Stephen King and I have had a bit of a falling out in recent times. UNDER THE DOME was only intermittently impressive (and what was with that ending, man?) whilst the Kennedy assassination doorstop tome is still holding open the conservatory door to allow the air in, still not finished.
JOYLAND, though, changed all that. Gone is the huge, suitcase space guzzling and self-indulgence epic and in its place is a small, spare and utterly captivating paperback. It's produced by Hard Case Crime and is only available as a paperback with a cover that deliberately recalls the pulp noir books of yesteryear.
Speaking of yesteryear, it's a recollection, a story told in flashback of a young and callow youth who spends a summer working in a beachfront amusement park and finds the man he will eventually become. Yes, King is back in full-on nostalgia mode and whilst the flashback structure inevitably robs the big climax of its necessary tension (we know he won't be killed you see, since he's already spoken of what has happened since), it allows him to wallow in what is a very lightweight coming of age tale.
It's a Hard Case Crime book, and there is a series of unsolved murders in there, but that is almost irrelevant to the story, only coming seriously into play in the last fifth. There are other King tropes in there as well such as the kid with the psychic ability (yes, King's next book will be a return visist to Danny Torrance of THE SHINING), a trapped ghostly spirit and an overbearing parent who seems all powerful and happens to be heavily religious to boot. All of these, though, are again in the background and not really the main thrust of the book at all.
JOYLAND is the tale of a boy becoming a man and not a lot more. There's a SUMMER OF '42 vibe going on that is a bit obvious, but that's OK. Doing something old isn't a crime as long as you do it well and King has done this very, very well.
In fact, the reader is welcomed into the story of young Dev, lovelorn hero of the piece with an ease that makes me hate the author. Either it really is this easy for him to throw out such a great piece of storytelling (in which case I hate him for being so talented) or he is so talented that he can make it seem so easy (in which case I hate him). This may be a little thing he churned out in his lunch hour between epic doorstops, but it has an emotional resonance that has been missing from his work of late. In fact, he manages to wring so much emotion out of two people on a beach with a kite in the final scene that I defy anyone with a heart not to tearing up.
The difference here is that King seems to have found something to interest him. Instead of recycling things he's done far too many times already, he's discovered a new world - the world of the carnival. He makes much of the language in his introduction and postscript and it is clear that is part of what attracted him to this tale. Joyland is what this book is about, not the things that happen there. It's fired him up and this book is result.
JOYLAND is not without its flaws, but it doesn't have a single flaw of any significance at all. It's a quick read, an easy read and a satisfying read. What more could you ask for?
Stephen King and I are mates again.
