I've witnessed this book being likened to IT. However, if it brought to my mind other Stephen King works, it was predominantly Firestarter - due to a villain, supernatural "powers", and the time spent on the road - and The Stand - mainly for the vibes.

It's a book composed of distinct parts that still manages to feel like a cohesive whole. It delves into the themes of friendship, loss of control, aliens, the military, and yes, even toilet humor.

I truly relished reading it, and despite its rather substantial page count, it never once felt overly long. The story weaves together these various elements in a seamless manner, captivating the reader from start to finish. The characters are well-developed, and the plot keeps you on the edge of your seat. Whether you're a fan of King's other works or simply looking for an engaging read, this book is definitely worth checking out.

4.4 stars.

First off, let me just say that you really can't rely solely on the reviews when it comes to Stephen King's books. You have to take the plunge and form your own opinions.

I say this because after reading a grand total of 2 books (yes, please hold your applause for this amazing accomplishment

We started off with the rather absurd and terrifying idea of 'anus aliens killing everyone'. It was a strange and somewhat comical concept that immediately grabbed our attention.

But then, in the blink of an eye, the situation seemed to change drastically. We quickly found ourselves asking 'wtf is happening and why are there so many slurs'. It was as if the tone had shifted from the realm of the ridiculous to one of confusion and concern.

The sudden appearance of so many slurs was both unexpected and disturbing. It made us wonder what was going on beneath the surface and why such offensive language was being used.

Overall, the rapid transition from one extreme to the other left us feeling a bit disoriented and eager to understand what was really happening.

Stephen King is truly a gifted writer.

In this book, he manages to take a rather cheesy and overdone concept like alien/body snatchers and make it work.

Although this isn't the best King book, it is far from being his worst. I didn't have extremely high expectations, aside from getting a chuckle whenever someone said "shit weasels", but I was pleasantly surprised.

I had seen the movie a few times, and while I enjoyed it, I knew it wasn't something that should have won any Oscars. This further lowered my expectations.

I'm not a huge fan of alien-based science fiction. As I've mentioned before, it has been overdone and hasn't been cool since Duchovny and Anderson starred on X-Files together. So, once again, my expectations were low.

The shit-weasels also contributed to lowering my expectations. Sure, it's funny to say, and they offer many opportunities for juvenile laughter, but really? Who wants to read about a monster that incubates in a person's intestines and exits through their ass? It might work in a Jay and Silent Bob movie, but this is supposed to be literature.

However, despite all my misgivings, which had prevented me from reading this book for the first eight years of its existence, I finally wanted to get it done and work towards my goal of completing Stephen King's library.

To my surprise, I loved this book! The characters are so well-developed. There's Pete, Henry, Jonesy, and Beaver. And then there's Duddits, their "dreamcatcher", whom they meet and rescue as boys and who changes their lives forever. I love how we're thrown into the action early on when they're adults and then get glimpses into their childhood days, which piece the story together.

The book is really very layered and complex. The aliens themselves may not be that complex, but they do tie into the structure quite well through Jonesy's interaction with "Mr. Gray". But the strength of this book lies in the principal five characters who grew up in Derry together and must now face this menace that threatens humankind.

Also, I loved Kurtz! He's the perfect black-ops nutjob colonel, crazy as a loon. This man might have been a military cousin to Jim Rennie from Under the Dome.

Bravo, Mr. King, for weaving together this captivating story. It's one of the more memorable novels of the early 21st Century.

And just for the record, I still can't help but say: shit weasels.

Alieni? Don't be afraid, defeat them with bacon!

The first draft of my comment was just two words, the second of which was an infinite present whose lexical morpheme was very much in line with the content of the book.

The second one, also in line with the theme, is as follows: Use it as toilet paper.
And this comes from a big fan of Stephen King.
The only merit of this book is that the seven hundred pages can be read quickly.

In fact, this book seems to lack real substance. The story may not be as engaging and profound as expected. The idea of using bacon to deal with aliens sounds rather absurd. However, it does have the advantage of being a relatively quick read, which might be appealing to some readers who are looking for something to pass the time. But overall, it doesn't leave a lasting impression. Maybe it's just a light-hearted attempt that doesn't quite hit the mark.

Perhaps the author could have explored the theme of aliens and bacon in a more creative and meaningful way. There could have been more depth to the characters and the plot. As it stands, it feels a bit like a rushed and unpolished effort. But who knows, maybe some people will find it entertaining in its own strange way.

In conclusion, while this book may have its moments, it doesn't quite live up to the expectations one might have for a work related to the theme of aliens. It's a bit of a miss, but it could potentially serve as a source of amusement for those with a taste for the unusual.

I had only a few rather vague memories of the movie.

I am aware that it wasn't received very well by the general public, yet it still has its own group of dedicated fans.

There is a significant majority of readers who simply loathe King's tales that involve menacing extraterrestrials. However, I am most definitely not one of them.

I thoroughly enjoyed the coke-fueled, nihilistic insanity that was presented in The Tommyknockers.

Dreamcatcher, on the other hand, is a prime example of a post-recovery King at his absolute best.

It is gruesome, gross, and incredibly involving right from the very opening pages all the way through to the thrilling finale.

It manages to keep the reader on the edge of their seat, constantly engaged and eager to find out what will happen next.

King's ability to create such vivid and disturbing worlds is truly remarkable, and Dreamcatcher is a testament to his talent.

For all those people who call this a shitweasle of a novel, I would like to point out that it does exactly what it sets out to do. Maybe the usual King fan comes to the chopping block expecting nothing but detailed flawed characters and some rather heartwrenching stuff before a paranormal beastie chomps down.

But I would like to posit that SK is a fan of Science Fiction. :) Sure, a few of his SF tales like Lawnmower Man and Tommyknockers might not get the love that they deserve, but remember, he also wrote that little epic called the Dark Tower. :)

Let's break this down a bit. We literally get to the heart of the novel through our guts at the beginning. Shitweasels and all, it plays on all the paranoid fantasies of so many people by bringing in anal probing aliens. With a particularly gross twist, thank you very much, Mr. King. And then we get into the whole telepathy thing, the Aliens-type setup, and even a Theodore Sturgeon *More Than Human* homage with a very special person holding this group of old friends together.

For the longest time I got the idea that it was kinda a Tommyknockers part 2. But then I laughed aloud when we got a massive direct reference to the boys and girl from IT, including Pennywise. And then I started seeing a lot more combined references to all his other novels. As per usual, it's nicely solid and world-buildy. :)

In the end, I'm frankly rather amazed at what King pulls off here. There's massive military action, chases, alien invasions, spore people, shitweasles, and more. We even get a Battle For Your Mind. :) Dreamcatcher, indeed.

What is this book? A traditional horror as per usual? Nope. This is a great mashup that builds on the full Crimson King mythology, thank you very much. :) Pretty hardcore, too.

So why does it get a lot of hate? Parts are juvenile and crass, and other parts are free-range weird. But I like both on occasion, so this is something I can snuggle up to. *ahem* or stay on the pot with. :)

I was in a great deal of physical discomfort during those six and a half months. However, the book served as a wonderful escape for me.

I began reading this book just before the war reached my home. In the first few weeks, we had to take refuge in a bomb shelter. We were constantly worried about whether our family and friends were still alive and if our country would even survive.

Later, when I returned home, among all the essential items I took with me was this book. I read it while bombs were dropping under Putin's regime. I kept my phone on to stay in touch with my Mom and my family, who were several hundred kilometers away from me.

I read it to try and bring some semblance of normalcy back to my life. This book holds great significance for me. It is an outstanding book regardless of the circumstances. No matter what, I love and am deeply grateful to Stephen King for his existence and for the fictional worlds he has created, where I can seek refuge from all the chaos and horror happening here.

And if, unfortunately, I were to die tomorrow or today, this book would undoubtedly deserve to be the last book I have ever read.

Eines der außergewöhnlichsten Bücher, die ich je gelesen habe, ist "Duddits". Dieses Buch bietet völlig absurde Szenarien, die eigentlich nicht funktionieren dürften, es aber tatsächlich tun. Die Geschichte ist erfüllt mit spannenden und blutigen Sequenzen, die alles andere in den Schatten stellen. Zudem enthält es die typischen Kingschen Charaktere, die ihn so einzigartig machen. Hach, "Duddits" ist einfach ein unbeschreiblich gutes Buch. Es hat mich bis ins Mark ergriffen und für mich kommt es sogar fast an seinem berühmtesten Werk "Es" rankommt. Es ist ein riesiges Highlight in meiner Lektüre und hat mich erneut beeindruckt von Stephen Kings Fähigkeit, fesselnde Geschichten zu erzählen. Ich kann dieses Buch jedem nur wärmstens empfehlen, der nach einem originellen und packenden Lesevergnügen sucht.

The real rating of this thing is yet to be determined.

At the moment, I'm in a bit of a lazy state and haven't really sat down to seriously think about it.

There are so many factors that could potentially influence the rating. Maybe it's the quality of the product or service, or perhaps it's my personal experience and perception.

Once I get over this laziness and take the time to analyze and evaluate, then I'll be able to come up with a more accurate and meaningful rating.

Until then, the rating remains TBD, waiting for me to put in the effort and do the necessary thinking.

Who knows what the final rating will be? It could be a high one, indicating great satisfaction, or it could be lower if there are aspects that don't meet my expectations.

Only time will tell as I move forward and engage in the process of rating.

Whew... There's an abundance of things that I want to express about this book, and I'm truly at a loss as to where to commence. I initially read this book way back in... oh, perhaps 2002 or 2003. At that time, I can unreservedly state that I didn't glean much from it.诚然, it still offers a thrilling experience and is entertaining, but in my somewhat naïve opinion, it was definitely not his finest work.

However, you see... I was somewhat of a Stephen King re-reader back then. I had my favorites - 'The Stand', 'The Shining', 'The Talisman', 'Needful Things' - to name just a few. I read, re-read, and re-read those beloved works. So, I wasn't as well-versed in the King Universe back then as I am now.

Now, having delved into many more of King's "inter-related" books, I can perceive the threads that bind them all together. Reading this again now was like... well, it was kind of like encountering a cool individual at a bar, having an extremely engaging conversation with them, and then 7 years later discovering that they are a long-lost relative. That sense of recognition is the same, although perhaps a little subdued since this is a book and not an actual long-lost relative. Numerous times, my eyes would pop open, and I'd exclaim, "OH! That's a reference to...!" or "WOW! I see where he's headed!" etc.

For example, the number 19 crops up frequently, as does the color red (or crimson, if you prefer that), as does the theme of children forging lifelong bonds, for better or for worse, regardless of where their adulthood might lead them, King's own accident, and so on. But in addition to the numerous references to King's other works and life (which I've scarcely even scratched the surface of), there are references here to many external things that I never recognized before. Such as twice referring to Duddits as a "tribble", which is a reference to Star Trek, or the red growth that strongly resembles the mossy red flora from 'The War of the Worlds' by H.G. Wells (and speaking of which, Dean Koontz borrowed the idea for his semi-recent book 'The Taking'), or the "Turn the dial up to 11" line from the movie "This is Spinal Tap".

Apart from all these references, the story itself was a "pisser", as Beaver would put it. Comprising three parts sci-fi, one part fantasy, and a tablespoon-full of tongue-in-cheek prophecy, it's truly a rollercoaster ride. I mentioned to friends when I began this book (or perhaps I just jotted it down, I'm not sure) that it reads like a movie. Many of King's books do, which is perhaps why so many have been adapted, but this one especially gave me that impression. I would set the book aside for a moment, to refresh my drink or to move a cat's paw that was ever so subtly creeping onto the page because everyone knows that cats can't sleep next to a reading human without somehow obstructing the view. And it would be just as if I'd pressed the pause button. When I picked the story back up, I'd be right back where I was, as if the interruption had never occurred.

We commence by meeting Pete, Beaver, Jonesy, and Henry as adults, and then throughout the story, we uncover their childhood and what (and who) bound them together. Beaver is my favorite character. Given such an appealing and cool nickname due to his habit of constantly chewing on a toothpick, he has a foul mouth but a heart of gold. I adore the way King describes Beaver and reveals his general character in just three sentences: "His glasses started to unfog then, and he saw the stranger on the couch. He lowered his hands, slowly, then smiled. That was one of the reasons Jonesy had loved him ever since grade school, although the Beav could be tiresome and wasn't the brightest bulb in the chandelier, by any means: his first reaction to the unplanned and unexpected wasn't a frown but a smile." This passage makes me love him too. He has a touch of innocence about him... and a kind of raunchy purity.

I'm not going to elaborate on the rest of the guys; that would take a considerable amount of time... but I would like to discuss the characters. Suffice it to say that each of the friends is perfect and flawed in their own unique ways, but none of them are as dear to me as Beaver. I also love Duddits, who truly embodies innocent perfection. He has Down Syndrome and, with that, a kind of extrasensory ability that makes him special - probably more special than anyone else.

Roberta Cavell, Duddits's mom, is another of my favorite characters. She has very small parts in this story, but each and every one of them touches my heart. The woman is almost saintly! When Duddit's leaves with Henry, and Roberta crumples, it just breaks my heart. King spent barely two pages on this, but I felt it as if it were happening to me.

Abe Kurtz, the main military madman, is as crazy as a fox and as unpredictable as a tornado. Owen Underhill is Kurtz's right-hand man, but one who still has a spark of humanity within him. And speaking of humanity, this brings me to Mr. Gray...

Mr. Gray is an alien life form whose sole purpose is to survive by any means necessary. Not just himself but his entire race. These aliens are alien in every sense of the word. They are inhuman, don't understand humans, don't comprehend our emotions, thoughts, or anything. They simply strive to continue existing and emotionlessly do whatever it takes to ensure that. They are intelligent, but in a cunning, calculating way. Mr. Gray locates and infiltrates Jonesy's body, in a manner similar to "Invasion of the Body Snatchers". (This occurs quite early in the story, so I'm not revealing anything significant, don't worry.) What happens then, specifically to Mr. Gray, is extremely interesting to me.

King is truly a master at depicting what humanity looks like. All aspects of it. His stories are all people stories in which horror, gore, or whatever is utilized to bring out the best and worst in us. If King ever had a theme, that would be it. But here we have an inhuman, emotionless, calculating being who has none of that - only a relentless will to propagate. And then King shows us how this being begins to become human. And this I find utterly fascinating because it's one thing to explore the depths of someone's soul and discover who they truly are, but it's something entirely different to witness someone becoming that person.

"Becoming" is typically portrayed as that which we know transforming into something we don't know, something that terrifies or horrifies us. People turning into monsters, vampires, or werewolves are the most common supernatural examples. But gradually slipping into madness is another instance, and 'The Shining' immediately comes to mind as Jack becomes increasingly unstable and dangerous. But here we have an alien becoming human - craving food, experiencing the thrill of human emotions for the first time, enjoying curiosity for the very first time, feeling the rush of adrenaline and desiring more and more - and I thought it was fascinating to see humanity as the unknown and feared trait... to view things from the other perspective.

Anyway, I truly did enjoy this story this time around. I enjoyed it the first time, but this time I feel as though I extracted so much more from it. This book is entertaining in its own right, but it's even more so for the Constant Reader who can identify all the references embedded within it. :)

This is probably one of the worst Stephen King books I've ever read, and I've nearly read them all.

I really enjoyed "The Tommyknockers", and "Under the Dome" was fun too, but this one was just completely nonsensical.

The characters in this book failed to capture my interest. After reading the first 100 or so pages, I completely lost interest in the storyline.

Nothing in the book seemed to make any sense. It felt like it was deliberately trying to be disgusting, but without any real purpose or meaning.

The excessive waffle and over description in this book were at times unbearable. It could have easily been 200 - 300 pages shorter and still conveyed the same message.

Obviously, I understand that this book was written not long after King's accident, and he was on a lot of pain medication during the writing process. This is very evident when reading the book.

Unfortunately, this is likely a King book that I will never revisit. I believe both "The Tommyknockers" and "Under the Dome" are much better alien stories. This one simply didn't resonate with me.