A Good Marriage By Stephen King
What a brilliant and compelling story! A wife is married to an accountant who has a murderous characteristic trait (mildly spoken). She finds out about his deeds while looking for new batteries in the garage. How will the story continue? What about her husband and the kids? What about the retired detective who pays her a visit? This story was absolutely extraordinary. Stephen King comes up with excellent characters and leads you directly into the mind of a killer. Phenomenal story, brilliantly told (it was also published in King's anthology Full Dark, No Stars). I am very enthusiastic about the novella and can highly recommend it to anyone interested in a good story full of suspense and psychology! Stephen King هناك خيطا رفيعا بين تحقيقك للعدالة الشعرية و بين كونك سعيدا بالكسرولة التي ترتديها على رأسك
و هناك شعرة دقيقة بين الإنتقام و تحقيق تلك العدالة الشعرية
How to kill your evil husband without getting caught?
كينج سيظل ملكا للسرد مادام هو افضل من يعرض 3مواقف انسانية:
وقائع ذلك اليوم الذي لم تعد حياتك فيه بعده كما كانت قبله¤
تحول المشاعر :من النقيض للنقيض لا في أيام و لا ساعات¤
بل في تلك اللحظة المظلمة :لحظة الحقيقة
أخذ الحق حرفة لا يجيدها احد مثل ¤
كاتب الخلاص من شاوشنك و ديلوروس كليبرون و تلك الزوجة الاربعينية الجيدة ا
هذه النوفيلا العبقرية تطرح سؤالا خطيرا و جوهرياَ: هل معرفتك بحقائق مريعة عن شريك حياتك يعطيك الحق في محاسبته حتى لو لم يسيء إليك بشكل مباشر؟؟
ستروق للجنس اللطيف بشكل اكبر و كلهن بالفعل منحوها تقييم مرتفع و هذا يحسب للكينج بالطبع Stephen King It was a good marriage, one of the fifty percent or so that kept working over the long haul. She believed that in the same unquestioning way she believed that gravity would hold her to the earth when she walked down the sidewalk. Until that night in the garage...
It wasn't a picture perfect marriage- but for the last 27 years- Darcy Anderson thought it was pretty darn close. A little dull, yes...but she was content with her life of no surprises.
A house in Portland, Maine. A solid mail order business- selling and appraising rare coins, with her predictable and loyal husband Bob- an accountant. Two happy and successful children all grown- a boy- Donnie. A girl Petra. Life was good. The marriage good.
27 years. 9855 days of good- until one night while Bob was on a business trip and the TV remote stopped working- Darcy Anderson went looking for double A batteries...
..and found a whole lot more than she bargained for.
I have to say I don't read a lot of Stephen King's short stories/novellas...at least I haven't in a very loooooooooong while. I found this one quite by accident at my Kobo (ebook) store site..and thought I had discovered something completely new!! Yay!! Imagine my excitement- A brand new Stephen King!! And only $5.99 at that! I scooped it up only to later learn- not only was it not new, but if I had just checked my bookshelves I would have found it in my unread copy of Full Dark, No Stars. Whoooooopsiiiiie. This wasn't my first blond moment...and I am sure it won't be my last. But completely worth spending my money on...TWICE...lol!! *forehead smack* Stephen King What a ride! Un-put-down-able. A perfect story. Maybe the scariest psychopath ever.
But this also was one of the weirdest reading experiences ever. Beware Kindle users! In most cases, there aren’t page numbers on the Kindle (Yeah, I know. WTF?) Instead, you see a percentage showing how far you’ve read. I’ll tell you this: For a non-math person, this really sucks. I hate percentages and I hate the damn percent sign. Don’t get me started. Anyway, for some bizarre reason, I feel the need to give you the blow by blow of Debbie reading A Good Marriage. I think it’s because I’m traumatized. It’s okay to step away from the percent sign and go directly to the last couple of paragraphs. (Important note, if you want to be technical: Depending on the font size you’ve chosen, your percents may be different from my percents; does this make cents?)
At 0%: Affectionately tired of a friend hounding me to read this book, though admittedly curious as hell, I picked up my first ever Stephen King. My friend promised that this is not the Stephen King of gore or the supernatural. And this isn’t one of his big fat books, she promised. I take these promises very seriously. I happily sigh and dig in.
At 1%: Immediately hooked! I know right away that I’ll settle into this baby. What a master storyteller, this King man. Give me more!
At 8%: OMG, wifey-poo finds something creepy. I’m perched on the edge of my chair, holding her hand. Hell, I want to help her open the thing up.
At 18%: A super tense conversation between a psychopath and his wife. Each utterance and its response, each ping-pong volley—click bounce click bounce—startles me, grabs me, and holds me tight. Creepy times eighteen.
At 28%: A plan in place. I’m hooked—and so squirmy, it’s not even funny. Cannot, will not, put this book down. The hell with getting the clothes out of the dryer; who says I need to change into a clean shirt? My head is full of exclamation points!!!
At 38%: OMG, what an ending! I love this story! A tight, perfect tale with plenty of thrills and a psychopath of nightmares! … But wait. I look down and see 38%!! WTF?? Why doesn’t it say 100%, showing me the story is over? I ditch the exclamation marks and spit out a bunch of question marks. Where could this story possibly go? Will we follow the wife somewhere? Will the old detective guy change his mind? Okay, okay. I calm myself down and switch from shock to admiration and wild anticipation. Man, King is the king! What can this genius have up his sleeve? I’m sure it’s something crazy and brilliant and totally unexpected. I can’t imagine where he’ll take me, but I trust him completely. More yum is yet to come!
Still at 38%: Part 2, apparently, is called 1922. Interesting….My head is still spewing out questions. Will I be learning about the ancestors of the sociopath . . . or the wife? How can that be exciting? Will it turn into a ghost story? I hope not; ghosts aren’t my thing. Trust the king, I tell myself, just trust him.
At 39%: Struggling to figure out where the hell the story is going. Suddenly I’m back in the year 1922. The tone is different. The characters are different. Throw me a familiar name, will you mister master King man?
At 44%: Okay. I can’t believe that there still seems to be absolutely no connection with the first 38%. And I can’t believe I’ve kept reading. By now, I’m engrossed in this side story, but still patiently waiting for it to make sense. Maybe King isn’t a king after all if he meanders through pages and pages of another scene, another place, all new people.
At 45%: No way!!! Blood and guts everywhere!! My friend lied! She knows I hate gore. What’s up? I have to close my eyes for a few pages (but, of course, since there are no actual page numbers, I’m just guessing). I’m pretty much all fucked up now. My exclamation points are all mixed up with question marks, and it’s pure craziness in my head. What in god’s name does this story have to do with the good bad marriage??
Still at 45%: Calm down. There has to be a logical explanation. When in doubt, check out Goodreads. I read a few Good Marriage reviews, and soon I hear someone say that the Kindle version of a Good Marriage includes ANOTHER story called 1922!!! !!!????!!! Fuck!! No wonder this new story didn’t feel like part of A Good Marriage. It wasn’t! No wonder A Good Marriage seemed done at 38%. It was! I’m furious. I’m relieved. The faith in my friend returns. I resign myself to finishing 1922 because I have to see what happens. I’m grossed out plenty, though—that first violent scene is so damn gory.
At 100%: Pissed that I kept reading. Extreme sport of gore. Rats feasting on people and cows, and not a repulsive detail is spared. Plus there’s even a fucking ghost. Get me out of here! I’m sure King fans will eat it up, but I felt like puking. A well-written story with good characters, but I had to skip at least one whole percent point. Tap tap tap the screen, get me away from the ravenous rats! (I’ll be reviewing 1922 separately.)
After recuperating from this wild and disconcerting ride, I’m left with one question. Why the fuck didn’t the Kindle include an extra page clearly stating that there are two books? It especially doesn’t seem fair because A Good Marriage takes up less than half the book. It would have been fine if I had known that 38% meant The End. As it was, I thought that A Good Marriage had taken a bad left turn by changing its tune and heading back to the year 1922.
Bad things that happened to me (because Kindle didn’t tell me there were two stories):
1. I didn’t get to experience that glowy feeling you get when you finish a good book (since I thought 1922 was Part 2).
2. I began doubting the greatness of King when 1922 seemed to have nothing to do with A Good Marriage.
3. I thought my friend had lied to me, since the book had turned into gore city.
4. I didn’t get to decide if I wanted to read the next story.
5. I resent that the longer story full of blood and rats was longer (and stole more of my time) than the wonderful Good Marriage story.
6. I’ll carry around in my head the really gross and vivid images of ravenous rats chowing down on dead bodies, live bodies, and cows—for god knows how long.
7. I read the book weeks ago and I’m still traumatized, writing a too-long review full of percentages and lists.
If I had been reading a paperback, I would have known what was going on. If 1922 was included, I would have passed on it since it was so sorely gore-ful. There’d be none of this “you’ve read 38% of this book” shit, leading me down the road of confusion and temporarily wrecking my life.
But (finally!) back to the book. Here is the fantastic and perfect opening paragraph:
The one thing nobody asked in casual conversation, Darcy thought in the days after she found what she found in the garage, was this: How’s your marriage? They asked how was your weekend and how was your trip to Florida and how’s your health and how are the kids; they even asked how’s life been treatin you, hon? But nobody asked how’s your marriage?
Good, she would have answered the question before that night. Everything’s fine.
A Good Marriage is a masterpiece. The pacing is perfect and the characters jump off the page. Man, can King tell a good story! The psychopath scared the shit out of me. The conversations between this creepazoid and his creeped-out wife are brilliant. King has an amazing ability to get inside a crazy person’s head and to spurt out the crazy in a way that terrifies you, yet ties you down to your seat and does not allow you to get up and get the clothes out of the dryer when you need to.
The internal monologue of the wife is just as brilliant. She seems so real and normal, you can picture yourself asking the same questions she’s asking. How well do you really know someone you love? When you discover that that someone is evil, do you confront him or keep your trap shut?
A great first King read for those who like a good psychopath but don’t like gore. But if you’re reading A Good Marriage on Kindle, know that when it seems over, it really is over, even though you’re only somewhere around 38%. Damn 38% . . .Damn Kindle . . .
Stephen King 4 Stars
Is anyone ever who you thought they were? For your sake, I sure hope so!
Darcy Anderson has been married for 27 years. She and her husband Bob have two children and have what she considers to be “A Good Marriage.” That is until the night she goes rummaging in the garage for some Double A batteries while her husband is out of town.
Stumbling upon a box, Darcy gets more than she bargained for and immediately realizes that she doesn’t quite know the person she married. In fact, she doesn’t know him at all. It is a terrifying thought and if it has ever happened to you, it is in fact, horrifying.
How can Darcy “act” normal around Bob and not let the cat out of the bag? It is, after all, a matter of life and death. Death, being the operative word.
The feel, the pacing and the suspense of this short story is sure to scare the bejesus out of you, especially if you have ever been married. Well done Stephen King!
Sometimes it really is who you know that can kill you.
A big thanks to Hoopla for the audiobook.
Published on Goodreads on 11.17.19.
Stephen King
What happens when, on a perfectly ordinary evening, all the things you believed in and took for granted are turned upside down?
When her husband of more than 20 years is away on one of his business trips, Darcy Anderson looks for batteries in the garage. Her toe knocks up against a box under a worktable and she discovers the stranger inside her husband. It's a horrifying discovery, rendered with bristling intensity, and it definitively ends a good marriage.
Listening Length: 3 hours and 33 minutes A Good Marriage
“A Good Marriage” by Stephen King is a quick novella that delivers in such a way that’s relatable and well, creepy. As always with King’s work, the main characters here in Darcy and Bob are very well done and once things start to unravel, truly paint an evil picture of horror at home.
This is a perfect weekend read as it can easily be finished in a few hours and let me tell you if you’re also married, it’s going to hit you even harder because it makes you wonder what you’d do if such a situation ever occurred. It’s definitely a well-crafted read that hits you fast and hard once Darcy discovers something no wife should ever have to deal with involving her husband of so many years, all the memories they created together, and the two children they brought into this world.
I won’t ruin anything for you but everything from the beginning all the way to the beyond intense ending just makes you truly love how great King is as an author. He makes every word count and leaves his mark on what happens when a good marriage ends up being a real-life horror due to an innocent discovery. I give “A Good Marriage” a 5/5 and would highly recommend it to anyone that loves a good horror with a few plot twists along the way you won’t ever see coming. Stephen King
المستحيلات ثلاث: الغول و العنقاء و الزواج الجيد.
الزواج يشبه منزلا قيد التشييد المتواصل. و كل سنة تشهد اكتمال غرف جديدة. الزواج البالغ عمره سنة واحدة هو كوخ. و الزواج البالغ عمره سبع و عشرون سنة هو قصر ضخم و متشعب. و لا مفر من وجود زوايا مظلمة و مساحات تخزين. معظمها مليء بالغبار و مهجور. و بعضها يحتوي على بقايا بغيضة سرعان ما ستتمنى لو أنك لم تعثر عليها. لكن هذا ليس أمرا ذا شأن كبير. فإما أن ترمي تلك البقايا خارجا. أو تأخذها إلى ركن النوايا الحسنة.
-تقصد الخل الوفي.
-نعم و لكن لغير المتزوجين فقط. كانا متزوجين منذ فترة طويلة جدا لدرجة أنهما أصبحا متفهمين لبعضهما البعض بشكل كلي تقريبا. هل يحصل هذا في كل زواج؟ لا تعرف. تعرف زواجها فقط. ما عدا أنها بدأت تتساءل الآن إن كانت تعرف حتى زواجها.
هل هناك ما يسمى الزواج الجيد أصلا؟ إذا كنت تعتقد ذلك فأنت ما زلت أعزب و أكاد أقسم على ذلك دون أن أعرفك. لكن يوجد بالطبع الزواج الناجح و الزواج المتماسك و الزواج المفيد. فالزواج هو في الأساس قيد على الحرية لكلا الطرفين في مقابل مجموعة من الإمتيازات الحصرية لكل طرف تجاه الطرف الأخر و هو عقد لتبادل المنفعة في الأساس. لا يخلو الأمر طبعا من المودة و الرحمة و العشرة و الألفة و الرومانسية و لكن الإنسان بطبعه يميل إلى التفرد و الأنانية كما يميل إلى الونس و المؤانسة. أحيانا يكون الوحش كامنا بداخلنا و نستطيع كبته أغلب فترات حياتنا و أحيانا أخرى يتغلب هو على الإنسان بداخلنا و لا يستتر إلا من أقرب الناس إليه.
في هذه القصة تكتشف الزوجة أنها تعيش مع الوحش شخصيا و تشاركه الفراش منذ أكثر من ربع قرن و هي لا تدري عن ذلك شيئا.
هل تخبر الشرطة أم تصمت و تحافظ على بيتها و أولادها أم تواجهه و تموت بين يديه كما فعل بإحدى عشرة امرأة من قبل؟ لطالما كانت بتس تفتخر بوالدها. ماذا سيحل بها إذا عرفت أن اليدين اللتين دفعتاها على الإرجوحة في الفناء الخارجي هما نفس اليدين اللتين سلبتا الحياة من إحدى عشرة امرأة؟ أن الشفتين اللتين قبلتاها قبل أن تنام كانتا تخفيان أسنانا عضت إحدى عشرة امرأة و وصولا حتى العظام في بعض الحالات؟
كانت هذه هي القصة الرابعة و الأخيرة في مجموعة ظلام دامس. لا نجوم Stephen King I’ve said this before but after this superb novella, it certainly bears repeating: how on Earth does Stephen King’s wife sleep comfortably next to such a dark (albeit brilliant) mind?! 4.5 stars Stephen King Masterful.
What takes the creep factor up in this novella is the real life feeling of it, the idea that this could be someone's nightmare, even our own. What King asks is that nagging question, is it possible to ever fully know anyone, even the ones we love the most?
Sometimes ignorance is bliss, except in the hands of the author.
Stephen King OK, Stephen King...Here is a newsflash....
1)Being a 47 year old woman, I don't know of ANY 47 year old women who own housecoats. What was next for poor Darcy? Were you going to write her with curlers in her hair and a cigarette hanging from her yellow stained fingertips?
2) Unless she breast fed an entire village, a slightly endowed woman's breasts wouldn't be saggy at 47. Haell I know well endowed women whose girls still stand at attention!
3) I am shocked that you didn't write her as having one foot in the grave...AT 47! Women, particularly highly professional women, are in the middle of their careers and/or families.
Other than that....FANTASTIC read! Can't wait to see how Hollywood destroys it in the movie!
Now excuse me while I go run to Walmart to buy the newest fashion in house dresses. NOT! Stephen King
Review ✓ PDF, DOC, TXT, eBook or Kindle ePUB free ´ Stephen King
