Part mystery, part horror and part bittersweet coming of age drama. Joyland
tries to be a lot of things at once and while overall it largely succeeds as a
novel, it fails to do most of those individual elements any real justice.
Mystery
aficionados may feel this Carny whodunit has a faint whiff of the Scooby Doo
about it (I would have gotten away with it too if it wasn’t for you medalling
kids!) While traditional King fans will no doubt be disappointed with the under-developed
Shinning-esque sub plot. It’s the nostalgic, last summer of innocence feel to
the narrative that works best out of the three, and in spite of a lot of
foreshadowing it had me invested and even left me feeling a little wistful
toward the end. It might not be Stand by Me, but it ain’t too shabby
either.
While lines
like that may give you reason to pause and consider your own
rose colored glasses you can argue that others such as, “It was the best and the worst autumn of my life,” do nothing for
you and I’d have to agree. If anyone other than King had written that one I would
have probably ditched the book on principal right there and then. But over the past 30 years Steve and
me have reached an understanding. I overlook these odd literary indulgences
and he usually repays me with a pretty good story, and although flawed Joyland really
is just that.
