I don’t consider this spoiler, but I know some people here are pretty fanatical about that type of thing, so I’m going to spoiler-space it anyway. It reveals nothing not in the ‘Publishers Weekly’ description of the book on the Amazon.com page.
I just started listening to the audio book on my commute, and there’s a scene where the protagonist sits with his hands clenched in his lap. Problem is, the guy only has one arm. I don’t think it’s a phantom hand being described, either.
and I put this in the wrong forum. I see we can now report our own posts, so I have done so.
This being a King novel…
Maybe the guy keeps his severed hand as a keepsake and clenches it with his remaining hand when he’s tense
Got it. Moving to Cafe Society…
There’s a scene in *The Green Mile *that King admits he had to fix once the little books were published as one big book…something about a man in a straitjacket flipping someone off.
Just finished listening to the audiobook of Duma Key. He does this several times. The protagonist mentions “hands” when he has only one. I don’t know if this was intentional on King’s part in that the character is still getting used to having only one arm. I suspect that this is not uncommon amongst amputees. It just seems natural to refer to hands in pairs. So, I’m not sure if it is a flub or not. King has a knack for writing realistic, natural dialog and wouldn’t be surprised if this is just an example of that. Think about it. If one of your arms were amputated, how long would it take for you to stop saying “hands” (i.e. “I rested my hands in my lap.” “I put my hands down.”)
I agree, I remember reading this and recall thinking “eh?” But when I went back and reread it, it was in the first person and not a description of the scene.
However, as above, I recall reading the Green Mile and wondering how someone in a straightjacket made that gesture so who knows?
Interesting theory Redfrost, sounds possible.