I was a large propulsions systems mechanic on military ships for a decade before becoming a senior engineer for ships and submarines so my relationship with machines is tight and healthy. Because of this experience, I’ve also seen what happens when things go terribly wrong. It almost never ends well for anyone in close proximity to the unauthorized disassembly.
Agree with this take, it did descend into hokey territory. What I got from this as a learning point for me was the dialogue: the back and forth between characters. Even though there's quite a few characters for such a short piece, each voice was distinctive.
I think the technology running amok is scarier. This is early King where he picks an exotic machine and then has to give us a cliched horror reason for it running amok. By the time of Christine, he became such a better writer. He chose the most ubiquitous of devices and I son't think we ever find out how Christine becomes possessed or if we do it's not that important.
I don’t have this fear around big old machines that we can’t turn off exactly. I enjoyed the Steven King though and your explanation of it. It’s the possibilities of autonomous AI controlled machine that we really can’t turn off that haunt my dreams.
I was a large propulsions systems mechanic on military ships for a decade before becoming a senior engineer for ships and submarines so my relationship with machines is tight and healthy. Because of this experience, I’ve also seen what happens when things go terribly wrong. It almost never ends well for anyone in close proximity to the unauthorized disassembly.
Agree with this take, it did descend into hokey territory. What I got from this as a learning point for me was the dialogue: the back and forth between characters. Even though there's quite a few characters for such a short piece, each voice was distinctive.
I think the technology running amok is scarier. This is early King where he picks an exotic machine and then has to give us a cliched horror reason for it running amok. By the time of Christine, he became such a better writer. He chose the most ubiquitous of devices and I son't think we ever find out how Christine becomes possessed or if we do it's not that important.
Thanks Shaina. I love your King posts!
Another great post, thanks Shaina.
I'd forgotten about the Patrick scene in IT! Hard to believe that getting stuck inside a fridge/freezer was a very real thing at one time.
I don’t have this fear around big old machines that we can’t turn off exactly. I enjoyed the Steven King though and your explanation of it. It’s the possibilities of autonomous AI controlled machine that we really can’t turn off that haunt my dreams.