≡ Read Gratis The Diary of Ellen Rimbauer My Life at Rose Red Ellen Rimbauer Joyce Reardon Stephen King 9780786890439 Books

The Diary of Ellen Rimbauer My Life at Rose Red Ellen Rimbauer Joyce Reardon Stephen King 9780786890439 Books

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The Diary of Ellen Rimbauer My Life at Rose Red Ellen Rimbauer Joyce Reardon Stephen King 9780786890439 Books

Let’s cut to the chase, lest any confusion remains in this book’s potential readership—THE DIARY OF ELLEN RIMBAUER is not a true story (though elements were inspired by historical events) but a brief novel written by a close friend and associate of Stephen King’s designed to operate as a lead-in to his 2002 television miniseries, ROSE RED. As such, it is a difficult book to recommend because casual readers and those who don’t particularly view themselves as fans of Mr. King will surely be put off by the intentionally open-ended nature of the book, while the King faithful will likely be disappointed by the fact that the author’s (Ridley Pearson) writing style doesn’t share many commonalities with Stephen King’s. I would certainly say that if potential readers really have no interest in tracking down and reviewing the resultant miniseries, ROSE RED, then they should give this book a wide berth; its virtues are minimal when removed from its context of laying the narrative foundation of the miniseries.

For those who consider themselves passionate Stephen King fans, then the book becomes much more essential reading, embellishing and enriching the experience of one of King’s best television experiments. But, again, stylistically, be warned that, though Stephen King’s imagination is evident here, his unique, special, conversational voice is not. Pearson’s prose is far more purple (though, in large part, this is forgivable, considering its focus on the elite of the early 1900s) and he is exponentially more interested in exploring, at length, the darker side of loveless sexuality than King ever has been. Clearly, the target market for this book is an exceedingly narrow one, but if you, like me, will relish any chance to live in the worlds dreamed up either directly or, in THE DIARY OF ELLEN RIMBAUER’s case, indirectly by Stephen King, then this book graduates from a slight and unfulfilling diversion to required reading.


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The Diary of Ellen Rimbauer My Life at Rose Red Ellen Rimbauer Joyce Reardon Stephen King 9780786890439 Books Reviews

It never hurts for a book dealing with the paranormal and horror to have a little mystery surrounding who actually wrote the book, along with all the media hype promoting the TV mini-series. For the record, this was written by Ridley Pearson, not Stephen King, though King was certainly aware of its gestation.
But who wrote it matters little versus the prime requisite is it readable? Does it provoke the spine-tingling feeling that some of the best in this genre can?
It's certainly readable. The characterization of the main character Ellen Rimbauer is truly excellent. She starts as a woman who is a rather naive nineteen year old, and progressing through her thoughts and feelings about marrying a man twenty years her senior with a reputation as a 'ladies man'. How she manages her husband and his wayward ways forms one of the continuing lynch-pins of this tale. As she matures, she also starts to feel some attraction to those of her own sex, the depiction of which I felt was well done for a lady of Victorian sensibilities. But later, we are given a portrait of a woman who is slowly losing her grip on reality (or as an alternative explanation, the world she inhabits becomes truly strange). The house she lives in, and eventually becomes almost a prisoner of, Rose Red, is really the other main character, as it grows from the greatest mansion in Seattle to a house known for disappearances, murders, and suicides. On the basis of character alone, this is a worthwhile read.
But on the other aspect, the paranormal land of ghosts, inexplicable fears and visions, and houses with desires of their own, this book doesn't succeed as well. Perhaps I found the parallels with a real house of mystery, the Winchester Mystery House located in San Jose, CA, (and at which my son is a tour guide) to be just a little too strong. It too had a magnate husband and a lady mistress who, especially in her later years, believed that she would live forever if only she would keep building on the house, leading to some very strange architectural features of stairways leading directly into ceilings and doors that open to a three-story drop. Within this book, the appearance of ghostly visions, the voices at a seance, the concept of the house being possessed by the ghosts of Indians who were buried on the site of this house, never seemed to quite gel with me, never produced the frisson that I was hoping for. I think, perhaps, that I found these elements to be a little too standard, with little originality to them.
The literary device of enfolding this whole story within a supposed doctoral dissertation and university investigation was a nice touch, but added little to it as a story, and it would have read just as well without it.
Still, a quite entertaining read, with an excellent look inside the mind of someone who changes from a very normal woman to something very strange, and making her journey to this mindscape very believable in terms of her own thought-processes and beliefs.
--- Reviewed by Patrick Shepherd (hyperpat)
Read this book 3X's! The movie was nothing to write home about, typical Steven King. I wish it had been based more on the book.
The idea of this enormous house, Rose Red, being a living, breathing entity is fascinating!
The book is so well written that it keeps you wanting more.
This is a great story, told in a diary format, it kept my attention so thoroughly that I read it straight through! ❤ There's a fabulously scary/haunted house, beautiful, wealthy couple, newly married, and things start happening..........you must read it yourself to find out how enjoyably spine tingling this book is! It was good enough to be turned into a mini-series!
Let’s cut to the chase, lest any confusion remains in this book’s potential readership—THE DIARY OF ELLEN RIMBAUER is not a true story (though elements were inspired by historical events) but a brief novel written by a close friend and associate of Stephen King’s designed to operate as a lead-in to his 2002 television miniseries, ROSE RED. As such, it is a difficult book to recommend because casual readers and those who don’t particularly view themselves as fans of Mr. King will surely be put off by the intentionally open-ended nature of the book, while the King faithful will likely be disappointed by the fact that the author’s (Ridley Pearson) writing style doesn’t share many commonalities with Stephen King’s. I would certainly say that if potential readers really have no interest in tracking down and reviewing the resultant miniseries, ROSE RED, then they should give this book a wide berth; its virtues are minimal when removed from its context of laying the narrative foundation of the miniseries.

For those who consider themselves passionate Stephen King fans, then the book becomes much more essential reading, embellishing and enriching the experience of one of King’s best television experiments. But, again, stylistically, be warned that, though Stephen King’s imagination is evident here, his unique, special, conversational voice is not. Pearson’s prose is far more purple (though, in large part, this is forgivable, considering its focus on the elite of the early 1900s) and he is exponentially more interested in exploring, at length, the darker side of loveless sexuality than King ever has been. Clearly, the target market for this book is an exceedingly narrow one, but if you, like me, will relish any chance to live in the worlds dreamed up either directly or, in THE DIARY OF ELLEN RIMBAUER’s case, indirectly by Stephen King, then this book graduates from a slight and unfulfilling diversion to required reading.