I’ve recently started reading books for entertainment and couldn’t enjoy anything more when I’m in my time of solitude, right before bed. I first started with a short story collection by Stephen King entitled Everything’s Eventual. Instead of rambling on why you should read (if you currently don’t), I’m going to write a few thoughts about each story in the book as that seems slightly more interesting.
Everything’s Eventual
Autopsy Room Four
King has the skill to be extremely detailed when describing visual and audible happenings in a story, and this couldn’t ring any more true in the story of a man who is alive during his autopsy.
The Man in the Black Suit
The story is set back in the 20s/30s of a kid, while trying to fish, comes across a man in a dark suit: the Devil.
All That You Love Will Be Carried Away
Typical Stephen King, a story that can be told in 2-3 ends up lasting 40+ pages. A traveling salesman tries to commit suicide in a rented hotel after dreaming of what his life should be like.
The Death of Jack Hamilton
Extremely visual and pleasing story of three mob characters, one of whom is shot and dying a slow (read: excruciatingly slow) death. Typical under dog, slow-thinking character shows likability and smarts kind of story.
In the Deathroom
A quick read about a reporter that outwits and overpowers his captors in a remote country, finally coming up for fresh air: his first cigarette in years.
The Little Sisters of Eluria
Unread
Everything’s Eventual
A long story about a young adult male with a quirky attitude and a gifted ability to write coded messages and, upon reading, produces a believable accident/suicide.
L. T.’s Theory of Pets
Sad story of a man dealing with the loss of his wife leaving him, only to find out she was murdered, along with the dog he bought her, on the way to her mom’s house.
The Road Virus Heads North
This is the absolute best story out of the 14 in the book, mostly because of one line in the entire 40 or so pages. I won’t give it away, but suffice to say it made my heart drop out of sheer terror for the protagonist.
Lunch at the Gotham Café
Funny and very enjoyable read about a man going through a divorce, upon meeting his soon to be ex-wife and her lawyer for lunch, runs into a maniac waitor whom insists on killing our protagonist.
That Feeling, You Can Only Say What It Is in French
I didn’t really like the way this story was written. Perhaps it might be because I was half asleep when I was reading it but I think the story of a woman who is in a constant state of deja vu could easily be written in a more logical manner. One part that I liked about it was that when she started the cycle of memory again, she was waking up and felt as if she’s reliving the dream but the dream fades from her memory (as dreams normally do) and doesn’t necessarily realize what she’s actually experiencing.
1408
Unread (movie was good enough for me not to read it)
Riding the Bullet
Fantastic story about a broke college student, hitchhiking across state, who runs across a dead teenager and gives him a choice: either he dies or his mom dies.
Luckey Quarter
I could easily see this story being prepended to ‘The Death of Jack Hamilton’ as it has the same kind of mob-like story to it. Upon a buddy’s death, a man goes to the three other bank robbers to forcefully recover the map quarter pieces to buried bank loot.