Recent Reading-Pet Sematary

My nightstand has looked out of control recently with all my "to read" books. I have a bad habit of going to the library and checking out waaaayyyy too many books. I'm a teacher and mother of 3 very young kids; who am I kidding? But I have been able to finish a couple of really great books recently. The first one is:

Pet Sematary by Stephen King

This was my first time to read a book by Stephen King and it's perfect timing with Halloween right around the corner. I don't normally read books in the horror genre and I decided to read this particular title because I've had a fascination with the movie since I was 13 years old. I think the reason why I've been so drawn to this story is the idea of bringing something back from the dead that you love so much; now that I have kids the idea absolutely terrifies me because I think to myself, "Would I if I could?" And the answer to my own question is what shocks me. This book is all about confronting death and that is not a subject one likes to delve in much. 

The particular edition of the book I read had an introduction by Stephen King. He states that it is the scariest book he has ever written. In fact he thinks he took things too far with this novel and at one point he threw away the story. It's a story of caution and warning. One particular quote from the book that sticks out in my mind is: “And the most terrifying question of all may be just how much horror the human mind can stand and still maintain a wakeful, staring, unrelenting sanity.”

I was curious to see how the movie follows the book and I was not disappointed at all; in fact, I ended up liking the book even more than the movie. It explores the psyche of the main character Louis Creed who seems to have the perfect life-a doctor with a beautiful wife and two children (one of them happens to be the age of my own son). His son gets hit by a truck and he decides to bury him in the Indian burial ground that brings dead things back to life. I can't even begin to describe how I felt reading the book and dealing with Louis's emotions while thinking about losing my own son (and daughters). It's the most painful thing I've ever felt. One moment can take away a lifetime of happiness. Life can be cruel, can't it. 

But what if you could take that unhappiness back? What if you could bring back what was taken from you? Would you? Louis decides to bring his son back but unfortunately the son isn't who (or what) he used to be. That's the price you pay-everything comes with a price. His son is now evil but at least he has the chance to be with him again. At least the sorrow is gone. For now. It reminds me of the Governor from The Walking Dead. He keeps his daughter, who has been turned into a zombie, chained up and cares for her. At first I thought, "how weird is that?" And then I look at my own children and I can't help but wonder and think, "I hope I never get put into that situation."

But that makes us selfish people, doesn't it, to bring them back or to keep them from moving on. I believe in Heaven and why would you take that away from someone you love just to have more time on earth with them. Another quote from the book that really stuck with me is “Faith is a great thing, and really religious people would like us to believe that faith and knowing are the same thing, but I don't believe that myself. Because there are too many different ideas on the subject. What we know is this: When we die, one of two things happens. Either our souls and thoughts somehow survive the experience of dying or they don't. If they do, that opens up every possibility you could think of. If they don't, it's just blotto. The end.” 

This book took a lot out of me emotionally, which is rare for a fiction book to do that to me. That's usually reserved for non-fiction books. There were several nights were I fell asleep reading the book and had weird dreams and other nights were I couldn't get to sleep because I was reading a particularly chilling part. I was a little too happy to finish the book; not because I didn't like it but because it was so depressing to me. “That lesson suggests that in the end, we can only find peace in our human lives by accepting the will of the universe.”

The other book I finished recently is "The Husband's Secret" by Liane Moriarty. Be on the lookout for my thoughts on that book within the week. 

What's the scariest book you have ever read, and why is it scary to you?