You'll love this one...!! A book club & more discussion

One of the group reads for July is Fairy Tale by Stephen King Please discuss the book in this thread.

Kristie will be leading the discussion.

In order to receive a badge you must:
1. have read the book before or during July 2023.
2. discussed it in this thread. Discussion must be more than "I read the book and I liked it". Discussion requires something more substantial and analytical of what you read, for example, thoughts, opinions, impact it had on you, what was your favorite part, was it what you expected it to be like etc. You may also like to review the book and post a link to the review in this thread. Please refer to our group spoiler policy for further information.
3. Report that you have read AND discussed the book in the reporting thread (include a brief summary of what you thought of the book).

A note on discussion: Discussion must be more than "I read the book and I liked it". Discussion requires something more substantial and analytical of what you read, for example, thoughts, opinions, impact it had on you, what was your favorite part, was it what you expected it to be like etc.

In addition to this, the group reads are meant to be a "read along" so it is preferable that you discuss the book as you read rather than wait until you've finished the book.

And finally, discussion is not about just listing your thoughts. Please interact with the other group members, comment on their thoughts, and if they comment on yours, respond to them. This is what makes a good book discussion!

You may also like to review the book and post a link to the review in this thread.

Please refer to our group spoiler policy for further information.

General Rules:
1. Please mark your spoilers with the spoiler tags along with mentioning what stage of the book you are at so other's don't get a nasty shock. Chapter numbers/titles are generally best as they are the same across all formats and editions. See our spoiler policy
2. The book may be combined with the Year Long Challenge, Topplers, and Monthly Challenges.

Happy reading!

Woo hoo! I’m going to start this one either tomorrow or right on the first. Looking forward to it!

I have the book and hope to join as soon as I'm done with the one I'm reading right now.

I'm also trying to finish up a book first. Glad you're joining, Sandra.

Once I finish my current audiobook, I will start this. I have just over 9 hours left.

I started and made it up to chapter 12 today! Here were my thoughts going along so far. (I added -# for the sections within the chapters.)

through chapter 4 section -8 - (view spoiler)[ I like the slow pace. I feel like it helps with the growing relationship between Charlie & the dog & Mr. Bowditch. (hide spoiler)]

ch 5 end - (view spoiler)[ Charlie seems like a good kid. It is so nice of him to stay with Mr. Bowditch. (hide spoiler)]

ch 6-1 There is a lot of foreshadowing in this story.

Up to 8-1 (view spoiler)[ Poor Radar.

I find it interesting how the fairy tales have been worked in. (hide spoiler)]

Up to 8-8 (view spoiler)[ Charlie has given up both baseball & football now. I feel bad that he's missing out on those things. (hide spoiler)]

Through Ch 10 -(view spoiler)[ Oh no. Someone did come looking through their house for the gold or something. Could it be someone who knows more than Charlie does? (hide spoiler)]

Through 10-10 (view spoiler)[ If those cockroaches don’t bite, aren’t dangerous, and die in our atmosphere, then why the big reaction ? Stay on the porch!! Etc Also, I don't get why the dog so scared of it. (hide spoiler)]

Up to Ch 11 - (view spoiler)[ That must’ve been so hard to listen to that tape.

I love my dogs to bits, but he’s asking Charlie to go into a very dangerous city to revive his dog? I get loving your dog, but when it’s time for them to go you need to let them go. His dog isn't from under ground, right? I don't think she'd be able to live up top if she was.

Random thought… why would the roaches try to get out into an environment where they can’t survive? Maybe they are trying to recover the gold pellets?? That might be a stretch.

And who is the strange man? Is he from below? (hide spoiler)]

Through ch 11-9 (view spoiler)[ I think it’s interesting how he’s linking in some classic fairy tales, books, and now movies.

The description of the old woman was kind of creepy, but she seems very nice. I just had a thought... maybe it's not that a bunch of authors etc visited the place underground, but that is where those imaginary things go to live? Like people write it or create it and it ends up there? The old lady having a smudged face made me think of it.

Why can’t he speak slang words under ground? So weird?? (hide spoiler)]

Up to Ch 12 - (view spoiler)[ oh! I didn’t expect the ha-ha man to catch him coming out of the hole! I have left Charlie in a scary predicament for the night. (hide spoiler)]

I hope I have all the chapters listed right. I was taking notes on the audio while in the car. lol Also, some of my comments / questions I posted were answered in later chapters, but that was still what I was thinking at the time. :)

I read 9 chapters so far. The dog's lovely. A slow pacing but it's picking up. I like that there are illustrations

I have the audio and the hardcover, so I'm doing both. The illustrations are pretty cool.

End of Ch 12 - (view spoiler)[ I don’t know what I would have done with the haha man, but I’m afraid of him coming back. I just don't trust that we've seen the last of him.

Charlie’s explanation of why he’s going to going to help Radar makes perfect sense. I still think it was wrong of Mr. B to suggest it though. (hide spoiler)]

Up to ch 15 -7 (view spoiler)[ I felt so bad for the pregnant woman with the dead baby. So sad.

What is going on there?? Why are the people graying out??

What a creepy little man stabbing the poor cricket. Again… I feel like Charlie might be a little while too nice.

A hero helps…. A coward gives presents. It seems that Mr. B gave gifts. (hide spoiler)]

End of Ch 16 - Claire cracked me up. Hahaha

Up to Ch 18 -3 (view spoiler)[ I feel like the description of how odd things were was a little repetitive. I got kind of tired of listening to how things could almost be seen moving, etc. I typically love how descriptive King is, but I feel like the travel-city part was a bit too much for me. (hide spoiler)]

Up to Ch 18 -4 (view spoiler)[ Awww!!! Happy young Radar! ❤️ Such a smart girl. (hide spoiler)]

End of Ch 18 - (view spoiler)[ It makes sense why he put so much emphasis on the buildings looking like they were moving and not being able to focus on them now. That’s why it’s so easy to get lost in the city.

Ugh, see… he left that guy alive then he had to pay for it later. Creepy little trouble-making dude. (hide spoiler)]

I’m up to Ch 21 (view spoiler)[ Charlie really got himself into a bad position! I'm curious how he's going to get out of this. (hide spoiler)]

I can't wait to read your spoilers Kristie. I still have about 4 hours left on my audiobook.

Mee too! We are visiting friends in Ohio and I should have brought my book. I'll start tomorrow when I'm back home, even though I'm not done with my other book.

Wow Kristie. I’ve only managed to read the first two chapters. Enjoying it so far.

I have both the audio and the physical book. I did some traveling, so was able to listen to a bit of it. I'm about 2/3 through now. It was easy to listen to in chunks.

I'm finally starting this one! So far only 20 pages in but already loving the writing. King always makes you feel in good hands when you start his books.

Definitely, Sandra!

Back in the saddle again!

I'll be starting this afternoon - finally.

I've finished to the end of Chapter 2, and will start Chapter 3 A Visit to the Hospital this afternoon.

(view spoiler)[ So far, I'm feeling there's a similarity to other works by King - The Talisman and Black House. I guess I'll find out.

I wonder if King was using his own experience of being run off the road by a van as the inspiration for the mother's death. (hide spoiler)]

I've been super slow reading these last few days, but I made it to Chapter 5.

(view spoiler)[ I think Charlie is just a sweet boy. I'm sorry he had to go through so much, but glad his father is doing better now.
I'm of course intrigued by Mr Bowditch and the shed.

Fun thing, my 8 year old son was looking at the book cover and asked me if I thought there was a dragon "down there", and that made me pay more attention to the image, which I haven't done at all. (hide spoiler)]

Janice (view spoiler)[ I had a similar thought about King's accident. I was wondering if when he talks about the difficulties of staying in bed, the pain, the medicines, he is being inspired by his own experience (hide spoiler)]

Sandra, that was quite observant of him. It does look like (view spoiler)[ there could be a dragon down there. He certainly picked up on the fantasy genre of the book.

I always think it looks like an eye. It actually looks a lot like a dragon eye if you don't enlarge the picture.

(hide spoiler)]

Janice, I'd be interested to hear King talk about his inspiration for the book and if or how much that played a part.

Kristie wrote: "Sandra, that was quite observant of him. It does look like"

True!

Chapter 6, while having breakfast (view spoiler)[ So much gold! This is getting interesting. What is going on here? I understand Mr Bowditch trusts Charlie, and on the other side Charlie is a very mature, responsible teenager, but I starting to think this is too much responsibility for him. The visit to Heinrich was creepy. Mr Bowditch even suggested Charlie to bring a gun. How can you send a 17 year old to a place where you think he might need a gun to defend himself! I understand he doesn't have anyone else to do this for him, but I still feel uncomfortable with this, and it is an aspect of Mr Bowditch I do not like. (hide spoiler)]

Sandra wrote: "Chapter 6, while having breakfast [spoilers removed]"

I agree. Mr. B (view spoiler)[ asks Charlie to do a couple of things that I'm not comfortable with. Some of my earlier spoilers reference that too. (hide spoiler)]

I'm hoping to finish this one today. I am somewhere in chapter 25, I think, and things are happening! I can't wait to find out where the rest of the story will go.

I'm now in chapter 30 and it has been nonstop! Can't wait to see how it ends.

I've finished to the end of Chapter 9 (The Thing in the Shed, The Dangerous Place, 911, The Wallet, A Good Conversation).

Naming various parts of the chapters like that is so typical of King.

(view spoiler)[ I surprised that Howard put so much trust in Charlie not to snoop, to take care of things, and to not rob him blind. The jeweler tried to tempt him, but Charlie wasn't having any of it. The kid really has a lot of integrity. He is fascinated with the gold though.

I still wonder what was in that shed.

It seems to me that the story is dragging a bit. (hide spoiler)]

Kristie wrote: "Janice, I'd be interested to hear King talk about his inspiration for the book and if or how much that played a part."

I'm getting the feeling that (view spoiler)[ this story may be based on Jack & the Beanstalk. There certainly are a lot of references to it. (hide spoiler)] I read an interview long time back when King said that he gets inspiration from his dreams (or should I say nightmares), and the things he is afraid of - spiders and clowns being a couple.

There are a lot of titles being named in the book. I should be writing them down in case I get the urge to do another challenge task about reading a book that is listed in another book.

I thought that at first too, (view spoiler)[ but there are other references later in the book as well. I still think it was a big influence with the stealing gold and other references, but I think several fairytales and fantasy genre movies even played a bit. It's been fun picking out the different references. (hide spoiler)]

I'm in chapter 30 now. Didn't get to finish today as my family clearly thinks my earbuds indicate 'please talk to me'. lol

I caught a quick (view spoiler)[ "There are other worlds than these" reference to his Dark Tower series and it made me smile. King seems to love that concept.

I was sad when Charlie's roommate died. He seemed like a genuinely good person. But, I was glad they were able to rescue Percy. We've lost a few along the way and it seems the battle is in full motion now. I feel bad for Leah. She is about to find out that her beloved brother did not die, but was turned into something awful. (hide spoiler)]

I'm really enjoying this one. I've laughed a few times, enjoyed references to older fairy tales, etc, and had a variety of emotions going along. I can't wait to finish it tomorrow.

I've finished to the end of Chapter 13.


The Haha creep got his karma - broken fingers, perfect for a thief - but I wonder if we haven't seen the last of him.

There was a reference to "Flightkillers". Could they be dragons?

I finished today. I'm on holiday, so I'll come back with more thoughts in a few days, but I really enjoyed this one. (view spoiler)[ I got a little tired of the repetition of the 'that's not what I said, that's how I heard it...' type comments. I also thought the yelling of the creatures name (Gogmagog!) was just a little too easy at the end, but otherwise I thought it was great. (hide spoiler)]

Have a great trip Kristie.

I finished to the end of Chapter 14: Leah and Fakada, Help Her. A Meeting on the Road. Wolfies. Two Moons.

(view spoiler)[ The more I read, the more I'm becoming to think that the people of the other dimension are all living a fairy tale, and are all cursed. I wonder why Howard didn't "slay the dragon" so to speak when he was younger. I like how other fairy tales are being woven in - the Goose Girl.

I think the reason Charlie isn't able to say some words, is because they are non-existent in that realm. (hide spoiler)]

I finished to the end of Chapter 17: Leaving Claudia. Remembering Jenny. A Night in the Storage Shed. The gate. The Haunted City.

(view spoiler)[ The Flight Killer was mentioned earlier in the book and again. I wonder if it's a dragon. The other thing that is mentioned is that the "real" fairy tales are a lot darker than the watered down version we are given as children. Even then, they were pretty violent.

Charlie states that he comes from a fairy tale world, and the one he's wondering through looking for the sundial was reality. I had to stop and consider that for a moment about what we perceive as reality. You could really dive into the rabbit hole over that concept. Speaking of which, I'm getting a lot of Alice in Wonderland vibes.

Lately, my audiobooks and ebooks are "meshing" I was listening to Dawn of Wonder and reading Tress of the Emerald Sea. Both books were very similar in that teens were on quests in fantasy lands. Then I started Fairy Tale on audiobook and The Sorcerer's House on ebook. I kept confusing myself because both books had old houses with sheds in the back that were locked. I packed in the Sorcerer's House because it was too weird and started reading Your Perfect Year. Yesterday, as I was listening to FT, a character named Hannah was mentioned and I thought, "where was she mentioned before?" Last night when I picked up my ebook, one of the main characters is named Hannah. This has got to stop! (hide spoiler)]

Kristie wrote: "Up to ch 15 -7 (view spoiler)[ I felt so bad for the pregnant woman with the dead baby. So sad. (hide spoiler)]."

I think (view spoiler)[ they have all been cursed with some kind of disease.

I liked Claudia too. "Write it down!"

It's interesting that she is blind and her brother deaf. How would they ever communicate? (hide spoiler)]

I'm so behind... :(

Finished chapter 8 (view spoiler)[ Quite a few comments about Mr B not living much longer. I wonder if his cancer is going to get so bad in the near future or if things are starting to become really dangerous with the gold, the shed, and the murder of Heinrich. (hide spoiler)]

Thanks, Janice. We've been having a great time and keeping busy. Heading home tomorrow. :)

I hate my ebook and audiobook overlap or are too similar. It makes it so difficult to keep track of what's going on.

Re: Your reply to my ch 15 spoiler - (view spoiler)[ I go the impression that they didn't communicate too much except for telepathy or dreams or something. But, clearly there is some type of communication.

I do think that Leah's missing mouth is just the worst. I can't imagine having to cause physical pain to eat everyday and not being able to eat anything normal or taste things. It would be pretty awful.
(hide spoiler)]

You're not behind, Sandra! Plenty of time.

Sandra wrote: "Finished chapter 8 [spoilers removed]"

Typical fairy tale - (view spoiler)[ Danger abounds. (hide spoiler)]

I'm in the middle of Chapter 22: The Playing Field, Ammit, Washing Up, Cake. The Gas-jets.

I haven't read the gas-jets yet.

(view spoiler)[ In the previous chapter the "Lord" said that hope was dangerous. I wonder in what context he said that. If the prisoners had hope, they were a threat to him perhaps. False hope could be dangerous I suppose. I really dislike these charlatans that prey on people's hope. Medical tourism is the worst. When I worked in Home Care, people would drag family members with end stage cancer to Mexico for some miracle cure. We never saw any of our patients find that miracle. Instead they paid these charlatans tens of thousands of dollars. Rant over.

So, Flight Killer is actually Leah's brother. Interesting.

Charlie's football skills helped during "Play time".

Apparently, Charlie's hair has turned blonde and his eyes Hazel. His cell mate wonders if he is the Prince sent to save them. That made my brain start to smoke. One of the refugees in an earlier chapter asked him "who did your mother lift her shirts to?" (because he was whole). Did his mother dally? Or was she actually his mother? Did Howard/Adrian bring Charlie back from the other world and give him to his neighbors to raise? (He was always bringing gifts.)

There are truly some distasteful characters in this story. The Rumpelstiltskin character, the night soldiers, Hana, wolfies.... (hide spoiler)]

I'm in Chapter 11 - 4 (view spoiler)[ I agree about Mr B sending Charlie to a dangerous, strange place to extend his dog's life. He knows the risks, and even warns about the possibility of getting trapped in other worlds unable of coming back. I think it is too much. It's obvious Charlie would go down because he is young, curious and loves Radar (and for the sake of the story, of course) but it is too much.

I also found weird the big deal about the cockroaches once we knew they would not survive anyways. It is weird specially considering how killing the bug affected Mr B's health, and ended in a heart attack. It has to be more of this story. I don't think the tape is saying everything Charlie should know.

Also wondering if the person who broke in the house looking for the gold (and probably killed Mr Heinrich) is just a thief of this world or if he is connected with the well and the other worlds. The nosy neighbor commented he speaks funny. Maybe he is also from a different time? (hide spoiler)]

Sandra wrote: "I'm in Chapter 11 - 4 ."

I wonder if the (view spoiler)[ fact that the cockroaches not being able to survive indicate that nobody would be able to survive if they came from the other world. (hide spoiler)]

Janice wrote: "Sandra wrote: "I'm in Chapter 11 - 4 ."

I wonder if the [spoilers removed]"

I wondered that too.

I finished the book today. It certainly is a dark story. (view spoiler)[ Violence, cruelty, gore, etc certainly is not the main fare of fairy tales. There is violence, but nothing extreme. But then, this is Stephen King. What did I expect?

I found the imprisoned "wholes" having to battle each other to the death to be extremely cruel. They had been prison mates, helping each other, caring for each other, and now saddled with the psychological effects of killing each other.

I liked all the nods to the various fairy tales and to other Stephen King stories. We did get a dragon - sort of, kind of - with Gog Ma Gog.

I liked how King wrapped it up in the end, with Charlie cementing over the stairwell.

Essentially , it was a coming-of-age story of a boy and his dog having an adventure. (hide spoiler)]

Janice wrote: "I finished the book today. It certainly is a dark story. ..."

(view spoiler)[I thought it was incredibly cruel to pit the prisoners against each other as well, but that was the plan all along and the others seemed to find it very entertaining. I thought it was even more cruel that they tried to pair up people that were closer with each other to make it even more traumatic. They seemed to love that psychological torture.

I thought the cementing of the well was the perfect ending.
(view spoiler)[ (hide spoiler)] (hide spoiler)]

I am nearing the halfway point, and am loving the detail, but as I am waiting to go into the OR that detail is also why I needed to put it away. I don’t need this to feed my dreams right now lol

Make sense, Jenn. Lol

I'm in chapter 14 - 3 (view spoiler)[ We are finally in the other world, and met the shoe-girl and the goose-girl. I'm still struggling to keep my attention in the story. I felt the real world story was dragging and maybe too long, but so far going down the stairs case didn't help much. I'm still finishing it because I trust King and because I love the badge I made. Lol

Also, the way Charlie broke the thief wrist deeply impressed me. I understand the guy pointed a gun at him and everything, but it was something I was not expecting him to do. (hide spoiler)]

Jenn wrote: "I am nearing the halfway point, and am loving the detail, but as I am waiting to go into the OR that detail is also why I needed to put it away. I don’t need this to feed my dreams right now lol"

Good luck, Jenn! I'm sure you won't have any dreams while in the OR. lol

Sandra wrote: "I'm in chapter 14 - 3 ..."

I'm sorry you're not finding it more engaging, Sandra. King does like to give a lot of detail. I had to laugh at your comment re: badges. I'm looking forward to it now. lol

Oooo, I can't wait for the badges now too.

Sandra (view spoiler)[ I thought Charlie breaking the thief's wrists was kind of shocking. (hide spoiler)]