# Anyone reading Stephen King's Duma Key ? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [February 14, 2008, 5:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-reading-stephen-kings-duma-key/437570 "2008-02-14T05:43:52Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![ivylass](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/9de053/32.png) [@ivylass](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivylass)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2008, 10:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-reading-stephen-kings-duma-key/437570/61 "2008-03-16T22:02:37Z")
I also Googled [this painting](http://www.myfreewallpapers.net/artistic/pages/dali-swans-reflecting-elephants.shtml) because Edgar said it freaked him out so much he could barely look at it. It is pretty cool. ---
**Author:** ![Dung\_Beetle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dung_beetle/32/7945_2.png) [@Dung\_Beetle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dung_Beetle)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2008, 2:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-reading-stephen-kings-duma-key/437570/62 "2008-03-17T14:25:20Z")
**Glory** , even your new interpretation doesn’t work for me. If Perse could have “hooks” in Elizabeth all these years when she was immersed in the cask of fresh water, then we can’t believe the story’s over, even now! Unless we further hypothesize that the silver capsule is providing sufficient extra protection… _sigh_ I think we’ll just have to admit Steve flubbed it. But we all enjoyed the ride anyway, right? Thanks for looking that up, **ivylass** , I was never going to get around to it. I like it too. ---
**Author:** ![Dung\_Beetle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dung_beetle/32/7945_2.png) [@Dung\_Beetle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dung_Beetle)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2008, 3:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-reading-stephen-kings-duma-key/437570/63 "2008-03-17T15:05:58Z")
This plot hole is worrying me. I’m scrounging around in my spare time (ha!) to see what else is being said about it, but I’ve gotten no satisfaction yet. The thing that annoys me most is that the editors should have caught this. I still like the book, so any weak excuse will do. ---
**Author:** ![norinew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/eb9ed0/32.png) [@norinew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/norinew)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2008, 10:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-reading-stephen-kings-duma-key/437570/64 "2008-03-17T22:24:41Z")
> [@Dung Beetle](#): > > _sigh_ I think we’ll just have to admit Steve flubbed it. You take that back! You. . .you heathen! You. . .Philistine! You. . .Whatever Bad Thing That Remark Makes You! Steve did _not_ flub anything! I prefer to think he had a very good reason for this plot point, and just assumed that Constant Reader would be smart enough to understand without him elaborating on it! 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Dung\_Beetle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dung_beetle/32/7945_2.png) [@Dung\_Beetle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dung_Beetle)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2008, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-reading-stephen-kings-duma-key/437570/65 "2008-03-18T19:52:22Z")
You…you mean…I’ve _failed_ him? _big eyes, trembling lip_ Noooooooooooooo! ---
**Author:** ![delphica](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e9a140/32.png) [@delphica](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/delphica)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2008, 8:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-reading-stephen-kings-duma-key/437570/66 "2008-03-18T20:16:36Z")
[QUOTE=Dung Beetle] Hope I’m still allowed to bump this…I’ve been re-reading the book with this question in mind. I have yet to find a better explanation, but if I do, I’ll bump again. [/QUOTE] The impression I got was that Elizabeth really and truly forgets what happened with Perse. Some of it is supernatural – after Perse is in the cistern, her connection to Elizabeth is broken. Maybe a little like in IT, how the kids forgot? Also, Elizabeth is _young_ and _suffering from a head injury_ when everything happens … and even taking out the supernatural, I can see how a kid, growing up over the years, would start seeing the events as more and more hazy and distant, forgetting the details. It’s the Alzheimer’s that is opening up little chinks in the wall and letting the details of the past slip through. The reason she keeps encouraging artists to stay at the Pink House is that she’s rich, and she loves art. I think that is one of the really touchingly sad things about this book – even without Perse, the child Elizabeth loved to draw and paint, and giving it up was difficult and traumatic for her but she did it because she knew she had to put a stop to Perse. Even though the adult Elizabeth doesn’t have any conscious memory of the events, I think emotionally she still feels the loss of her art, and encouraging other artists is the only tie she has left to that part of herself. ---
**Author:** ![Glory](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/7cd45c/32.png) [@Glory](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Glory)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2008, 8:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-reading-stephen-kings-duma-key/437570/67 "2008-03-18T20:18:45Z")
Hey DB Do we know when the crack happened? If we don’t know when the crack happened, maybe it happened years and years ago, allowing Perse to exert a tiny bit of influence over Elizabeth. Maybe that’s why she kept throwing the doll in the water - on some level, she KNEW it needed to be done again?" ---
**Author:** ![Dung\_Beetle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dung_beetle/32/7945_2.png) [@Dung\_Beetle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dung_Beetle)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2008, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-reading-stephen-kings-duma-key/437570/68 "2008-03-18T20:35:35Z")
**delphica, Glory** : Those sound…acceptable. I haven’t found any other discussions of this plot point that are any better than the one we’re having now, so unless Steve offers to explain, we could just go with that. ---
**Author:** ![AuntiePam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@AuntiePam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AuntiePam)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2008, 9:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-reading-stephen-kings-duma-key/437570/69 "2008-03-18T21:33:04Z")
I’d like Steve to explain why Edgar didn’t just leave the island. How do you guys feel about the foreshadowing of a certain character’s death? (You know who I mean.) I can’t decide. It made that character’s appearances sort of bittersweet, knowing what was coming, but it lessened the impact too. I expect that most of King’s books have plot holes, but there’s something about his writing that makes me overlook them while I’m reading. It isn’t until later, when I see the movie or listen to some discussion that the improbabilities come out. Another one from Duma Key – one of the “ghosts” was killed twice – once in Big Pink and again at the end. What’s up with that? ---
**Author:** ![Dung\_Beetle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dung_beetle/32/7945_2.png) [@Dung\_Beetle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dung_Beetle)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2008, 11:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-reading-stephen-kings-duma-key/437570/70 "2008-03-19T11:52:29Z")
[QUOTE=AuntiePam] I expect that most of King’s books have plot holes, but there’s something about his writing that makes me overlook them while I’m reading. It isn’t until later, when I see the movie or listen to some discussion that the improbabilities come out. Another one from Duma Key – one of the “ghosts” was killed twice – once in Big Pink and again at the end. What’s up with that? [/QUOTE] Apparently it works on me too. I hadn’t noticed that one until you pointed it out. :smack: Let’s say he was just “driven away” the first time. ---
**Author:** ![AuntiePam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@AuntiePam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AuntiePam)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2008, 2:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-reading-stephen-kings-duma-key/437570/71 "2008-03-19T14:52:35Z")
[QUOTE=Dung Beetle] Apparently it works on me too. I hadn’t noticed that one until you pointed it out. :smack: Let’s say he was just “driven away” the first time. [/QUOTE] Nah. I think he poofed just like one of Buffy’s vampires. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![vivalostwages](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/d07c76/32.png) [@vivalostwages](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vivalostwages)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2008, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-reading-stephen-kings-duma-key/437570/72 "2008-04-03T16:17:40Z")
Okay, I finally finished it. Good story, better than some of his recent work, though not as enjoyable as some books of his from decades past. ---
**Author:** ![Weirddave](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/919ad9/32.png) [@Weirddave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Weirddave)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2009, 3:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-reading-stephen-kings-duma-key/437570/73 "2009-01-28T15:14:19Z")
> [@ivylass](#): > > I just finished it and I thoroughly enjoyed it. I thought the story flowed well, and we were able to settle in and get a good sense of the characters. > > My only question is Why didn’t they just break the china doll into pieces? They could have buried each piece in fresh water separately, then probably no chance she would come back. If you think about it, they didn’t lay actual hands on the doll until very late in the story. Edgar was, to use a nuclear clock analogy, “2 seconds til midnight” by the time he first touched it, and even then he tried briefly to break it over his knee. It didn’t work. The doll appeared fragile as hell but in actuality was as hard as iron. All this happened as night was falling down in the well, there wasn’t time for Edgar to find a smelter and try for a Terminator 2 ending, he just had time to submerge it in the fresh water in the Maglite and hope for the best. (Yea, I know, almost a year late, but I just read the book while on vacation last week) ---
**Author:** ![Anaamika](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Anaamika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaamika)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2009, 3:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-reading-stephen-kings-duma-key/437570/74 "2009-01-28T15:25:41Z")
I’m bumping this now. I read this not too long ago. It was…Ok. The main thing that troubled me was I really didn’t like the main character much. He was sort of an asshole. But the suspense really grew in the background, almost with you unaware of it. It isn’t a re-read, though, and I re-read most of my books. I really posted to complain/agree about Lisey’s story, though. I could not get past 30 pages or so, and that goddamn smucking, and the on and on and on angst of the woman. I just wanted her to shut the fuck up. ---
**Author:** ![don\_t\_ask](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2009, 3:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-reading-stephen-kings-duma-key/437570/75 "2009-01-28T15:52:11Z")
> [@AuntiePam](#): > > I wouldn’t expect a writer (or a filmmaker or artist or musician) to work through a life-changing event in just one novel/movie/painting/song. There’s more than one aspect to explore. > > Should singers be limited to just one break-up song? Should Monet have painted just one ballerina? (He **is** the guy who does ballet dancers, isn’t he?) > > Many of my favorite writers revisit familiar territory, exploring, getting deeper, looking at stuff from different angles. I like it. Well ask any creative person who they are creating for and it isn’t us, they create what is important to them. Stephen King doesn’t care what we think about his writing, it’s just what he does. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-reading-stephen-kings-duma-key/437570.md?page=3)