Authors: Hans-Ake Lilja
The diary spans over twenty-one years (1907-1928) and reveals the pains and joys of Ellen’s life. It also tells us how she meets Sukeena, who became her servant for the rest of her life in Africa. It’s clear rather early in the book that Sukeena isn’t a regular woman. She possesses unique powers that help her and Ellen from time to time. She heals Ellen when she gets the fever in Africa and later helps when she needs it.
The first disappearance in
Rose Red
happens on March 13, 1909, when Mrs. Fauxmanteur is lost in the house. This is only the first of many disappearances in
Rose Red
though—over the years there are numerous, twenty-six at the least. Ellen has different suspicions on what is causing these disappearances. One involves her husband and his wrongdoings, another involves herself, but the one she believes in most is that it’s caused by Rose Red herself.
The diary also tells about how John’s partner in the company Omicron Oil, Douglas Posey, hangs himself in the house. It tells about how John is unfaithful to Ellen, how he forces Ellen and Sukeena to participate in things they really have no desire to participate in and more…
During all this time, Ellen is conducting construction on Rose Red to make the house bigger—first because she hears the house speak to her during a seance. Rose Red says that she will have life forever, a life without death and a life without illness, as long as she keeps building on the house. Later though, she keeps building because she hopes that Rose Red will give her her daughter back, the daughter that the house claimed earlier…
The person who wrote this book hasn’t been revealed at this time. Since both Ellen and Joyce are fictional characters it can’t be them. Some rumors say that it’s written by King himself; some say it’s written by King’s wife, Tabitha; some rumors says it’s written by both of them; and others that it’s not by either of them. At this time I have no idea as to who actually wrote it. I do know, however, that whoever wrote it put some rather fun connections to King and his books in it.
At one point Ellen writes, “No young girl who can set schools afire, no dog that behaves as if possessed,” which is clearly a reference to King’s books
Carrie
and
Cujo
. At one point she also describes the postman like this: “Well over six feet tall, a bum right leg that caused him to limp and the thickest of glasses!” She also wrote that he said something like “Pisa for the Rimbauers.” This is a description of King, and in the miniseries he is playing a pizza deliveryman (Pisa for the Rimbauers) who is delivering pizzas to the house. These were great to read. I love these kinds of things!
So, how is this book? Well, I liked it! It was fun and, despite if it was written by King or not, it was a well-written book! The only things I think feel a bit odd (if you are to think of it as the real diary of Ellen Rimbauer) is that sometimes there can be a gap of a couple of months between the entries, but Ellen still recounts what happened in the last entry like it happened yesterday. The gaps are explained by the fact that Joyce Reardon has removed parts of the diary in the editing process because they were too private or because they didn’t contribute to telling the story. I guess this isn’t a big problem, but sometimes it’s a bit annoying…
Some parts of the diary have a bit too much description to be believable though. I mean that if you’re writing for yourself and yourself alone, you don’t need to describe things and people that you are familiar with, right? I understand that this has to be there so the reader of the diary can follow what happens, but it makes the diary a tiny bit less believable.
Otherwise, I have nothing to complain about. On the contrary, I would love to know more about the Rimbauers and Rose Red!
Lilja’s final words about
The Diary of Ellen Rimbauer: My Life at Rose Red
Go out to get this book and do it fast. My advice to you is that you read it before you watch the miniseries. The book manages to stand alone (as does the miniseries), but the book gives you valuable background information that you will have use for when you watch the miniseries. That’s why I think you should read it before you see the miniseries (that you should read it either way goes without saying)!
****
Dreamcatcher
—
The Shooting Script
Posted: July 19, 2003
Dreamcatcher—The Shooting Script
is quite an interesting book. First and foremost, it contains the entire shooting script of King’s
Dreamcatcher
. Since I have been finding it really interesting to read scripts lately, I enjoyed this one quite a bit. It’s always interesting to read the thoughts of the screenwriter and then see if they came through in the finished movie. There is so much in the script that is written to describe a scene that has to be translated to a visual version for the movie.
Besides the script,
Dreamcatcher—The Shooting Script
also contains introductions by King (“All Story, No Bacon”), William Goldman (“Adapting King”) and Lawrence Kasdan (“Controlling the Fear”). These are all interesting to read. King talks about some of the feelings he has about his books being adapted into movies. He also mentions how much he likes
Dreamcatcher
. Personally, I have a hard time seeing how King could like it so much. It’s far from the worst adaptation of a King book, but it’s also far from the best. Just look at the ending…could that have been done worse? Well, apparently the filmmakers think so since there is an alternative ending that was rejected. It will be included in the DVD edition that will be released later this year, though, so we can all see for ourselves.
In his introduction, Goldman talks about the three King books he has adapted for the silver screen—
Misery
,
Hearts in Atlantis
and
Dreamcatcher
—and what made him accept the offer to adapt them. What surprises me here is Goldman’s comment that he has no idea why
Hearts in Atlantis
tanked. Well, I can tell him why. He removed all
Dark Tower
parts or hung them onto something ridiculous. He also only used parts of the book to tell the story and took the title from one of the stories he didn’t use. What he was left with were fragments of a great story with some changed
Dark Tower
stuff that no one understood or cared about. That is why it tanked, if you ask me.
Kasdan talks about how much he enjoyed adapting
Dreamcatcher
and how much he admires King’s work. He also mentions some of the struggling they had to do to get the book turned into a script.
Along with these introductions and the script itself,
Dreamcatcher—The Shooting Script
contains a closer look at how the book was turned into a script and then into a film. It’s really cool to see drawings that were done prior to the filming and then photos from the actual scene in the film. It’s quite amazing to see how accurately they get their thoughts to translate through film.
Dreamcatcher—The Shooting Script
also contains a section with short bios about the actors and filmmakers.
Lilja’s final words about
Dreamcatcher—The Shooting Script
This is the book you should get if you’re interested in 1) reading the script, 2) how the book was turned into a movie or 3) if you’re a die-hard King fan!
****
Hollywood’s Stephen King
Posted: November 26, 2003
Hollywood’s Stephen King
is an overview of many of King’s movies. Tony Magistrale, the book’s author, has taken a look at the movies and is providing a deeper insight than most of the books about King’s movies do.
There are chapters like The Lost Children, Maternal Archetypes, Paternal Archetypes, Technologies of Fright and more. The problem that I see with this book is that it’s a bit too deep. Tony himself, when describing the existing books about King’s movies, says in the book’s preface that “Each of these texts is primarily concerned with satisfying the average fan’s curiosity about the making of King’s movies - cataloging technical data, plotline evolution, credits, budgets, on-location gossip, King’s own evaluation of the finished product—essentially, the data behind the production history of each film.”
Well, personally, I enjoy books like that, books like
Creepshows: The Illustrated Stephen King Movie Guide
by Stephen Jones, and even though I think Tony does as well, I feel that he thinks they are a bit shallow.
I’m not saying that
Hollywood’s Stephen King
is a bad book (because it certainly isn’t), but it felt a bit too deep for me when I read it. I know I sound like a hillbilly saying that, but I have always had problems analyzing things. I like when you get a lighter description of the movie and the kind of background Tony mentions in the quote above. I want to read what King thinks about the movie, plotline evolution and, most of all, what happened on the set, the gossip, etc. I guess I’m more of a gossip person than an analytical person…
So, from that perspective,
Hollywood’s Stephen King
is the wrong book for me. But after reading it I must say that I didn’t totally dislike it. It’s not as good as
Creepshow: The Illustrated Stephen King Movie Guide
,
but it’s still an interesting read. There is an interview with King from May 2002 that is really worth reading.
Lilja’s final words about
Hollywood’s Stephen King
So, should you get this book? Well, if you want to get a deeper analysis of King’s movies this is definitely the book for you. Personally, I think it’s somewhat interesting to analyze King’s movies, but still, this was too much like being back in school for me…
****
The Journals of Eleanor Druse
Posted: January 26, 2004
The Journals of Eleanor Druse: My Investigation of the Kingdom Hospital Incident
is a journal written by Eleanor Druse, a character from King’s
Kingdom Hospital
. She then sent it to King, who helped her get it published. (At least, that is what they want us to believe.) Mrs. Druse is a fictional character from the upcoming TV series
Kingdom Hospital
by King. Whoever actually wrote the book is a well-guarded secret that not many people know…
In the journal, Mrs. Druse speaks about the things that happened to her at Kingdom Hospital in Lewiston, Maine. She is called to the hospital by her son (who works there) because a friend of hers, Madelene Kruger, who has tried to kill herself, is asking for her. When she arrives at her friend’s room she finds her dead—she has succeeded with a second suicide attempt. This is the start of a series of events that all leads back to when Mrs. Druse and Madelene were young girls and admitted to the hospital. Something happened to them back then, and someone who was there with them hasn’t gotten her peace yet. Now it’s up to Mrs. Druse to find out what and who…
The journal is an introduction to the TV series,
Kingdom Hospital
, that will premier on ABC on March 3. We don’t get all of the answers by reading the book, but my guess is that we will once the series starts airing. The journal is a background to the TV series and only at the end does it tie into the series itself.
We get introduced to a lot of the characters who will later appear in the series. We get to read about Mrs. Druse and her son, of course, but also the obnoxious Dr. Stegman and a lot of other characters. So, you better make sure you read it before you see the TV series. I guess you could read it after, but it’s intended to be read before…it kind of kicks the series off.
Also, there’s the issue of who actually wrote the book. Did King himself write it or has someone else written it? When I read it I get a feeling that it’s written by an old lady, just like Mrs. Druse…but as you know, that doesn’t have to be the case. It’s the feeling you get, though, and that’s what the author wanted to accomplish when he/she wrote it. So, no matter who wrote it, it feels like it’s written by Mrs. Druse, and who knows, maybe she is really out there…good old Mrs. Druse…
Anyhow, the book is well-written and it was a really nice read. The only problem I have with it is that I want more. I want to know what happens after the journal ends. My hope is that I will after I have seen the series, though, but as you all know, waiting is never any fun.