Books: The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon By Stephen King (1998)

“On a six-mile hike on the Maine-New Hampshire branch of the Appalachian Trail, nine-year-old Trisha McFarland quickly tires of the constant bickering between her older brother, Pete, and her recently divorced mother. But when she wanders off by herself and then tries to catch up by attempting a shortcut, she becomes lost in a wilderness maze full of peril and terror. As night falls, Trisha has only her ingenuity as a defense against the elements, and only her courage and faith to withstand her mounting fears. For solace, she tunes her Walkman to broadcasts of Boston Red Sox baseball games and follows the gritty performances of her hero, relief pitcher Tom Gordon. And when her radio's reception begins to fade, Trisha imagines that Tom Gordon is with her - protecting her from an all-too-real enemy who has left a trail of slaughtered animals and mangled trees in the dense, dark woods.”

There are a handful of Stephen King novels I’ve not read, for whatever reason. The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon was one of them. A minimalist tale, King is able to keep the story going for a while. Trisha, like a lot of King’s kids, is resourceful, with a lot of wisdom that belies her young age. For me, I’m not used to King creating a one character based story and found myself, by the middle of the book, a bit restless and feeling the repetitiveness of Trisha’s issues grounded the narrative to halt. Still, it’s King, and he’s a genius for attempting such a literary experiment. Like his Richard Bachman tales, I appreciate when a well established author can color outside the lines.

Despite King’s success, he still has problems with endings. While you knew the ending, it became also anti-climatic. Trisha finally faces the thing, the It, that she felt has been stalking her, only to have it wrapped up pretty neatly and then the book ends. Maybe I was expecting more? Or maybe I didn’t know what to expect. It’s not a bad book, but I can certainly say it’s one I’ve read now -25 years after it’s release.

Beyond finishing out the Bachman books –Rage, The Running Man, The Long Walk- I still need to read Misery (which King was writing to be released as a Bachman book when he was outed), Gerald’s Game, Delores Claiborne, and Rose Madder.