Book Review: Needful Things

Stephen King is probably one of the most prolific horror writers in the world of modern literature.  The Maine-based writer has lived a very interesting life and has not been shy about incorporating a lot of his own personal life as inspiration for his stories.  Whether it’s his approach to drug or alcohol abuse based on his own struggles, or setting his narratives in his home state of Maine, there’s a plethora of cues and references baked into the core of all of King’s written works.  Castle Rock is a fictional town in which King sets a lot of his stories, and while not obvious, King does utilize this connected setting to tie stories and characters together.  He was essentially doing a shared universe before Marvel came along and made it cool.  One of his most well-regarded stories that King has based in Castle Rock is that of Needful Things.  

The narrative of Needful Things follows the coming and goings of the residents of Castle Rock as a new proprietor moves in and sets up shop on the main street.  The owner of Needful Things is a Mr. Leland Gaunt; a suave yet sinister man from Akron, Ohio.  The service Mr Gaunt provides to his clients is that of provision, he stocks items of any a sort and fancy, but you can easily guarantee he will have the very item you needed all along.  As time goes by and more and more of the town’s colorful cast of characters buy his wares, it becomes all too clear that there is a far more sinister intent behind Mr Gaunt’s arrival into Castle Rock.  With every charmed item Mr Gaunt sells, he also requires a favour in return.  Soon enough everyone in Castle Rock begins playing sinister pranks on one another to satisfy their debt and keep their charmed possessions.  Alan Panghorn is the local sheriff of Castle Rock and he begins to find himself following the trail of mayhem Mr Gaunt is sowing in town. As the story unfolds, it becomes all too clear that the events set in motion will bring out the worst in people and set Castle Rock on a collision course that may spell its very end. 

I should preface that this is my very first Stephen King novel, so I wasn’t sure what to expect in terms of story and writing structure; so, I’m happy to confirm I was pleasantly satisfied by the quality of both in this book.  The narrative is slow and methodical which is usually a red flag for me when it comes to reading, but I found the way King was able to write each individual chapter in a way to flesh out the characters and sequences enthralling to say the least.  It’s worth acknowledging that this story was the first book King wrote after his rehabilitation from drug and alcohol abuse, and there’s a lot of that experience layered into the story.  The way characters fall so easily to the suggestions of Mr Gaunt at the risk of losing the items and effects they provide; it’s a clear reflection of addiction and the depths addicts will stoop to keep their fixes. There’s so much nuance baked into the story and the way King is able to flip from action to suspense and then to emotion, it’s a clear showcase of his ability to structure the narrative with the components it needs at the right time and right place.

I think while the majority of the narrative is excellently paced and structured, it’s hard not to feel the story does teeter into a bit of absurdity as the story goes on.  I know that’s a common issue which is touted often with King, he seems to be great at setting a story up, but less so at leading it to a satisfying conclusion.  In Needful Thing’s case, the story is in its best element when it’s building things up.  The effort put into structuring the narrative deserves all the praise I can give it.  The final parts of the narrative do suffer from what I can only call a barrage of ideas however.  I think King brought too many concepts into the story by the end run and the narrative struggles to bare it all properly to its conclusion.  It’s not a major deal breaker though, as despite it’s struggle to feel cohesive by the end, there’s so much engaging quality to the domino effect King tips over by the end point.

Let’s focus more specifically on tone and pacing.  This isn’t a small book by any means, it would be easy to feel the weight of those 690 pages that the book holds.  Surprisingly though, King is able to pace the narrative through the use of is writing style.  The descriptive style makes getting into the narrative easy and you don’t feel the page count, you just feel compelled to keep reading to see where things go.  As mentioned prior, the variation of tone is also another showcase of King’s writing quality.  His ability to embed the story with so many emotions like suspense, empathy, humour and ultimately horror is beyond impressive. Everything feels appropriate for the sequences that require it and the tone is brilliantly balanced all throughout. 

Overall, it feels easy to acknowledge that Needful Things was the best book to pick up as my first Stephen King read.  Its setup is brilliantly realized and Stephen King is able to write and pace the narrative wonderfully and layer it with so many different emotions.  While it does struggle to balance all of its components near the final arc, that isn’t enough to dismiss the overall quality of this book.  It’s a fantastic book and well worth reading if your any self-respecting horror fan.