If you read my last blog post, you might know where this is going. The last post was titled book hangover. It’s a short little piece, mainly about Stephen King’s novel The Shining, considered one of his most terrifying novels. Upon finishing The Shining, I decided to read Doctor Sleep the sequel to the shining, a continuation of little Danny Torrance’s life, and the traumas he has endured into adulthood.
As with a lot of Kings works, at least in my mind, there’s the main story and then sometimes another story hidden or sometimes not hidden. It’s usually this other story that affects me.
With a book hangover.
So let’s start with what the hell is a book hangover for those of you who may be unfamiliar with the term.
Book Hangover (n):
It’s honestly exactly what it sounds like. You’ve gotten drunk on a book, losing yourself completely in it’s mesmerizing prose or beguiling plot and the end arrives and you are unaware as to how many times you have drained this cup of words endlessly flowing. You close the book but you are still in the book. Not believing it’s over, how could it be, yet it is and even though you’ve filled your vessel repeatedly with the creativity of another, you are empty, spent, emotionally drained. Unable to move past it’s final breath. Lost in that moment for hours, days or weeks. Any thought about this book sends you back to that raw emotional state. Over time it eases and then maybe 11 years later you think- it’s ok – I can peak, I can sip from that cup again, but you can’t – the tears are still there waiting patiently.
And today I added a new tome to the hangover list. Maybe in 19 years, maybe.
Damn you, Stephen King. You did it again. Damn you.
One response to “Damn you Stephen King: Book Hangover Pt.2”
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