Duma Key av Stephen King

DUMA KEY is the engaging, fascinating story of a man who discovers an incredible talent for painting after a freak accident in which he loses an arm. He moves to a 'new life' in Duma Key, off Florida's West Coast; a deserted strip, part beach, part weed-tangled, owned by a patroness of the arts whose twin sisters went missing in the 1920s. Duma Key is where out-of-season hurricanes tears lives apart and a powerful undertow lures lost and tormented souls. Here Freemantle is inspired to paint the amazing sunsets. But soon the paintings become predictive, even dangerous. Freemantle knows the only way forward is to discover what happened to the twin sisters -- and what is the secret of the strange old lady who holds the key? The story is about friendship, about the bond between a father and his daughter. And about memory, truth and art. It is also is a metaphor for the life and inspiration of a writer, and an exploration of the nature, power and influence of fiction.

Hm, ja, tusen takk. Hvordan kan en anmeldelse overgå det der? Godt spørsmål. Jeg skal ikke si så mye, men jeg kommer nok til å lese denne om igjen på ett eller annet tidspunkt. Dette er en av disse Stephen King bøkene som tipper over i det litterære – selv om jeg likevel ikke ville ha lest den før jeg la meg. Jeg blir fort mørkredd av King ...

Han har helt ødelagt den amerikanske landsbygden for meg, jeg ville aldri ha våget å kjøre bil alene der etter solnedgang. Og nå har han mer eller mindre ødelagt tanken på Florida også. Gud vet hva som finnes i vannet utenfor strendene der.

Etter en bok som dette, opplever jeg som regel et lite anfall av manglende selvtillit i forhold til min egen skriving. Det går som regel over, men det stikker til, gitt.

Det er litt fristende å ta en "Misery" på ham ...

Et sitat:
Don't quit until det picture's complete. I can't tell you that's the cardinal rule of art or not, I'm no teacher, but I believe those six words sum up all I've been trying to tell you. Talent is a wonderful thing, but it won't carry a quitter. An there always comes a time - if the work is sincere, if it comes from that magic place where thought, memory, and emotion all merge - when you will want to quit, when you will think that if you put your pencil down your eye will dull, your memory will lapse, and the pain will end. I know all this from the last picture I drew that day - the one of the gathering on the beach. It was only a sketch, but I think that when you're mapping hell, a sketch is all you need.

Ikke litterær, liksom ...

Smakebit på søndag: Duma Key

Forrige søndag ba jeg om hjelp til å bestemme meg for hvilken bok jeg skulle velge: Ken Folletts World Without End, og George R.R. Martins A Game of Throne. Mange gode råd, og jeg endte opp med - Stephen Kings Duma Key. Jeg leste en setning om den på Bokelskere.no, og da måtte jeg bare lese den.
Og det angrer jeg ikke på. De to andre står på leselisten, men først må jeg gjøre ferdig denne.

Omtale: DUMA KEY is the engaging, fascinating story of a man who discovers an incredible talent for painting after a freak accident in which he loses an arm. He moves to a 'new life' in Duma Key, off Florida's West Coast; a deserted strip, part beach, part weed-tangled, owned by a patroness of the arts whose twin sisters went missing in the 1920s. Duma Key is where out-of-season hurricanes tears lives apart and a powerful undertow lures lost and tormented souls. Here Freemantle is inspired to paint the amazing sunsets. But soon the paintings become predictive, even dangerous. Freemantle knows the only way forward is to discover what happened to the twin sisters -- and what is the secret of the strange old lady who holds the key? The story is about friendship, about the bond between a father and his daughter. And about memory, truth and art. It is also is a metaphor for the life and inspiration of a writer, and an exploration of the nature, power and influence of fiction.

Alt det der, og litt til. Den er altfor spennende, og jeg har vanskelig for å legge den fra meg. Som alltid er jeg litt misunnelig på Stephen King og har øyeblikk der jeg er litt misfornøyd med min egen skriving - i hvert fall så lenge jeg fortsetter å lese  ...

Obs, holdt på å glemme smakebiten!

"Now, looking at it with what I hoped was a dispassionate eye, I realized disturbing was probably the wrong word; that baby was fucking terrifying. Looking at it was like looking at a mind turned sideways."

( "it" er i dette tilfelle et maleri. Min anm).

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