like many good parents, he doesn’t really let it show too much for fear of getting Gary even more upset. For the most part I’m not really sure that I understand the story completely, and wouldn’t know if it should be considered literature or not. I do think, however, that each of the stories in Everything’s Eventual is trying to get at some concept, idea, or fear that every person feels, and illustrate them.

james mcceney --jmcceney50, Thu, 17 Nov 2005 14:07:51 -0500 reply
When I saw a Stephen King book on the assigned reading list for this class, my initial reaction was that of scoffing elitism: I was sure that I was going to hate it and that it would be a horrendous piece of garbage not even worthy for kindling a fire. I’m glad I actually read it, because after reading the first couple of stories any feelings I had of elitism or haughtiness went right out the window. While some of the stories in there are more pop oriented, some of them are actually pretty sound little tales. They were all capable of being analyzed, even though some are much less complex than others; on the whole, though, I would say the work is a success.

At first I was skeptical that I could actually be scared by a book: I’ve dealt with words on a page my entire life, and have never really been legitimately scared by a written story. This collection, namely the story “1408,” certainly changed that. “1408” scared the living bejesus out of me. I think the really terrifying thing about it was the lack of scary physical presence in the haunted room: there was no actual ghostie or ghoulie to spring out from the closet or under the bed, just an overall feeling of dread. The narrator described it as “being on some really cheap dope,” which is something that I’m sure a lot of people can relate to. Even if not, we have all dealt with overactive imaginations before, and that alone can be terrifying in itself. The story seems so plausible, too: let’s say that there is a gas leak in that room that no one has noticed or maybe some type of rare asbestos which causes hallucinations when inhaled. Whether it is a supernatural phenomena or not, what’s to say that it doesn’t exist? It’s entirely possible that a room in some house in Sunnyside here in Morgantown possesses the same structural flaw that made that room in “1408” so evil.

The comparisons to Edgar Allen Poe’s “The Fall of the House of Usher” are remarkable. Both stories speak of a strange light emanating from the buildings, and both deal with the strangely human characteristics of both structures: the house seems to have “eyes” in Poe’s story, and the room in King’s actually has a voice. Both structures try to collapse around their occupants, as if to trap them within themselves. King seems to draw from Poe heavily in this story, and why not? Poe invented the “horror story,” so why not cull some inspirado from him? Poe was criticized during his lifetime for writing stories that were “too elementary,” as was King: while Poe has shaken off this stigma of “pop writer” in death to become a canonical author for the American experience, King has not been able to. I think it’s rather unfair to write off King as merely a pop writer: there is some brilliance behind his poppy façade, and the literary elitists of today should put down their tea and crumpets and take notice.

... --jfroess, Thu, 17 Nov 2005 15:57:58 -0500 reply
I really like Stephen King and I have liked all of the stories and books I;ve read of his and this book is no different. I like how King tells us where he gets his ideas from at the end of each story. We always associate Stephen King with being very twisted and wonder if he is this disturbed in real life, but this book shows just how creative and genius he really is. I really liked the first story, autopsy room 4. When i was reading this book King had a way of describig teh character that I could actually put myself in his shoes and grasp how truely awful it would be to be in this character's position, but it's not so far-fetched that I cant help but wonder if this has happend to someone (I'm sure it has) and what they must have gone though. In some of his stories, though, the endings are really disappointing. In the story where the character contemplates shooting himself at the end and he is just staring at the lights by the farmhouse we never find out what happend to him. It's not even like it made me curious I just feel like the story never went anywhere. He was just in this hotel room reading his notebook and contemplated shooting himself. There was nothign that made this short story interesting, and it is the only one that I actually had to make myself keep reading. In the man in the black suit story, the ending could have been alot better. Maybe in some way have the devil come visit him again in the end when he is laying in bed and take him away this time and let us wonder if what he said was true about how the devil couldn't hurt you if you lived a good life and were going to be with God. Then. we could have wondered if htat was true and if the devil took him we could have contemplated did God overpower the devil and he went to heaven or did the devil get his way and now this good person is in hell. Not as happy of an ending but much more like a typical Stephen King ending. As I was thinking about this I started wondering if maybe King meant for this book to be different. He has a ton of scary books that he has written with twisted and not so happy endings. This book was very personal, he talks to you throughout every story and it makes you relate to him more as a normal person and not some creepy writer where you wonder what goes on in his head to be able to think these things up. SO, even though the book is not as scary as I would have hoped, maybe that was King;s whole point. Maybe this was his way of showing people how he comes up with these creepy stories (alot of times things that already existed it seems) but then gives it a descently happy or neutral ending to kind of humanize him in our eyes. Either way the main plots of these stories were great, but I'm reeady for a true Stephen King novel again, twisted and all.

Steven King --ptobin, Thu, 17 Nov 2005 16:43:57 -0500 reply
I've never read a Steven King novel before and it appears, through class discussions, that this is not his best. The thing I like about this book is that it's creepy but not overly horrifying. I like that because I dislike scary books (that's probably the reason for me never reading a King novel before) and this one doesn't keep me up at night. It's true that the language used in the stories isn't sophisticated but the style definitely changes and the stories are very interesting. There's a big change in the writing in "The Death of John Hamilton" and the narration seems very beleivable to me. Every character really seems to have a unique voice. In "the Man in the Black Suit" I think that today we overanalized it a bit. I think there's definitely something else going on and I see the bees being a mixed metaphor because God allows bad things to happen to people; it's not always the devil. That, I think, is what the mother had also decided on and stopped going to church. Past that, though, I see very little under-the-surface writing. I also think that they theory on seeing the whole unicorn in the sky and that being an inclination that he's dreaming the whole time doesn't really make sense to me. I think it "really happened" and I'm not sure if a renewed faith is what I would have gotten out of that encounter. I would probably still be bitter at God and the devil and definitely not convinced my greiving mother to go back to church.

Chris Glover:Everythings Eventual --cglover, Thu, 17 Nov 2005 20:29:18 -0500 reply
I’ve owned this book for roughly three years, but had never read it because I am not much of a Stephen King fan. I realize now that my procrastination on getting to this book was a sore mistake. While I am still not thoroughly impressed with Stephen King’s writing style, I have enjoyed what I have read of the book. While the argument that his writing is too “elementary” has been discussed in class, I feel that his writing style is quite reflective of the stories written within the book. I have to make the argument that this book should never have been title as “horror stories” because I found that these stories are more based on suspense than anything else. While stories such as “Autopsy Room Four,” “1408,” and “In the Deathroom” are more horrific in the sense of scare-factor, I could still find a strong sense of suspense which overshadowed the sense of fear, at least in my mind. This leads back to the argument of his writing style. I felt that Stephen King used a more simplistic writing style to instill that sense of suspense that makes you want to keep reading and fulfill the desire of the unknown conclusion. I saw a strong example to consider in “Autopsy Room Four.” I saw the quick, simplistic speech of the doctors to be reflective of their seeming incompetence. Also, I saw the desperate, nervous speech of the narrator to be reflective of the suspense King was trying to create. The suspense of the story would have been ruined if the reader was forced to look up a word in the dictionary every couple of minutes. I felt that the “elementary” style of King throughout much of this book was a mere tool to inspire the reader to continue reading impatiently to know what the outcome will and could be.

One story that I felt should not have been included in this collection of stories was “The Death of Jack Hamilton.” There is no sense of suspense or horror within this story. It felt as though I was merely reading a historic account of some mobsters. While there is the fear of his friend dying, the story is more cheerful in the fact that this strong, convincing bank robber of Johnnie Dillinger holds faith that his friend will live and does all he can to uplift his spirit. This story isn’t even on the depressing side though, with the somewhat cheerful ending. Although there is the exception of the corpse of Jack getting eaten by dogs, which isn’t quite a cheerful image.

In conclusion, even with some of the objections to the choices of submission to this collection, I really have enjoyed the tools King has used to suck a reader into the story. I have found that whenever I begin reading one of these stories, I have to finish it before I can put it down. This is why I have sensed such a strong suspenseful element to his writing.

All That You Love Will Be Carried Away --lgilkeso, Fri, 18 Nov 2005 14:23:02 -0500 reply
After completing the book, one particular page keeps coming back to me. Page 87 is my absolute favorite page of the book, although I can’t exactly explain why. The entire story, “All That You Love Will Be Carried Away” is funny and quickly became my favorite of the semester, despite my dislike for Stephen King’s writing. On page 80, Alfie calls his house twice giving the reader the feeling that he really does care about his family. This passage made me feel like Alfie was looking for a distraction, anything to remind him that he still has a family to love and live for. I think that maybe the passage on page 80 is what makes page 87 so funny and crazy. It strikes me as hysterical that Alfie has this huge obsession with his notebook, so much so that the notebook becomes symbolic of Alfie and his life. Alfie’s whole life comes down to this notebook. His desire to not have it found and to not be labeled “crazy” drives him outside where for some reason he can not bring himself to simply throw the notebook into the field. What is the big deal? Why is this notebook so important to Alfie? A part of me feels that the notebook is symbolic of Alfie’s life. Alfie spent years writing these idiotic sayings down in the notebook for some unknown reason. Alfie’s family, that he built, was not enough to convince him that suicide was a bad choice, but a silly notebook made him pause long enough to think about what he was doing. He was not concerned about how him committing suicide would make family feel, but he was completely obsessed with what people would think about him when they found his notebook. Despite his concern for the way he would appear even in death, Alfie refused to destroy his notebook. In my opinion the notebook represented something more than just silly things on bathroom walls. Even though he was ready to end his life, he was not ready to give up something he had spent years working on. I feel that the notebook symbolized Alfie’s life, in his eyes. Although Alfie thought he was ready to end his life, he wasn’t ready give up his life. The dilemma with in Alfie about what to do with his notebook is his subconscious bringing new fears to head. Alfie fears the loss of his notebook, which is the loss of himself. The notebook is Alfie and Alfie is the notebook. This symbolism of a human as an inanimate object somewhat goes against stereotypical Stephen King writing. King is generally about giving evil a face, making an object a person. This story does the exact opposite, this story makes a person an object. King uses this to show how a person can, over the years, become less and less of a person and more of a robot. I love this story and love the dilemma on page 87. it is so funny to me that Alfie is basing his life on the lights at a farm he’s never visited before. As if it is not bad enough that he is considering suicide it makes it even worse that he decides to make this decision on the chance of the wind. Perhaps the craziest or funnies, and yet the saddest, part of the story, and page 87, is when Alfie begins to cry. This part is what makes me think that Alfie became the notebook. He begins to throw the notebook into the field twice before deciding to let the wind decide if he should or not. Alfie does not begin to cry earlier in the story when he puts the gun to his head, but does cry when he raises the notebook to throw it in the field. This proves to me that Alfie has in fact become this little notebook that he “bought for a buck forty-nine in the stationery department of some forgotten five-and-dime in Omaha or Sioux City or maybe Jubilee, Kansas” (page 75).

Breanne Alioto Response --bre4nne, Tue, 29 Nov 2005 10:24:17 -0500 reply
I questioned how much I would enjoy reading a Stephen King book. I had never read a book by him and seen maybe one movie (a long time ago) that was based on one of his writtings. I have never been that girl to get really into sci-fi and that is why I was completely shocked to find that I actually enjoyed reading Steven King. Perhaps it was the very first story that caught my attention, and that is why I decided that I would give my opinions on the first essay in what I am about to write. Autopsy Room Four, must say at first that title did not make me excited to read on. Especially due to the fact that death, and anything associated with it completely freaks me out. But I found that I was quite intrigued (and wierded out) at first by the fact that the story was written from the perspective of the patient. At first, I was not sure if Stephen King was trying to depict what might be going through a dead person's head if it was possible that when dead the mind still worked somehow, or if there was a twist to the story that was soon to come. Then after reading a few pages I realised that this patient, this man, was not dead. I loved the way Stephen King made the situation so descriptive. I could almost feel what the patient was going through, and the intensity of the story as the patient got close to be cutting open. But leave it to Stephen King to throw a twist to the story that noone expects. I was thinking, either Stephen King is going to end this story bruttally and I am going to have a first hand experience of what it is like to be cut to death, or somehow the patient's humming noises will be heard. Then it happened, that moment where all my intensity suddenly turned to the slightest bit of humor. When Stephen King started describing the nurse touching his penis, I knew where this story was going to end. And what a way for it to end, I mean who wouldn't think that an alive patient, lying on a table in an autopsy room would suddenly be found alive because of some handjob. That's what I expected the whole time. I also enjoyed Stephen King's writtings about what happened to the patient in the future. How he dated the nurse, that added some addition humor that I really enjoyed. But perhaps his story is meant to leave some sort of fear in us...is there really a snake out there that can leave me paralyzed to the point where I might be cut to death on the autopsy table, and well there is no possible way that I can get woken up by a handjob being a women! I really enjoyed Stephen King's book and feel I might even start to read more of his titles.

Stephen King --cjoseph1, Sat, 03 Dec 2005 18:41:55 -0500 reply
Normally I'm not one for thrillers. Often they seem to come across as cheesy and predictable. That said, I was not a big fan of the stories in Everything's Eventual. However, King does about as good a job as anyone I've read in creating the scene; in Autopsy Room 4, you can almost feel yourself inside the body bag with the rolling stones blaring. After I was finished I got the feeling of "so this is what death feels like."

King- Craig Joseph --cjoseph1, Sat, 03 Dec 2005 19:17:19 -0500 reply
Normally I'm not one for thrillers. Often they seem to come across as cheesy and predictable and all too easy to disect. That said, I was not a big fan of the stories in Everything's Eventual. However, King does about as good a job as anyone I've read in creating the scene through vivid imagery and colorful language; in Autopsy Room 4, you can almost feel yourself inside the body bag with the rolling stones blaring. After I was finished I got the feeling of "so this is what death feels like." I did enjoy The Man In The Blacksuit much better than any of the other stories for this very reason, King makes it easy for the reader to picture the devil's face; huge mouth, firey eyes, and sharp teeth. The smell of the devil was very potent as well, and I kept thinking I actually was smelling burnt matches as the man in the suit would talk. As the Devil is chasing the boy, I cought myself almost seeing his words in action; a little boy running through the woods being chased by a crazed lanky man embodied in a sleek black suit running in full stride with his mouth wide open exposing his shark like teeth. The way King tells the story, as Gary decades after the event in the woods happened writing in a journal, is very creative as well.. It gives the story a more dreamlike quality, which I think allows the imagination to be sparked a little more. As far as the question of whether this is literature that should be presented in a class room, I would unquestionably say yes. It has the same dark language and imagery that a Poe or a Hawthorne carry, but is much shallower as far as how much thought has to be put into the read to truly understand it. Regardless of whether you like this style or not, there is a reason why King's stories are constantly on best seller lists; people like to read them. Not only this, but he illicits thought through imagination; exactly what the more elementary literature we are presented in grade schools and beyond does. Anything that gets someone thinking is a viable resource in a classroom, so while it isn't literature in the classic sense, it still has value.

King- Craig Joseph --cjoseph1, Sat, 03 Dec 2005 19:21:27 -0500 reply
As far as the question of whether this is literature that should be presented in a class room, I would unquestionably say yes. It has the same dark language and imagery that a Poe or a Hawthorne carry, but is much shallower as far as how much thought has to be put into the read to truly understand it. Regardless of whether you like this style or not, there is a reason why King's stories are constantly on best seller lists; people like to read them. Not only this, but he illicits thought through imagination; exactly what the more elementary literature we are presented in grade schools and beyond does. Anything that gets someone thinking is a viable resource in a classroom, so while it isn't literature in the classic sense, it still has value.

King- Craig Joseph --cjoseph1, Sat, 03 Dec 2005 19:24:05 -0500 reply
As far as the question of whether this is literature that should be presented in a class room, I would unquestionably say yes. It has the same dark language and imagery that a Poe or a Hawthorne carry, but is much shallower as far as how much thought has to be put into the read to truly understand it. Regardless of whether you like this style or not, there is a reason why King's stories are constantly on best seller lists; people like to read them. Not only this, but he illicits thought through imagination; exactly what the more elementary literature we are presented in grade schools and beyond does. Anything that gets someone thinking is a viable resource in a classroom, so while it isn't literature in the classic sense, it still has value.

Brittany --bpeters, Wed, 07 Dec 2005 19:48:15 -0500 reply
Normally, I don’t enjoy books by authors like Stephen King, but Everything’s Eventual is an exception to that rule. I think the fact that it was a collection of short stories that involve quick thrills makes it different than a long, drawn out tale with a developed story line. With these stories, you didn’t really have to take a history or back story into account while reading and you can focus fully on the action, and what’s currently going on with the main character. Also, the lack of history means the reader can focus on the frightening aspects without worrying what in the protagonist’s past led them to this point in their lives.

One of my favorite stories in the book is “The Man in the Black Suit”, in which a 90-year-old man tells his story of meeting the Devil on his deathbed. The story takes place in a small town in 1914, when the protagonist, Gary, takes a fishing trip. The Devil appears to him, and Gary barely escapes him. I enjoyed this story the most because of the realism King employs when telling this tale. The way the protagonist describes the Devil’s “orangey-red eyes” like “the flames in a woodstove” is poignant on many levels to the reader. There is also a good deal of themes employed in this tale. First and foremost there is the religious theme of the tale. Gary and his parents do not attend church much after Gary’s brother Danny dies from a bee sting. This may lead the reader to think that the Devil sees them as sheep led astray, and the perfect prey for him to go after. Also, there is the fact that in a small town in the early 1900s very few people were well educated, and the reader might think that the entire ordeal was simply and overactive imagination at work, with very little brainpower behind it. However, others may argue that another theme King played on in this story was the fact that this story is related while Gary is dying, so perhaps he is embellishing on something that happened those many years before, or maybe he is confused or senile, and making things up. Or maybe he is telling the truth, and was just far too afraid to say it, but is now willing to recount his rendezvous with the Devil, now that he is ready to pass out of this world and into the next. Any way you look at it, “The Man in the Black Suit” is one of the most provocative tales in Everything’s Eventual, and the best story in the only book I enjoy by the author.

Stephen King--Casey Tominack --ctominac, Mon, 12 Dec 2005 22:46:45 -0500 reply
My favorite story in Everything's Eventual--and the story that I decided to base my presentation on--was "Autopsy Room Four" The fear of being buried alive is perhaps as old as the fear of death itself. Being taken from this world at the moment of death is bad enough, but the prospect of being mistakenly identified as dead and then waiting in suffocating horror...well, it's just too much for us to even think about. In my opinion, several passages in this short story are some of King's most terrifying, questioning the very fabric of the afterlife before crashing down into painful, horrifying reality. In centuries gone by, life was short and death came far too soon. A mother during the Victorian era might give birth to six children with hopes that at least half would survive into adulthood. People simply did not live long in those days, creating a fear of death that was both primal and deep-seated. Today, things have changed. But, in spite of all of these changes, death is just as mysterious now as it was two hundred years ago. On page 5 of the novel, the passage, "But if I'm dead how can I feel? How can I smell the bag I'm in? How can...If I'm dead, why aren't I either gone or in the white light they're always talking about on Oprah?" is evidence that the ambiguity still exists in today's society.