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FROM A BUICK 8
by Stephen King
Scribner, September 2002
404 pages
$28.00
ISBN: 0743211375


Buy in the UK | Buy in Canada

One of the best known writers of fiction today is Stephen King His novels range from horror through to science fiction - or fantasy, if you would prefer. An apparently unselfish man, this author has deigned to share some of his secrets with aspiring writers in On Writing : A Memoir Of The Craft. Many movies have been made to thrill and chill the blood of cinema goers and surely his ability to produce ideas must be the envy of many a writing blocked scribbler. Carrie, Salem's Lot, Christine, The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon, Hearts In Atlantis, The Green Mile, Dreamcatcher, to name just a few of the titles in his output have all served to build his reputation as a superb writer.

From A Buick 8 had its genesis in a mishap suffered by King when driving through Pennsylvania, a region where the Amish people thrive. He pulled up at a service station to buy petrol, used the facilities then explored the back of the building and nearly landed in a stream there. He speculated on what would have happened had he drowned and the attendant finally realised he was missing. He relates that he had pretty much roughed out the outline of the book by the time he got home. Then fate intervened in the form of his much publicised car accident. In a case of life mimicking art King was nearly killed, much in the manner of the accident that befell Curtis Wilcox, one of the characters in this story.

A vehicle impersonating the form of a Buick 8 is abandoned at a service station attended by the man who in later years will be responsible for the death of Curtis Wilcox, at the time a rookie Trooper. The driver of the pseudo Buick who, from the description given by the attendant scarcely presents as a human, is never seen again. The Troop sergeant together with Curtis and a later sergeant, Sandy, begin to study the artifact without reporting its existence to the authorities. It becomes a family secret of the Troop. After Curtis is killed some two decades later, his eighteen year-old son Ned begins doing odd jobs around the barracks and is virtually adopted by the troopers. One day he discovers the mock Buick in a shed and the meat of the book becomes the narrative as presented to Ned by various members of the Troop. The story is told in a mixture of first persons, from the points of view of the different Troopers. The form comprises flashbacks as well as contemporary action.

First person narrative is a useful tool for a skilled story-teller. Any mystery can remain so since a solution can be without the experience of the narrator. The Troopers experiment with the mysterious entity, sometimes believing it is alive - certainly living things emerge from it and this process is at times described as giving birth. Horrid creatures are examined and the author does not stint on his descriptions. Neither, however, does he dwell on grue for the sake of grue rather than as a means to advance the story.

The pace set is a meandering rather than a hectic one. The voices of the troopers may sound somewhat similar but this is not a real criticism - after all, they are inhabitants of the same locale with similar backgrounds. King makes evident the fact that normal law enforcement work continues and there is not a concentration on the existence of the Buick to the exclusion of all else. In fact, as the activity of the artifact diminishes throughout the years, it becomes almost forgotten. The author does, however, present a very realistic portrait of a youth with powerful curiosity insisting on solving the mystery of just what his father had been involved in researching and whether it had any influence on his father's death.

For those fans of King's work, this will provide a welcome addition to the inventory. King's characters - with, of course, the exception of the Buick - are, well, human. The main ones have an agreeable depth and the peripheral are still realistic. Even the dog is believable! And the happenstance of King's accident occurring in such a manner and complete with details which the author had described so compellingly? Creepy!

Note: This is a review of the Austrailian edition.404 pages

Hodder & Stoughton, $Au49.95

Reviewed by Denise Wels, September 2002

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Contact: Yvonne Klein (ymk@reviewingtheevidence.com)


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