Book Review: Elevation by Stephen King

Elevation by Stephen King

Hardcover, 146 pages

Published October 2018 by Scribner

I was surprised by this one. Normally there is a lot of build up for the release of a new Stephen King novel. considering King is known for doorstoppers like Under The Dome and IT that top 1,000 pages this will get called a novella. It is technically beyond the novel word count. So this kinda slipped out and SK fans were given a late 2018 treat.

The reviews so far are pretty mixed but I was surprised to see a few negative reviews from serious constant readers on twitter in the early days of this release. I tried to go into with an open mind and judge for myself. I am not sure why there were so many negative comments about this short novel, it is not really amazing or anything like that. No one is going to accuse it of being groundbreaking.

I really did not like The Outsider, I am not one to give Uncle Steve a pass just because I love him as a human being. I mean I watch all the interviews, I love all his tweets. I greatly respect the man but write as much as he does, take the risks that he does you are going to put out a stinker or two.

This story is dedicated to Richard Matheson and it has that feel. I enjoyed it. I didn't love it but I also thought some critical comments were a little overblown. sure it was sentimental, that is a strength of the story. I thought it was unfairly the goodreads choice for horror novel of the year. Not just because it should have been Tremblay's Cabin at the End of the World, but this is pretty light horror. I mean it is horror, it would be scary to be the main character or his friends, but this novel is more in the vein of the Green Mile or Shawshank. I mean we need Darabont on this movie right away.

Elevation is the story of a man named Scott, an older gentleman who lives in Castle Rock and discovers that he is losing weight quickly. His body is not changing, nor is doing anything different. He is simply wasting away slowly. You might be thinking this is like Thinner, but it is a very different story. The B story centers a Lesbian couple that moves to Castle Rock to open a vegetarian restaurant. Scott is the first to break the ice and really accept the couple for who they are.

I know some thought the liberal political stuff was heavy-handed. I have read some reviews that found this unnecessary, but I think they are overestimating the progression of rural Maine, and suggest that King is probably right to send this message. Subtle or not. It comes off heavy-handed to those who live in liberal areas, but I don't think Castle Rock is super liberal. Scott's compassion towards Missy and Diedre is a core to the book that gives weight to the story. (Pun intended)

I understand how some readers might be annoyed with stereotypes that the characters fill, and that is a valid criticism. I certainly had that problem last year with Sleeping Beauties (co-written with his song Owen)that novel reinforced so many patriarchal stereotypes it really hurt my experience. If you want to talk about a novel with cringe-worthy generational tactless politics Sleeping beauties is much worse. The number of times Scott the POV character pointed out how great Deidre's legs were hurt worse each time.

I read many comments that the characters were one-dimensional, while they are cookie cutter characters who fulfill silly stereotypes they at least growth in multi-dimensions. I think most people are not getting that this story is about what it feels like to fade away with age. Scott as a character also learns quite a bit about himself and in the short pages all the characters have an arc, a simple one but they all grew.

I know I already mentioned Tremblay's Cabin at the End of the World. Not only is it a better horror novel, but it carries some of the say Trump-era desire to humanize marginalized people and does it with more subtly. It feels natural in that book. Far be it for me to tell King what to do but it seems this book was banged out, perhaps sitting on this draft for a bit and coming back to would have made it better.

I liked the story, I liked the metaphor for old age but the book lost two stars in my ratings for all the cringey stuff. I know it ruined the experience for many readers. It didn't ruin my experience but it certainly hurt it. I think if you go in prepared for it, it might not hurt as bad. The thing is there are at least 20 books in the genre alone this year I would suggest you read before this one. recommended for Stephen King completionists only.