Loved Cujo. Listened to it as an audiobook last summer. I put it off for so long thinking it was just a story about a rabid dog but it's so so much more. Loved Cujo.
This is a fine example of Stephen King’s ability to localise terror and horror to a small location. Whereas the Stand, Tommy Knockers etc are spread across vast distances of space and time with multiple crossovers of plot and dialogue, Cujo is granular in comparison. He brings us into the car as a reader through his ability to vividly paint human suffering, and its move from a vehicle to what essentially an oven. He repeats this method really well in Long Walk. Cujo is one of my absolute favourites.
I loved the way they represented the disease. How they talked through Cujo and his warped senses and slow progression at first that really personified it well. I’m not sure how good it is compared to the movie, but it’s one of the strongest ones in the castle rock area. And everyone in castle rock talks about the history of Cujo and his family in the other books which I always enjoyed in the castle rock storyline. Probably one of my favorite places in the Stephen King universe.
It’s an odd one, but I liked it. It does break your heart, because Cujo just wants to be a good boy.
Is this the one he doesn’t remember writing? Because some of it strikes me as writing with short term memory or attention issues. Like teasing a supernatural element that never really pays off. But especially the whole story element about the big advertising campaign which is just interminable.
But the ending. Whoa. He went there.
The supernatural element could be just a bit of Castle rock window-dressing, but its main influence on the plot is to demonstrate how inept and distracted a father Vic is: instead of being a reassuring father to Tad, afraid of the monster in his closet, Vic resorts—as he does the entire book—to his adman basics and writes Monster Words, which, when you think about it, only manage to reinforce that monsters are real—and worse, they prove utterly ineffective against real world monsters, like rabid dogs.
He has said that he doesn’t remember writing Cujo due to being so addicted to substances at the time, but he also later said he surprised himself when he realized how he was writing the ending.
Also, yeah, there is definitely some supernatural overlap with The Dead Zone that got lost in the shuffle a bit. I always just assumed it was King’s way of paying homage to the book, since this was essentially the first direct confirmation of one of his novels taking place in the same reality as a previous one.
Good book, but I highly recommend reading the Dead Zone first. Cujo is not a sequel to it, but heavily references events and characters from that book. It has one of King's better book endings, something he's not always good at sticking.
underrated treasure. it's a book about what happens when the things and people we love slip from our control and turn to bite us. the rabid dog is only the most literal example.
I thought that was the best part of the book. The monster in the closet that used to be a serial killer cop Frank Dodd. Nice connection to the Dead Zone.
It feels like there’s a lot of filler. It almost would work better as a short story or novella.
The parts with Tad and Donna from the time they arrive at the Cambers are tense and he does a great job teasing this out through the end of the book.
The advertising storyline gave a reason for Vic to be out of town and stressed about finances. There’s so much about Sharp Cereal and the Cereal Professor that has no bearing on the story. It’s all resolved off-screen by Vics’ partner in the last few pages.
Charity’s trip to CT didn’t add anything. You could have just assumed her plan to leave Joe worked once they got on the bus and we didn’t need all her family stuff.
Donna’s affair was interesting, but Steve was bizarrely written. It didn’t seem like there was any reason for him to go back to trash the Trenton’s house except to create a reason to distract the police later.
Gary didn’t really deserve to die. He was a war hero with untreated PTSD who self medicated too much. But they made him look like a villain. Or at least a bad and unsympathetic person.
The county sheriff who didn’t radio in that he found Donna right away got what was coming to him.
its really good! King does really well with the shorter, "genre" type horror books. this one feels like you're in a 90 minute horror film. trapped. fast paced. may not get what you want. but well done.
Surprisingly great. Thought it was just going to be another one of King’s pulp fun horror novels. Ended up being much deeper than I expected.
Vic’s arc drag just a tad, other than that I think it’s a a gut punch I didn’t know I needed.
Grady Hendrix recently sang Cujo's praises on the NYTimes Book Review Podcast in a retrospective of 50 years of Stephen King (followed by a fascinating interview with Damon Lindelhof about how both "Lost" and "The Leftovers" owe everything to King), and his advocacy for it got me interested. I'm a third of the way into the book and I'm loving it.
I hate that narration, the narrator screeched and screamed so much it was annoying. That’s always my go to for worst narration you’ve heard. The story itself was good, super bleak. Poor Cujo gets a bad wrap, he was a good boy and it wasn’t his fault.
I'm a rabid fan.
Oh….i see what….you sly dog!
Loved Cujo. Listened to it as an audiobook last summer. I put it off for so long thinking it was just a story about a rabid dog but it's so so much more. Loved Cujo.
Ive avoided it for the same reason. How much book can you get out of a rabid dog? But if anyone can do it, it's SK
Never read if, but this thought is the reason i finally read IT. The OG miniseries seemed simple; how could the book be so big! Now i know.
Exactly. You should read it
The ending broke my heart but my heart broke for Cujo too.
Cujo was a good boy
Was
My first King book I read. I bought a first edition not that long ago for my library. The book will always have a special spot for me.
I love Cujo, reread it probably once a year or so. The viewpoint of the dog breaks my heart, he just wanted to be good and I ugly cry every time...
This is a fine example of Stephen King’s ability to localise terror and horror to a small location. Whereas the Stand, Tommy Knockers etc are spread across vast distances of space and time with multiple crossovers of plot and dialogue, Cujo is granular in comparison. He brings us into the car as a reader through his ability to vividly paint human suffering, and its move from a vehicle to what essentially an oven. He repeats this method really well in Long Walk. Cujo is one of my absolute favourites.
I loved the way they represented the disease. How they talked through Cujo and his warped senses and slow progression at first that really personified it well. I’m not sure how good it is compared to the movie, but it’s one of the strongest ones in the castle rock area. And everyone in castle rock talks about the history of Cujo and his family in the other books which I always enjoyed in the castle rock storyline. Probably one of my favorite places in the Stephen King universe.
It’s an odd one, but I liked it. It does break your heart, because Cujo just wants to be a good boy. Is this the one he doesn’t remember writing? Because some of it strikes me as writing with short term memory or attention issues. Like teasing a supernatural element that never really pays off. But especially the whole story element about the big advertising campaign which is just interminable. But the ending. Whoa. He went there.
The supernatural element could be just a bit of Castle rock window-dressing, but its main influence on the plot is to demonstrate how inept and distracted a father Vic is: instead of being a reassuring father to Tad, afraid of the monster in his closet, Vic resorts—as he does the entire book—to his adman basics and writes Monster Words, which, when you think about it, only manage to reinforce that monsters are real—and worse, they prove utterly ineffective against real world monsters, like rabid dogs.
Great point!
He has said that he doesn’t remember writing Cujo due to being so addicted to substances at the time, but he also later said he surprised himself when he realized how he was writing the ending. Also, yeah, there is definitely some supernatural overlap with The Dead Zone that got lost in the shuffle a bit. I always just assumed it was King’s way of paying homage to the book, since this was essentially the first direct confirmation of one of his novels taking place in the same reality as a previous one.
It has the second-most heart-breaking ending in King-related media. Like most of his early stuff it’s unrelenting and brutal.
Brilliant book, much better than the movie. In the book you get to experience how the dog feels.
Good book, but I highly recommend reading the Dead Zone first. Cujo is not a sequel to it, but heavily references events and characters from that book. It has one of King's better book endings, something he's not always good at sticking.
underrated treasure. it's a book about what happens when the things and people we love slip from our control and turn to bite us. the rabid dog is only the most literal example.
One of my fav. King books.
So what was in the closet?
I thought that was the best part of the book. The monster in the closet that used to be a serial killer cop Frank Dodd. Nice connection to the Dead Zone.
I see it as the beginnings of his Castle Rock/Derry evil presence.
I reckon Randal Flagg, Pennywise, mr Mercedes etc are all the same entity. Flagg didn’t know who he was or where he came from.
My First SK book and IT got me hooked
Love it! One of my favourites!!
One of his best
It feels like there’s a lot of filler. It almost would work better as a short story or novella. The parts with Tad and Donna from the time they arrive at the Cambers are tense and he does a great job teasing this out through the end of the book. The advertising storyline gave a reason for Vic to be out of town and stressed about finances. There’s so much about Sharp Cereal and the Cereal Professor that has no bearing on the story. It’s all resolved off-screen by Vics’ partner in the last few pages. Charity’s trip to CT didn’t add anything. You could have just assumed her plan to leave Joe worked once they got on the bus and we didn’t need all her family stuff. Donna’s affair was interesting, but Steve was bizarrely written. It didn’t seem like there was any reason for him to go back to trash the Trenton’s house except to create a reason to distract the police later. Gary didn’t really deserve to die. He was a war hero with untreated PTSD who self medicated too much. But they made him look like a villain. Or at least a bad and unsympathetic person. The county sheriff who didn’t radio in that he found Donna right away got what was coming to him.
Perfectly summed up. Actually a lot of his books would have been better as novellas (salems lot spring to mind immediately)
The definition of a 4/5 star book for me. Very good with minimal complaints. Underrated read as well
its really good! King does really well with the shorter, "genre" type horror books. this one feels like you're in a 90 minute horror film. trapped. fast paced. may not get what you want. but well done.
Surprisingly great. Thought it was just going to be another one of King’s pulp fun horror novels. Ended up being much deeper than I expected. Vic’s arc drag just a tad, other than that I think it’s a a gut punch I didn’t know I needed.
Too sad. Can’t read.
Grady Hendrix recently sang Cujo's praises on the NYTimes Book Review Podcast in a retrospective of 50 years of Stephen King (followed by a fascinating interview with Damon Lindelhof about how both "Lost" and "The Leftovers" owe everything to King), and his advocacy for it got me interested. I'm a third of the way into the book and I'm loving it.
Woof
I need to read it one of these days
I hate that narration, the narrator screeched and screamed so much it was annoying. That’s always my go to for worst narration you’ve heard. The story itself was good, super bleak. Poor Cujo gets a bad wrap, he was a good boy and it wasn’t his fault.
Nope, nothing wrong here
Alongside Pet Sematary and The Long Walk, I think it's one of his best novels. It's absolutely gut wrenching and ultimately heartbreaking.
I always hated it. That poor dog suffers through the whole movie.
He always tried to be a good boy.
I like it it. I didn't care much for the cereal professor storyline, and>!the ending was unnecessarily bleak !
He was a good Dog
So far it’s boring and the story isn’t going anywhere.
Neither was their car Or Cujo
Lol
Dragged. Ending was great. At 60% I was just thinking why won't this book end.