Misery vs. Misery

Alright, alright! It's clear that I need an entirely new back-blog just to keep up-to-date on my all the back-blogging that I'm failing to actually finish. Still, here is a double-whammy that I had the intention to delivery back-to-back. What we have here is Stephen King's novel Misery and its film adaptation by the same name starring Kathy Bates and James Caan, directed by legendary Rob Reiner. How did these match up? Let's get to it.

As most people who follow the items I read already know that I'm a big King fan. Never got around to Misery, though. Huge fucking mistake on my part. This novel easily one of my new favorites out of King's work -- and certainly my favorite take on King having the protagonist being a writer, of which many of his stories follow that premise. Story is simple and pretty famous. For those completely unaware of what exactly I'm talking about, here's a quick synopsis. A famous writer, Paul Sheldon, (known for a series of books that sort of like a novelized version of Downton Abbey who's pivotal character goes by the name Misery -- get it?) gets into a car wreck while driving some winding back roads during a snow storm in rural Colorado. Left for dead, a local hermit, Annie Wilkes, happens discover the wreck and saves the guy. Next thing Sheldon knows, he wakes in small house in the middle of nowhere belonging to Wilkes -- the biggest fan of Misery there is... and also a complete lunatic and serial killer. Shortly after his rescue/imprisonment, Annie manages to finish reading the last (and final) Misery novel where Misery is killed off to end the series. Wilkes loses her shit and locks the writer down in order for him to write one last Misery novel. A happy story where Misery lives. And the battle between the Sheldon and Wilkes begins. 

So, how does the book compare to the movie. Well, I'm going to be that guy. "The book was way better." Seriously, it is!

The film adaptation does follow the novel fairly closely. Some elements are rearranged. Some scenes omitted. But, essentially, it's the same shit. The one thing in the film, though, that really stands out to me was the one scene where Wilkes needs to cripple Sheldon after he attempted to escape. What does she do in the film? She places a wooden block in between Sheldon's ankles, reveals she's holding a sledgehammer, and starts swinging. 

Oh... it's tough to watch. 

Then we have the novel. What does Annie do there? Yes, she cripples Sheldon, but not by breaking his legs. SHE FUCKING CHOPS OFF HIS RIGHT LEGS WITH AN AXE!!! ARGH!!! This pretty much summarizes the difference between the two stories. The book is way, way more violent. Not only does Sheldon loses a leg in the book, but there's another time when Wilkes just barges into his bedroom and saws of his thumb with an electric knife. Jesus... 

The book doesn't pull any punches. It's gruesome and terrific. Like I said before, definitely one of my favorite King novels. The one last praise for this book is that it's fairly meta. What do I mean by that? Well, King really goes into the practice of the writing process when Sheldon is forced to sit down and work on the latest Misery novel. In fact, King writes whole chapters of Misery for the audience to read (the story within the story). Also, Sheldon only has some shitty typewriter Annie bought for cheap that falls apart (losing keys) as the book goes on. As you read through these later chapters, King keeps it accurate by having the certain letters omitted as if you're actually reading the pages from this broken typewriter. I certainly liked that, even if it got impossible to decipher at some points. 

Quick wrap-up: Movie is pretty good. Book is way better. They also completely depart during the ending. How so? I'll leave that for people to find out on their own. One of them, however, is waaay more violent than the other. Love it.