Strange fact: there is not a hard copy of Cujo to be had easily in the greater Tampa area. Both libraries at which I am a member had lost their copies. So I now own a used copy of Cujo. My dog looked disconcertingly happy when I took it out of the package. Here's hoping that he didn't get any ideas from the cover (he is a small poodle instead of a giant St. Bernard, so things should be okay).
LOTS OF SPOILERS IN THIS PARAGRAPH FROM ALL OVER KING'S OEUVRE: This was another book that I had not read before, although I had a vague understanding of the plot--I suspect that many people have a vague understanding of the plot. It feels like SK has finally confronted a theme that he has been dancing around in his previous books: the death of a child. Children had died already in his books, such as in 'Salem's Lot. In Roadwork, the child died before the book started. More often, though, children were saved, because of their supernatural abilities such as in Firestarter and The Shining. But this one had a far more graphic and direct depiction of a child dying of dehydration, which is a pretty awful way to go (maybe not worse than mauled by a rabid St. Bernard, although honestly both are really awful). This theme, of course, will be a huge one in the next few novels, particularly Pet Semetary (unfortunate accident) and IT (So. Very. Many. Children. Dying). I suspect that part of this was King's fear about his own life. After all, he was a father, but one who must have felt some concern at his own actions, particularly as someone who drank a lot. I have always thought that Jack Torrence (the author) in The Shining must be a manifestation of his own fears about parenting and addiction. This novel seem to be reflecting a much greater fear that children can die and that sometimes, there is nothing that you can do about it, even if your intentions are good.
I have to say that I spent about half of this book feeling very sorry for Cujo. I mean, the dog really only needed a rabies vaccination to fix the entire problem. Not to mention that I couldn't believe that no one was really paying attention to the dog as he was becoming sick (until Brett started trying to monitor things from afar when he was in Connecticut, which is a good long way from Maine). SK does include some scenes that imagine what the dog must have experienced during the onset of rabies, which only made me feel worse about the whole thing. I think that SK is a dog person. Dogs in his story are generally very loyal (Oy from Dark Tower!), and he even offers an apology for Cujo at the end of the book by noting that it wasn't his fault that he contracted rabies. He was a good dog.
I read some reviews on Amazon of Cujo and would agree with some of the commentators that the story is inconsistent, particularly about the supernatural. Cujo is set in Castle Rock, which is the same place where The Dead Zone took place and Jimmy identified a serial killer named Frank Dodd. These characters and events were referenced in Cujo, implying that there was a general soupcon of evil in the air, which was then shifted over to Cujo. It also seems to have hung out in the closet of the child, Tad. Evil spirits hanging out in a closet seems somewhat random. I felt like SK might be finally confessing that while the supernatural could be scary, what was far more scary was the kind of horrifying events that could not be explained through the supernatural, such as a serial killer running around a small town. He didn't quite get there though, not so long as there were potential supernatural monsters in the closet.
(It's worth noting that King himself has stated that he barely remembers writing this book because he had a serious drinking problem at the time, so I will allow him the inconsistency).
(Also, what kind of name is Tad? This really bugged me. There was no indication that it was short for Thaddeus, which might have made sense, but not really).
I have to admit that I felt this book was more of a short story that was fleshed out into a novel by adding approximately eight billion details about the characters. Sure, this may have developed the characters more completely, although part of me felt that it really didn't. Certainly, there were times when the description seemed overly excessive, such as when we learned all about the life history, dreams, and ambitions of some police guy who showed up for barely any time at all (Masen). An entire ad campaign concerning cereal was maybe not such a vital part of the plot. But it still moved along at a brisk clip and it didn't feel too drawn out on the whole (except that life history of Masen part).
What Cujo most reminded me of was Misery, particularly the need to describe long periods of time in a way that remained compelling. After all, Tad and his mother Donna stayed in their car for almost two days as they waited for help (or at least for the rabid dog to disappear) and that could get really old, really fast. However, like I said, the novel really didn't drag, and I think that SK avoided that by featuring events every time he went back to the car. I thought that his description of Tad's death was very effective, particularly right before (when Donna was sure that he was dying) and when Vic (Donna's husband) discovered his child dead. The New York Times Book Review described this outcome as a modern Erlkönig, which I just loved. Except with a rabid dog and a dead car instead of an evil sprite and a galloping horse.
The other parallel that reminded me of Misery occurred when the cavalry showed up in the form of Sheriff George Bannerman, only to almost immediately die at the hands of the monster. There is a very similar scene in Misery, at least in concept, even if the actual details differ.
MORAL OF THE STORY: be sure that your pets are up to date with all of their vaccinations.
