4.5 stars

Perfect read for this election cycle.

A beautiful and tragic book. King's character work has always been one of his strongest attributes and here it markedly shines. King's traditional fantastical elements are more subdued than usual, in favor of a study of illness, trauma and duty, elevating the novel beyond its apparent pulpy limits.

The Dead Zone was not what I expected it to be. Given its author, horror and tragedy are what you would expect. That's actually the novel's speculative premise: precognitions of horror and tragedy. But it's more heartwarming than anything else.

For Johnny Smith, the first misfortune happens when he has an ice-skating accident as a child. The incurred head injury somehow leaves him with clairvoyant abilities that are triggered upon touching certain objects and people. What he does not see coming, though, is his own second accident. After a car crash he remains in a coma for more than four years.

What an opening it was, more devastating than any in-your-face horror could have been! At first we follow Johnny on this funfair date with Sarah, his girlfriend-to-be. The two are having a wonderful time and there is this strong element of wonder when Johnny has this unheard of streak at the wheel of fortune. It sure doesn't last, though, as what soon follows is his big car accident. Of course, when he wakes up years later things didn't turn out the way the two thought they would.

The narrative then follows Sarah as well as Johnny's parents through these difficult times. It's truly heart-wrenching to read as they have to expect that there is very little hope for him ever to return. It's sad, but bittersweet how Sarah reluctantly goes on with her life or how his mother drifts off to religious madness. How his father doesn't wish for anything but his son finally... to pass away. For me there was so much emotion in these chapters.

It continues when Johnny eventually wakes up. It's easy to emphasize with his hope that Sarah might somehow return to him, hope that is disappointed as the months and years go on. It's just disheartening, the way the story is told. There is no final blow, no obvious closure or final stroke. The anti-romance forms the sentimental backdrop to much of what happens and add to the generally bleak outlook.

Johnny is not even given the chance to return to what he loves the most in his life (other than Sarah), teaching the young'uns. Ever since he woke up he became somewhat of a media sensation, something between the extremes of Samaritan and fraud. This sure would be annoying, not the least because people are justly wary of his predictions for obvious reasons. They are making fun of him or accuse him of to enrich himself on those most easy to impress. It's either a hoax, maybe to pay for his accumulated hospital bills; or he must sure be a loony, not totally unlike the situation with his mom.

There are two plot lines here, one being Johnny's involvement in stopping a serial killer and the other when he works as a private tutor. The first is interesting because of how vividly Johnny experiences the twisted mindset of the perpetrator. It's maybe not the most exciting aspect of the novel, but it goes under your skin to think what this must feel like.

I felt more invested in the tutoring gig. Admittedly, I have a thing for the sentimental, Hollywood kind of coming-of-age story. I don't know, I guess its function within the narrative is to show how Johnny succeeds fully without using his supernatural abilities. But it's just sweet to see that he succeeds at all. Overall it's not the most original or in-depth story, but when the boy's father writes him in the end... it really made me feel the guilt and regret on Johnny's part. It's crushing and a great transition to the political climax.

Which brings me to the part that is fully in focus in David Cronenberg's great adaptation. Other than the Strangler, there is a main villain to the story. Greg Stillson is the rising politician clearly of the Donald Trump variety. The smiling man supposedly of the people with the potential to kick off the big disaster from which humanity wouldn't easily recover.

What makes the plot thread worthwhile is that it's developed rather subtly. There is the explicit analogy of being able to time travel and killing Hitler, but honestly, Greg Stillson is no Hitler. He is what I said above, he is a Trump. He's too stupid and erratic to be fully predictable. That is, it's not totally obvious that he must be stopped no matter what.

Johnny may have a vision, but it's far from being fully determined. I'm always one for ambiguity, and it was great how it was introduced in the final act. Johnny himself talks about war, but that's not actually what he saw. It's only his interpretation of what he saw (as the narrative makes clear). And it's far from obvious that his interpretation can be trusted.

Ever since his accident, Johnny suffered from severe headaches caused by a brain tumor (as we learn at the end). He's grief-stricken, he's not thinking straight. He's even talking of this mission, this obligation that results from his God-given abilities. At least this is his mother's view of things, and Johnny eventually accepts it. Naturally you wonder whether this show his true state of mind. The climax is so powerful because of how different themes come together to deliver the final blow.

The Dead Zone might well be my new favorite work of Stephen King's.

Rating: 4.5/5