Duma Key

Duma Key is my first Stephen King book. Hailed as one of the greatest living American writers, King is primarily known to pen novels in the horror genre and that kept me from picking up his books earlier. I've recently been trying to expand my reading beyond the thriller genre and thought I'd give Duma Key a shot. The strong characterization and vivid imagery made it clear why King is so popular but the supernatural elements didn't do much for me and so I finished the book with mixed feelings.

Egdar Freemantle, a building contractor, loses his right hand in a construction accident. He is considerably banged up and his wife, after experiencing a few of his bouts of uncontrollable rage, divorces him. Edgar's psychiatrist advices him that a change of location would do him good and asks him to once again take up sketching as a part of rehabilitation. So Edgar moves to Duma Key, an undeveloped strip of the Florida coast. Once there, he meets Elizabeth Eastlake, a woman whose history is tightly bound with that of the area, and her helper Wireman, who seems to have a mysterious past. Edgar himself discovers a talent for painting and soon learns that his paintings have more power than he ever imagined.

King has an uncanny knack of conveying the characters' innermost thoughts and this comes in handy since the novel is a first-person narrative. We understand exactly how Edgar feels and his thoughts(about his lost hand), fears(about the house and the strange happenings) and feelings(for his ex-wife and daughters) are wonderfully conveyed. This helps, especially when the novel begins to move into the supernatural realm, since it makes things more believable. As Edgar begins painting masterpieces and slowly comes to terms with the fact that Duma Key is special, we accept it more easily since we've been with him as he discovered things. And though we meet the important characters only through Edgar, they feel well-fleshed out too since we've been privy to Edgar's thoughts about them.

As Edgar comes to grips with his talent and ponders over his relationships, the story leans towards the psychological. The suspense is also built up very well as we learn bits and pieces of Elizabeth's history and understand exactly how it ties in to all the strange things Edgar's been experiencing.

This book has made me realise that horror in written form doesn't have much of an effect of me. The pshychological aspect of the book gradually gives way to the supernatural but the supernatural elements are never scary. King is very imaginative and his imagery does create some vivid images, especially on that last action-packed mission that Edgar and Wireman go on, but since they are not scary, the book isn't intense or gripping.