Lezersrecensie
Tommyknockers, Tommyknockers
http://looneybooks79.blog/2025/08/06/the-tommyknockers/
These past years I have tried to reread all of Stephen King's novels, one by one in order of publication. Of course, as with everything, it needs some time because there are other books to read and review (the curse and the gift of being a reader and a blogger) so I have been at it for a while now and still haven't reached all too far in the collection... But I have plans to read at least one King novel (new or older) per month... And in July it was my second reading, thirty years after I read it the first time in Dutch, of this humongous novel (I had forgotten it was this big to be honest) The Tommyknockers...
While walking in the woods with her dog, the ageing beagle Peter, author of westerns Bobbi Anderson stumbles over something lodged in the earth. When she starts digging the thing up she notices it is bigger than she expected. It's when she touches the odd object that a tingle passes through her body and that's when everything changes... for her, for the town of Haven and for her boyfriend Jim Gardener.
Jim Gardener, known as Gard, comes back to Haven after a failed attempt at living a normal life as a poet and activist and after a failed attempt to end his own life in a drunken haze. Gard is a known alcoholic and it has destroyed a lot in his life. But one thing it hasn't, yet, and that is his love for Bobbi Anderson. When he feels she is in trouble, he decides to give life another chance and try and save her from whatever is going on.
On his arrival back in Haven and the farm Bobbi inherited from her uncle Frank, all seems normal and as it should be, only Bobbi doesn't. Looking like she hasn't slept or eaten in days she comes back from digging in the woods and falls asleep immediately. Gard starts looking around the farm and does notice things have changed. Bobbi has been busy... she wrote an entire new novel, made improvements to her house (some of them even impossible things made possible) and all this in only a few days. When she awakes and tells her story, Gard has no other option than to say with her and help her, even if it was only to save her from death. Bobbi and Gard set out into the woods and start digging...
That's when things in Haven start to change as well. Nosebleeds, loss of teeth, weird accidents, sudden epiphanies, a disappearing child and outsiders... it's as if a green glow hangs over the entire town and everyone is under the influence of something very strange. The Tommyknockers have awoken and took possession of the citizens of Haven. And those that don't cooperate will need to fear for their lives.
The Tommyknockers is an amazing behemoth of a novel that is unputdownable. As always, King doesn't just write a horror (sci-fi) story, he creates a world within a world and proves again and again that he is the king of horror (and yes, even dabbles in science-fiction with this one). It was a pleasure to revisit this brick of a book, it was an absolute earth-shattering story about humanity versus aliens. If you haven't read this one yet, don't hesitate and go sit down, take your time and enjoy the world King created!
It's no secret that, at the time of writing this sci-fi novel, King was very deep into his drug and alcohol addiction and he wrote this book not remembering much of it and of writing it. He has since told people, even though he thinks there is a good novel in there, he hates it very much. I honestly don't understand his own hate for this novel. In my opinion it is a classic Stephen King book with a town, Haven, under a huge pressure of an outside source and its citizens are all under the influence of this source, being the Tommyknockers and the ship Bobbi Anderson has stumbled upon. It reminded me a lot of novels such as Under the Dome and Dreamcatcher (both also sci-fi novels written by King) but also novels such as Salem's Lot, Needful Things or It where King creates a town and elaborates on all its inhabitants and their own struggle to survive (or not) during a time of hardship. So even though it may have been written under influence of some drug, it still is a typical and classic Stephen King novel that is meant to be treasured! It's also very typical in how Stephen uses some techniques such as teasing a death or something happening in the future of the novel, elaborating on events and on his beloved Maine (I know some King readers think this is sometimes slowing down the story or they think it prevents them from finishing his books, for me this is what I grew up with and I love how he creates an entire world in a single book) and of course, it wouldn't be a King novel without all the references to other books written by him, placing even Haven and the story of the Tommyknockers within the King-universe! I summarized some of the links I have found:
The Shop (first mentioned in Firestarter)
Haven (first mentioned in 'The Dead Zone', Johnny Smith is mentioned a few times in this book as well, and later Haven comes back in 'The Colorado Kid')
Derry (well, we know Derry from 'It', the town and of course Pennywise are mentioned a few times. Later Derry will come back in other stories such as Insomnia, Bag of Bones and Dreamcatcher)
Castle Rock (first mentioned in novels such as Cujo and The Dead Zone, later in Needful Things, The Sun Dog and if I'm not mistaken in The Dark Half as well)
There's mention of Ludlow (where the events of Pet Sematary occur)
The Talisman (Gard meets a boy on the beach near 'The Alhambra' and the boy is... Jack Sawyer)
Of course, as with almost every story or novel written by 'The King of Horror', this one was adapted as well into a mini-series. I don't remember too much about it (it has been a while since I watched it) but I do remember the director(s) and screenwriters changing too much of its source material so that it wasn't the huge success it was meant to be. What I do know as well is that a remake (this time a feature movie) is planned and currently been written. (remaking King's movie adaptations is a new thing these days). I do hope they do not mess it up like they did with the remake of Carrie and Firestarter... We'll have to wait and see, I guess!
Late last night and the night before,
Tommyknockers, Tommyknockers
knocking at your door.
I want to go out, don't know if I can,
because I'm so afraid
of the Tommyknocker man.
These past years I have tried to reread all of Stephen King's novels, one by one in order of publication. Of course, as with everything, it needs some time because there are other books to read and review (the curse and the gift of being a reader and a blogger) so I have been at it for a while now and still haven't reached all too far in the collection... But I have plans to read at least one King novel (new or older) per month... And in July it was my second reading, thirty years after I read it the first time in Dutch, of this humongous novel (I had forgotten it was this big to be honest) The Tommyknockers...
While walking in the woods with her dog, the ageing beagle Peter, author of westerns Bobbi Anderson stumbles over something lodged in the earth. When she starts digging the thing up she notices it is bigger than she expected. It's when she touches the odd object that a tingle passes through her body and that's when everything changes... for her, for the town of Haven and for her boyfriend Jim Gardener.
Jim Gardener, known as Gard, comes back to Haven after a failed attempt at living a normal life as a poet and activist and after a failed attempt to end his own life in a drunken haze. Gard is a known alcoholic and it has destroyed a lot in his life. But one thing it hasn't, yet, and that is his love for Bobbi Anderson. When he feels she is in trouble, he decides to give life another chance and try and save her from whatever is going on.
On his arrival back in Haven and the farm Bobbi inherited from her uncle Frank, all seems normal and as it should be, only Bobbi doesn't. Looking like she hasn't slept or eaten in days she comes back from digging in the woods and falls asleep immediately. Gard starts looking around the farm and does notice things have changed. Bobbi has been busy... she wrote an entire new novel, made improvements to her house (some of them even impossible things made possible) and all this in only a few days. When she awakes and tells her story, Gard has no other option than to say with her and help her, even if it was only to save her from death. Bobbi and Gard set out into the woods and start digging...
That's when things in Haven start to change as well. Nosebleeds, loss of teeth, weird accidents, sudden epiphanies, a disappearing child and outsiders... it's as if a green glow hangs over the entire town and everyone is under the influence of something very strange. The Tommyknockers have awoken and took possession of the citizens of Haven. And those that don't cooperate will need to fear for their lives.
The Tommyknockers is an amazing behemoth of a novel that is unputdownable. As always, King doesn't just write a horror (sci-fi) story, he creates a world within a world and proves again and again that he is the king of horror (and yes, even dabbles in science-fiction with this one). It was a pleasure to revisit this brick of a book, it was an absolute earth-shattering story about humanity versus aliens. If you haven't read this one yet, don't hesitate and go sit down, take your time and enjoy the world King created!
It's no secret that, at the time of writing this sci-fi novel, King was very deep into his drug and alcohol addiction and he wrote this book not remembering much of it and of writing it. He has since told people, even though he thinks there is a good novel in there, he hates it very much. I honestly don't understand his own hate for this novel. In my opinion it is a classic Stephen King book with a town, Haven, under a huge pressure of an outside source and its citizens are all under the influence of this source, being the Tommyknockers and the ship Bobbi Anderson has stumbled upon. It reminded me a lot of novels such as Under the Dome and Dreamcatcher (both also sci-fi novels written by King) but also novels such as Salem's Lot, Needful Things or It where King creates a town and elaborates on all its inhabitants and their own struggle to survive (or not) during a time of hardship. So even though it may have been written under influence of some drug, it still is a typical and classic Stephen King novel that is meant to be treasured! It's also very typical in how Stephen uses some techniques such as teasing a death or something happening in the future of the novel, elaborating on events and on his beloved Maine (I know some King readers think this is sometimes slowing down the story or they think it prevents them from finishing his books, for me this is what I grew up with and I love how he creates an entire world in a single book) and of course, it wouldn't be a King novel without all the references to other books written by him, placing even Haven and the story of the Tommyknockers within the King-universe! I summarized some of the links I have found:
The Shop (first mentioned in Firestarter)
Haven (first mentioned in 'The Dead Zone', Johnny Smith is mentioned a few times in this book as well, and later Haven comes back in 'The Colorado Kid')
Derry (well, we know Derry from 'It', the town and of course Pennywise are mentioned a few times. Later Derry will come back in other stories such as Insomnia, Bag of Bones and Dreamcatcher)
Castle Rock (first mentioned in novels such as Cujo and The Dead Zone, later in Needful Things, The Sun Dog and if I'm not mistaken in The Dark Half as well)
There's mention of Ludlow (where the events of Pet Sematary occur)
The Talisman (Gard meets a boy on the beach near 'The Alhambra' and the boy is... Jack Sawyer)
Of course, as with almost every story or novel written by 'The King of Horror', this one was adapted as well into a mini-series. I don't remember too much about it (it has been a while since I watched it) but I do remember the director(s) and screenwriters changing too much of its source material so that it wasn't the huge success it was meant to be. What I do know as well is that a remake (this time a feature movie) is planned and currently been written. (remaking King's movie adaptations is a new thing these days). I do hope they do not mess it up like they did with the remake of Carrie and Firestarter... We'll have to wait and see, I guess!
Late last night and the night before,
Tommyknockers, Tommyknockers
knocking at your door.
I want to go out, don't know if I can,
because I'm so afraid
of the Tommyknocker man.
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