What do you expect from a Stephen King novel? You’re indeed expecting suspense and thrills, and you’ll be taken on a rollercoaster of emotions. This is what makes him one of the greatest novelists of our time. Today, I want to share my thoughts on the novel Gerald’s Game.
Gerald’s Game is a 1992 suspense novel by American writer Stephen King. In this particular novel, we follow Jessie Burlingame, who has been handcuffed to a bed in an attempt to rekindle their marriage after years of neglect due to her husband Gerald’s constant indulgence in pornography and alcoholism. The novel follows Jessie as she struggles with her current situation and wrestles with her past demons as they come back to haunt her in the present tense.
Gerald’s Game takes place over two days; one day in which Jessie is handcuffed to her bed as she struggles against her inner demons, and another day where she recounts what happened before she was handcuffed (the events leading up to the arrest).
The author does an excellent job of keeping readers engaged throughout the whole process; whether through dialogue or description, you never get bored because there’s always something happening on every page!
This book stands out from other horror novels because of how much thought went into creating such realistic characters and situations. King does an excellent job of making us feel what Jessie feels as she tries to make sense of her position: fear and panic when the voices start talking; hopelessness when she realizes there’s no one around who can hear her screams; despair when she begins having visions about her past life at home with Gerald; anger when she realizes what Gerald has done to her over the years (both intentionally and unintentionally).
I also appreciated how Gerald’s Game doesn’t shy away from some of the more uncomfortable aspects of human nature. There’s an element of horror in this story—not just because there’s a woman handcuffed to a bed with no hope of rescue, but also because she starts hearing voices inside her head telling her what to do. That kind of thing can be hard to read about sometimes (especially if you’ve ever had an experience like that). Still, I think it adds something interesting to the plotline: what would happen if someone who usually is sane suddenly starts hearing voices? How would they deal with that? Would they be able to tell?
Gerald’s Game is an excellent place to start if you like Stephen King’s style and want to check out some of his older works. It seems that King spent as much time thinking about this story, its characters, and their development as he did about the words themselves. Suppose you’re looking for a good Stephen King story but don’t want something that will inevitably end with seven people battling a supernatural evil (other than Pennywise The Clown). In that case, Gerald’s Game is perfect for you.