Title: 1922
Author: Stephen King
Published by: Scribner
Published on: November 9, 2010
Pages: 132
And is there Hell, or do we make our own on Earth?
Ahh, October. The month of the creepies, ghostlies, scaredies. It is infamous for the Celtic celebration of Samhain, which was later known All Hallows' Eve. Today, we call it Halloween.
And what better way to start it than with a book from the Master of Horror?
I picked up 1922 for two reasons: I wanted something quick and I wanted something Stephen King. At the time I was reading wayy too many Cosmere books and I needed to clear my head from intense fantasy worldbuilding. So, Stephen King to the rescue!
We are greeted with our main character, Wilfred James, who supposedly wrote a very long letter that it simply became a novella 10 years after the main events. In 1922 Wilfred was still married to Arlette, had a dashing teenage son named Henry, and owned a farm belonged both to his and Arlette's family. Everything seemed perfectly content, until it didn't. Arlette wanted to move to the big city and sold her farm, which was bigger than Wilfred's. If she managed to do so, Wilfred would have to sell his and the whole family would have to move into the city -- exactly what Arlette wanted.
But that wasn't what Wilfred wanted. It was at this point that he began to repeatedly say,
I believe there is a man inside every man, a stranger, a Conniving Man.
--XXXXXX
And this Conniving Man planted an idea in Wilfred's head: that Arlette should be killed. That was exactly what he did. Starting by manipulating Henry into willingly help him, they murdered her in what was arguably the most gruesome death scene I'd ever read in a long time. After executing the deed, they buried her in an abandoned well backyard.
However, it was only the beginning of what would become a living nightmare for both of them. It started with rats, followed by a father/son strained relationship, then tragedy after tragedy struck this household.
You know what they say. One may hide a dead body, but everyone will still smell it.
EGGLYSIS
1922 was no more than 150 pages, but boi was it packed and intense. It took me a couple of days to finish, and normally I would eat up stories this short in one go.
Let's talk character for a bit. Wilfred James. The man was a misogynistic and arrogant prat. I tried to give him a chance, like hey maybe this guy had some redeeming qualities, but the more I read the more I hated his guts. But here's the thing and what I love the most about Stephen King: he could write the most unredeemable, unlikable bastard, yet still finding a balance to make him intriguing. The decision to have the story be told in first person POV helps, too, because right from the start we knew he was unreliable.
He murdered his wife, yes. However, no matter how disgusting his actions were, King managed to veer us readers to his side. I had to pause several time to check in my morality, because rooting for Wilfred to successfully able hide his wife's body without anyone noticing was too twisted. Or even feeling sad because Henry pulled himself away from his Dad. The fucker deserved it, but why did I feel sad for him? Sigh.
Henry is another case. He was a sweet boy, and I wanted to choke Wilfred for dragging him into his plot. He broke my heart along the way, but that Bonnie and Clyde subplot was a bit over the top, methinks.
I love how the ending can be interpreted in two ways. Was it all just in Wilfred's head, or was it all true? Did he really inflict those upon himself, or were those things really happen? King doesn't usually write perfect ending, yet this one definitely is.
Overall, 1922...
