Review: "Gerald's Game," by Stephen King
Hot damn!
Okay first thing’s first – we all know that the great mass of King fans out there widely consider Gerald’s Game to be among the least enjoyable of his novels. I’m here to say that I’m going against the grain here – I loved this book! Sure, there are a few flaws (I’ll come back to those), but overall, I just lost myself in a great story. Now, as an avid (and sometimes obsessive) reader, I’m slightly ashamed to admit that I watched the Netflix adaptation of Gerald’s Game before I read the book. Usually, I like it to be the other way around. But, after seeing the film, I just had to pick up the book and see how well it compared. The answer: the movie is pretty damn faithful to the book, like, almost to a T; this is surprising for many reasons, most of which is the fact that the book is essentially the stream of conscience of a single character. That’s right - there’s basically one character in an entire 320-something page novel. Only King could do this, and do it well. So, criticism first: Okayyyy, I admit the book was slightly redundant at times. There is a lot of Jessie (our main character) just sitting in the bed, jangling her handcuffs against those stubborn bedposts, and sometimes speaking aloud to herself. Perhaps some of this could have been cut back, but perhaps not; in some ways I think the redundancy helped the story, helped create tension, helped keep the reader pleading for what happens next. King drags it out, and maybe that’s intentional. Now, what I enjoyed: This story was one big ode to the theme of misogyny/male dominance/patriarchal society, etc. Call it what you want, but there was hardly anything in here that wasn’t a nod to one of societies most pressing, and prevalent, issues. There’s the obvious metaphor of the handcuffs, and what the handcuffs represent. Jessie is literally cuffed to the bed by her domineering and kinky husband, and finds herself unable to escape the grasp of the cuffs. It is plainly obvious that this symbolizes the hold that men have had on Jessie her entire life, which is first apparent with her husband. But there is history there, as well. Jessie was sexually abused by her father, and for her entire life she has lived with this dreadful secret which, in many ways, has handcuffed her; it has stopped her from living her life freely, and as a result she ended up marrying a fairly controlling man, just like her own father had been. The inclusion of the elusive and creepy Raymond Andrew Joubert story-line was a touch odd. Part of me thinks it was only included to bulk up a book that would have otherwise been too long for a short story, and too short for a novel. It seems as though King has this wonderful idea for a story about Joubert, and a wonderful idea idea for Jessie Burlingame, and decided to mesh them. But part of me thinks the Joubert angle was essential as yet another element of the main theme of misogyny/male dominance. Raymond Andrew Joubert literally insists on taking a piece of Jessie before he allows her to go free, but not before tormenting her by standing watch over her while she is handcuffed to the bed, unable to walk freely. If that isn’t a metaphor on male dominance and captivity, I don’t know what is. For me, Joubert is a manifestation of Jessie's abusive father; he's lingering there in the dark all this time, haunting her, wanting a piece of her (literally Joubert wants a piece of her jewellery as some sort of talisman) but never fully destroying her. At the end, Jessie takes control over Joubert, and in doing so, also takes back her life from her father. I also enjoy how King regularly ties a couple of his novels together with some sort of town or event. With this book, there are clear parallels with Delores Claiborne, which many readers feel is a better novel. I happen to feel that Gerald's Game is a far superior piece of work. Brilliant, in some ways. Gerald's Game is one of King's books that really stood out as not just an entertaining read, but an important one. He really examines the psychological effects of male abuse of women. In the end, Jessie regains her power and begins the process of repairing her life, which I find really inspiring. And we all know King is a helluva writer. But this novel was particularly well-written in my opinion. Perhaps this owes to the stream of conscience in which the book was written. There is a fluidity to the narration that you can eat with a spoon. You can overlook, and perhaps even skim, some of the redundancy. However, in all, this book was incredibly enjoyable, and has catapulted its way into my top King reads.
