≡ Download Gwendy Button Box Stephen King Richard Chizmar 9781587676109 Books

Gwendy Button Box Stephen King Richard Chizmar 9781587676109 Books

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Gwendy Button Box Stephen King Richard Chizmar 9781587676109 Books

I'll start with this: Stephen King does not just write horror. This is a good example. Yes, there are some horrible things that happen in this book, but it is not a horror novella. It is a tightly written, beautiful book about what it's like growing up. It's about good vs. evil (and making the right choices to keep one or the other at bay). It is about the gray areas of life -- choices made and the consequences that come with them. It is fantastical, to be sure. But it also nails Stephen King's ability to create characters that happen to be children that are incredibly complex. When I picked up this book, I didn't know a thing about the other author listed -- and I'm not sure how much he was involved in the writing of the book, but I'm going to check his work out based on how much I liked this.


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Gwendy Button Box Stephen King Richard Chizmar 9781587676109 Books Reviews

More of a novella, being only 180 pages, there is one very good story and lesson to be told here. The book is a ten year slice in Gwendy’s life from ages 12-22. She’s given a “button box” by a complete stranger. How does she handle being in charge of the box, all the while going through her teen years into young adulthood? The box appears to give her all sorts of benefits. It may also be a very evil device. Exactly what is it? Is there a price for Gwendy to pay for having possession of the device?

There isn’t any horror story in this tale. It’s more a lesson on life. There are no ogres here; unless possibly we are the ogres.
Given the powers and benefits of the box, could we resist its possible dark side? Is the actual power in the box or in how we perceive ourselves?

This is a partnership between Stephen King and Richard Chizmar. It’s such a good collaboration of authors, I’ll be checking out some of Mr. Chizmar’s solo work.
An uncomplicated and different story from the Master of the Macabre, with just a frisson of the supernatural to give it a little kick in the pants. I thought the story was much more about choices made for good or ill, about growing up, maturing, really, and dealing with what could have been an unfortunate obsession than any sort of "horror story." And as always, King presents another spot-on juvenile character to like and remember.

Gwendy, whose name is perfect for her and as comforting as mac-n-cheese, is given a box with buttons on it--a lot of buttons, some of them whose uses are beyond weird, and ultimately dangerous. How is a teenage girl to handle such a responsibility? How can she resist the all too human urge to set the record straight, change the outcome, make a difference, by pushing a button? Or another? And then another? As she fights to overcome her unfortunate sobriquet "Goodyear Blimp" by a daunting jogging regimen and rapid ascension of the Suicide Stairs, losing pounds and inches while gaining confidence, the button box remains firmly planted in her mind. Yet the physical activity and concomitant intellectual maturity results in the box finding itself buried in the cellar, and absent from Gwendy's mind for longer and longer swatches of time. Until...

If anything, this novella reminds me of the first third of King's Hearts in Atlantis, where the menace is just below the surface while the emphasis is simply on surviving childhood. A rewarding read on several levels.
I started to give this novella three stars, but the description for that rating says "it's okay." The description for four stars says "I like it." Those three words describe my feeling toward this slight and yet meaningful story. Stephen King is one of my favorite authors, primarily because I enjoy the rich details and well-developed characters that make the stories come alive. in this collaboration with Richard Chizmar, his tendency to go big has been restrained. This is a simple tale that poses a question for the reader to ponder. I think of it as a parable or a morality tale. Gwendy receives a mysterious gift from a mysterious person that challenges her in her developmental years to reflect on power and its use. Gwendy is a wonderful character whose development is full of challenges and dilemmas. She struggles with her love of the good things that the box brings to her and the potential for problems that it poses. That for me is the heart of the tale - what price are we willing to pay for the good things we crave? It's only toward the end that the power of the story diminishes. I believe the authors wanted to leave the question open-ended for the reader. But to me it felt like the drive behind the events in Gwendy's life just fizzled out. I liked the concept. I enjoyed reading the story. I think it is a good one for young readers. It just could have used a bit more "punch" at the end,
I'll start with this Stephen King does not just write horror. This is a good example. Yes, there are some horrible things that happen in this book, but it is not a horror novella. It is a tightly written, beautiful book about what it's like growing up. It's about good vs. evil (and making the right choices to keep one or the other at bay). It is about the gray areas of life -- choices made and the consequences that come with them. It is fantastical, to be sure. But it also nails Stephen King's ability to create characters that happen to be children that are incredibly complex. When I picked up this book, I didn't know a thing about the other author listed -- and I'm not sure how much he was involved in the writing of the book, but I'm going to check his work out based on how much I liked this.