Books Stephen King Recommends discussion

Comments for Part 5 go here.

This is a follow-up for a question Linda raised after the events of part four - how did I feel about Arlen surviving the battle with the Tate's, the Sheriff and Wade?
I was ok with it, especially when I realized Arlen could then have the closure he needed in his home town and that it meant Arlen and Paul made peace with each other. Arlen had to survive to help us understand more about his father and the gift of the sight they shared.
It would have been noble and enough for Paul to have been saved by Arlen, but the gift of tuition for the Carnegie School of Engineering was really special and only possible if Arlen lived to extract it from the FBI

Thinking about Arlen's father, I am now wondering if he too saw the smoke in the eyes of the soon to be dead, the skeletal frames.
Would it have been better if his father had talked to Arlen about what it now seemed they both saw and heard, (before the tragic event with the murdered neighbor married to Edwin Main); would Arlen have listened?

Whew.. made it!!

Okay, now it makes sense, I didn't really think about that before. The only part that I didn't really like in this section was Arlen trying to find Edwin Maine, what was the point of that - except I guess to vindicate Arlen's dad, but his death would not have happened that way if Arlen had not caused it.

I was glad to see that Paul got a scholarship, he was a very smart kid and really needed to do something with his life. You're right - if Arlen had died, Paul would not have gotten that, and scary to think that he may have gotten stuck there in Corridor County - possibly working for Barrett, or something crazy like that.

Linda:
It did seem a bit more "happy ever after" as an ending than I expected given the dark nature of the tale, that was part of the unexpected twist!

So true!! maybe Michael Koryta thought we needed the book to end on a happy note - I think I would have preferred more loose ends tied up, well, now that I think about it the only loose end left was Rebecca, and I guess it could have been considered tied up after Arlen made that call to her.

Linda: the fact that Rebecca all but disappeared except as Arlen talked to her was a loose end in my book. Koryta didn't make her a very likable character, and then all but dropped her. She seemed more a foil for Arlen and Paul to duel over than a full character IMHO.

Ann wrote: "Linda: the fact that Rebecca all but disappeared except as Arlen talked to her was a loose end in my book. Koryta didn't make her a very likable character, and then all but dropped her. She seemed ..."

I agree that Rebecca was not a fleshed-out character. Arlen's love and commitment to her was hard to understand. I'm glad that Arlen survived and was able to help Paul out, and was able to find closure in Fayette County. But his plan to be with Rebecca just didn't seem like it held a lot of water. IMHO.

I think it was noble for Arlen to be prepared to sacrifice his life for Paul's. He was just like a father to him. His being able to talk to the dead wasn't really a surprise to me, and I'm glad the author brought that into play. Like father, like son. I didn't expect Arlen to live, but was glad he did.

I didn't expect that either Debra. I guess just to take care of Paul.