Love (novel)

Love (Engl. Lisey's Story ) is a novel by Stephen King from the year 2006 . Heyne Verlag also published the translation into German by Wulf Bergner in 2006.

content

Two years after the death of her husband, the famous writer Scott Landon, Lisey Landon is confronted with the past as she clears the typing office and sifts through her husband's files. Many of Lisey's repressed memories of their marriage are terrifying for her, so that Lisey can only slowly remember them with the help of Scott, who had left clues for her before his death. In addition to Scott's traumatic childhood, the central theme of these memories is the place Boo'ya Mond (see also below), a place with idyllic landscapes and a pond whose water brings healing, but which is also life-threatening after sunset, and where a huge creature roams around, the "longboy", whose attention it is better not to attract.

When Dooley, a fanatical fan who wants to see Scott's latest work published posthumously, attacks Lisey, Lisey understands that she can no longer suppress these memories and that they are even the key to her own survival.

Little by little, Lisey remembers more and more of her time with her husband, and she manages to get into the world of Boo'ya Mond, where she was with Scott before. With water from the pond in this world, she manages to heal her sister Amanda, who is in catatonia, and later also herself when she is attacked and injured by Dooley. Finally she succeeds in luring Dooley to Boo'ya Mond, where he is eaten by the "Longboy" creature.

genre

The book cannot be clearly assigned to a genre. Elements from horror , fantasy and love stories predominate . The transition between different genres is fluid with Love .

background

In an interview with Irish author John Connolly (see links) Stephen King spoke about the origins of the book. The idea came to him when he was in hospital with pneumonia in 1999 after a serious car accident and his wife wanted to take the opportunity to clean up his writing studio. However, when King returned she hadn't finished and King was in a mess. His thought: 'This is what it would look like here if I had actually died in the accident.'

King himself described Love as his best book to date (shortly after he rejected the picture as one of his worst), but emphasized (as in his epilogue to the novel) that Lisey was not a reflection of his own wife. In the afterword you can read that one of his professors gave King the idea of a language pool, which eventually led to Boo'ya Mond.

Parallels to earlier works / links

As above all in Sie and partly in the novella The Secret Window, the Secret Garden (from the Langoliers collection ) King describes his fear of crazy fans here. Scott is attacked in a scene that clearly reflects John Lennon's death (which King makes no secret of in his interview); Lisey herself is the victim of a fanatic named Dooley who even breaks into her house.
The idea of the strange world, which Lisey treads hesitantly and into which she finally fled, shows parallels to The Talisman and above all to Das Bild , the book in which a woman named Rose finds a gate to another world in a painting. Dooley is also reminiscent of Rose's mad husband Norman, both of whom follow their prey into the parallel world and suffer a similar fate. The novel The Buick is also brought to mind - the first look into the dimension whose portal the Buick represents clearly resembles Lisey's first impressions of Boo'ya Moon.
The mad Dooley was born in Shooter's Knob, a place known from The Secret Window, The Secret Garden (Langoliers Collection).
The Deep Cut Road is an important part of Duddits .
Lisey's sister Darla is a fan of Mike Noonan, the writer from Sara .
Lisey mentions Gilead from The Dark Tower and also speaks of the Dark Tower of Time itself.
Lisey knows the Kingdom Hospital .
Lisey's favorite cigarettes, Salem Lights , are a clear nod to Salem's must-burn .
Norris Ridgewick is back. In Stark - The Dark Half and Deputy in a small town, who almost killed himself, his life then went uphill. He was promoted to sheriff in The Game ; In Love we learn that he has married and is on his honeymoon.
Andy Clutterbuck, detective from Needful Things , seemed to be in dire straits when they found out in It Grows Over Your Head (Collection of Nightmares ) that he was systematically drinking himself to death - in Love he is fully there again.
The title of Scott's most extreme book, Empty Devils , is a clear reference to Dr. Sleep , in which human beings sucking “steam” are repeatedly referred to as “empty devils”.

Boo'ya moon

Boo'ya Moon is a fictional world into which protagonists can travel mentally as well as mentally and physically . During the purely psychic journey, the person's body remains in the real world, but it falls into a catatonic state from which it often cannot free itself. Among other things, Lisey's sister Amanda falls into this state.

Boo'ya Mond is an idyllic world at first sight and not inhabited by any human soul, but at sunset it changes from a paradisiacal to a dangerous place. It also harbors a deadly being that Scott calls the "Longboy" and who embodies mythical evil. Nevertheless, Scott and others keep coming back, because Boo'ya Moon contains the “pool”, a source of inspiration made into form, a lake that promises healing from injuries and illnesses to everyone who bathes in it. A fascination emanates from the pool which, after looking at it for a while, leads to the observer, similar to an addiction, no longer being able to turn away and being trapped there (catatonia in the real world). On one side of the pool, huge stone steps rise towards the sky, on which are seated figures (deceased) wrapped in cloths, as well as motionless staring people who only have eyes for the pool.

Audio book

In the American original, Lisey's story was read on 18 CDs by actress Mare Winningham , with an afterword by King himself. A German audio book is also available that can be read by Regina Lemnitz (either on 18 CDs or on 4 MP3 CDs).

criticism

King identifies Love himself as his strongest book to date; many critics join the hymn of praise. Writer Nicholas Sparks describes Lisey and Scott as 'the most vivid, touching and believable characters in recent literature' ('the most vivid, heartfelt, and believable characters in recent literature'); Pulitzer Prize winner Michael Chabon says: 'I have never been more persuaded than by this book of his greatness' ('no book has convinced me more of its size than this'). (Source: blurb of the US original edition) According to King with a wink, even his otherwise critical wife Tabitha King was moved and quiet after reading this novel.

literature

Stephen King: Love , Heyne 2006, ISBN 978-3-453-26532-5


Novels	Must Burn Salem • Carrie • Christine • Colorado Kid • Cujo • The Picture • The Buick • The Girl • The Monster - Tommyknockers • The Black House • The Game • Dead Zone - The Assassination • The Talisman • Desperation • The Arena • The Eyes dragon • Dolores • Dreamcatcher • It • Firestarter • Pet Sematary • Love • Needful Things - In a small town • pulse • Sara • Sleepless • Shining • you • Stark - the Dark Half • the Green Mile • the stand - the last Skirmish • Madness • The Dark Tower (Novels) • Black • Three • Dead • Glass • Wolf Moon • Susannah • The Tower • The Attack • Wind • Joyland • Doctor Sleep • Mr. Mercedes • Revival • Finder's Reward • Mind Control • Sleeping Beauties • The Outsider • The Institute
Bachman books	Amok • The Curse • Manhunt • Agony • Regulator • Explosives • Death March
Stories and collections	Nightmares • Atlantis • The fornite • The song of the dead • Spring, summer, autumn and death • In the cabinet of death • At dawn • Langoliers • At night • Night shift • Sunset • Between night and dark • Bazaar of bad dreams
Other publications	Danse Macabre • The Life and Writing • The Storm of the Century • The Year of the Werewolf