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When it comes to the past, everyone writes fiction.
I don't know exactly how it happened, but I have read 13 Stephen King novels.That makes him my most read author. I enjoy reading King, but I'm not gung ho about what he does the way I am about Dennis Lehane's work (my second most read author). It's been a couple of years since I picked up one of his novels, so the timing was right to read JOYLAND. It seemed mysterious to me. Usually, Stephen King novels make no secret what they're about, but JOYLAND's blurb talked about a ghost, a dying child and feelings. Lots of feelings. Nothing against feelings in literature. They can be a powerful motor to a narrative. The problem with JOYLAND is that its story is stuck on ''neutral''.
Devin Jones is a broken-hearted 21 year old with a summer of nothingness ahead of him. He applies for a job at local theme park Joyland and gets hired right away because he has CPR training. Devin falls in love with the carny lifestyle and the carny lifestyle falls in love for Devin (we'll come back on that a bit later). One of the fascinating stories about Joyland is the actual ghost in the park's haunted house. Young Linda Gray was killed several years ago by a mysterious man and the theme park workers insist that her ghost is still haunting the park's haunted house. It's a wild story for a 21 year old who wants to make something interesting happen.
I wanted to like JOYLAND. I really did. I didn't hate it. Stephen King's fiction has a certain quality standard. He is one of the best (if not THE best) author at characterization. King's characters always been so alive, because he always spends a great deal of time and effort writing their personality into mundane actions and JOYLAND is no different in that regard. For example, Devin's insistance on walking by the beach to work every morning betrayed his romantic side and as the clever storyteller that he is, King made several things happen during these walks. He made it an important part of his storyline. You don't achieve such a level of repeated success if you don't layer your stories like King does. Characterization definitely wasn't the problem of JOYLAND but pretty much everything else was.
Part of me still wants to know what was wrong with me. What I was lacking. I'm in my sixties now, my hair is gray and I'm a prostate cancer survivor, but I still want to know why I wasn't good enough for Wendy Keegan.
It's not a ghost story, for starters. JOYLAND a coming-of-age novel that happens to have a ghost in it. Devin doesn't have much interaction with Linda Gray's ghost and you rarely feel her presence in Joyland. I was disappointed about that. It's difficult to write about a haunting presence, but King proved he could do it in DREAMCATCHER. Also, Devin doesn't seem all that interested by Linda Gray. It's a common theme for 21 year olds to be unaware of what's going on around them, I see some everyday (thanks to my teaching duties), but this is supposed to be fiction. A ghost is an engaging enough concept, I wished Devin showed poor Linda a little more interest. Most of the narrative about her is carried through background characters, while Devin placidly listens and forgets about her after two pages.
So it's a coming-of-age, right? I very much respect Stephen King's storytelling abilities, so I wouldn't have minded a GOOD coming-of-age novel, but it's not the case here. A coming-of-age implies obstacles and a certain sense of loss. The character gains maturity by facing adversity and whatever consequences it entails. If the end of Devin's relationship to his girlfriend Wendy was supposed to be the said adversity, I don't think Joyland was the place where he could mature up. It's a sheltered environment where complete strangers deeply care about him for some reason. Some characters (namely Erin and Tom, who are my main complain about JOYLAND), even seem to exist for the sole purpose of making Devin feel better about himself. I don't think Devin matured much during his time at Joyland. Whatever maturity he displays, it seemed to already be a part of his personality.
If I made anybody feel stupid for liking JOYLAND, I apologize. It is never my intent, but I didn't like the novel and I think my reasons are fair. I don't have any issue with Stephen King's fiction usually. I liked several novels of his that I read, but I thought JOYLAND was a lifeless attempt at doing something more sophisticated. A complacent, conflicted fantasy about writing a carny novel that didn't have a reason to exist. I still think you're the man, Stephen King and I won't count this thwarted coming-of-age attempt against you. I love you work best when you're leaving the real world to others and write about the realm of possibilities.