Book Club Discussion: Elevation by Stephen King

[ufcasey]

Alright, it's that time again - book club discussion! This month's book is Elevation by Stephen King.

I don't have any discussion questions I could find online, so feel free to just say what you thought of the book. What did you like the most about it? The least? Etc.

Thanks!

[ufcasey]

Tagging people who may have read this book:
underwaterrhymes, kermit, rainbowchip, sassypants

[minzy]

I just read this yesterday and it’s short, so very doable quickly even if you haven’t picked it up yet.

I didn’t love it. As usual I nitpicked the logistics. From the outset you are asked to suspend principles of physics and gravity, so for me it began with such disbelief I had a hard time buying into the rest of it. I did like the ideas of building an inclusive, welcoming community, and the realization that one person’s actions can have a ripple effect on others. I also liked the “carpe diem” aspect of living for today, since tomorrow is not guaranteed.

The sudden warm and chummy friendships with weekly dinners seemed a little too cutesy and contrived, though... The race scenes seemed like they were written by someone who doesn’t run. Of course what happened there was totally unrealistic, but also a minor point, just having all these other elite runners haul off to the side of the road with stitches and cramps collapsing to the ground just doesn’t happen in real races with the frequency it did in this book... Reading this made me look up the word “slued” (past tense of “turn or slide violently or uncontrollably in a particular direction”)... Also, we never did find out what exactly was supposed to be wrong with him (of course it doesn’t really matter), but I didn’t like that he was only 42. I’m not far from 42! Baah!

[rainbowchip]

The whole losing weight part was interesting and very King. But it seems like the whole point was to get him to reevaluate himself and try to do something good. It shouldn't take impending death.

I really didn't understand how him helping Deidre at the end of the race made it so that everyone wanted to eat at the restaurant when him standing up to the jerk at the diner had no impact. And was him helping her the whole plan all along? It was all a bit confusing to me.

[minzy]

Aug 28, 2019 11:33:27 GMT -5 rainbowchip said:

The whole losing weight part was interesting and very King. But it seems like the whole point was to get him to reevaluate himself and try to do something good. It shouldn't take impending death.

I really didn't understand how him helping Deidre at the end of the race made it so that everyone wanted to eat at the restaurant when him standing up to the jerk at the diner had no impact. And was him helping her the whole plan all along? It was all a bit confusing to me.

I guess since she was the winner and their collaborative finish made a compelling human interest story to drive people to the restaurant? I didn’t get why he seemed to click so well with Deidre either, and especially enough so to want her to be his “person” at the end of his life. Because they shared a runner’s high/enlightened state/euphoria with semi-weightlessness? (Okay...?)

I did find the town’s discrimination against not just lesbians but specifically *married* lesbians kind of cheeky. I don’t know, is that a thing? King seemed to be mocking any discrimination at all with that distinction (good)!

[sassypants]

I'm a SK lover from waaayy back and it kind of kills me that he's fallen into the out-of-touch Boomer trope. He's grown very out of touch with the characters he writes if they're under 60, and it takes me out of the story line. So many of the relationships in this were contrived. I was also disappointed that the protagonist just gave up on life and literally floated away. Seemed like a quitter move. I know it would suck to be studied but it would also be fascinating to explore exactly why this twist on Thinner was happening to him.

[expectantsteelerfan]

Aug 28, 2019 21:53:10 GMT -5 sassypants said:

I'm a SK lover from waaayy back and it kind of kills me that he's fallen into the out-of-touch Boomer trope. He's grown very out of touch with the characters he writes if they're under 60, and it takes me out of the story line. So many of the relationships in this were contrived. I was also disappointed that the protagonist just gave up on life and literally floated away. Seemed like a quitter move. I know it would suck to be studied but it would also be fascinating to explore exactly why this twist on Thinner was happening to him.

This.  His characters are what make me love his books, but in recent years his well-written characters fall into such a limited role.  

I still enjoyed this book, especially how quick it was.  My main impression though was that SK was trying to take a bit of a political stand, but since it fell solidly on the side of fighting oppression and bigotry, I didn't mind too much.  But it definitely felt forced and rushed.

[aurora]

I enjoyed it on the audiobook version (read by King himself). The characters were easy to get to "know" (for such a short book) and the ending, though of course science fiction, was consistent with the story itself. I actually didn't have much trouble suspending my disbelief about the physics since it was honest from the start.

However, what a way to go. I am afraid of heights and think I would hate that, even if I was falling up instead of down.

I also went looking for some book club questions and randomly found someone saying it was clear they shouldn't read this book because from the synopsis it's obviously just anti-Trump. Imagine me rolling my eyes so far they fall out of my head.

[aurora]

Aug 28, 2019 10:50:35 GMT -5 minzy said:

...The race scenes seemed like they were written by someone who doesn’t run. Of course what happened there was totally unrealistic, but also a minor point, just having all these other elite runners haul off to the side of the road with stitches and cramps collapsing to the ground just doesn’t happen in real races with the frequency it did in this book...

Now this I definitely agree with! I had a harder time with the description of the running race than I did with the physics.

Scott being light enough to pass the elite runners would be consistent and "believable" (to the extent you can get on board with the book's premise). Elite runners just falling over on the side of the road in an 8k is ridiculous.

[aurora]

Reading some of the other comments, I guess I was looking at this novella differently than his primary novels were *of course* you expect far more character development (and he's very good at character development overall in his writing). Here, I was much more in short story mode. Maybe I'm letting him off the hook too easily? Or maybe it just needs to be an audiobook where you're half distracted the whole time and missing bits and pieces of the story.

[wesleycrusher]

DH and I listened to this on audiobook together. The ending did no go the way he thought it would- I guess DH thought it would be more supernatural than it was. It was enjoyable and quick- we listened to it all at once one a road trip.

I also saw on goodreads a few reviews who got down on the book for the white savior narrative. Which I get but also sometimes I struggle with because obviously Steven King himself is an older, white straight male- and authors get flak many times for writing from alternate POVs (see #ownvoices movement).