I’d been hoping to read the novel before seeing the movie, but there’s nothing like the words “leaving soon” on your streaming service to spur you into action. So I watched Misery before I was ready to. I remember the newspaper reviews from 1987, when the novel came out. I didn’t read any Stephen King novels until those I’ve posted about on this blog. There’s a full record here! I do remember the reviews saying it was self-referential. The protagonist, as in The Shining (is Jack Torrence a protagonist?), is a writer. And the book is a writer’s nightmare. When the movie came out in 1990, I had no interest in seeing it. A couple of things changed my mind, however. First of all, it is referenced all the time. I didn’t even know how it ended. Another factor was that it was a Rob Reiner horror movie. And Reiner himself had been murdered a few weeks before I sat down to watch it.
I really wanted to read the novel first. My reading pile is pretty high. And currently the next Stephen King novel on it is The Dead Zone. And yes, I have already seen the movie. Unlike some critics, I think King is a substantial writer. He has profound things to say, especially about religion. And, of course, the movie Misery has plenty of that. Annie Wilkes is a religious fanatic. She’s also a fan of Paul Sheldon (the writer). God tells her things. She wears a cross. She can’t stand swearing. But even so, I wonder if King clearly had her religion in mind. I would’ve guessed that, given her cinematic profile, she would’ve not been a wine drinker. And I would’ve guessed that the Bible would appear in the movie. She drinks and she doesn’t even quote the Good Book—at least not that I caught.
Some day, if I keep doing this long enough, I might make the connection between religion and horror plain. I know scholars, not shackled by a 9-2-5 are working on that. And like the books I have to read, there’s a waiting list for those I want to write. One has my particular attention at this point, and I’ll be trying to put that to bed before starting on a new one. Before working on such a book I’ll have to read Misery, the novel. I do plan to do so. I’m not a fast reader and I have quite a big stack. In fact, I wouldn’t even be thinking about reading it now. But my streaming service came up with those fatal words, “leaving soon.”