Book Review: Cujo

So, I first started reading Stephen King in the Summer of 2009, when I read his infamous book It. I definitely intend to review that book sometime, because it was amazing. But for now I'm going to review one of his earlier works, Cujo.

I'll try to do this without any spoliers.

On a surface level, the book is about a good, loveable dog named Cujo who gets rabies, and then goes berserk and starts killing people. The central focus is on a mother and her toddler son whose car breaks down on a sweltering summer day in the middle of the country and completely isolated, while Cujo prowls around, attacks the car, tries to get in and kill them. This is the 70's, so this is before the time of cell phones, and they are left utterly helpless, no one knowing where they are. They are trapped and time is running out as they bake in the sun, and have no sustainable amount of food or water.

But what the book is really about (like all good books) is human relationships. The intensity of the book, along with the tragedies it shows, really give the reader (at least it gave me) a feeling of appreciation and gratitude for the relationships I have in my own life. People die, someone has an affair, another is trying to escape an abusive relationship, a father is trying to hold his career together in the face of scandal so he can support his family, and a mother and daughter are just trying to survive and hang on to each other while they pray to God that someone finds them. King interweaves all these stories and makes them connect, and the result of all these stressful situations you are reading about is one nerve-wracking book that is at times hard to read (because you hate to feel the pain the characters are all going through) , but is also a page-turner at the same time. You have to know how it all turns out, if these people will ever find relief, ever be saved from the horrible situations they find themselves in.

It is also a very sobering book. Because it shows just exactly how things can fall apart, and how everything can go to hell. And then what...? How exactly do you deal with that? And the aftermath...?

I've only read two of Stephen King's books (It and Cujo) but I have to say one of the things I really love about his writing is his complete lack of inhibition. The man just does not seem to censor himself much at all - and by that I'm not talking about using profanity, but he just lets out exactly what he thinks. The characters think and do exactly what would come natural to them - and those are sometimes very shocking things that "normal people" might not think about...(but what's "normal" anyway, right?) His own narrating voice is the same - at times shocking, at times hilarious and sarcastic, at times utterly sincere and moving. I think it's that freedom he gives himself that is the key factor in what ends up being a really good book. In being unrestrained as a writer, those nuggets of gold come to the surface. Sure, you can edit yourself later if you want - but I think that's a great lesson for all writers out there. Don't be too self-restraining when you're writing - just let it come out - and come what may.

Since the 10 scale is a good one and allows for more wiggle room than a 5 scale, I think I'll steal my friend Neal's grading system at  English Major versus the World and give it 8/10 stars. It's a good read.