The Stand by Stephen King

            

 Description

The Stand is a post-apocalyptic dark fantasy novel written by American author Stephen King and first published in 1978 by Doubleday. The plot is centered on a pandemic of a weaponized strain of influenza that kills the entire world population. An extremely contagious and lethal strain of influenza, resistant to antibodies and vaccines, is developed as a biological weapon within a secret U.S. Department of Defence laboratory. 

A patient escapes from a biological testing facility, unknowingly carrying a deadly weapon: a mutated strain of super-flu that will wipe out 99 percent of the world's population within a few weeks. Those who survive are scared, bewildered, and need to be led by an alpha. Two groups spring up-- one led by Mother Abagail and others by Randall Flagg. The benevolent 108-year-old woman, Mother Abagail, who urges them to build a peaceful community in Boulder, Colorado; and the nefarious "Dark Man", Randall Flagg, who delights in chaos and violence. A few survivors of influenza, unite in groups, established a new social system, and engage in confrontation with each other. As the dark man and benevolent woman acquire some power, the survivors have to choose between them-- and ultimately decide the fate of all humanity.

Review

The Stand was highly appreciated by literary critics and is considered one of King's best novels. It is a masterpiece that is set in the virus-decimated U.S. King's thrilling American fantasy epic is a classic. In 1990, The Stand was reprinted as a complete and uncut edition. King restored some fragments of texts that were initially reduced, revised the order of the chapters, shifted the novel's setting from 1980 to 10 years forward, and accordingly corrected a number of cultural references. 

The Complete and Uncut Edition of The Stand is considered to be King's longest stand-alone work. The book has sold 4.5 million copies. It has been included in lists of the best books of all time by Rolling Stone, Time, The Modern Library, Amazon, and the BBC. Reviewers praised the believability of the story, the relevance of the issues raised, and the liveliness of the characters, but criticized the protractedness of individual episodes, the plot dualism, and the deliberate denouement.

Adaptation

Television

• A self-titled, 8-hours miniseries, based on the novel was broadcast on ABC in 1994, directed by Mick Garris and starred Gary Sinise, Adam Storke, and few more actors along with Stephen King himself.
• A 10-hours limited series to air on CBS All Access completed production in March 2020. The Complete and Uncut Edition includes a prologue detailing the development of the virus and the security breach that causes its release.

Comics

Marvel Comics adapted The Stand into a series of six five-issue comic book miniseries. The series was written by Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa and illustrated by Mike Perkins. The first issue of The Stand: Captain Trips was released on September 10, 2008.

Music

• Metallica (2019) derived the title for its song "Ride the Lightning" from a quote from The Stand.
• The Alarm had a song on the 1984 album Declaration called "The Stand (Prophecy)" as an homage to the book. The song contained certain lyrics directly related to the book.
• The title track to the 1987 album ''Among The Living'' by the band Anthrax is based on the novel.

About the Author

Stephen King (born September 21, 1947) is an American author of horror, supernatural, fiction, suspense, crime, science-fiction, and fantasy novels. King is the author of more than sixty books, all of them are worldwide bestsellers, including seven under the pen name Richard Bachman. He has written approximately 200 short stories, most of which have been published in book collections.

His first crime thriller featuring Bill Hodges, Mr. Mercedes, won the Edgar Award for best novel and was shortlisted for the CWA Gold Dagger Award. Both Mr. Mercedes and End of Watch received the Goodreads Choice Award for the Best Mystery and Thriller of 2014 and 2016 respectively. 

His novel 11/22/63 was named a top ten book of 2011 by the New York Times Book Review and won the Los Angeles Times Book Prize for Mystery/Thriller as well as the Best Hardcover Book Award from the International Thriller Writers Association. He co-wrote the bestselling novel Sleeping Beauties with his son Owen King, and many of King's books have been turned into celebrated films and television series including The Shawshank Redemption, Gerald's Game, and It.

Stephen King has been the recipient of many national and international awards till the date. He has received America's prestigious 2003  National Book Foundation Medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters and the 2014 National Medal of Arts. In 2007 he also won the Grand Master Award from the Mystery Writers of America. He has been described as 'King of Horror' a play on his surname. King studied at the University of Maine, graduating in 1970 with a Bachelor of Arts in English. He lives in Bangor, Maine, with his wife, novelist Tabitha King.

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Rating: 4.6/5

Author: Stephen King

Publisher: Hodder and Stoughton (New edition), Doubleday (Original)

Publishing Date: 12 May 2011(New edition), 3 October 1978 (Original)

Language: English

Genre: Horror, Thriller, Fantasy-fiction, Post-apocalyptic, Fantastique

ISBN-10: 9781444720730

ISBN-13: 978-1444720730

ASIN: 1444720732

Pages: 1344

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The Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank

Description

The Diary Of a Young Girl, also known as The Diary of Anne Frank, is a book of the writings of Anne Frank a thirteen-year-old young girl, who was hiding for two years with her family during the Nazi occupation of the Netherlands. It was first published on June 25, 1947, in the Dutch language titled 'Het Achterhuis. Dagboekbrieven (that means-The Annex: Diary Notes)14 Juni 1942  - 1 Augustus 1944' in Amsterdam. Later, In 1952, it was published in with the title Anne Frank: The Diary Of a Young Girl by Doubleday & Company (the United States) and Vallentine Mitchell (United Kingdom) in English. The Diary was retrieved by Miep Gies, he gave it to Anne's father, Otto Frank--the family's only known survivor of the war, just after World War II was over.

On July 5, 1942, Anne's elder sister Margot received an official summons to report to a Nazi work camp in Germany, and on July 6, went into hiding with their parents Otto and Edith. With the help of Otto's trusted colleagues, they remained hidden for two years and one month. A few months later, Hermann Van Pels (Otto's business partner) with his wife Auguste and their teenage son Peter joined Anne's family in sealed-off upper rooms of the annex. It was behind Otto's company building in Amsterdam. The rooms that everyone hid in were concealed behind a movable bookcase in the same building as Opekta.

Anne got a red checkered autograph book on her 13th birthday (12 June 1942) as her present that she used as her dairy. She wrote about the experience of being hidden for two years after the Nazis had occupied the land. She recorded daily events, her feelings of being cut off from the outside world. Her family suffered from hunger, boredom, claustrophobia, living in confined quarters, and ever-present the fear of being found or death. Dirty places, mites, rats did become part of their living in those two years of confinement that lead them to infections and many sorts of diseases. On the most unfortunate day, she and her family were betrayed, apprehended, and taken away to the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp, where she eventually died of typhus. 

Review

The Diary Of a Young Girl by Anne Frank is a record of a sensitive girl's tragic experience during one of the worst periods in human history. This diary is so powerful that it leaves a deep impact on the mind of its reader. She wrote about hunger, threat, humiliation, cruelty, infection, and diseases that she had to face along with her parents and others during hiding in the confined quarters. Yet, she felt that in spite of everything, people are still good at heart. In the words of her father, "For me, it was a revelation. There, was revealed a completely different Anne to the child that I had lost. I had no idea of the depths of her thoughts and feeling."

The diary received widespread critical and popular attention on the appearance of its English Language. It has been published in more than 60 languages. It is included in several lists of the top books of the 20th century. In 2009, the notebooks of the dairy were submitted by the Netherlands and included in UNESCO's Memory of the World Register.

The copyright of the Dutch version of the diary, published in 1947, expired on 1 January 2016, 70 years after the author's death as a result of the general rule in copyright law of the European Union. Following this, the original Dutch version was made available online.

Adaptation

It is one of the world's best-known books and has been the basis for several plays and films.

• The popularity of the diary inspired the 1955 play The Diary of Anne Frank by the screenwriters Frances Goodrich and Albert Hackett and it won the Pulitzer Prize for 1955. A subsequent film version(1959) earned Shelley Winters an Academy Award for her performance. Winters donated her Oscar to the Anne Frank House in Amsterdam. 
• The first major adaptation to quote literal passages from the diary was 2014's Anne, authorized and initiated Amsterdam in the Netherlands, the play had productions in Germany and Isreal.
• Other adaptions of the diary include a version by Wendy Kesselman from 1997. Alix Sober's 2014 The Secret Annex in which Anne Frank survives the Holocaust.

The first German film version of the diary, written by Fred Breinersdorfer, was released by NBC Universal in 2016. The film is derived from the 2014 Dutch stage production.

About the Author

Annelies Marie "Anne" Frank (born on June 12, 1929, in Frankfurt, Germany) was a German-Dutch diarist of Jewish Origin. Her parents moved to the Netherlands, she was just 4 years and a few months old, when the Nazi's took control over Germany. Born a German national, she lost her citizenship in 1941 and thus became stateless. By May 1940, the Franks were trapped in Amsterdam by the German occupation of the Netherlands. 

She was one of the most discussed Jewish victims of the Holocaust, she gained fame posthumously with the publication of The Diary of a Young Girl (Originally Het Achterhuis in Dutch; The Secret Annex in English) in which she depicts her life in hiding from 1942 to 1944, during the German occupation of the Netherlands in World War II. 

Anne Frank and her sister Margot were shifted to Bergen-Belsen concentration camp, Eastern Hanover, Nazi Germany where they both suffered from infection and illness. After a couple of months, Anne Frank died at the age of 15 due to typhus in 1945. 

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Rating: 4.7/5

Author: Anne Frank

Publisher: General Press (New edition), Contact Publishing (Original) 

Publishing Date: January 1, 2018 (New edition), June 25, 1947 (Dutch), 1952 (English)

Language: English

Genre: Autobiography, Jewish History, Jewish Holocaust History, World History WWII

ISBN-10: 9387669203

ISBN-13: 978-9387669208

Pages: 230 (Hardcover)

Cost: 21.77 (Hardcover)

To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee

                                

Description

To kill a mockingbird is a novel by Harper Lee which was published in 1960. This timeless classic explores human behavior and the collective conscience of the deep South in the early 20th century. Humor entwines the delicate strands of prejudice, hatred, hypocrisy, love, and innocence to create one of the best novels ever written. The plot and characters are loosely based on Lee's observations of her family, her neighbors, and event that occurred near her hometown of Monroeville, Alabama in 1936, when she was ten. 

The story is told by the six-year-old Jean Louise Finch, it takes place during three years (1933-35) of the Great Depression in the fictional 'tired old town' of Maycomb, Alabama, the seat of Maycomb County. Jean Louise Finch nicknamed 'Scout' lives with her older brother Jeremy nicknamed 'Jem' and their widowed father Atticus, a middle-aged lawyer. Jem and Scout befriend a boy named Dill who visits and stays with his aunt every summer in Maycomb. Three children terrified yet fascinated by their reclusive neighbor Arthur Radley "Boo". People of the town hesitate to talk about Boo. Atticus was delegated to defend a black man Tom Robinson who has been accused of rape a white young woman. Although citizens of Maycomb disapprove, yet Atticus agrees to it. Jem and Scout were being taunted by other kids but Scout defends her dad and stood up with him. One day on Halloween Peagent Scout encounters Mr. Boo somehow but she never saw him again in her life.

Review

The novel was instantly successful, widely read in high schools and middle schools in the United States. It is one of the most cherished stories of all time which has been translated into more than forty languages and sold more than forty million copies worldwide.

It has become a classic of modern American literature and won the Pulitzer Prize. It was voted America's Best-Loved Novel in PBS's The Great American Read and best novel of the twentieth century by librarians across the United States. The heroism of one man in the face of blind and violent hatred was widely admired by Anti-racial groups and organizations.  

Notwithstanding, dealing with the serious issues of rape and racial inequality, the novel is renowned for its warmth and humor. Atticus Finch, The father of the narrator, served as a moral hero for many readers and as a model of integrity for lawyers. It views a world of great beauty and savage inequities through the eyes of a 6 years old girl, as her father, a crusading local lawyer, risks everything to defend a black man unjustly accused of raping a white young girl.

The historian Joseph Crespino explains, "In the twentieth century, To Kill a Mockingbird is probably the most widely read book dealing with race in America, and its main character, Atticus Finch, the most enduring fictional image of racial heroism."

Adaptation

The novel was adapted for a film in 1962, which was made with the same title, starring Gregory Peck as Atticus Finch. The film was a hit at the box office and won three Oscars: Best Actor for Gregory Peck, Best Art Direction-Set Decoration (Black-and-White), and Best Writing (Screenplay Based on Material from Another Medium). It was nominated for five more Oscars including Best Actress in a Supporting Role for Mary Badham, the actress who played Scout.

The book has also been adapted as a play by Christopher Sergel. It debuted in 1990 in Monroeville, a town that labels itself 'The Literary Capital of Alabama'. The play runs every May on the county courthouse grounds and townspeople make up the cast. White people from the audience have been invited to be 'The Jury' for the play every year. The relationship of the town to the book is: "It becomes part of the town ritual, like the religious underpinning of Mardi Gras. The whole town crowded around the actual courthouse". 

About the Author




Nelle Harper Lee (born on April 28, 1926, in Monroeville, Alabama) was an American novelist best known for her novel To Kill a Mockingbird (1960). It won her Pulitzer Prize in 1961 and has become a classic of modern American literature. Lee only published two books, yet she was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2007 for her contribution to literature. She also received numerous honorary degrees. She assisted her close friend Truman Capote in his research for the book In Cold Blood (1966). Capote was the basis for the character Dill in To Kill a Mockingbird. Lee's second book Go Set a Watchman was published in 2015. It was the first draft of To Kill a Mockingbird. Lee continued to respond to her work's impact until her death in February 2016.












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Rating: 4.8/5

Hardcover: 336 pages

Publisher: Harper; Reprint edition (1960)

Language: English

ISBN-10: 0062420704

ISBN-13: 978-0062420701

Genre: Classic American Fiction, Classic Literature and Fiction, Satire

Cost: $10.05

The Shining by Stephen King

Description

The Shining is a horror novel by American author Stephen King which was published in 1977. It was King's third published novel and first hardcover bestseller. This book brought success into King's life and established him as a pre-eminent author in the literary world of the horror genre. The plot and characters of this novel are inspired by King's personal experiences, including both his visit to The Stanley Hotel in 1974 and his recovery from alcoholism. 

The Shining centers the life of Jack Torrance, an aspiring writer and recovering alcoholic who accepts a position as the off-season caretaker of the historic Overlook Hotel in the Colorado Rockies. His family accompanies him on his job, including his young son Danny Torrance, who possesses 'the shining', an array of psychic abilities that allow Danny to see the hotel's horrific past. Soon, after a winter storm leaves them snowbound, the old place looks more isolated and sinister. The supernatural forces inhabiting the hotel influence Jack's sanity which brings staggering danger to his wife and son.

Review

The Shining is the third novel of King, the master storyteller. He serves horror at a brisk and unflagging pace. The Shining is a scary novel.. it will haunt you and make your blood run cold and your heart race at a fast pace with fear. King definitely knows more about confined places and horror activity in there this novel is a clear exemplar. This gruesome novel contains his peerless imagination which is a grisly treat for his fans across the world.

"He is the author who can always make the improbable so scary, you'll feel compelled to check the locks on the front door."--The Boston Globe

Adaptation

The novel had been adapted many times for different media platforms:

• In 1980, It was adapted into a feature film of the same name, directed by Stanely Kubrick and co-written with Diane Johnson, with a little change in its theme and Wendy's character, though King was disappointed with the adaptation, it was one of the greatest horror films ever made.
• In 1997, it was premiered as a television miniseries. Stephen King himself wrote and closely monitored the making of the series to ensure that it followed the novel's narratives.
• In 2016, it was adapted into an opera of the same name.
• The novel was also being adapted into a stage play directed by Ivo Van Hove and written by Simon Stephens.
• A spin-off series titled 'Overlook' is in development by J. J. Abrams and his production company Bad Robot. It will air on HBO Max and explores the tales of the Overlook Hotel. 

About the Author

Stephen King (born September 21, 1947) is an American author of horror, supernatural, fiction, suspense, crime, science-fiction, and fantasy novels. King is the author of more than sixty books, all of them are worldwide bestsellers, including seven under the pen name Richard Bachman. He has written approximately 200 short stories, most of which have been published in book collections.

His first crime thriller featuring Bill Hodges, Mr. Mercedes, won the Edgar Award for best novel and was shortlisted for the CWA Gold Dagger Award. Both Mr. Mercedes and End of Watch received the Goodreads Choice Award for the Best Mystery and Thriller of 2014 and 2016 respectively. 

His novel 11/22/63 was named a top ten book of 2011 by the New York Times Book Review and won the Los Angeles Times Book Prize for Mystery/Thriller as well as the Best Hardcover Book Award from the International Thriller Writers Association. 

He co-wrote the bestselling novel Sleeping Beauties with his son Owen King, and many of King's books have been turned into celebrated films and television series including The Shawshank Redemption, Gerald's Game, and It.

Stephen King has been the recipient of many national and international awards to date. He has received America's prestigious 2003  National Book Foundation Medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters and the 2014 National Medal of Arts. In 2007 he also won the Grand Master Award from the Mystery Writers of America. He has been described as 'King of Horror' a play on his surname.

King studied at the University of Maine, graduating in 1970 with a Bachelor of Arts in English. He lives in Bangor, Maine, with his wife, novelist Tabitha King.

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Rating: 4.8/5

Author: Stephen King

Publisher: Anchor (Reprint), Doubleday (Original)

Publishing Date: August 27,2013(Reprint edition), January 28,1977 (Original)

Language: English

Genre: Ghost Fiction, Thriller

ISBN-10: 0345806786

ISBN-13: 978-0345806789

Pages: 688 

Cost: 16.57(Paperback)

If It Bleeds by Stephen King

 

Description

If It Bleeds is a collection of four previously unpublished novellas by American writer Stephen King which was published on April 21, 2020, by Scribner. The stories in this collection are titled "If It Bleeds", "Mr. Harrigan's Phone", "The life of Chuck", and "Rat".  

If It Bleeds 

Holly Gibney of the Finders Keepers detective agency is indulged with the case of a missing dog when she sees footage of a school bombing on TV. But when she tunes in again late in the night, she realizes something is not quite right about the reporter who was first seen in the news. Soon, she finds out that she is not the only one who suspects the same. The truth about the reporter is terrifying. Holly Gibney is one of King's recurring characters, having appeared in his Bill Hodges Trilogy (Mr. Mercedes, Finders Keepers, and End of Watch) and in The Outsider.

Mr. Harrigan's Phone

In this story, a message on Craig's cell brings him into a shocking state. One day he finds out that his dead friend's phone, which was buried with his body, still communicates from the grave.
Craig gets a job working for the retired Mr. Harrigan when he is just nine years old--watering plants and reading books to the old man, who has retired after a successful business career in the small town of Harlow, Maine. He is a helping hand for Mr. Harrigan. The time they spend together is a lively time for both of them. As years go on, Craig buys an iPhone for him as a thank you gift after a scratch-off lotto ticket that Harrigan had gifted the boy in the form of paying him off. The old man reluctant to accept the phone at first, eventually he starts enjoying it. When Mr. Harrigan dies, Craig places the phone in his pocket to be buried with him. One night Craig, missing his friend, leaves a voice message. To his shock, he gets a text in return. Craig will learn that everything which is gone, isn't dead.         

The Life of Chuck

As the world around him crumbles into oblivion, a man realizes that he contains multitudes. A story told in reverse, starting with the end of Chuck Krantz's life, and moving back in time to show how he had lived that life.

Rat

A writer with writer's block seeks a devilish bargain to help him finish a novel. He must contend with the darker side of ambition.

Review

If It Bleeds is a 2020 collection of four short stories that were originally scheduled for release on May 5, 2020, the release was pushed up to April 28 and pushed up again to April 21 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Audiobook has the voices of Will Patton, Danny Burstein, and Steven Weber. 

These four longer short stories leave the same impression as their predecessors penned down by Stephen King. His stories hold the readers up to the end until all the strings untangle and make a perfect end. His imaginations are limitless and he brings out very strong characters with stupendous dialogues. Each story pulls you into intriguing and frightening places. He gives pleasure to his fans every time with every new release, there is no bad start if you are new to him.

This book got mixed reviews, both thumps up and down from critics. USA Today's Brian Truitt awarded the collection 3.5/4, saying, "If It Bleeds is aces with short stories but has a real issue getting a novel together... King still owns the fright business like none other, but the iconic author will keep you up late at night engrossed in four tales about our dreams and our frailties."

About the Author

Stephen King (born September 21, 1947) is an American author of horror, supernatural, fiction, suspense, crime, science-fiction, and fantasy novels. King is the author of more than sixty books, all of them are worldwide bestsellers, including seven under the pen name Richard Bachman. He has written approximately 200 short stories, most of which have been published in book collections.

His first crime thriller featuring Bill Hodges, Mr. Mercedes, won the Edgar Award for best novel and was shortlisted for the CWA Gold Dagger Award. Both Mr. Mercedes and End of Watch received the Goodreads Choice Award for the Best Mystery and Thriller of 2014 and 2016 respectively. 

His novel 11/22/63 was named a top ten book of 2011 by the New York Times Book Review and won the Los Angeles Times Book Prize for Mystery/Thriller as well as the Best Hardcover Book Award from the International Thriller Writers Association. 

He co-wrote the bestselling novel Sleeping Beauties with his son Owen King, and many of King's books have been turned into celebrated films and television series including The Shawshank Redemption, Gerald's Game, and It.

Stephen King has been the recipient of many national and international awards to date. He has received America's prestigious 2003  National Book Foundation Medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters and the 2014 National Medal of Arts. In 2007 he also won the Grand Master Award from the Mystery Writers of America. He has been described as 'King of Horror' a play on his surname.

King studied at the University of Maine, graduating in 1970 with a Bachelor of Arts in English. He lives in Bangor, Maine, with his wife, novelist Tabitha King.

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Rating: 4.4/5

Hardcover: 448 pages

Publisher: Scribner

Publishing Date: April 20, 2020

Language: English

ISBN-10: 1982137975

ISBN-13: 978-1982137977

Genre: Supernatural Thriller, American Literature, Horror Literature, and Fiction 

The Institute by Stephen King

First Edition U.S. cover

Description

The Institute is a science fiction-horror thriller novel by American author Stephen King, published on September 10, 2019, by Scribner. 

Tim Jemieson is a decorated policeman who leaves the job in Florida and decides to move to New York City. By chance, he gives up his seat in the plane and finds himself in a small town of Dupray, South Carolina.

In the middle of the night, in a house on a quiet street in suburban Minneapolis, intruders silently murder twelve-year-old Luke Ellis's parents and kidnap him in a black SUV. Luke later wakes up at the Institute, in a room looks just like him, except windows. There is no window and outside the door, there are other doors, behind which are other kids with special abilities--telekinesis and telepathy--who got to the Institute in the same way as Luke did. It is like, "You check-in but you don't check out." Kalisha, Nick, George, Iris, and ten-year-old Avery Dixon are in Front Half, and Others graduated to Back Half.

The Institute is located in the middle of the woods of Maine. The facility is not open to any visitor. The most ominous act that happens in the institute is the director Mrs. Sigsby and her staff is ruthlessly dedicated to extracting from these children the force of their extranormal gifts. There is no twinge of conscience here. If they go along they get token for the vending machines and if they don't, the punishment is brutal. After learning that kids are disappearing from the Back half, Luke becomes more and more desperate to get out and get help but no one ever could escape from the Institute.

Review

The Institute is another winner: creepy and touching and horrifyingly believable, all at once." –The Boston Globe

"You don't need to be a horror fan to read The Institute–or to have The Institute take over your life since this is generally what happens with King's novels... His storytelling transcends genre."–Marion Winnick, Newsday

The Institute is Stephen King's gut-wrenchingly dramatic story of good Vs. evil in a world where the good guys don't always win. This novel of King is the most riveting and unforgettable story of kids confronting evil since IT. Tapping into minds of young characters, King creates a sense of menace and intimacy that will have readers spellbound. King's fan will definitely devour this new page-turner piece of work. Words used in this meticulously crafted novel are on their well-drawn places, which again proves why King is the "King of horror".

Adaptation

At the moment of publishing the novel, it was announced that the television rights were secured by David E. Kelley and Jack Bender (producer of Mr. Mercedes) for a limited series.

About the Author

Stephen King (born September 21, 1947) is an American author of horror, supernatural, fiction, suspense, crime, science-fiction, and fantasy novels. King is the author of more than sixty books, all of them are worldwide bestsellers, including seven under the pen name Richard Bachman. He has written approximately 200 short stories, most of which have been published in book collections.

His first crime thriller featuring Bill Hodges, Mr. Mercedes, won the Edgar Award for best novel and was shortlisted for the CWA Gold Dagger Award. Both Mr. Mercedes and End of Watch received the Goodreads Choice Award for the Best Mystery and Thriller of 2014 and 2016 respectively. 

His novel 11/22/63 was named a top ten book of 2011 by the New York Times Book Review and won the Los Angeles Times Book Prize for Mystery/Thriller as well as the Best Hardcover Book Award from the International Thriller Writers Association. 

He co-wrote the bestselling novel Sleeping Beauties with his son Owen King, and many of King's books have been turned into celebrated films and television series including The Shawshank Redemption, Gerald's Game, and It.

Stephen King has been the recipient of many national and international awards to date. He has received America's prestigious 2003  National Book Foundation Medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters and the 2014 National Medal of Arts. In 2007 he also won the Grand Master Award from the Mystery Writers of America. He has been described as 'King of Horror' a play on his surname.

King studied at the University of Maine, graduating in 1970 with a Bachelor of Arts in English. He lives in Bangor, Maine, with his wife, novelist Tabitha King.

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Rating: 4.6/5

Author: Stephen King

Publisher: Scribner

Publishing Date: September 10, 2019

Language: English

Genre: Horror, Psychic Thriller, Suspense, Mystery, Science Fiction 

ISBN-10: 1982110562

ISBN-13: 978-1982110567

Pages: 576

Cost: $18.35

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Three Men in a Boat by Jerome K. Jerome

Original Cover page

Description   

Three Men in a Boat (To Say Nothing of the Dog), published in 1889, is a humorous account by English writer Jerome K. Jerome of a two-week boating holiday on the Thames from Kingston upon the Thames to Oxford and back to Kingston. The trip was a typical boating holiday of the time in a Thames camping skiff, just after commercial boat traffic on the Upper Thames had died out, and replaced by the 1880s craze for boating as a leisure activity. The book was initially intended to be a serious travel guide, with details of local history along the route, but the humorous elements took over the point where the serious and somewhat sentimental passages seem a distraction to the comic novel. 

The novel begins with the introduction of George, Harris, Jerome (who is referred to as 'J' in the novel), and J's dog, named Montmorency. The protagonists of the story are spending an evening in J's room, smoking, and discussing their workload they are suffering from, and badly need a holiday. The stay in the country and a sea trip both are considered but rejected immediately due to a few reasons. The three eventually decide a boating trip holiday up the River Thames, from Kingston to Oxford, during which they will camp, notwithstanding more of J's anecdotes about previous mishaps with tents and camping stoves.

They set off on the following Saturday and on the very first day their misadventure starts with bribing the train driver to take his train to Kingston where they collect their hired boat and start their journey on the Thames. The remainder of the story describes their river journey and the incidents that occur. They pass through landmarks and villages. They experience favorite pastime fishing and encounter unpredictable situations during their journey on the boat such as imaginary illnesses, butter pats, tins of pineapple chunks, tow-ropes, and unreliable barometer incidents, that bring a humorous lifetime memory to their lives. 




Review
The novel Three Men in a boat is based on the author Jerome K. Jerome (the narrator J-Jerome) and his two real-life friends, George Wingrave as George and Carl Hentschel as Harris, with whom Jerome often took boating trips. The dog, Montmorency, is completely fictional but as an Englishman, Jerome's inner consciousness always contains an element of the dog.

The narrator J. chronicles his misadventures in the novel full of wit and humor. He frequently rambles into humorous anecdotes of the boat trip, that bring attentiveness to its readers more and make them turn the page eagerly. One of the most praised things about the novel is how undated it appears to modern readers the jokes have been praised as fresh and witty.

The reception by critics varied between lukewarm and hostile. Modern era critics have praised the humor but criticized the book's unevenness, as the humorous passages are scattered with serious passages, sometimes in purple prose, that overpower the serious passages written in sentimental style.



The expansion of education and the increase in office workers created a new mass readership, and Jerome's book was especially popular among the 'clerking class' who longed to be 'free from that fretful haste'. The book brought popularity into Jerome's life that he reunited his heroes for a bicycle tour of Germany in Three Men on the Bummel.


Adaptation




Audio

Audiobooks of the novel have been released many times, with different narrators. The BBC has broadcast on radio a number of dramatizations of the story, including a musical version in 1962 starring Kenneth Horne, Leslie Philips, and Hubert Gregg, a three-episode version in 1984 and a two-part adaptation for Classic Serial in 2013.




Film and Television

1. Three Men in a Boat, a 1920 silent British film with Lionelle Howard as J., H Manning Haynes as Harris, and Johnny Butt as George.
2. Three Men in a Boat, a 1933 British film with William Austin, Edmund Breon, and Billy Milton.
3. Three Men in a Boat, a 1956 British film with David Tomlinson, Jimmy Edwards, and Laurence Harvey.
4. Drei Mann in einem Boot, a 1961 German film very loosely based on the book.
5. Three Men in a Boat, a 1975 BBC-produced version for television adapted by Tom Stoppard and directed by Stephen Frears, starring Tim Curry, Michael Palin, and Stephen Moore.
6. Three Men in a Boat, a 1979 Russian musical comedy filmed by Soviet television, with Andrei Mironov, Aleksandr Shirvindt, and Mikhail Derzhavin.
7. Peter Lovesey's Victorian detective novel Swing, Swing Together (1976), partly based on the book, featured as the second episode of the television series Cribb.

In 2005, the three comedians Griff Rhys Jones, Dara Ó Brian, and Rory McGrath embarked on a recreation of the novel and it became a regular yearly BBC TV series, Three Men in a Boat. Their first expedition was along the Thames from Kingston upon the Thames to Oxford. After this, the trio embarked on a trip from London to the Isle of Wight in Jones's yacht where they would race her against her sister's yacht. The following year, Three Men in More Than One Boat, in which they borrow, steal, and hitchhiking on numerous vessels to make their way from Plymouth to the Isles of Scilly. On another adventure for 2009, the trio takes the waterways of Ireland to make their way from Dublin to Limerick with Dara's greyhound. The first episode of Three Men Go to Scotland was broadcast at the end of 2010.


Theatre
A stage adaptation earned Jeremy Nicholas a Best Newcomer in a Play nomination at the 1981 Laurence Olivier Awards. The book was adapted by Clive Francis for a 2006 production that toured the UK.


Art
A sculpture of a stylized boat was created in 1999 to commemorate Three Men in a Boat on the Millenium Green in New Southgate, London, where the author lived as a child. In 2012 a mosaic of a dog's head was put onto the same green to commemorate Montmorency.


Other works of literature
In 1891, Three Women in One Boat: A river Sketch by Constance McEwen was published. The book is about the journey of three young university women who set out to emulate the river trip in Three Men in a Boat. They bring Cat called Tintoretto in the place of Montmorency. 


Fantasy author Harry Turtledove has written a set of stories where Jerome's characters encounter supernatural creatures: Three Men and a Vampire and Three Men and a Werewolf.


Science-fiction author Connie Willis paid tribute to Jerome's novel in her own 1997 Hugo Award-winning book To Say Nothing of the Dog. Her time-traveling protagonist also takes an ill-fated voyage on the Thames with two humans and a dog as companions, and encounters the protagonists of Jerome's novel.


Other books such as The Ascent of Rum Doodle, Have Space Suit-Will Travel, Three Men (Not) in a Boat: and Most of the Time Without a Dog (1989, republished 2011) are few more works of literature that are inspired by Jerome's novel.




About the Author

Jerome Klapka Jerome (1859-1927), was born in Walsall and moved to London with his family when he was still a young boy. His middle name was from a Hungarian friend of his father. Jerome belonged to a poor family and he left school at fourteen, after the death of his mother. Jerome started working as a railway clerk but due to his artistic nature, he started acting with various theatre companies - as well as reading literature in the British Museum library.


His experiences led him to make living as a writer. Three Men in a Boat brought him success and worldwide fame. The critics did not like Jerome's humor and carefree style of writing but his readers did, especially the clerking class. In America, it was sold illegally, nevertheless, sales reached a million.
 
He died at the age of 68 in Northhampton General Hospital.





Jerome K. Jerome (1989)


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Author: Jerome K. Jerome
Publisher: Create Space Independent Publishing Platform
Publishing Date: October 24, 2018
Language: English
Genre: Humorous Fiction, Classic Literature and Fiction, Political Humor
ISBN-10: 1512099899
ISBN-13: 978-1512099898
Pages: 102 
Cost: $5.67