Dead zone (novel)

The prologue represents two characters - a boy named Johnny Smith, who suffers a head injury while skating ^[8] and a Bible salesman Greg Stillson, who suffers from emotional problems and dreams of greatness. By 1970, Johnny lives in East Maine and teaches at school. Smith invites his girlfriend Sarah to an amusement park, where he unexpectedly demonstrates phenomenal luck while playing roulette, winning a large amount. Returning home that evening, Johnny has a car accident and falls into a coma for four and a half years. Both the father and his girlfriend, who had married by that moment, had lost hope. Only a few mother obsessed with religious ideas waited for his return. Waking up, Smith discovers in himself a supernatural ability - clairvoyance . Johnny can see a lot inaccessible to ordinary people during brief "insights". But at the same time one part of the brain, the “dead zone”, is closed for him - he does not remember some geographical objects, dates and numbers. Smith predicts the success of the operation to the son of one of the nurses; informs the attending physician that his mother lost during the war is still alive.

About his abilities printed in the press. Johnny resumes his teaching. At the same time, the hero appears severe headaches. The local tabloid reporter Inside View, Richard Deese, prints a compromising article that Smith’s abilities are all cheating. The hero's mother dies, but before he dies, he manages to tell him that God gave him an unusual gift in order for him to fulfill a certain mission. Johnny is trying to live a normal life, but the measured course of things upsets the sheriff Bannerman, who asks to help him find a serial killer. Using his gift, the hero finds out that the maniac is policeman Frank Dodd, who manages to confess to what he did before suicide. Stilson becomes a successful businessman and is elected mayor of Ridgway. By blackmailing one of the businessmen and extorting money, Greg enters the US House of Representatives .

Johnny's reputation becomes “too controversial,” and he has to leave school. Smith moves to New Hampshire and takes a job as a mentor for a rich young man named Chuck. The hero begins to show interest in politics, and he is overwhelmed with anxiety when he sees a rally in which Stilson participates. Johnny meets Jimmy Carter and after a handshake predicts that he will become the president of the United States . After Smith touches Stilson, he sees how he unleashes World War III with nuclear weapons . Johnny's health is deteriorating. He is looking for ways to prevent Stilson’s presidency and thinks about the death of Hitler in 1932 if time travel would be possible ^[9] . He loses the idea of ​​murder, but the hero feels that he still has time left. Smith, having experienced a new vision, cautions Chuck against going to a school ball at a local restaurant, which should burn out because of a lightning strike. Chuck's father, skeptical of Johnny’s words, hardly agrees and permits a party at his home. The holiday is unexpectedly interrupted by the news about the many dead schoolchildren, who nevertheless decided to hold a ball in a restaurant ^[10] .

Johnny finds out that an FBI agent who investigates incidents involving Stillson is killed by a car bomb blast. The hero moves to Phoenix , where he gets a job as a road maintenance specialist at the local public works department. He learns that his headaches are caused by a brain tumor ^[8] and that he only has a few months to live. Johnny realizes that he could have saved all the children from school, but he did not do this, because he took his vision seriously. Johnny refuses surgery and buys a rifle, from which he plans to kill Stilson. At a meeting with voters, he shoots a politician, but misses. Stilson grabs a small child, hiding behind them as a human shield. The reporter manages to take a photo of the politician. Johnny, wounded by shots, falls from the balcony. When dying, he touches Greg for the last time and makes sure that his political career will be ruined and a horrific future is prevented ^[11] . At the grave of the hero comes his former lover Sarah - mourn Johnny ^[12] .

Writing

The idea of ​​the book was inspired by the Watergai scandal ^[11] . The writer called the “Dead Zone” his first real novel, with a serious plot and sub-plots ^[3] , a real story with a layered and thematic structure. This opinion did not change the output of many novels years later ^[10] . It is in this work that the first action takes place in Castle Rock, Maine, which was copied from Durham and Lisbon Falls ^[3] , typical New England towns. Both were founded at the end of the XVIII century, the population is about 4 thousand people, the majority of residents belong to the middle class ^[14] . The name of the fictional city itself was borrowed either from the rocky part of the island from the novel “The Lord of the Flies ” by William Golding ^{[3] [15]} , or from the eponymous song by Frank Sinatra ^[16] . Stephen King, in his memoirs “ How to write books, ” attributed the work to the number of novels with a planned plot, practically the only work of such a plan that he liked ^[17] . “I am very proud of this book. It tells about serious things - the political structure and mood of America ” ^[7] .

The final of the book resembled a real case that occurred in 1935, when a 29-year-old physician Carl Weiss shot presidential candidate Huey Long , who reminded many people of Hitler ^[11] . The message of the work in some respects justified the murder, characterizing it from the positive side ^[18] . One of the primary ideas of the novel, from which the author repelled, is the image of a person who is able to see the future ^[1] . The book was completed by the end of 1976 ^[11] . As observers have noted, most of the writer's creativity is focused on transforming - a nice Saint Bernard into a murderer , a loving father into a cruel father , and residents of a city into vampires . To some extent, this also applied to the writer himself, who turned himself into a “monster” thanks to cocaine , three gallons of beer per day and a lot of money ^[10] . For the author, this period of creativity became the peak of alcohol-drug oblivion. He confused the names of characters, forgot about those or other heroes. In the novel of similar errors about thirty ^[11] . The work is dedicated to Owen King ^[7] .

Characters

The novel arose from the answer to two questions: can a political murderer be right, and can he be made the main positive hero of the novel? “These ideas gave rise to a politician with dangerous instability, as it seemed to me - a man who climbed the political ladder, showing the world the cheerful, honest face of a guy from the people, captivating voters by refusing to play by the usual rules of the game.” Johnny Smith was characterized by King as a man without pretense, an average American, able to see the future. After seeing a touch on Stilson’s hand, he predicts the start of the Third World War and decides that the only way to prevent it is to kill a politician. The plot set by the author seemed to him brought to the extreme, outlawed. In his opinion, the novel could succeed only if the main character does not become a “plaster saint” ^[13] . The author noted parallels between Smith and John Coffey ^[19] .

In contrast to the protagonist Stilson was supposed to look disgusting and frightening, both due to the craving for violence and his own persuasiveness. The reader should have thought that Greg is not all right with the psyche, and that only Johnny sees his true essence. In the first scenes of the book, Smith is normal and cute - he rolls his girlfriend on the carousel and in every possible way having fun at a rural holiday. His refusal to Sarah in the vicinity of the wedding should have contributed to the reader’s acceptance of the hero as a person who is sincerely in love and straightforward. His childish sense of humor in two ways - the Halloween mask also serves as a symbol of the fact that after the attempt on Stilson the people around would consider Johnny to be a monster. In essence, the writer wanted to change the attitude of people towards the “man with a rifle” after Kennedy's death ^[13] . In an interview with Literaturnaya Gazeta , King noted that the appearance of Greg was prompted by the speech of the governor of the state of Maine and the author’s suggestion that the governor could be elected president ^[20] . His description as a political figure goes back to Richard Nixon ^{[9] [12]} .

The first scene of the novel was to show the dangerous nature of Stilson, who knows how to mask well. So, Greg, in the absence of observers, spurts tear gas into a dog, snarling at him, and then he slaughters him to death. The scene was so realistic that Kingu was sent many letters in which readers protested against the writer's abominable cruelty to animals. In response to these messages, the author wrote that both the dog and the character were not real, and the writer himself never used violence against dogs. Scenes with Stillson and Smith alternated up to the final, in which everything was decided “by itself”. The characters were determined by the course of the plot, and the author’s concern was that both fictional people seemed authentic in the light of what was known about them ^[13] .

Reporter Richard Diz is also found in the story “ ^{11]” [15] [21]} , and David Bright is in Tomminoker ^{[22] [23]} . The work mentions the city of Salems-Lot from the Lot ^[2] and Carrie from the novel of the same name ^[8] . In the seventh book of the Dark Tower cycle, Nigel's robot reads the work ^[24] and describes it as “Pretty Enjoyable” ^[2] . While Johnny was in a coma, Sarah lived on Flagg Street (referring to Randall Flagg ) ^[1] ; Harrison Beach stands out among other locales , whose name echoes the poem " Harriston State Park '68' " ^[25] . Some of the ideas embodied in the novel were developed in 11/22/63 . ^{[2] [15]} Stephen and The Double Feature by Owen King ^[26] . It is believed that Frank Dodd - a serial killer from the story " Strawberry Spring " ^[8] . Also, Dodd and Bannerman appear in “ Necessary Things ” ^[16] and “Cujo” ^[15] , separately in the novel “ It ” ^[11] and in the story “ Body ”, respectively ^[16] .

Publish

After the writer gave the novel to Doubleday , the publisher demanded to reduce the manuscript, and King, not agreeing, took it back ^[11] . The book went on sale in August 1979 ^[3] and was released by Viking, with which the author entered into a much more lucrative contract ^[14] . NAL retained the rights to publish the paperback ^[27] . It was assumed that the first edition of the “Dead Zone” will be fifty thousand copies ^{[3] [К 1]} . During the promotional tour of the book, King visited twenty US cities. The first reception was organized by the publisher in New York at the , a huge establishment located in Central Park. Interviews alternated with drinking and a hangover ^[30] . At the end of the trip, King said: “It's like taking part in a fight on pillows, where all the pillows are treated with poisonous gas” ^[3] . Analyzing the chronology of some events, critics considered “Cujo” a continuation ^[21] or a “half-continuation” of the “Dead zone” ^[31] . Since 2016, the rights to publish the novel belong to the publishing house Scribner, with whom King began to cooperate since the publication of the Bags with Bones ^[32] .

Even before the official release date of the book “The Dead Zone”, the number of copies sold was 110,000 copies, and two months later, the figures reached 200,000 copies ^{[4] [K 2]} . The book became the fifth published novel by the writer ^[33] . In 1991, the novel, along with King's four other works, was reprinted in paperback with a preface by and a modified color scheme. It was originally planned to republish all the author's books in this format, but later the project was abandoned ^[34] . The piece was tried to be banned in middle and high schools in the United States because of scenes of violence, sexual overtones, and obscene language ^[35] . For the first time, the “Dead Zone” was translated into Russian by Oleg Vasilyev and Sergey Task in 1984. The novel was published in three issues of the journal Foreign Literature ^[11] . The literary critic Vadim Erlikhman noted the “brilliant” quality of this translation, not departing a single line from the original ^[11] .

Many literary critics have ranked The Dead Zone among the best novels of Stephen King ^{[K 3] [7] [25]} . The piece was nominated for the Locus award for the best fantasy novel ^[36] and the Balrog Awards ^[37] . According to the results of the voting, organized by Rolling Stone magazine , the novel in the top ten of the best works of the author took the eighth place, sitting between Rita Hayworth and the rescue from Shoushenk and Green Mile ^[38] . He also reached number one on the New York Times bestseller list of the year ^{[1] [39]} . Until that moment, no author's novel had ever reached such a position ^{[15] [21]} . In total, the novel lasted 32 weeks ^[40] . The success of the book has strengthened the reputation of the writer - his name has become even more associated with the global brand ^{[3] [20]} . The conflictology of America in the 1970s showed that King was not only the creator of “Gothic sensations”, but also a novelist in the positive sense of the word ^[20] . In August 1981, for the first time, three books of the writer were presented in Publishers Weekly ranking at the same time - “ Firing with a look ” in a hard cover, “The Dead Zone” and “ Shining ” - in a soft cover ^[3] . The book became a bestseller ^[14] . Time put it in sixth place in the top ten books of the author, which need to be continued ^[41] . In the Soviet Union, the “Dead Zone” was extremely positively perceived for “denouncing American reality”, although there was no denunciatory pathos in the novel ^[11] .

Some Soviet authors saw in the novel the central theme of a brewing political catastrophe - the steady US movement toward fascist totalitarianism , fraught with war, which could be fatal to humanity, as well as an inseparable topic of American civil responsibility for the fate of their country. The measured chronicle of provincial everyday life takes the shape of a novel-warning ^[20] . In the narrative there are notes of an unconventional detective story, elements of horror ^[2] and a piercing love story ^{[1] [42]} , and also a criticism of American politics ^[43] . To the merits of the novel, critics attributed the archetypal King's antagonist, a confident narration without false notes and plot sags ^[44] , compactness compared to the volumes of “ Confrontation ” ^[9] , the absence of monsters as such ^[25] . In the "Dead Zone" the writer returns to the idea that luck is an extremely limited resource, the end of which is fraught with suffering. Luck on the wheel of fortune turns into an accident for Johnny Smith, the writing career of King himself almost ended after a car hit him ^[26] . Literary critics have seen a strong influence on the work of Ray Bradbury - the carnival atmosphere is inspired by the novel “ Looming Trouble ” and the collection “ Dark Carnival ” ^[8] . Also as a source of inspiration was called the German fairy tale "Faithful Johannes" ^[12] . The cities of Maine in which the main action takes place are felt as realistic ^[45] with some degree of xenophobia ^[12] .

The “dead zone” consists of four levels of perception: symbolic, historical, personal-psychological and political ^[9] . In a simplistic-archetypal interpretation, the work is seen as a cautionary parable about the confrontation between Good and Evil in the modern world ^{[11] [20]} . At first glance, the allegorical basis of the novel is practically not felt because of the density of the details of the domestic layer of the plot. The reader is presented with a chronicle of provincial America with social ills: impoverishment of farmers, corruption of officials, corrupt police, dangerous crime, and increasing disillusionment in the minds of ordinary citizens in the prospects for national history ^[20] . The structure of the novel to some observers seemed strange ^[2] , but at the same time providing unpredictability and a certain sinisterness ^[45] . Intersections with other works became the first attempt to go beyond the horror genre ^[25] . The idea of ​​using newspaper articles and police reports in the text is related to the work with “Kerry”. The finale of the novel was characterized as “almost believable” ^[2] . The book is cinematic, entertaining ^[45] and pessimistic ^[9] . In the center of the narrative - personal tests of a particular person ^[9] .

The protagonist was characterized as the embodiment of the ordinary, clumsy, lanky intellectual with the most standard name and surname. Such a character is able to recognize evil at a distance and assume its scale. Critics noted the similarity of some moments of the hero's biographies with his creator, up to the general year of birth - 1947 ^{[20] [21]} . Smith's “Second Vision” was motivated by the latest physiological and bioenergy data, which was positively assessed compared to the “quasi-scientific essays” of other authors of the time ^[20] . The presence of mental powers puts the hero on a par with Carrie, Danny Torrance and Charlie McGee ^[8] . A series of incidents faced by the character had one most important task - to identify the true face of Johnny Smith as a humanist, armed with the "magic of supersensible providence." Johnny was compared to Don Quixote ^[20] and Jesus Christ ^[46] . His gift of foresight becomes a curse ^{[1] [9]} . The hero is a kind of projection of King’s thoughts about the fate of his own generation, marked by anti-Vietnam protests. Murder in the novel appears as a ritual sacrifice, not as an act of terror ^[20] . Smith was considered to be one of the most positive characters in the writer's work and was considered a peacemaker, wishing others to be happy ^[2] .

The antagonist of the novel, Greg Stilson, is for the time being on the periphery of the events in different social masks - a merchant of the word of God, the "father" of the city, the district congressman. Only to the second part of the novel does he come to the fore in the form of a "laughing tiger" who enchanted the inhabitants with political demagogy . The image of the character, possessing the techniques of telepathic suggestion, was noted as slightly more successful than the appearance of the protagonist ^[20] . His behavior throughout the novel is cruel, irrational and absurd ^[11] . Stilson is a fascist in populist robes. Greg in his youth, King draws in broad strokes - arrogant in the alleged superiority, a coward, a bully and a demagogue in the bud. His hatred comes from contempt in the family, which creates a sharp contrast with Johnny's loving parents ^[9] . Identification with the tiger is Stillson's symbolism as an animal ^[25] . Critics found similarities with Chipollo, the hypnotist hero from the story “Mario and the Wizard” by Thomas Mann ^[20] , and the rebel leader John Farson from the “Dark Tower” series ^[24] .

In the description of the compulsive killer Frank Dodd, the influence of Edgar Poe ^{[8] [12]} and the works of Jim Thompson “ The Murderer Within Me ” ^[44] seen. Although the theme of childhood is not central to the novel, the relationship between parents and children largely determines the behavior of the characters and is a network of fear and inferiority. So, Frank's mother teaches to hate and fear his own sexuality, which subsequently results in aversion to women and serial murders ^[9] . Frank is not the protagonist of this story, for the entire novel he exchanges with Smith only a couple of phrases ^[47] . The remaining heroine mothers are neutral (Shelly Chatsworth), weak (Ms. Stilson), or a deformed position (Vera Smith, Henrietta Dodd). Faith moves in the direction of cult fundamentalist beliefs, its behavior is sometimes irrational and focused on the choice of the son of God. She refuses medical tests, fully relying on the “will of the Lord” ^[9] . Vera expanded the King's crazy Christian army, whose ranks also include Mrs. Carmody and Margaret White. ^[10] The image of Johnny's mother may have been inspired by the religious education of King himself ^[20] .

The novel was filmed by David Cronenberg in 1983 ^[3] . Cinema genre closer to science fiction ^[48] . Adaptation was well received by the writer. Initially, the role of Johnny was planned to take Bill Murray , but he was not approved because of employment in other projects. Producer pictures Dino De Laurentis proposed Walken, and he agreed. "In my opinion, Christopher Walken was suitable for the role of Johnny - however, like any other popular Hollywood actor among those that came to mind," said King ^[3] . The writer's script, described as “terrible,” was rejected by the director ^[48] . Cronenberg said that in order to remain loyal to the book, you need to "betray her" ^[31] . The tape was melancholic, and the chronology of the narrative was changed. So, Stilson appears only in the last third of the film, which works for the climax, but because of what the character’s subtext is lost ^[48] . The film was financially successful and was well received by critics ^{[3] [49]} . Some authors rank it as one of the best screen versions ^[31] , others recognize it as the most lyrical ^[11] , the most accurate and effective ^[21] .

In the period from 2002 to 2007, the USA Network TV channel broadcast the eponymous television series with Anthony Michael Hall in the lead role, numbering eighty-six episodes ^{[15] [21]} . The pilot uncovered the story of Frank Dodd. Stillson’s apocalyptic plans formed the basis of another series. Some details of the narrative were changed - so Sarah got pregnant from Johnny before the accident and married Sheriff Bannerman while Smith was in a coma. His son also had the gift of foresight. Bruce Lewis, a physiotherapist and advisor to Johnny, was invented specifically for the series and did not appear in the book ^[15] . The show was left without a full final ^[15] , the storylines were never completed. The channel tried to reduce growing production costs, but eventually decided to abandon the shooting altogether ^[50] . Played their role and ratings. The first series gathered around 4.7 million viewers, while the premiere of the sixth season - 2.2 million ^[51] . Sean Piller and Lloyd Sigan, who are responsible for adapting the book, subsequently began work on the TV series Haven ^[15] .

Comments

Sources

• StephenKing.com. The Dead Zone (Eng.) . - Artwork page on the official website of Stephen King. The appeal date is March 15, 2015. Archived January 23, 2015.
• Stephen King. Ru. Dead zone (rus.) . - Artwork page on the site of fans of Stephen King. The appeal date is March 15, 2015. Archived on April 7, 2015.