Title: Lisey’s Story
Author: Stephen King
Publisher: Simon & Schuster Audio Books
Narrator: Mare Winningham
Duration: 18 hours, 55 minutes
Copyright: 2006
Genres: horror, supernatural
Filed in: Audiobook reviews
Review copy provided by Kearney Public Library.
THE GIST: Lisey is the widow of brilliant novelist Scott Landon. It is two years after Scott’s death and she has finally gotten up the courage to clean out his office studio. The next few days will try her in ways she never imagined. The mountains of papers and memorabilia begin to unlock memories that she has blocked out for many years. Not only that, but her sister, Amanda, has fallen into a catatonic state and has to be committed. And for good measure, throw in Jim Dooley, a crazed fan who wants Scott’s un-published works for his very own. If Lisey can get through this with mind and body still intact, it will be something of a miracle.
MY THOUGHTS: “Lisey's Story" is one of Stephen King’s most disturbing audio books. Not scary; disturbing. Beneath the surface, I think “Lisey’s Story" is about insanity and the different ways people cope with it, or attempt to fight it off. Scott Landon was raised by an insane father and spent his entire life trying not to let that insanity catch up to him.. I'm still not sure if he was successful. Lisey's sister Amanda deals with life by cutting herself and going catatonic from time-to-time. And then there's Jim Dooley who uses a can-opener on Lisey to get what he wants.
I really have to wonder how many of these things King himself has experienced. Makes you think.
NARRATOR: Mare Winningham is an actress who has been in notable movies such as “St. Elmo's Fire." She has also appeared in dozens of major television series’ dating all the way back to the mid 1970’s. Some of those include "Police Woman", "Starsky and Hutch", and more recently "CSI", "Cold Case", and "24."
As with most trained actors and actresses, Mare Winningham makes a good audio book reader. I enjoyed her reading of “Lisey's Story" very much.
FINAL WORD: “Lisey's Story" is a good audio book, although as I said, a little disturbing. As with many of Stephen King’s more recent novels, this one delves deeply into the human psychosis.
CHECK OUT THESE OTHER AUDIOBOOK REVIEWS:
cell by Stephen King (Audiobook Review
Under the Dome by Stephen King (audiobook Review)
Full Dark, No Stars by Stephen King (audiobook Review)
If you liked this audiobook review, you can purchase the audiobook here:
Get "Lisey's Story" by Stephen King (Unabridged Audiobook) from Amazon.com.
This audiobook review is based on the unabridged audiobook.
Audiobook review by Steven Brandt
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Oh my! This is one of my favorite books by King! I think it is disturbing in the fact that he wrote this from a sober mind. (Read Kings 'On Writing' to get a grasp of his life and all that he went through.) Maybe this story came from that epiphany of 'you don't need to be a drunk to write disturbing work.'
ReplyDeleteMy hats off to King for shifting his horror/sex crazed works into a sobering Lisey's Story, where we get great, dare I say, literature? haha
Nicely done Mr. King and Master Stromcrow!