Jacksprat Gets Lost in Fiction

Review of The Drawing of Three By: Stephen King             If “The Gunslinger” is the prologue, then “The Drawing of Three” is when the real story begins.  Roland wakes up on a beach right after his encounter with The Man in Black.  He must find the 3 doors and the 3 beings, The Prisoner, The Lady of Shadows, the Pusher/Death.  First, he comes to New York City in the 80s (I think) and meets junkie Eddie Dean.  The second door leads to the 50s (again, I think) where he meets Susannah a wheel chair bound black woman who has a dual personality.  The trio travels together on this beach in search of the third door with one of Susannah’s personalities fighting them the whole way.             If you know anything about Stephen King then you can guess that Eddie Dean probably has a bit in common with the author.  He ...

Review of Mr. Timothy A Novel written by Louis Bayard             Most are familiar with the classic Christmas tale written by Charles Dickens; whether you’ve actually read it or you have seen one of the many adaptations you probably know the story.  There is even a movie that tells a fictionalized version of how “A Christmas Carol” came about.  Tiny Tim is a secondary character at the heart of the story.  He is the crippled son of Bob Cratchit, Scrooge’s underpaid clerk, and the boy is a saintly as an angel.  He says things like, and I’m paraphrasing, “I hope people will see me so they’ll be reminded of how God heals the sick”.  Of course, we have the famous ending line “God Bless us, everyone”, but this novel debunks that.  Dickens was known for writing angelic children if they were a main character, and I imagine back then it was not as big of a deal, but by today’s...