44 pages • 1 hour read
Stephen KingA modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Content Warning: This section of the guide discusses the source text’s depictions of murder, rape, and antigay bias and language. It also includes scientifically inaccurate and offensive depictions of people with brain injuries and people with mental health conditions.
“It is by going down into the abyss that we recover the treasures of life.”
The novel’s epigraph sets up Pete’s journey. As he goes enters the “abyss” of his obsession with the Rothstein notebooks he discovers the real “treasure” of his family. Ultimately, he realizes, his sister and the people around him mean more than literature.
“I have never asked myself. Any more than I’ve asked myself why I keep filling notebook after notebook. Some things just are.”
Rothstein here illustrates the mindset of the author in The Relationship Between Author and Readers. He does not understand why he writes; he just does it, without thought to pleasing a specific reader or group, despite how passionately Morris may feel about it.
“The first argument about money in the Saubers household—the first one the kids overheard, at least—happened on an evening in April. It wasn’t a big argument, but even the greatest storms begin as a gentle breeze.”
This metaphor compares the argument between Pete’s parents to a gentle breeze that will grow into a storm. Pete’s reflection suggests that the fighting has escalated in severity and may end in a natural disaster-sized catastrophe. This fighting ultimately inspires him to give them the money, then look for a way to sell the notebooks, in an effort to help them. Ironically, this small act creates the “storm” of the events of the novel.
By Stephen King
11.22.63
11.22.63
Stephen King
1408
1408
Stephen King
Bag of Bones
Bag of Bones
Stephen King
Billy Summers
Billy Summers
Stephen King
Carrie
Carrie
Stephen King
Children of the Corn
Children of the Corn
Stephen King
Cujo
Cujo
Stephen King
Different Seasons
Different Seasons
Stephen King
Doctor Sleep
Doctor Sleep
Stephen King
Dolores Claiborne
Dolores Claiborne
Stephen King
Duma Key
Duma Key
Stephen King
Elevation
Elevation: A Novel
Stephen King
End of Watch
End of Watch
Stephen King
Fairy Tale
Fairy Tale
Stephen King
Firestarter
Firestarter
Stephen King
From a Buick 8
From a Buick 8
Stephen King
Full Dark, No Stars
Full Dark, No Stars
Stephen King
Gerald's Game
Gerald's Game
Stephen King
Gwendy's Button Box
Gwendy's Button Box
Stephen King, Richard Chizmar
Holly
Holly
Stephen King