Hard
Case Crime recently released a new Stephen King novel—straight
to trade paperback—titled Joyland. It is a short novel, probably not much more
than 50,000 words, but it is Mr King’s best work in several years. Joyland is a difficult novel to categorize. It is part supernatural ghost story and
mystery, but it doesn’t easily fit into either, or even both categories. It is something approaching a working class
soliloquy. It is narrated as though the
protagonist is speaking to himself attempting to find the truth hidden in the story’s events.
Devin Jones is an early-twenties college student
with an unfaithful girlfriend, a mourning father, and a dead mother. In the summer of 1973 Devin takes a job at an amusement park in the small resort town of Heaven’s Bay, North Carolina, called Joyland. The summer changes Devin; he meets two
life-long friends, a murderer, a dying boy, and in the process discovers adulthood.
The story is centered on two primary events. The first is a murder in the funhouse of
Joyland, which occurred a few years before the story begins, and the second is
Devin’s introduction to a dying boy named Mike.
The two story lines run parallel, but neatly and satisfactorily collide
in the final climax.
Joyland
is
a carnival novel—every horror writer should have one—but it is much more. It is a coming of age story where the
protagonist is dragged into adulthood by circumstance; a truer understanding is
achieved, and the naiveté and brilliance of youth is forever lost. It is a sad and wistful tale, but it doesn’t
dwell on sorrow; rather it is more about hope than anything. The opening lines frame the mood and pacing
of the novel perfectly:
“I
had a car, but on most days in that fall of 1973 I walked to Joyland from Mrs.
Shoplaw’s Beachside Accommodations in the town of Heaven’s Bay. It seemed the right thing to do. The only thing, actually.”
Joyland
is
a small masterpiece. It is smoothly
readable, and while it tells a story of meaning it does so with a strong and interesting
story. It is anything but HCC’s usual
fare, but it is an appealing novel, which should be well liked by Mr King’s usual suspects, HCC’s readers, and
a bunch more. You should try this
one.
5 comments:
I am reading this novel at the moment actually. I'm just over half-way through and am thoroughly enjoying the story. This novel tells the sort of tale that melds itself with your brain while you are reading it and becomes a constant companion. Whatever I find myself doing these days, I am doing it with one foot in a wonderfully melancholy place called Joyland. I love it.
It certainly stayed with me long after I read it, and I've been thinking about reading it again.
You've sold me, Ben. I haven't read anything by King in ages. Your review has reminded me how engaging he can be. Time to get back the master.
Matt. I hope you like it. This is probably one of the top four or five novels I've read over the last few years. It really spoke to me.
A superb novel. One of the best I read this year.
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