Posted: Mon Mar 19, 2007 12:00 pm
The original is a bit of a tauter story, but I think the expanded edition is superior.
So, I'm reading this one now. Almost done. They've just about rescued Peter.
I understand the complaints about this book. It was a fine little fairy tale for a while, even an interesting character-driven story. But since Peter has been locked in the tower, we've spent an awful long time trudging through snow with minor characters, sometimes literally covering the same ground twice. Do the turnips really need to be mentioned over half a dozen times? Really?
This should have been a short story, not a novel. Except for one or two (e.g. Peter, Roland), none of the other characters are even close to being fleshed out.
I read somewhere that King was frustrated with the response to this book, even writing Misery as a commentary on being forever shackled to writing horror novels by his fans. But if that's true, it's unfair. I don't think his fans would have minded a good fantasy story. This one just isn't a good story.