The first 5 chapters of this book are very disturbing. The words he uses to describe the story are so real and adult like. I think that because this story is in an adult's perspective, it's going to seem more mature and less scattered.
I feel like the Long Walk was less plot and more depth and this story has more of a plot line.
One thing I'm wondering, is Billy going to try and find the gypsies that cursed him? Or is he just going to deal with it?
Right now it's unclear how Billy is going to handle this situation, and I'm curious to see what he is going to do.
What do you guys think?
Hahaha I definitely agree with you. King never fails to go into disturbing details about every aspect of the book. As of now, I prefer the Long Walk, which I think is intended to appeal to a younger audience. Thinner seems darker and more mature but is still entertaining.
ReplyDeleteI think that Billy will either find the gypsies or they will find him. That's what always happens in movies where someone is cursed. They find the person who cursed them and either beg for forgiveness or kill them. But as of now, the curse doesn't really seem like a curse. Billy's always wanted to lose weight so he'll probably mock the gypsies at first. But when Billy loses too much weight, then he will realize that he needs to take action.
I don't think that he'll be mocking the gypsies even while his weight is still relatively high. He seems really worried about losing weight and he's angry that he's been cursed by the gypsies. He confesses to Doctor Houston, "I was scared" and that he believed he had cancer (57). Even though he did want to lose weight, I don't think that he likes that there's no realistic explanation as to why he's losing so much.
DeleteTwo of you have mentioned that Thinner is more adult oriented. Is it more than the age of the protagonist? Can you give me examples of passages that show this?
ReplyDeleteNo, I wouldn't really say that it's the age of the protagonist. He is in his mid thirties but I meant that the content of the book was more mature. It's nothing that a typical teenager hasn't heard before but it's definitely not a book that would be passed by the board at school and a teacher could have their students read. I meant that the sexual content and language make the book more mature. The Long Walk had plenty of swears but there was little sexual content in it. I didn't post any evidence because it was a bit inappropriate but if you insist... King goes into depth in the multiple sex scenes saying, "She snuggled more comfortably against him. Her hand wandered up from his thigh, touched his penis lightly and lovingly, toyed with the thatch of his pubic hair (last year he'd been sadly astounded to see the first threads of gray down there in what his father had called Adam's thicket), and then slid up the foothill of his lower belly (Chapter 3). And then Billy and his wife had sex again on the same page when "The pleasure woke again at the touch of her fingers, playful at first, then more serious (his penis stiffened as he slept and he turned his head slightly at the metallic clicking sound of his zipper going down notch by notch); the pleasure mixed uneasily with a feeling of terrible inevitability" (Chapter 3). That's what I meant by more mature. And sorry about the citations but I'm reading the book online so it doesn't have page numbers.
DeleteI think that because the book is in the eye of an adult probably has a bit to do with how adult the book is, but I think it's because the maturity of Billy. The way he speaks and the way he describes the world around him is much more sophisticated and dark than Ray, in the long walk. It's so cool to me that Stephen King can incorporate these different views just by changing the style of his writing.
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