The Long Walk by Stephen King Part I The Long Walk by Stephen King is a bizarre and grotesque novel about 100 teen-age boys who participate in competition the main idea of which is staying alive. All they got to do is walking. They must maintain speed all the time not slower than 4 miles per hour. And if they don't, they receive a warning. After third warning a walker gets shot by one of the soldiers who is in charge of keeping boys under control. They cannot have a rest, they cannot sleep and they cannot quit. The rules are simple - you either keep walking or die. The winner is the last walker left alive. But the book is not about cruelty or viciousness. The walkers participate willingly. They know what they sign up for long before the Walk begins. The soldiers do their job like a daily routine. Absolutely emotionless. The author draws a vivid picture of teenager's mind which evolves, seemingly, every hour or so. Ray Garraty is one of the Walkers. He is a bit nervous about what is coming but mostly, he thinks it's an adventure. He has been flattered and praised by his friends for qualifying, so there is enough pride in him as well. It disappears right after the first shot. 99 young men watched the first victim dying in panic caused by sudden charley horse and, as a result, total incapability of walking. The moment Ray saw the dead body he realized what is at stake. This is not a baseball match which may be stopped on behalf of rain. It is the matter of life or death. You either outlast 99 people or die. This is where the walkers start contemplating about the reasons why they decided to do this. And almost none of them find anything reasonable. They start thinking about their chances to win. Logically they come to conclusion that chances are slim. In fact, the possibility of winning is so small that the struggle is almost pointless. Now the boys have come to understanding that 99 of them are convicted to slow and painful death. They keep walking. Occasionally guys see one of them dying. At some point they get used to it. Dead body becomes common and every one is focused on saving his own life. But sometimes walkers help each other. Not all of them lost decency. Ray has made friends amongst other participants and this will help him several times during the walk.

Apt pupil by Stephen King part I The story begins with a description of an American thirteen-year-old boy. He has blond hair, perfect smile and remarkably developed intellect. His name is Todd Bowden, he rarely receives Bs at school, As mostly, plays baseball and loves history. He have fallen in love with history ever since he discovered a pile of old magazines in his friend's garage. He read them thoroughly, fascinated for some reason by all those terrible things Nazis had done. He became desperate in search for more information and found ultimate source eventually. Kurt Dussander - former high-ranked Nazi who managed to escape from Germany in 1945 - happened to live close enough to Bowden's house in 1974. Of course he didn't advertise who he realy was, but the boy was smart enough to penetrate his secret. So, Todd comes to Dussander's house and makes his intentions clear. He doesn't need money or anything valuable, he wants to hear everything about "gooshy stuff". The old man tries to negotiate his way out of this telling the boy that he had no choice, that he was simply following orders. Dussander doesn't want to stir his memory. He had beeen trying to bury all those dreadfull things for almost 30 years in the deepest parts of his mind. The only thing that matters now for him is an opportunity to die peacefully. He even pleads and begs for mercy. But Bowden is persistent. Dussander has no choice.

Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption by Stephen King. This narrative inspired the famous movie Shawshank Redemption. The film shows us a tragedy of an innocent man who spent many years in prison. We can see his determination, his willpower and prominent intelligence. But above all, the movie tells us about what is fair and unfair, what is right and what is wrong. The book, on the other hand, gives us much more than that. Stephen King puts forward many psychological issues. He gives us the opportunity to look inside average convict's mind and scrutinise his thoughts through a microscope. But this is not about mistakenly convicted Andy Dufresne. No, he is not an average convict. He is smart, persistent and self-motivated in achieving his goals. It seems like prison walls have no influence upon him whatsoever. He maintains free mind adjusting himself to the new environment. The author gives us access to Red's thoughts. Red is a long-timer, "a man who can get it". He found himself at Shawshank when he was "just twenty" and spent the most of his life within the walls to be finally released at the age of fifty eight. Red experienced every stage of being a prisoner from "fresh fish" up to "I couldn't get along on the outside". He is an example of a convict whose mind has been completely conquered by prison. Red provides a reader with horrific descriptions of rape and other indecent activities, some of them from his personal experience. Looking back he mentions it without pain. "No physical harm done", he says casualy. But these simple words seem to be screaming about the pressure which he had to endure. After considering them one would certainly wonder what else Red had come through if rape became something common. As time passes, living within the walls becomes daily routine. There is nothing to worry about. Convicts know exactly what would happen on any day of any year. Any kind of their activities is scheduled including bathroom breaks. They are immersed in a state of total obedience. At some point prisoners start to "like it here" because beyond the walls you have to make desicions, which requires a lot of willpower. And this is what long-timers lack. Guards took care of that. Moreover, long-timers usualy get out when they are too old to change something in their lives. They are no longer a threat, but the outside is too big and complicated for them. Most people on the outside have no compassion for convicts. Generally, we tend to think they deserve what they got. Stephen King gave us something to think about.

Fifty Shades Freed by El James. Finally, the most patient (or, perhaps, loyal) readers get to the last part of the Ana/Christian love story. Sometimes you really have hard time trudging through the text which becomes more boring as you read it further. Sex scenes are pretty much the same. Detailed descriptions disgust a reader profoundly. And above all this, you can't avoid the feeling that El James has run out of ideas. She simply has nothing to tell. She just continues writing with accordance to her script: sex scene - romatic event - turmoil - sex scene - tragedy - sex - sex - turmoil - etc. Readers can even sense the author's brain-tension. She is really desperate to find something else to write about. She finds eventually, and at some point the book starts bieng entertaining. But not for long because plot's pattern is predictable and mediocre. I mentioned in one of my previous notes the widely accepted opinion concerning the language El James uses in her books. The fact is the language didn't evolve in the slightest. It is as poor as it is in the very first book. The plethora of swear words on every page is worth mentioning, but other issues seem more prominent. There are so many typical phrases and cliches, that at some point irritation erupts out of you. Here are few examples: "Laters, baby", "Because I can", "What am I going to do with you", "Don't bite your lip", "Stop pouting", "I roll my eyes", "Are you mad at me?", "Good point, well made". These expressions pop out every now and then in every single book. In the middle of the second one (or perhaps even earlier) you start wondering wheather or not El James' imagination works only in sex-scene department. Coming to the close the whole story seems like a peculiar cross-breed of physiology, thriller and a classic love story with a happily ever after. Looking back there is an impression of having a lot of rubbish inside your head. Only the first book, despite it's shocking content, has unique issues. All others were written with the purpose of selling as many copies as possible using the success of "Fifty Shades of Grey".

Darker by El James Darker by El James is the book 4 about relationship between Christian Grey and Anastasia Steele. It tells us about what happened after their break off from Christian's point of view. We find him devastated in the beginning. Girls have never left him before. This is the first time he really regrets about the end of relationship. What is more, he feels that Ana was special. So, Grey follows his psychiatrist's advice and decides to try "relationship her way". She doesn't mind to try it either. From that point on BDSM issue is left behind. Together they immerse themselves into all kinds of boyfriend/girlfriend activities imaginable. They seem to be happy and carefree enjoying each other's company. Readers can easily notice the difference between Christian-predator from the first part of the story and lovefooled Christian. His family and his staff point out profound difference too. "We've never seen him that happy", they say. Readers, who have the advantage of having access to his thoughts and feelings, know that Grey doesn't have nightmares anymore and his "don't touch me" condition steadily recedes. Now, instead of shocking story for perverts we have mediocre love story with a lot of genital related vocabulary. The further we read the more boring it becomes. It feels like in attempt to add more action the author deliberately invents unnecessary twists and turns in the plot. El James tries to hold reader's attention with new characters and events. In general, the whole book is just an attempt to sell as many copies as possible using the succes of the first part of the story.

Fifty shades darker by El James Hi everyone! As usual, I'd like to share my views about this book and surely, I'll be glad to read corrections from native speakers. "Fifty shades darker" is the third book about relationship between Anastasia Steele and Christian Grey. The first and the second one were widely publicized and thoroughly discussed. Readers all over the world followed the author through all kinds of indecent activities imaginable. And now we are ready to immerse our minds once again into the dark and shocking world of untraditional sexual lifestyle. But this time El James leaves the BDSM issue behind the curtain. In the beginning of the book she draws a grim picture - two people tormented by the end of their relationship. A girl who fell in love with a wrong person and a young man who has never been rejected by a woman before. They found themselves in a dead-end situation. Both of them want to be together but they can't give each other what they desire. Or can they? It appears one of them can change himself. Christian Grey follows his psychotherpist's advice and tries "relationship her way". After his second approach readers expect something beautifully staged and performed with classic happy end. And it goes like this for a while. But the further you read the more you wonder why the author deliberately left the BDSM issue outside this book. That was the main idea before. It was shocking, immoral, rude but at the same time attractive. Moreover, it gave readers something to think about. Without that part "Fifty shades darker" became just a description of facts occuring one after another. It looks like El James ran out of ideas and filled the gap with new characters and unexpected twists and turns in the plot. Which keeps readers interested to some degree. But one can't avoid the feeling of emptiness. The first and the second books were not just a sequence of events. There were bigger issues regarding reasons why Grey became a sadist and whether or not Ana can bear it. Certain sexual conduct was the top of an iceberg comparing to psychological part. Finally, it seems worth mentioning that language and style the author uses remains as poor and simple as it was before. There are plethora of swear words on every page, the same phrases and expressions continue to pop up every now and then. So, the story moves farther and farther away from what we usually call literature. At the same time it is a bestseller and people all over the world are waiting for the next part.

Grey by El James Hi everyone! As usual, I request native speakers to correct my article. Thank you. Grey by El James is the same story about relationship between Christian Grey and Anastasia Steele, but it is told by Christian which makes fans all over the world very curious. Indeed, after a huge succes of the first book it is very interesting to relive the story from different point of view. Readers have already come through this alongside the "prey". Now it is time to examine the mind of the "predator". It appears, his mind is exceptionally crooked and twisted. In this book we discover that Christian Grey is not just a guy who likes beating women during sex. Bit by bit author discribes Grey's tragic childhood which seriously traumatized his psyche and affected his life. His mother was drug addicted and he often suffered from hunger and cruelty which was coming from people around him. These events affected Grey deeply resulting frequent nightmares, nerve tension if someone is touching him, irritation when somebody is wasting food and, of course, sincere love to cause pain. In order to solve his mental problems Christian visits psychotherapist Dr. Flynn, but without any success so far. So, one day he met Anastasia Steele in his office and decided to approach her. Moreover, he openly declared himself as BDSM dominant and offered her to take part in his indecent activities. But it turned out not the way he expected. Ms Steele wasn't ready to say yes without hesitation and Christian Grey started chasing a woman for the first time in his life. The more he chased her the further he pushed his usual limits in relationships with women. At some point Grey discovered that normal relationships are not that bad as he thought. He found out that he sleeps much better with Ana. Somehow, nightmares stop haunting him when they are together. And, on the contrary, he becomes impatient and irritated when she is away. Lack of patience urges him to push his limits further and further. He starts making reckless business decisions in order to be closer to Ana. But he doesn't want to open his dark soul to her. He is afraid to show his real self because that can scare Ana away. Most unconveniently, she's very nosy. She decides to push her luck asking him to hurt her hardest which leads us to a close. She didn't like that at all and ran away with the bullet speed clutching her sore buttocks. Despite that, El James gives us a hint that it's not yet over and Grey'll try relationship "her way".