Product Description

In the exciting build-up to publication of Stephen King’s new mainstream novel, LISEY’S STORY, Hodder are launching their King Classics Campaign – starting with 6 of the most popular titles, CARRIE, THE SHINING, BAG OF BONES, CHRISTINE, THE STAND, MISERY. These titles will be published for the first time in B-format paperback, in a stunning new livery.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #196283 in Books
• Published on: 2006-09-07
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 384 pages

Review
‘A writer of excellence…King is one of the most fertile storytellers of the modern novel’ (Sunday Times )

‘One of the great storytellers of our time’ (Guardian )

About the Author
Stephen King has written some 40 books and novellas, including CARRIE, THE STAND, RITA HAYWORTH AND THE SHAWSHANK REDEMPTION (from the collection DIFFERENT SEASONS), BAG OF BONES and ON WRITING. He won America’s prestigious National Book Award. He lives with his wife, novelist Tabitha King, in Maine, USA.

Customer Reviews

Annie Wilkes is a "cockadoodie" psycho!
This books is one of the best I have ever read. I'm a huge fan of King, and I've read about 25 of his novels so far, but I have to say this is one of my favourites...

I read this over a period of two nights, and I literally couldn't put it down. The suspense in this book is unbelievable, and it has several shocking scenes.

The movie, in my opinion, is one of the best adaptations of any of King's books, and having seen the film long before reading the book, I thought the book would be spoiled by this... but it wasn't. There are loads of little differences in the book, and of course there are more scenes than the film, because obviously you can never fit a whole book into a movie. And there are several surprises for those that have seen the film before reading the novel, because some of the scenes you see in the film, and expect to read in the book are different, and better, and more shocking and gruesome.

After reading Misery, I have to say that Kathy Bates really deserved her oscar for playing Annie Wilkes in the movie, becasue she literally became the character. The Paul Sheldon of the novel took on his own appearance in my mind, but Kathy Bates was firmly stuck in my head as the evil nurse Annie Wilkes.

I can't praise this novel enough. In a hundred years I'm sure this will be seen as an all-time classic. King's writing is admirable, and his technique of keeping you glued to the pages is amazing and enviable.

As a final note, I think that watching the film first and thinking i knew what to expect and what was coming as i flew through the pages of the book set me up for a lot of surprises. And becasue of this, I think the novel was more frightening than it would have been if i had no idea what was going to happen, because the film kind of leads you astray in a sense, so when something that you expect happen doesnt, or is a little different, its more shocking and frightening.

I'll leave it at that.
Read this book.
You wont be disappointed.

The best King novel
Misery is by far the best Stephen King novel I have ever read. There is just so much to it that makes a fantastic story.

The plot is about a writer who has spawned a line of best selling books called misery. He decides to kill her off so he can get on with some real work and is on his way to publish a new novel. He crashes however and is saved by an ex nurse named Annie Wilkes who just happens to be his number one fan. When she finds out what happened to misery she's not pleased and forces him to bring her back from the dead.

Annie Wilkes firstly is a fantastaic character and one of Kings most unique creations. Apart from that she is also terrifying, taking insanity to new heights. If you don't buy the book for the plot(which is brilliant)buy it to experience Annie Wilkes.

Kings prose is as ever fantastic and witty. The story really is brought to life by his own techniques; he knows how to write scary fiction.

If your a horror buff like me you can't do wrong with this little gem. It's a masterpiece in charaterization and how to create a frightening atmosphere. Buy it!

Wow!
I got this book out of the library for my boyfriend and ended up being stuck on the bus in traffic with it in my bag so decided to give it a go myself - wow! Almost from the first page I was completely drawn into the story and barely spoke to anyone for the next couple of days until I finished it.

I've never been a big King fan having only previously read Carrie but I really enjoyed this. It had me absolutely terrified in places and by the end I was a nervous wreck. King has paced this novel superbly, every time I started to relax, even slightly, there would be another edge of your seat incident. The climax of the novel was fantastic, I thought my heart was going to burst out of my chest.

Annie is a terrifying character with her unpredictable mood swings and strange moral beliefs. I also liked the way that despite his hatred of her Paul found himself becoming so dependant on her and having to learn how to manage her moods. the relationship between them was the centre of the book and it was fascinating how it developed.

I would highly recommend this book