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Stephen King's The Colorado Kid


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Yeah, good read, but hands down the most frustrating book I've ever read.

 

Don't get me wrong: I like ambiguity, I'm a big fan of David Lynch, and I wasn't expecting King to tell the reader EVERYTHING, but he could have at least tried to explain a couple of things or nudge people in the right direction. Instead he just sets up this mystery, then shrugs and just ends the book.

 

It's not even like Mulholland Drive, Donnie Darko  or House of Leaves where you can put the pieces together and maybe figure it out: King just gives away nothing.

 

Does anyone have a clue what's going on or what the solution is? I've googled it, and no one seems to have anything really that concrete. I've heard it suggested it has something to do with the Dark Tower series and maybe the guy traveled there through a portal or something like that.

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I read it maybe 8 years ago, long after the Stephen King rose had lost its bloom for me (intentional Dark Tower reference?  Maybe).  I wouldn't sweat the lack of a coherent solution on some great mystery.  Just chalk it up to the fact that King couldn't write a satisfying ending if you put a gun to his head.

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I was under the impression that King's purpose was to write a mystery with no end, to reflect the horror of reality - that many of these crimes can't be figured out. I thought it was a worthwhile attempt, and I enjoyed the characters and the place enough that I didn't feel very frustrated when the final page came around. Also, I'd suggest reading more stuff from Hard Case Crime, which published this book. They've got some killer pulps out there.

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What Jae said.   The story of The Colorado Kid isn't so much the murder itself; it is the interaction between the people investigating the case. 

 

It is highly suggested that the Colorado Kid's death was supernatural in nature, given the odd circumstances of his demise.  Most of this is somewhat embelished in the Syfy television series, Haven, but King has never openly confirmed that the novel and the television show are directly linked.

 

If you are a follower of King's mythology, you'll note the importance of the two geographical references in the novella.  The action in medias res takes place in Maine where all of King's batshit insane mythology calls home, but the John Doe is from Colorado..  home to the Overlook Hotel.

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I was under the impression that King's purpose was to write a mystery with no end, to reflect the horror of reality - that many of these crimes can't be figured out. I thought it was a worthwhile attempt, and I enjoyed the characters and the place enough that I didn't feel very frustrated when the final page came around. Also, I'd suggest reading more stuff from Hard Case Crime, which published this book. They've got some killer pulps out there.

 

Oh, yeah, I mean he explained that in his afterword.

 

But just because he admitted it was going to be hugely frustrating for the reader didn't make it any less, you know, hugely frustrating.

 

And again: I didn't need everything answered. But the way he essentially gave away nothing was annoying.

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I was under the impression that King's purpose was to write a mystery with no end, to reflect the horror of reality - that many of these crimes can't be figured out. I thought it was a worthwhile attempt, and I enjoyed the characters and the place enough that I didn't feel very frustrated when the final page came around. Also, I'd suggest reading more stuff from Hard Case Crime, which published this book. They've got some killer pulps out there.

 

In my opinion that's a copout on King's part. I'm not reading one of his stories to read about the horror of reality. If I want that, I'll read In Cold Blood or another true crime novel. Just write a damn ending.

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I was under the impression that King's purpose was to write a mystery with no end, to reflect the horror of reality - that many of these crimes can't be figured out. I thought it was a worthwhile attempt, and I enjoyed the characters and the place enough that I didn't feel very frustrated when the final page came around. Also, I'd suggest reading more stuff from Hard Case Crime, which published this book. They've got some killer pulps out there.

 

Oh, yeah, I mean he explained that in his afterword.

 

But just because he admitted it was going to be hugely frustrating for the reader didn't make it any less, you know, hugely frustrating.

 

And again: I didn't need everything answered. But the way he essentially gave away nothing was annoying.

 

 

I forgot about the afterword.  That's hilarious.  Did he try to pin it on the reader like he did in the Dark Tower series?  To paraphrase, "don't bother reading this last chapter because it's not really a great ending...and if you actually want a satisfying ending, well, you're just a  shallow person because it's the journey, not the destination." 

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I don't think it's a cop out. I mean, he could have just as easily had some aliens show up and say..."Look aliens doing stuff. It was them!" It's not like he's above that.

 

He could've done that and it would've been equally as unsatisfying. His endings have been pretty bad for a while now.

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Yeah, good read, but hands down the most frustrating book I've ever read.

 

Don't get me wrong: I like ambiguity, I'm a big fan of David Lynch, and I wasn't expecting King to tell the reader EVERYTHING, but he could have at least tried to explain a couple of things or nudge people in the right direction. Instead he just sets up this mystery, then shrugs and just ends the book.

 

It's not even like Mulholland Drive, Donnie Darko  or House of Leaves where you can put the pieces together and maybe figure it out: King just gives away nothing.

 

Does anyone have a clue what's going on or what the solution is? I've googled it, and no one seems to have anything really that concrete. I've heard it suggested it has something to do with the Dark Tower series and maybe the guy traveled there through a portal or something like that.

 

 

King has pretty much said it is connected to the Dark Tower stuff. Something about how in the book Starbucks is mentioned being around a few years before the chain actually started. But then almost every King book,novella or short story is connected to the Dark Tower.

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Yeah, good read, but hands down the most frustrating book I've ever read.

 

Don't get me wrong: I like ambiguity, I'm a big fan of David Lynch, and I wasn't expecting King to tell the reader EVERYTHING, but he could have at least tried to explain a couple of things or nudge people in the right direction. Instead he just sets up this mystery, then shrugs and just ends the book.

 

It's not even like Mulholland Drive, Donnie Darko  or House of Leaves where you can put the pieces together and maybe figure it out: King just gives away nothing.

 

Does anyone have a clue what's going on or what the solution is? I've googled it, and no one seems to have anything really that concrete. I've heard it suggested it has something to do with the Dark Tower series and maybe the guy traveled there through a portal or something like that.

 

King has pretty much said it is connected to the Dark Tower stuff. Something about how in the book Starbucks is mentioned being around a few years before the chain actually started. But then almost every King book,novella or short story is connected to the Dark Tower.

 

King has retconned nearly all of his work to have some sort of linkage to the parallel world in the Dark Tower novels.

 

He not so subtly hints that Cujo wasn't actually rabid.

 

If you accept the seagueway that starts around Page 6 of Cujo as literal, it is implied that the poor dog was actually possessed by the spirit of Deputy Frank Dodd, the serial rapist / murder, from The Dead Zone.   King implies later on in subsequent works that Dodd was directly influenced by The Crimson King.

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The Crimson King, Stephen King's ultimate big bad, the supreme evil behind all horrible events in so many books, the entity working to destroy reality as we know it and who just might have the power to do it...

 

Who was erased, literally, from existence by a deux ex machina character introduced shortly before.

 

I think I will live out the rest of my days butthurt over the horrible demises of Flagg and the King and the godawful ending of that series.

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The Crimson King, Stephen King's ultimate big bad, the supreme evil behind all horrible events in so many books, the entity working to destroy reality as we know it and who just might have the power to do it...

 

Who was erased, literally, from existence by a deux ex machina character introduced shortly before.

 

I think I will live out the rest of my days butthurt over the horrible demises of Flagg and the King and the godawful ending of that series.

 

And don't forget that with all of his power, his final master plan to kill his hated foe was to sit in the Tower, screech at the top of his lungs and toss easily shot down grenades at him.

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Yeah, but Wizard & Glass is still fucking awesome.

 

Agreed. I think the series jumped the shark with #5 when they had everyone speaking in that stupid Calla Bryn Sturgis dialect. I still finished out the series and enjoyed parts of it but once you had Roland saying commala and say thankya and everyone blathering about 19 every two seconds it felt like a different story.

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I really enjoyed The Colorado Kid, I just thought it was a fun unsolved mystery; but I could never get into the Dark Tower books.  I really enjoyed the first one as it was more of just an off kilter western then King's normal work; but one we got into book two with giant crabs and all that other stuff I just checked out.

 

A supernatural western novel still seems like a cool idea to me.

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I really enjoyed The Colorado Kid, I just thought it was a fun unsolved mystery; but I could never get into the Dark Tower books.  I really enjoyed the first one as it was more of just an off kilter western then King's normal work; but one we got into book two with giant crabs and all that other stuff I just checked out.

 

A supernatural western novel still seems like a cool idea to me.

 

Okay, now I'm a broken record, but holy shit dude, read Wizard & Glass.  Even if you don't read the Drawing of the Three and The Wastelands. 

 

Most of W&G is a story inside the story with Roland telling of his past, and it's the best thing King ever wrote, and it's exactly that, a supernatural Western.

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Awesome.  You might need to just skim the first bit of the book.  There is a bit of set-up before they finally get around to Roland telling the story, but it's worth it.  (And also some clearing up of the FUCK YOU cliffhanger that ended the previous book.)

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Yeah, I'll second Wizard & Glass.  I would say it was the last great book in the series.  I think the series went off the rails when King decided he had to hurry up and finish it.  The first four books each had between 4 - 6 years between them.  The last three came out in a two year span. 

 

That ending --

Roland opens the door and realizes he has to do it all again but maybe learned a little bit and will do better next time

-- bugged the shit out of me because I started reading the series when I was like 14.  I read the last book when I was 30.  So I essentially had 16 years invested in this only to get a horrible finish.  I'm surprised Roland's big lesson was "don't forget to drink your Ovaltine."

 

The whole philosophical thing of the hero constantly reincarnated until he gets it right is fine if it's a single book.  Not so much if it's the ending to a decades-spanning saga that linked an entire universe of books and short stories.

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