King’s Wistful “Joyland” A Book That Feels Like Summer

“The year I discovered that there are worse things than losing the girl.”

“What’s a self-respecting amusement park without a ghost?”

Stephen King’s “Joyland” was an exquisite fit in the Hard Case Crime series. It took place along the coast of North Carolina (fictional Heaven’s Bay), a place near and dear to my heart. It took just over a week to read. It featured emotional, oft-beautiful prose about coming of age and first loves. It managed to interweave a compelling cold-case plot within it. But it still had one impossible-to-overcome problem, in my estimation:

It was too short.

Of course, that takeaway is a credit to how well-done this quick-hitting, engrossing read was by King.

After all, who wouldn’t be entranced by a story that feels like summer, a coming-of-age tale set in an amusement park on a beach and replete with heartache, mystery, love, creepiness, sexuality and amateur sleuthing? Who wouldn’t be reeled in by a plot twist involving a mysterious, beautiful, large-breasted, strange woman living at the beach?

“When you’re twenty-one, life is a roadmap. It’s only when you get to be twenty-five or so that you begin to suspect you’ve been looking at the map upside down, and not until you’re forty are you entirely sure. By the time you’re sixty, take it from me, you’re fucking lost.”

As with all books, there were a couple of minor issues. I felt that the sense of time and its passage wasn’t depicted all that well by King, and there were a couple of grammatical mistakes and omissions along the way. I felt the murder-mystery aspect of the work was introduced a bit late (200 pages in) for my liking, marking a dramatic shift in the tremendous “feel” of the book.

“All I can say is what you already know: some days are treasure. Not many, but I think in almost every life there are a few. That was one of mine, and when I’m blue ... I go back to it, if only to remind myself that life isn’t always a butcher’s game. Sometimes the prizes are real. Sometimes they’re precious.”

In terms of the various connections between characters, the relationship with Erin Cook was sort of glossed over, as though she was dating Dev’s best friend, shared feelings between Dev and Erin were introduced near the end, leaving no time for exploration. Also, how Dev really feels about Annie isn’t much touched on really—even when she holds his hand for the first time.

The ending featured a clever plot twist, some revelations about maturation, some sad farewells, a pretty ending—hell, even a Larry Csonka poster on a kid’s wall. And much like summer itself, it was difficult to say goodbye to “Joyland.”

“It’s hard to let go. Even when what you’re holding onto is full of thorns, it’s hard to let go. Maybe especially then.”

“No summer is endless.”

“The last good time always comes, and when you see the darkness creeping toward you, you hold on to what was bright and good. You hold on for dear life.”