So in the last few days, I�ve finished reading Flowers For Algernon again, and Gerald�s Game again. I had forgotten how emotionally intense both books were. Flowers For Algernon still makes me cry, even though I first read it almost 15 years ago. (Fifteen years! Could it have been so long? Damn, now I feel old.) I finished the last Progress Report (chapter) on my break at work, and that last line gave me the sniffles pretty bad. I went to take the garbage out right after so some fresh air would bring me back to reality. Neither book took me long to devour again� less than a day for each, they�re easy reads.

While Algernon makes me weep, Gerald�s Game makes me feel disquieted and a little nervous. My mother hated it, but I think it was because it wasn�t some supernatural beastie hiding in the closet that was to blame for the misfortunes that the main character befell. The horrors in that novel are so possible and could happen to anyone.

Which brings me to wonder� as someone who has read Stephen King�s books since I was a kid (certainly made Little House on the Prairie seem dull), I wonder sometimes if his wife Tabitha had something to do with the more recent novels. I mean, Gerald�s Game, Dolores Claiborne and Rose Madder were all very pro-female novels. The themes of rape, incest and spousal abuse in all these books are pretty intense and all I can say is� I think she wrote them.

Oh, call me a cynic, but she�s a writer who�s tried for years to gain recognition and has lived in the shadow of her ever-so-popular hubby. He�s already done the pseudonym thing once, how farfetched is it to believe he�s now doing the ghost writer thing? And for her� she gets the satisfaction of knowing millions of people will read and enjoy her books, even if she isn�t exactly credited for writing them.

So I was out walking with W.O.V. earlier, and he said that all the best rock was Satan-inspired, and started to sing �You Gotta Fight for Your Right to Party!�� and then I said �hey, I don�t remember there being any Satan in that song!�. He then informed me that it was there, but implied.

Great, thanks for clearing that up for me.

I�m off work tomorrow, and I plan to sit under my plum tree (in full bloom and covered in blossoms) and drink vodka coolers with Oscar and get all mellow. I�m reading Heart of Darkness now, what a miserable, gloomy piece of work. I�ll finish it by tomorrow afternoon, and then start another novel. Maybe another Steinbeck, I still have a few I haven�t worked though yet.

I also took an Evil rating quiz�

How evil are you?

What I don�t know is how I can be 47% bitch but not really evil. Go figure.