Cujo: A Novel

I've been fascinated by Cujo ever since I was like 11 or 12 and was horrified by the original DVD cover when I saw it at Wal-Mart in the early '00s. Looking at it now, it's clearly a bad photoshop job (which in a way makes it even more unsettling), but the image of that snarling dog with gigantic teeth and eerily human looking eyes, juxaposed against a blue sky with fluffy white clouds, terrified me for years as I avoided it in the DVD department at any given store. Beneath all this, I was curious about the movie itself. I eventually saw the movie and loved it (and as soon as the Special Edition was released, with less horrifying cover art, I snapped it up). But I never read the book... until now.

This was the first full Stephen King book I ever read, and it won't be the last. Its relatively slow pace may surprise some people - the book doesn't get to the main setpiece, Donna and Tad trapped in their car by the rabid St. Bernard Cujo, until almost halfway through - but King's writing and excellent character work kept me engaged the whole way through. I was as engaged with the stupid cereal commercial subplot as I was with the horrifying main plot. And as frightening as this book is, it's also absolutely heartbreaking, especially if you're a dog lover like myself. The glimpses into Cujo's deteriorating mental state, and his sendoff... poor thing. He was a good boy who deserved so much better. And I don't wanna spoil it, but that's not the only heartwrenching thing that happens.

In short, this is an excellent book that I'd recommend to anyone interested, but be warned that it packs an emotional gut-punch. Not bad for a book written by a guy who was so drunk and stoned that he barely even remembers writing the thing. Or so I've heard. I've come across conflicting reports as to what the writing process here was really like, so I don't know for sure what happened. What I do know is that King made a masterpiece with Cujo.

since I first read this book. But since I just read "You Like It Darker" I thought I should re-read it. Looking back I remembered it as scarier. Regardless of what is in the closet the dog was always the monster for me and very much real, and therefore scarier than many of King's supernatural creations. It is still a great book but I have been starting to prefer his newer writing where he edits his descriptions a little to make a tighter story.

This book as so much better than I expected. I knew it was about a rabid dog, but I expected a simple, straight horror novel. I didn't expect such diverse characters or complex plot. I appreciated the realistic characters. The boy scared of monsters in his closet, the couple with marital problems, the jilted/oppssessed lover, the mother who wants something better for her son, all were poignant and sympathetic. I cared for each of them. I even felt sorry for the hard nosed, controlling, abusive father, which, let me say, is quite a good peice of writing if I can feel sorry for a man like that, and it was because he wasn't totally the black side of black and white. He was a darker shade of gray than the heroes of the story, but there was still enough in him that I could identify with. The jilted, obsessive lover though, the kind who flies off the handle and throws a scary big boy tantrum when he doesn't get what he wants, was not someone I felt at all sorry for, but I can say, I sadly have known people just like. All the characters were real human being's. The dog himself was well written too. I haven't read any other stories where the dogs were so well written. I read Call of the Wild, and the dogs in that story seemed way too human. Not that I know what being a dog is like, but I can say, I found this dog character believable. I did find the ending to be more depressing than I expected, or wanted, but it was not dissatisfying.

The only thing I did not like was that the version I read, had typos in it. A lot of them. At a couple points, the boy named Tad was "Ted", and the first time it happened, I re-read the previous page thinking the point of view had changed (which did happen in the book - the point of view/scene/character would change in the middle of the page with no indication), "guts" was "cuts" and "above" was "about". The typos were enough to completely change the meaning of a sentence! It was disorienting and by the end of the book, very frustrating. I knocked off one star for that, because in my opinion, there is absolutely no excuse for that frequency and severity of typos.

We return to the setting of Castle Rock, Maine. A town that is still haunted by the grizzly murders that took place some years ago. In the story we meet The Trenton's, Donna and Vic and their son Tad. They are a family who moved to Castle Rock from New York. Donna ends an affair that doesn't end well and Vic might loose his job. Then there are the Cambers, Joe and Charity and their son Brett. Joe is a mechanic. He's the kind of person you'd want to meet when your car breaks down, but not the kind of person you want to be married to. He abuses and controls his wife, Charity who despises her husband behavior and attitude. She does not want her son to turn out like his father. They have a dog named Cujo who get bitten by a bat and becomes rabid. Cujo's condition gets worse over time turning him from the good-natured dog he was into a bloodthirsty killer. Donna and Tad are trapped inside her Pinto as Cujo attacks them. The characters are all suffering some sort of crisis, big or small before Cujo makes his first kill. Donna and Vic's marriage is being tested, while Charity is worried about her son and his upbringing. In the end Cujo wasn't just one another one of Stephen King's monsters. He was also victim himself. He was the victim of a disease no one suspected and no one thought of preventing with a simple shot. The books is also about timing. Had Donna gotten her car fixed before or had the hole been found by the previous owner of the Camber's property. It is basically a story about how little things that go ignored could end up with huge consequences. Reading Cujo felt like it was taking longer than it should have. In my case, I had been neglecting my reading now and then. But one thing to note is that the book is with out chapters. The build-up has very interesting character development. So when Cujo takes a bite, you aren't left completely unsympathetic with each death and you can't be be unsympathetic towards Cujo either. This is also a story without a bad guy. The only person that comes close is Donna's lover. You'll see what I mean. In the end, I recommend this book because it has interesting characters who are so drawn to their troubles which seems meaningless when the real tragedy strikes. But I can't say it's one of my favorable novels by King. I say this with unease because I am a huge fan of Stephen King, but maybe Cujo is that could've been formatted better. But at least the plot and the story is top notch.

I went against my intuition and read this book. I love dogs, so I went in skeptical, because I ordinarily wouldn’t pick up something like this, but I am a King fan, and realized, I had never read this particular book. It may be called Cujo, but in reality, it is a book about people and their lives. I liked it a lot for that reason. I do recommend this if you are a King fan, and overall like the psychology of human interactions, psychology, etc.

Just now getting around to reading all the other King novels (I adore Rose Madder and The Stand and all the shorties). This one hit me differently. Whew, it was sad. I won’t say any more, but despite outcomes it was easy to stick with. Seemed a bit shorter than usual King novel length too. Super fast read.

Seemed to be coming from a different place than his other novels too. I’m not analytical or tuned in to subtlety, so I’ll go research Cujo and find the reason. I’m not sure where on the timeline this falls either, but it feels like an early one.

Well, on to the next one!

I will go over some basic things w/out giving plot spoilers. I knew about the legend of Cujo and decided to give the book a try, and one thing that stands out is you get a real sense for "why" Cujo went mad and attacked people. The book describes why Cujo became, well, almost insane after acquiring rabies. Furthermore, King does a great job putting the reader in the mind of Cujo, as the dog's clouded thoughts are sometimes shared, that to me was a treat. The setting and subplots were very well done, and the book doesn't feel "dated." In fact, this type of book is better in the 1980's when people couldn't use their cell phones or send text messages when they're in trouble or need help, that really adds to the tension because it strips things down to the "bare bone essentials" (with a level battle field) as desperate situations are man versus dog, or woman versus dog, & there is no technology to change things. There are plenty of tangents in the story that don't involve Cujo, there's plenty going on, it's not just a dog chasing people for 300 pages, but Cujo is clearly the straw that stirs the drink. Overall there's still never been a dog more impressive in print or on the silver screen than Cujo, that's why the name will always live on. It's not King's best book, but if you've read some of his other stuff, give this book a try.