Books
L
The Dead Zone
By Stephen King
Viking, $11.95, 426 pages
Stephen King is something of
a modern phenomenon. All of
his books (Carrie, Salem’s Lot,
The Shining, Night Shift, The
Stand) have spent some time on
the bestseller list (hardback,
paperback, or both), and his
most recent effort is no excep
tion. The Dead Zone will not
disappoint King's loyal readers.
It may gain him a broader
audience, since it represents a
r
step forward in terms of literary
expertise.
King's work is not as literary
as that of Peter Straub, and
cerainly not on a par with M R.
James, but it can stand com
parison with the best of Shirley
Jackson and Richard Mathe
son. The horror genre is not an
easy field to master, but King at
his best (The Shining) is hard to
touch. The Dead Zone ranks
with his best.
Something of a departure
from his earlier techniques, The
Dead Zone relies on implication
— ■ ; ^
poppis
GREEK. PEASANT FOOD
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“SPLENDID LUNACY! ^
AN ELEGANT, COMIC FILM
by Rainer Fassbinder.
Dirk Bogarde gives one of the wittiest
performances of his entire career.
The Stoppard script is a joy.
FASSBINDER SUCCEEDS BRILLIANTLY!”
- Vincent Canby/N.Y. TIMES
“DAZZLING! Bogarde is SUPERB.”
—Jack Kroll/NEWSWEEK
“A WEIRDLY FUNNY PSYCHOLOGICAL
THRILLER. Bogarde’s performance sets
a best actor standard hard to beat.
Andrea Ferreoi is wonderfully comic.
FASSBINDER IS AT HIS MOST CREATIVE.”
—William Wolf/CUE
I “Dirk Bogarde is devilishly insinuating.
A WILDLY ENTERTAINING FILM!”
- Andrew Sarris VILLAGE VOICE
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star no DIRK BOGARDE • ANDREA FERREOL
Based on tne VLADIMIR NABOKOV Novel • Screenplay by TOM STOP?ABO
Directed by RAINER WIRNER FAUMNDCR From New Une Cinema
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Wk. Days: 7:30 & 9:45
Sat.-Sun: 1:15-3:15-5:20-7:30-9:45
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CINEMA
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for its power. The story is not a
grand guignol on the surface,
but it certainly is by extension. It
might be said that this is a
“thinking man’s’’ horror story,
since the true weight of its
power rests on the reader’s
identification with the main
character and a certain ability to
realize the full extent of the si
tuation.
This book is something of an
experiment for King. In his last
novel (The Stand), he attempted
to blend what were essentially
two separate novels — one a
horror story, the other science
fiction — with only moderate
success. In The Dead Zone, he
has advanced his style into new
realms. Subtlety is not the cor
rect word, for that concept is not
new to King (despite all its ap
palling imagery, The Shining is,
at times, quite subtle). The
power of The Dead Zone lies
below the literal level — not in
symbolism, but in its ability to
summon archetypical fears by
implication. This is not great
literature in any sense, but it is
grand entertainment.
Still, King manages to lose
control in a few spots. One
scene is almost too obviously a
lift from Carrie, and King cannot
resist the temptation to refer to
his own work within the story.
Since this incident jolts the
reader back to the pages of the
book in a literal sense, it is a
serious flaw, for it occurs at a
time when the true horror of the
situation is beginning to
emerge.
King is a writer in transition.
So far, he has ventured com
pletely out of the horror genre
only in a few short stories. The
Dead Zone is not so much a step
away as a refinement. Now in his
mid-thirties, King has many
productive years ahead of him.
It will be interesting to see
where he leads us.
By Dan Hays
LPs
This Day and Age
D.L. Byron
Arista AB 4258
D.L. Byron can’t decide
whether he wants to be Bruce
Springsteen or Elvis Costello.
The cover of his debut album,
This Day and Age, is a rip-off of
Springsteen's Born to Run
promotional posters, and the
music inside is a rip-off of
Springsteen, when it’s not bla
tantly imitating Costello.
The lyrics in"Love in Motion,”
("Nuclear injected on a Sunday
drive/“l’ll be pretty lucky if I'm
left alive") might sound good if
one didn’t get the feeling that
Byron wrote them because they
sounded like something
Springsteen might have written.
And when he follows them with
"Just when I’m thinkin’ that I’ve
done my time/She's gonna
make her punishment fit the
crime,” the effect is one of a
police composite sketch.
“Could you describe him,
ma’am?”
“Why yes, officer, he had
horn-rimmed glasses. . .”
The Black Student Union presents
"THE SPOOK WHO SAT BY THE DOOR"
with a special presentation by
Sam Greenlee
author of the exciting, best-selling novel from which this
controversial movie was made.
Join us for a revealing and provocative rap session!
Feb. 23—7:30 p.m.—177 Lawrence
Admission $2.50
UNIVERSITY THEATRE PRESENTS
Feb. 22, 23, 28, 29, March 1
8 pm Robinson Theatre
$4.00 General Admission
$2.50 UO Student & Senior Citizens
Box Office 686-4191
Those whose sensibilities are offended by strong language and
interpersonal conflicts should not attend.
"Horn-rimmed glasses...”
“A scraggly beard, but maybe
he’s shaved by now.”
"Scraggly beard...”
‘‘He seemed pigeon-toed,
and he was carrying a guitar.”
“Notice anything unusual
about the guitar, ma’am?”
“Now that you mention it, the
guitar did seem a bit out of the
ordinary. On the thin end, there
were . . there were...”
"There were what, ma’am?”
"Sneakers.”
What This Day and Age has to
offer is a sketch of a rock ’n’ roll
album — all the form, and little or
no content. By its very nature,
the music of a Springsteen or a
Costello requires the performer
to make a statement of some
sort. Unfortunately, Byron has
nothing to say.
The album isn’t a total loss,
however. Occasionally, Byron
comes up with a song that’s
good enough to stand up on its
own, and he shows enough
talent throughout to make fu
ture efforts worth a listen. This
Day and Age, though, is merely
a mildly entertaining diversion
between Springsteen albums.
I’ll wait for the real thing.
By Phil Bernstein
Kinko’s
4
Self
Service
Copies
• Reductions
• Two-sided copies
• Binding
344-7894 764 E. 13th
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