Stephen King's Joyland

[scottsanderson Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close scottsanderson]

I saw a thread for The Shining 2 (aka Dr. Sleep), but nor for his recently released book Joyland, which I just finished reading a few days ago. (excuse me if a thread has already been made on this)

Joyland was, in my mind a really great book, possibly one of my favourite King books ever. This is unsurprising, considering my previous favourite was Carrie, and Joyland is more of the whole 'teen angst' sorta thing (although the characters are 21).

The story basically follows a 21 year old guy called Dev who gets a summer job at a carnival, the eponymous Joyland. There he finds out about a 'ghost story' about a girl, Linda Grey who got murdered by her boyfriend in the Horror House and her ghost still lurks to this day.
Dev then, more or less takes it upon himself to investigate.

The thing I found intriguing with the book, is that the horror and mystery aspect really take a back seat in this book. It really is just a coming of age sort of story with a bit of mystery thrown in for good measure.

The book is about 285 pages and the for the first 200, the story is just Dev talking about life, his breakup with his girlfriend, his day to day stuff at the Carny etc with only the occasional mention of the mystery.
For some people who really wanted a good mystery, they may be disappointed by this. For me, this is perfectly fine. I've always got a soft spot for the developed coming of age tales.

That's not to say that the mystery itself isn't good or interesting, just that it's not really the focus.

Have you read the book? Are you planning on reading it? Love it? Hate it?
Discuss.

[Mark Tolch Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Mark Tolch]

I almost picked this one up when I was stuck in the airport, but went for the godawful "The Corleone Family" instead, which is a painful read. Guess I chose poorly. I'll have to check this one out.

[Andrew Monroe Pallid Hands Find all posts View Profile Close Andrew Monroe]

This book was briefly discussed in the Currently Reading thread - by Paul mostly, and thanks to his recommendation I picked it up and finished it last week. LOVED it! I think it's King's best book in ages - and I'm someone who really dug Under The Dome and 11/22/63 - it's lean and to-the-point, not the doorstop those other recent books were. I think King really works magic when he's doing this sort of coming of age tale. Great carny atmosphere and lingo too, and he does a somewhat surprisingly good job of establishing setting - the NC coast, not his usual Maine stomping grounds. In a cool little surprise for me, the killer's victim is from the city in SC where I live, sort a surreal moment to be reading the book and see your home mentioned. It's also an emotional read, I don't mind admitting I got a little misty-eyed in a few places. I can't praise this one highly enough.

I could nitpick and say it's not really a fit for Hard Case Crime, it's a far cry from the typical hard-boiled stuff they usually deal in (which I love, own just about everyone of 'em save a couple of the non-reprints of old classic stuff). But if it sells well - and knowing King's popularity, it no doubt will - and helps them continue the line, I'm all for it.

[scottsanderson Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close scottsanderson]

I almost picked this one up when I was stuck in the airport, but went for the godawful "The Corleone Family" instead, which is a painful read. Guess I chose poorly. I'll have to check this one out.

Do it, it's definitely worth it, if you're into that sort of story! :)

This book was briefly discussed in the Currently Reading thread - by Paul mostly, and thanks to his recommendation I picked it up and finished it last week. LOVED it! I think it's King's best book in ages - and I'm someone who really dug Under The Dome and 11/22/63 - it's lean and to-the-point, not the doorstop those other recent books were. I think King really works magic when he's doing this sort of coming of age tale. Great carny atmosphere and lingo too, and he does a somewhat surprisingly good job of establishing setting - the NC coast, not his usual Maine stomping grounds. In a cool little surprise for me, the killer's victim is from the city in SC where I live, sort a surreal moment to be reading the book and see your home mentioned. It's also an emotional read, I don't mind admitting I got a little misty-eyed in a few places. I can't praise this one highly enough.

I could nitpick and say it's not really a fit for Hard Case Crime, it's a far cry from the typical hard-boiled stuff they usually deal in (which I love, own just about everyone of 'em save a couple of the non-reprints of old classic stuff). But if it sells well - and knowing King's popularity, it no doubt will - and helps them continue the line, I'm all for it.

Yeah, I agree with you on most parts there. It is a pretty emotional read and I found it especially so, considering I'm in a similar situation to that of Dev (without working at a carnival). It was really relatable for me. The ending was really good too, which in some ways it surprised me, as King, at least of recent years hasn't written all that many satisfying endings.

I've never had too much of a problem with the... 'large' format of some of King's other books. They can be a bit slow, but ultimately a lot of character development goes into it which helps to feel for the characters and that's always a good thing in my mind.
I think Joyland could have been longer, if King had've added more mystery elements to it. Still keep all of the development the way it was, but spend more time on the investigation. When it comes down to it, it was all wrapped up pretty quickly.

I really don't mind that it isn't a hard boiled crime novel, or really fit into Hard Case's usual stuff. Whilst I'm a fan of those pulpy sort of books, the fact that this isn't one of them and rather just a good book is fine with me. I've heard that criticism a few times, and I guess it is a bit misleading considering that the book has been advertised and pushed as a 'murder mystery'

[Paul L Scholar of Sleaze Find all posts View Profile Close Paul L]

I absolutely loved this - mostly those first 200 pages that Andrew noted above (which is really King 'setting the scene' for the mystery). I wasn't too keen on the climax - all of a sudden, this very internal book became very external and cinematic - but this is a minor issue and really down to me nitpicking. What I loved most was the reflective voice of the narrator; I thought that worked wonderfully.

I would say it's the best book I've read this year, but at the moment I'm reading Jeremy Dyson's THE HAUNTED BOOK and think I prefer Dyson's book just a little more; but JOYLAND is certainly very, very good.

[scottsanderson Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close scottsanderson]

I absolutely loved this - mostly those first 200 pages that Andrew noted above (which is really King 'setting the scene' for the mystery). I wasn't too keen on the climax - all of a sudden, this very internal book became very external and cinematic - but this is a minor issue and really down to me nitpicking. What I loved most was the reflective voice of the narrator; I thought that worked wonderfully.

I would say it's the best book I've read this year, but at the moment I'm reading Jeremy Dyson's THE HAUNTED BOOK and think I prefer Dyson's book just a little more; but JOYLAND is certainly very, very good.

Not meaning to sound rude or anything... just thought I'd point out that I mentioned the 200 pages... not Andrew. Lol, now I sound like a glory whore or something. ;)

But, yeah, I definitely agree with you for the most part. I think the only part which doesn't fit in the overall story is those final scenes at the carnival. The points before and after that are fine. The mystery feels a bit tacked on, but I think it ultimately doesn't make much difference and it's a really good book when it comes down to it.

You're right, the way King did the narration was really good and 'made the story' for me. If it had of been done differently it may not have resonated and I may not have liked it as much.

For me, so far it's probably the best book I've read. A lot of other books have just pissed me off recently. I haven't read Dyson's book, but I'm actually quite eager to, especially as he co-wrote the 'League of Gentlemen' tv series which I loved.

I actually think Joyland could work really well as a movie. In my free time, I'm just mulling around with script ideas for it. Not to actually make into a film or anything, just for fun.

[Paul L Scholar of Sleaze Find all posts View Profile Close Paul L]

Not meaning to sound rude or anything... just thought I'd point out that I mentioned the 200 pages... not Andrew. Lol, now I sound like a glory whore or something. ;)

Sorry :) Typed a quick reply and made a foul-up

It's difficult to talk about the climax without 'spoiling' the book for anyone that hasn't read it - but to me, it felt very cinematic, whereas the rest of the book is quite literary. I think it'd be a difficult novel to adapt for the screen - but not impossible. I always thought STAND BY ME did a very good job of adapting King's 'interior' prose to the screen, with its layers of narration-within-narration; I reckon an adaptation of JOYLAND would have to follow a similar tack.

[scottsanderson Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close scottsanderson]

No Problem, haha. :)

Yeah, I agree with you. The rest of the book was basically Dev's internal thoughts and all, with very little action or much happening during that time. Then the climax, it's all action.

Stand By Me is one of favourite films and I think it worked really well in movie format. Of course, it's never as good as the original book, but it still worked. I agree, I think Joyland would need to adopt a similar format to that of SBM to work on the big screen.

I think it won't be as easy to do as say, some of his other, more 'cinematic', action-orientated work with more immediate scares and outcomes... but I think it's still quite do-able. Just need to work out what scenes need to be in, what need to be removed.

I also think the carny lingo, or 'The Talk' would need to be cut down somewhat. Not completely, as I think it's an important part of the atmosphere and surroundings, but in the book, there were pages spent on explaining certain terms and what not. Seeing as that probably can't be done effectively on screen, it would need to be cut down or it'd be too confusing for anyone who hasn't read the book.