Fairy Tale by Stephen King
With this spellbinding novel about a seventeen-year-old boy who inherits the keys to a parallel world where good and evil are at war and the stakes could not be higher – for their world or ours, legendary storyteller Stephen King delves into the darkest recesses of his imagination.
Charlie Reade appears to be a typical high school student who excels at baseball and football and is a respectable student. But he is carrying a big load. When he was ten years old, his mother was killed in a hit-and-run accident, and his father’s grief led to alcoholism. Charlie mastered self-care, as well as caring for his father.
Fairy Tale by Stephen King
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When Charlie is seventeen years old, he then meets Radar the dog and her elderly owner, Howard Bowditch, who lives alone in a large house at the top of a steep hill with a closed shed in the backyard. Strange sounds occasionally emanate from it.
Charlie begins working for Mr Bowditch and falls in love with Radar. After that, Bowditch leaves Charlie a cassette tape on which he tells a story that no one would ever believe. In the shed, there is a portal to another planet, which Bowditch is aware of and has kept a secret his entire long existence. In Fairy Tale, King’s narrative skills shine. A valiant kid and his dog must lead the struggle in this spectacular and horrifying tale about a world different from our own, where good is pitted against tremendous evil.
Charlie Reade, the main character in Fairy Tale, is an athlete in high school. Charlie is also the Illinois-based son of an insurance salesman who is in recovery from alcoholism. After Charlie’s mother was murdered in a vehicle accident, he cared for his dad for a large portion of his youth. When Charlie encounters an elderly, reclusive neighbour named Mr Bowditch who has just suffered a catastrophic accident after falling off a ladder at his house known as the “Psycho House,” his life is forever changed. In order to focus on caring for Mr Bowditch and his ageing dog Radar, Charlie, much to his coach’s dismay, stops playing sports.
This makes up roughly the first third of the book; after that, the fantasy takes over completely. It’s a wild mash-up of influences, ranging from CS Lewis to Ray Bradbury, and even manages to cannibalize some of Stephen King’s early works, leaving Easter eggs for observant readers. It’s a safe bet that you’ll enjoy Fairy Tale if you’re a fan of Stephen King’s Dark Tower series because it’s really readable and Charlie is a likeable guide. Other than the occasional passage of description, there isn’t much literary flourish in this work. The conclusion reminded me of IT, which had the effect of reminding me that IT is a greater novel, but one that is difficult to top.
