Tutto e fatidico

by Stephen King

Chi fa l'autostop di notte e sale sulla macchina sbagliata; chi, al ristorante, trova che il piatto del giorno sia un po' troppo al sangue... Stephen King ci propone un giro nell'ignoto in quattordici tappe dove paura e angoscia, macabro sarcasmo e assorta melanconia pervadono le vicende di questi racconti. Non regalate animali, non comprate nulla alle svendite da cortile, non inimicatevi l'adolescente ombroso della casa accanto e, soprattutto, sappiate che tutto è fatidico.

Genres: Horror

556 pages, Paperback

Published September 26, 2013

About the author

Stephen Edwin King was born the second son of Donald and Nellie Ruth Pillsbury King. After his father left them when Stephen was two, he and his older brother, David, were raised by his mother. Parts of his childhood were spent in Fort Wayne, Indiana, where his father's family was at the time, and in Stratford, Connecticut. When Stephen was eleven, his mother brought her children back to Durham, Maine, for good. Her parents, Guy and Nellie Pillsbury, had become incapacitated with old age, and Ruth King was persuaded by her sisters to take over the physical care of them. Other family members provided a small house in Durham and financial support. After Stephen's grandparents passed away, Mrs. King found work in the kitchens of Pineland, a nearby residential facility for the mentally challenged.

Stephen attended the grammar school in Durham and Lisbon Falls High School, graduating in 1966. From his sophomore year at the University of Maine at Orono, he wrote a weekly column for the school newspaper, THE MAINE CAMPUS. He was also active in student politics, serving as a member of the Student Senate. He came to support the anti-war movement on the Orono campus, arriving at his stance from a conservative view that the war in Vietnam was unconstitutional. He graduated in 1970, with a B.A. in English and qualified to teach on the high school level. A draft board examination immediately post-graduation found him 4-F on grounds of high blood pressure, limited vision, flat feet, and punctured eardrums.

He met Tabitha Spruce in the stacks of the Fogler Library at the University, where they both worked as students; they married in January of 1971. As Stephen was unable to find placement as a teacher immediately, the Kings lived on his earnings as a laborer at an industrial laundry, and her student loan and savings, with an occasional boost from a short story sale to men's magazines.

Stephen made his first professional short story sale ("The Glass Floor") to Startling Mystery Stories in 1967. Throughout the early years of his marriage, he continued to sell stories to men's magazines. Many were gathered into the Night Shift collection or appeared in other anthologies.

In the fall of 1971, Stephen began teaching English at Hampden Academy, the public high school in Hampden, Maine. Writing in the evenings and on the weekends, he continued to produce short stories and to work on novels.

Reviews

[erigibbi · Rating 4 out of 5]

Una raccolta di quattordici racconti o - come dice King - quattordici storie nere che tutto sommato non sono male (anche se non rientra tra le raccolte che preferisco scritte dall’autore).
⠀
Pregi maggiori:
📖 il racconto Le Piccole Sorelle di Eluria, incentrato sugli anni giovanili di Roland (i fan della Torre Nera capiranno). Pura bellezza ✨
⠀
📖 all’inizio o alla fine di ogni racconto King ha aggiunto qualcosa su come gli è venuta in mente la storia, qual è il contesto, perché ha scritto quel racconto, cosa lo ha ispirato… Trovo sia sempre interessante sapere come funziona la mente di uno scrittore e il suo processo creativo 📇
⠀
Curiosità 🪄
L’uomo in nero, un racconto di questo libro, ha vinto il premio World Fantasy Award e O. Henry Award for Best Short Fiction.
A rendere il premio equanime è il fatto che tutti i racconti candidati sono anonimi e quindi sono giudicati solo per i loro meriti.
Inutile dire che quando il vincitore si è rivelato essere Stephen King molti sono rimasti sorpresi e non si sono risparmiati le critiche.

[Gualtiero · Rating 3 out of 5]

In generale non amo le raccolte di racconti (nella mia testa sono storie di serie B che non sono riuscite a diventare dei libri veri). In questo caso ho deciso di leggere il libro trascinato dalla presenza del racconto "Le piccole sorelle di Eluria", che espandono il mondo di Roland al quale sono molto affezionato.
Per il resto la qualità è altalenante: alcuni racconti sono molto belli e inquietanti ("Riding the bullet" o "Autopsia 4"), altri invece sono quasi insignificanti ("L'uomo vestito di nero" o "La teoria degli animali di L.T.")

[Francesco Bignardi · Rating 4 out of 5]

Non la migliore raccolta di racconti di King, ma resta comunque un contenitore di opere notevoli, e i brividi sono assicurati. Menzione d’onore per “le piccole sorelle di Eluria”, un racconto che si colloca cronologicamente poco prima del primo libro de “La Torre Nera”.

[Matteo Bonfatti · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great collection of stories, and currently among my favorites from the author, together with You Like It Darker.

Here follows a review and a brief comment on each of the 14 stories:

1) Autopsy Room Four (7.5/10)
The tension is skillfully built, page after page, creating a climactic limbo that feels unsettling and tragicomic at once. The reader is left with a growing sense of anxiety, desperate to know the final fate of the unfortunate main character. The ending of this opening story is pure genius and adds an unexpected touch of humor.

2) The Man in the Black Suit (8/10)
I liked this story a lot because of its simplicity and folkloric tone. The rural 1910s setting creates a mystical atmosphere of times long gone, where the boundary between the otherworldly and the material becomes thin, and where religion and unspoken fears are the only cornerstones to shield against the unknown. The open ending was the perfect closure for this short yet impressive tale.

3) All That You Love Will Be Carried Away (7/10)
Even without much background information, I found the main (and only) character, Alfie Zimmer, to be well-structured and deeply faceted. His quirky habits and inner demons reveal his full humanity and fragility, making the reader sympathize with him. His struggles are portrayed with an almost ironic—and for that reason, even more poignant—touch.

4) The Death of Jack Hamilton (6/10)
This was okay. Although the 1930s gangster setting was promising, the plot and its direction didn’t quite impress me. Some characters, particularly John Dillinger and Homer, are well crafted and likable; however, the story as a whole felt a bit uninspired.

5) In the Deathroom (6/10)
Similar in tone to Autopsy Room Four, this very short story builds tension by placing the protagonist in a life-threatening situation. It was engaging and entertaining, but I felt the characters were somewhat shallow.

6) The Little Sisters of Eluria (8.5/10)
I haven’t read the Dark Tower series (yet), and I was worried I wouldn’t be able to fully appreciate this story without background knowledge. Far from it—this was one of the top three stories in the collection and piqued my curiosity to dive into the series.

7) Everything’s Eventual (7.5/10)
I know this story is also connected to the Dark Tower, but again, I haven’t gotten to that yet. Still, the narrative flow here is excellent and made me genuinely curious about Dinky’s situation.

8) L.T.’s Theory of Pets (5.5/10)
This one didn’t quite land. It’s not a bad story, but a forgettable one that left me rather unsatisfied. I didn’t fully understand where King was going with it or what message he wanted to convey.

9) The Road Virus Heads North (9.5/10)
Creepy, spooky, and anxiety-inducing. I loved it from the first word to the last. The ending was perfectly timed and masterfully crafted, leaving the reader deeply unsettled. I was so curious after finishing it that I immediately Googled images of the portrait.

10) Lunch at the Gotham Café (8/10)
This one was such a fun read. In fact, I think it made me laugh more than any other story in the collection. I’m not sure that was the author’s intention, but I couldn’t help myself in the face of the maitre's sheer, unrestrained madness. The pace keeps accelerating, with events spiraling out of control in a completely unexpected way.

11) That Feeling, You Can Only Say What It Is in French (5.5/10)
Much like L.T.’s Theory of Pets, I didn’t get much out of this story. Honestly, I had to reread some pages at the beginning because I was genuinely struggling to follow what was happening. It became clearer as I went on, but in the end, it still felt forgettable.

12) 1408 (10/10)
As a big fan of the movie, I was drawn to this collection mainly because of this story. I must say, the literary version is even better. The wording, the pacing, the metaphors—every choice contributes to crafting a masterpiece. It genuinely creeped me out.

13) Riding the Bullet (7.5/10)
I’m not sure this story was originally meant to be scary, because I didn’t find it so. Still, the psychological and philosophical aspects are what truly make it shine. The pacing is excellent, and the protagonist's very human, relatable inner conflicts add depth to the plot.

14) Luckey Quarter (4.5/10)
This was my least favorite story. I didn’t expect the ending and had anticipated a completely different twist. It felt like the plot went nowhere, and I believe it should’ve been expanded to make more sense. I was left disappointed and felt it didn’t serve well as the closing story of the book.

Overall, the scoring averages at 7.2/10, which I feel accurately reflects the quality of the book. Recommended for King fans.

[g · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.75

[gloria☆°• · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5 ⭐️

[ugo cemin · Rating 4 out of 5]

" A volte le storie reclamano con tanta insistenza di essere raccontate che si finisce per scriverle solo per farle stare zitte".

[Alessandro Casaburo · Rating 3 out of 5]

Quattordici storie del Re, di generi che spaziano dall'horror classico al drammatico alla commedia nera. Purtroppo la qualità non è costante: da racconti eccellenti come "Riding the bullet - Passaggio per il nulla" (una rivisitazione originale di un topos orrorifico capace di sorprendere, impressionare e far riflettere), "Tutto ciò che ami ti sarà portato via" (c'è luce in fondo al tunnel, e non si spegne mai, sta a noi decidere se vale la pena andarle incontro), o "Il Virus della Strada va a nord" (un'altra rivisitazione horror, condivide un senso di ineluttabilità con "Riding the bullet", ma qui è peggiore), all'ironico ed ansiogeno "Autopsia 4", si passa per altri racconti non c'è male (deludente "Le piccole sorelle di Eluria": non brutto, ma non è la pietra più luccicante nel sacchetto), e si arriva ad altri proprio brutti, come "La morte di Jack Hamilton" o "La camera della morte", racconti che, nella lettura, trasmettono un senso di "questo racconto non ha senso di esistere". Il voto finale è una media dei voti dati ad ogni racconto, riportati di seguito:
- Autopsia 4: 4/5;
- L'uomo vestito di nero: 4/5;
- Tutto ciò che ami ti sarà portato via: 4/5;
- La morte di Jack Hamilton: 2/5;
- La camera della morte: 1/5;
- Le piccole sorelle di Eluria: 3/5;
- Tutto è fatidico: 3/5;
- La teoria degli animali di L.T.: 2/5;
- Il Virus della Strada va a Nord: 4/5;
- Pranzo al "Gotham Cafè": 3/5;
- Quella sensazione che puoi dire soltanto in francese: 4/5;
- 1408: 4/5;
- Riding the Bullet - Passaggio per il nulla: 5/5;
- La moneta portafortuna: 4/5.

[Lazzaro · Rating 4 out of 5]

"The Little Sisters of Eluria" is a little tale that precedes Roland Deschain's quest in The Dark Tower novels. His adventure is still in its infancy, but he's already getting himself into trouble. After battling some Slow Mutants (King's version of zombies when they're in Mid-World) and losing, Roland is saved by the Little Sisters, who pretend to be nurses but are actually vampires.

Meanwhile, "Everything's Eventual" tells the story of a psychic assassin named Dinky Earnshaw who works for the Trans Corporation, a company that's using his particular gift (the ability to make people kill themselves) for personal gain.

[Elena Bertazzo · Rating 5 out of 5]

Quanto posso amare uno scrittore che mi butta 14 storie tutte inquetanti senza nemmeno un finale che mi sollevi l'animo? La seconda storia è la best.