The Dead Zone

A book with the well-known "nonsense" of King that enchants you, with a strong metaphysical element and with one of the most beloved heroes I have met in the author's books... an amazing book that leaves you with a bittersweet feeling! I loved it!!!

At the top of King's books, along with my favorite 22/11/63!

This book truly stands out among King's works. The "nonsense" he weaves into the story is not really nonsense at all but rather a captivating web of mystery and intrigue. The metaphysical element adds an extra layer of depth, making the reader question the boundaries between the real and the supernatural. And the hero, oh the hero! He is so endearing and relatable, you can't help but root for him throughout the entire story. The bittersweet feeling it leaves you with is a testament to the power of King's writing. It makes you both happy and sad, and you can't quite put your finger on why. It's like a beautiful dream that you don't want to wake up from. And to be ranked at the top of King's books, along with 22/11/63, is no small feat. It shows just how much this book means to me and how highly I regard it. If you haven't read it yet, you're missing out on a truly unforgettable literary experience.

¡Último libro del 2015!

“Johnny deseó estar muerto. Si su talento era un don divino, Dios era un lunático peligroso al que había que apagarle el carro.”

La Zona Muerta is Stephen King's third book, and I'm still amazed by his ability to blend religion, politics, paranormal events, and psychology into a single plot... and make it work! His talent truly is a divine gift.

The story is a bit predictable. Almost from the beginning, you can guess how it's all going to end: there are no unexpected twists or major revelations. And yet, it is completely captivating, an inevitable page-turner that makes its nearly 500 pages seem short. King's writing allows for no distractions. It keeps you on the edge of your seat, not caring what happens but how it happens.

GR classifies this as horror and thriller, but nothing could be further from the truth. It's true that it contains the cruelest animal abuse scene I've ever read (right at the opening of the book, no less) and several other rather gory moments. But more than to incite fear, its purpose is to show us the true nature of certain characters who hide behind masks of kindness. In fact, as a curious fact, all the villains in this book are always described by the other characters as the most charming people, while they emphasize that the protagonist has "an air of evil" and "psychopathic eyes".

[Editor: —¿Cómo planea llamar su próximo libro Sr. King?
Stephen: —«Las Apariencias Engañan».
Editor: —Ese nombre no es comercial, ¿quiere ganar dinero o no?
Stephen: —Oh, rayos. No sé me ocurre nada más así que supongo que entonces lo llamaré como esa frase que el protagonista repite una y otra vez: «La Zona Muerta».]

It's a modern tragedy, an interesting human study that manages to engage you and make you think, at least for a moment, "and what would I do in his place?"

“¿Qué es lo normal? Nada, nadie. No en realidad.”

Story 5/5

Narration 5/5


This is the final part of the story. It brings the narrative to a conclusion, tying up all the loose ends. The events that unfold are filled with drama and excitement.

The characters face their ultimate challenges and make decisions that will shape their futures.

As the story reaches its climax, the reader is on the edge of their seat, eager to see how it all ends.

In the end, the resolution is both satisfying and thought-provoking, leaving the reader with a sense of closure and a new perspective on the events that have transpired.

This story has been a journey, taking the reader through a world of emotions and experiences.

It has entertained, educated, and inspired, and will surely be remembered for a long time to come.

On the ordinary star scale, it is rather a 3-star book. On the enhanced King scale, this novel from 1979 clearly stood out from other novels of the master in my perception. However, the fact that it is rather an early work from the 70s cannot be the reason for this dissatisfaction, because Stephen King wrote outstandingly from the beginning.

Dead Zone is, as always, told quite well. But it has flaws in its structure. I was not able to understand how he builds the plot. The life story of John Smith seems episodic without the essential parts gripping and a red thread being recognizable in the clairvoyance of the protagonist. Especially the hard separation between part 1 and 2 after about 80% of the book completely took away my desire to read on. After the end and the clarification of the murder case, it would have been a good fit if King had ended his book. But then the politician story has to be added. It seems like a first draft of "The Running Man", one of the best books of King in my opinion. In comparison to this completely rounded concept of changing the course of history based on the assassination of Kennedy, the Stillson part in this book clearly falls short.

Stephen King is often said that his endings fall short compared to the development of the story. The journey is more valuable than the destination. I actually find this criticism rather trite, especially in reference to "The Running Man". But in Dead Zone, he already gets lost on the way and twists too many loops in the form of small clairvoyance anecdotes. It would have been interesting to see how I would have liked the book if David Nathan had read it to me. He can refine stories with his voice. Here I had to listen to my moderately talented inner reading voice and maybe it also messed it up. The next King will be listened to again.

**Title: A Story of Extraordinary Abilities and Choices**

John, a science teacher, loves his job, cares for his students, and adores his girlfriend. One night, after a terrible incident, his world collapses and he falls into a coma for five years. When he wakes up, he discovers that he has terrifying powers that he didn't have before. He can predict, communicate, read the past, and more. The story is a sci-fi thriller that is based on a true event, and King didn't have to work too hard to come up with exciting plot twists.

The question "Why me?" is a human one that pops into people's minds when they face misfortune. And is there a greater misfortune than being hit by evil in its ugliest form? Every time you meet people, you'll find their misfortunes weighing on your mind. And of course, the novel is adapted from a true story.

Ordinariness - a word that you must erase from your life if you want to possess those powers. The sci-fi ability that allows you to relieve the frozen past and the people when you touch them. "To know more than you should, you have to pay the price," even if you lose everything.

The events unfold over 10 years, filled with medical details and political ones about the United States in the 1970s. There are many, many secondary characters. But John Smith, the simple teacher, remains an example of an ordinary man when faced with an extraordinary responsibility. King might have drawn his character from a real-life person who was a police officer and was relied upon because of his eidetic memory.

King's language was more fluid and poetic. I didn't empathize much with Johnny and Sara's relationship, but I did empathize with Johnny's principles, his ideals, and his sacrifices. He became a true hero.

"We all do what we can and it has to be good enough. Nothing is ever lost." Johnny chose good for others and finally knew that everything happens for a reason. A novel about faith, goodness, and sacrifice. Just brilliant.

The Dead Zone was my very first Stephen King book. I am truly grateful to David Cronenberg, Christopher Walken, and my high school best friend, Natalie Kowalski, for introducing me to the captivating world of John Smith and, by extension, the remarkable world of Stephen King.

After watching and completely falling for the character John Smith in the 1983 movie The Dead Zone, I was inspired to seek out the book upon which it was based. At that time, I had never heard of Stephen King. I had read numerous mysteries but had never delved into the horror genre. This book, however, proved to be the perfect entry point for me. It was filled with suspense and gripped me from start to finish without being overly gory.

Johnny Smith is a well-liked small-town schoolteacher. After dropping off his first love, Sarah, at her house, he遭遇了一场可怕的车祸, which plunged him into a coma for five long years. When he finally awoke, everything had changed. Sarah had moved on, his mother was even more unstable, his father was struggling to cope with his marriage and hospital bills, and a man named Greg Stillson had entered the world of politics. Something else had also changed. While John had always possessed an uncanny ability to find lost things or predict small future events, now this "gift" had transformed into something much more powerful.

This will always remain one of my favorite Stephen King novels. Partly because it was my first introduction to his works, and also because of John Smith and his fascinating story. He is truly a character that I have never wanted to let go of. This is my second reading of the book, and I watch the movie at least once a year. I also adored the cheesy TV USA Network version starring Anthony Michael Hall.

The Stephen King Goodreads Discussion Group is embarking on a comprehensive re-read of his works from start to finish. It has been a considerable time since I truly delved into Uncle Stevie’s captivating world. However, with a reading pace of one book per month, I am fully committed. My objective is to read and review each book with utmost honesty and self-reflection.

“The Dead Zone” was initially published in 1979. It not only had a successful movie adaptation in 1983 but also a cable network television series in 2002. My Kindle version lists it as 595 pages, while my trade paperback has 579 pages.

The plotline can be simply described as “Psychic Boy”. In more detail, it follows Johnny Smith and his extraordinary gift, which is both a blessing and a curse. At the age of six, Johnny遭遇了一场创伤性的滑冰事故，导致他昏迷。后来，在与女友兼未婚妻莎拉度过了一个美好的夜晚后，他在回家的路上遭遇了一场可怕的迎面相撞事故，彻底改变了他的生活。

Johnny从昏迷中醒来，已经过去了四年半，他的世界从此天翻地覆。包括莎拉和他的父亲在内，没有人期望他能活下来。莎拉已经结婚并有了一个儿子，而他的父亲则祈祷他能离世。只有他那宗教狂热的母亲相信他，并在去世前告诉他上帝为他安排的秘密使命。

随后，Johnny发现自己发生了变化。当他触摸到某人或他们的物品时，他能看到一些事情……一些将会发生在他们身上的事情……可怕的、令人恐惧的事情……对一些人来说，这是一种天赋，但对他来说，这感觉像是一种诅咒。随着他的能力被传开，来自各地的人们都向他寻求帮助。甚至当地执法部门也在寻找连环杀手时寻求他的援助。但是，当Johnny不小心与一位雄心勃勃且不道德的政治明星握手时，他得到了他有史以来最令人不安的幻象。这位迅速崛起的政治家有一天会处于权力地位，并在全球范围内造成可怕的命运。Johnny面临着一个可怕的决定，是阻止这个未来的结果，还是希望它不会发生……

我的想法和反思是，首先，这本书提出了一个最根本的问题——如果你提前知道希特勒会成为一个邪恶的暴君并杀害数百万人，你会杀了他吗？回到事物的根源并在其有机会演变成致命的事情之前解决问题，这是King在后来的小说中再次探讨的一个强烈主题，比如《11/22/63》（我个人最喜欢的小说之一）。

由于很长时间没有读过这本书，我完全忘记了我认为它是多么被低估。这个想法在当时是新颖独特的，催生了一部热门电影和一部成功的有线电视连续剧。书中的人物真实、引人入胜且层次丰富。在大多数情况下，我对Johnny的母亲感到非常恼火，因为她在寻求对生活的理解时寻求极端的答案。我对Sam Weizak医生感同身受，他不仅是Johnny的外科医生和医生，还是他值得信赖的导师，也是真正关心他最大利益的少数人之一。我也被Bannerman警长所吸引，他愿意违背自己的信仰，向Johnny寻求帮助，只是为了不让另一个女孩死去。尽管他的角色很小，但他真的很高尚。我甚至还没有提到Greg Stillson是一个多么出色的反派角色。他不仅会踢狗，还会更进一步杀死它。

故事情节紧凑，节奏稳定，全书有几个情感高潮。没有太多不必要的角色或浪费的场景来减缓故事的节奏。King的写作专注且意图以最好的方式讲述最好的故事。有几个章节以精彩的句子结尾，让你迫不及待地想翻页。我注意到的一件事是，King如何使用多种神秘技巧来增加书中的曲折和转折，并提供了一些非常强烈和情感化的时刻。即使在他的早期作品中，他也有这些工具可供使用，并且他使用得很好。

在这本书中，King不可思议的能力将读者带入了这些角色的内心深处，让我们感受到他们最深刻的感受、恐惧和喜悦。当我们遇到Johnny和莎拉时，我们首先了解他们，并被他们的关系所吸引。当Johnny处于昏迷状态时，我们遇到了他的父母，了解并理解了他们之间关系的深度和挣扎。我们看到邪恶的Greg Stillson在政治上步步高升，排除任何阻碍他的人。在大反派的邪恶行为开始发生之前，我们就已经了解并关心（或讨厌）每个角色的个性。

而当那些大反派的邪恶行为发生时，一切都已经太晚了。我们已经在情感上投入了对每个角色结局的探索。Johnny的 psychic ability进一步增强了故事的强度。King设置了第一幕，引出了第二幕和第三幕，最终达到了一个高潮，让你不寒而栗，并思考如果自己面对同样的情况会怎么做？我会有不同的行动吗？

其他注意事项：这本书实际上是King的“Castle Rock”系列小说中的第一部。Castle Rock是缅因州的一个小镇，他的许多书都发生在那里，Johnny Smith就是在这里被要求协助抓捕雨衣杀手。向Johnny寻求帮助的Bannerman警长在《Cujo》和《Different Seasons》的中篇小说《The Body》中再次出现。但这本书还有另外两个明显的自我参照联系。在King的《Dark Tower》系列（第七部）中，一个名叫Nigel的机器人管家读了《The Dead Zone》，并给出了自己的评价，称其“非常愉快”。

总的来说，我真的认为这是Stephen King最好的书之一。我面临的一个挑战是，在阅读时我总是在脑海中浮现出电影或电视剧的画面，我不得不将它们从我的思绪中赶走，以便纯粹地享受这本书本身。一旦我能够做到这一点，我真的很惊讶自己再次阅读它时是多么享受。现在我们正在进行Stephen King的重读，我发现他的早期作品比我二三十年前想象的更经得起时间的考验。这本书将是美国文学课上阅读、讨论和写论文的一本很棒的大学书籍。

我一直对Johnny和他本可以拥有的生活感同身受。但对我来说，他是美国经典的莎士比亚悲剧人物。在我看来，Johnny Smith加入了Stephen King其他那些备受挑战或被诅咒的最受欢迎的角色行列，比如Carrie、Danny Torrance、Charlie McGee……（你可以填入自己最喜欢的角色）。安息吧，Johnny。

这无疑是他最好的书之一。句号。

I have made it my mission starting this year - to read more Stephen King. Even though I have read quite a few of his books, I still have not really scratched the surface.

I'm not reading in any particular order, just what I feel like reading at the time.

So I decided to try "The Dead Zone". This is one of his earlier works and one that I had heard of, but not yet read.

Johnny Smith has a car accident and wakes up nearly 5 years later. He had missed 5 years of the prime of his life and has woken with something strange happening. He can touch objects or people and see things about them. Although what he can't see is in the "dead zone".

I tried the audio version of this and mostly enjoyed the narration of James Franco. Although all his accents seem to be the same.

In classic King style, it has some very creepy moments. I enjoyed how Johnny had to live with this power which he really didn't gel with a lot of the time. Some shivers went up my spine a few times.

I won't go too much into the prophetic story of the crazy politician. Johnny and perhaps King himself looking into the future in this story!??

Overall, it's a really solid story, highly entertaining, and another quality King to tick off my reading list!

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