The name Stephen King is synonymous with the word "horror, and fortunately or unfortunately, horror never goes out of style. Those who chanced upon King in the early days of Salem’s Lot and Carrie will always keep looking for the same something they found irresistible in his early work. They won’t find it because it doesn’t exist anymore. Time changes everything and King changed a lot.
His early days were spent in a drug-induced stupor and he admits that he doesn’t remember writing some of his best sellers like Salem’s Lot and The Shining. He does say, however, that when reading these works he understands why he would have written them. When he finally got clean, he wrote some books that we, as his audience, would like to not remember. However, it did not dim his popularity and as he became famous, he took control over the editing process of his books.
He began writing books in which the protagonist becomes isolated somehow from civilization. It is evident in Gerald’s game in The Institute. The heroine of the piece becomes handcuffed to a bed alone in an isolated place with nothing to keep her company but her dead husband and a flesh-m nbveating dog. As she futily tries to free herself, she ponders her life thus far trying to understand how she came to be in this somewhat hopeless situation.
King becomes the protagonist and three quarters of the book is devoted to his thoughts, his hopes, his despair and his projections for the future. He began writing books about the future he envisions for this world and has returned a few times to the theme of innocent children exploited by evil men who justify their cruel actions with their belief that these actions will be for the greater good of all mankind. The Institute is the latest work by King to follow this premise.
Luke is a 12 year old genius with a minor talent in telekinesis. In the middle of the night, his parents are murdered and Luke is kidnapped and taken to the Institute where he finds other children with paranormal talents. He is told by one child that he is in the “front” part of the Institute and his goal should be to stay there. The “back” part is like the roach motel – kids check in but they don’t check out.
The purpose of the Institute is to transform the children into psychic weapons of destruction in an endless war against political enemies. It is so driven to this end that it fails to understand two very important factors – Luke’s prodigious intellect and the ability of this newly created “psychic weapon” to be used against them. A revolution takes place and dramatically shifts the balance of power.
King becomes the protagonist and three quarters of the book is devoted to his thoughts, his hopes, his despair and his projections for the future. He began writing books about the future he envisions for this world and has returned a few times to the theme of innocent children exploited by evil men who justify their cruel actions with their belief that these actions will be for the greater good of all mankind. The Institute is the latest work by King to follow this premise.
Luke is a 12 year old genius with a minor talent in telekinesis. In the middle of the night, his parents are murdered and Luke is kidnapped and taken to the Institute where he finds other children with paranormal talents. He is told by one child that he is in the “front” part of the Institute and his goal should be to stay there. The “back” part is like the roach motel – kids check in but they don’t check out.
The purpose of the Institute is to transform the children into psychic weapons of destruction in an endless war against political enemies. It is so driven to this end that it fails to understand two very important factors – Luke’s prodigious intellect and the ability of this newly created “psychic weapon” to be used against them. A revolution takes place and dramatically shifts the balance of power.
No comments:
Post a Comment