ONCE AGAIN open to interpretation. When it asks for a book that is “hard to read,” does it mean that I find the subject matter difficult to understand? Is it asking me for something that makes me feel stupid? I don’t know. I’m choosing a book that I have read several times, but which I still have a hard time making it through because it’s so emotional for me.
A Book I Find Hard to Read
Yes, I know I just used a Stephen King book yesterday. I ALSO KNOW that we JUST DID Stephen King Week over at the Booksluts AND I know that Amy wrote an amazing post discussing this book FOR Stephen King Week, but shut up. It’s my blog I can do what I want. I could do this whole challenge about Stephen King with my eyes closed (AND I STILL MIGHT!), and no one could say anything. Well, I mean – they could SAY things, but I wouldn’t have to listen.
[ahem]
I digress.
Look, of all the monster and horrors and creepy crawlies and things that go bump in the night that Unky Stevie has written, there is none more terrifying to me than Norman Daniels. He’s the most real, and sadly, he’s a man I knew far too well when I was growing up.
As is touched on in several of the pieces written up there (seriously, click those links, there’s some fascinating reading material), Stephen King is really at his best when he’s writing about the horrible things we as people can do to each other.
This book was very cathartic for me in my late teens, but I’m honestly kind of terrified to try re-reading it as an adult. I know I’ve managed to move past a lot of the things that happened in my youth, but I also know that I’m far more susceptible to scary things now than I was back then.
The last time I tried to read Rose Madder, I had to put it down and walk away. I’m sure I’ll pick it up again some day, but for now, it’s definitely my freezer book.
