First lines: Gerald’s Game

A solitary cabin in the woods of western Maine. Gerald lies dead on the floor, which leaves his wife with a tiny problem, as she lies handcuffed to the bed. End of chapter one. Jessie has to find a way to escape, otherwise a certain death by dehydration (or perhaps, madness) awaits. During the remaining three-hundred pages of Gerald’s Game, she is just doing that: trying to escape and, while she’s at it, fighting some ancient demons in her head.

The idea is captivating: what if you end up chained up, with no hope of rescue. The execution wasn’t all I hoped for. Okay, so there’s a good character study going on, but as I feared it would, it drags and drags. The main character is lying tied to a bed. And she confronts some repressed stuff in her head while she tries to break free. For the better part of three-hundred pages. The final twist did make up for some of the drag, but I guess that might have been a good short story on it’s own.

Book read
Stephen King — Gerald’s Game
First line
Jessie could hear the back door banging lightly, randomly, in the October breeze blowing around the house.