Monday 28 September 2015

The Dead Zone by Stephen King

19/4 - I liked the story but couldn’t help comparing it slightly unfavourably to the tv series based on the book. In the show Johnny uses his psychic ability a lot more to help the town sheriff solve any cases that he comes across. In the book Johnny only helps the sheriff with one case, I like it better when Johnny helps with police cases because it makes him seem a lot more human and makes his ability seem much more like a gift than the curse it is in the book. I was confused when I read that the man Sarah married was Walt Hazlett, a lawyer on his way to being an important politician, and that the sheriff Johnny helped wasn’t the sheriff of his hometown but of a town some miles away and his name was George Bannerman. I was confused because I realized that for the tv series they merged the “George Bannerman the town sheriff who was helped by Johnny’s psychic abilities” character with the “Walt Hazlett married to Sarah” character to create a new character with pieces from the two separate characters. Walt Bannerman, the town sheriff where Sarah and Johnny live, who is helped by Johnny's abilities. Johnny always helping with police cases also keeps Sarah in the story, which she wasn’t in the book (they hardly speak or see each other in Johnny’s last few years of life). Greg Stillson is on the TV show but they take a lot of episodes to work up to him bringing about the destruction of the planet. In conclusion I like the TV show better.
 
Finished on 18 April 2009
 
 
 
 

 

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