Misery by Stephen King (Amazing)

A week or two ago, I went into a used bookstore, and my dad bought me a copy of Misery because he had seen the movie and thought it was my kind of thing.  He was very, very right.  I found myself reading Misery from when I came home to 2:30am and then sleeping, only to begin reading again as soon as I awoke.  I had been looking forward to reading it since I brought it home, but I couldn't because I had this huge stack of library books that had "priority".  Anyways, I started reading it one night.  I planned to read a page or two to introduce myself to the characters and all that before I would officially begin reading it.  From my experience with Stephen King books (mainly The Shining and Pet Sematary), the first hundred pages or so go very slowly, so I figured it wouldn't make a difference.  I was wrong.  I ended up reading almost fifty pages before I forced myself away.  One thing you can say about this book is that it starts quickly, and without knowing it, you get sucked into this world.  This particular world that Stephen King makes is not supernatural in the least.  One hundred percent of it could have happened.  In a way, that makes the entire story more harrowing.
But I am getting ahead of myself.  Here are two versions of the cover; the one I read from and my favorite one.

The favorite:

The original:

The covers: 

The first cover is really neat.  It shows Paul's typewriter with the broken "n" key stranded in the snow.

The second cover shows Annie Wilkes's house in the middle of nowhere with the snow falling down, isolating those in the house from all others.

Description: 

Paul Sheldon is a bestselling writer.  After a crippling car crash, he is saved by Annie Wilkes, his number one fan.  Annie becomes his nurse and takes care of him in her house.  She asks for one thing from Paul in repayment for her services.  He must write a book for her, his best yet.  And if he doesn't... Let's just say that Annie has a huge temper, and no neighbors live close enough to hear his screams.  

Review: 

Misery was absolutely amazing.  Fantastic.  It completely occupied my thoughts for both of the days I was reading it, nonstop.  It had constant action and suspense.  It was absolutely impossible to put down.  The characters were super realistic in their own way.  I've never met a person like Annie Wilkes, but I could still see how she was thinking and understand her, even if it was in a twisted way. And Paul.  Paul was an amazingly complex character with so many different levels.  I felt pain for him, basically throughout the entire book.  

My only problem with the entire book was the segments of Paul's novel that were put in.  I couldn't quite get excited by the aspects of the book within the book.  But there were not many of those segments, and they did relate to what was happening between Paul and Annie. 

I loved Misery! However, I would both recommend it to everyone and to no one.  To clarify, I think it was such an amazing book that everyone who hasn't read it is missing out on a crucial part of life. And yet, it got pretty graphic and, basically, just not meant for delicate eyes and weak hearts.  I would feel terrible if I recommended Misery to someone and they couldn't sleep anymore, but it is such a good book!  You might be able to understand the issue here...

Either way, I was more involved with Misery than any other book I've read in a long time.  It wasn't awesome.  That word is too mundane to describe a book like Misery.  It was amazing, fantastic, heart-stopping.  It was so much more than awesome.  I highly, highly, highly, recomend Misery to all who can handle reading about a little misery.

Phrase:

so vivid!