S. King's "Langoliers" question
Tom Pellicer
hang out, so...
I just finished the first story in Four Past Midnight, "The Langoliers".
It seems to me that this story was a commentary on the fall of communism
in the east. I may be in left field here, but does anybody out there know
for sure what the inspiration for this story was? The movement of the
Langoliers (gobbling up the stale past from East to West), and the birth of
the present in the West (hey, LA - where else?) seemed like obvious symbolism
to me. Also the characters, particular the young boy and girl, Albert and
Becky(?), portrayed stereotypical teenagers from eastern and western cultures
(Albert, the studious violinist who dreams of being an old west gunslinger,
falls in love with Becky the drinking, stoner, slang-laden latch-key key).
The plane itself is the American Pride with an Eagle as a logo.
I find that the other characters can fit in with various political positions
and societal groups as well, but I'll stop here in case I'm totally out
there.
Tom
Don Frega
Very interesting analysis. You left out the obvious symbolism of the black
hole that the plane flies through as representative of the blotch on
Gorbachav's forehead.
Actually Stephen King intended "The Langoliers" to be a commentary on
westward expansion and the ensuing consumerism in America. Albert as the
gunslinger, and his realization of this dream later in the story,
exemplifies the encroachment of an intellectual elite from the east onto
the west. Becky portrays the disenfranchised trying to get her own piece
of the pie.
I try not to read too much into the works of Mr. King. He's good at
telling a story, but the few times he's tried to embrace literary
techniques such as symbolism or allegory, he's fallen flat. My guess would
be that "The Langoliers" is just a story and nothing else. Your analysis
is well founded, but I would expect Mr. King to be a bit less subtle. He
would have probably come right out and stated his intent either in the
voice of one of the characters, or in his author's notes following the four
stories. At any rate, "The Langoliers" stands as perhaps his finest short
novel; thoroughly entertaining and captivating.
Don Frega
Janet Aldrich
In a previous article, fr...@ils.nwu.edu (Don Frega) says:
[deleted: comments about allegory in "Langoliers"]
You should be happy then; the most recent TV guide has a brief mention
about the NEXT King miniseries on ABC -- "The Langoliers".
jma
--
Other [Christians said] ... "Faith is all that matters. Consequently
if you have faith, it doesn't matter what you do. ..." Nonsense. If what
you call your "faith" in Christ does not involve taking the slightest
notice of what he says, then it is not Faith at all ..." C. S. Lewis
Grizabella
Janet Aldrich <aa...@cleveland.Freenet.Edu> wrote:
>
>In a previous article, fr...@ils.nwu.edu (Don Frega) says:
>
>
>
>[deleted: comments about allegory in "Langoliers"]
>
>You should be happy then; the most recent TV guide has a brief mention
>about the NEXT King miniseries on ABC -- "The Langoliers".
>
I just read that... I noticed in the same issue that *next* week's
TV Guide is going to have an interview with Stephen King and with
Rob Lowe. Oh boy. :)
--
Meows and kisses from the GlamourCat...
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
1993-1994 || "The nice thing about standards is that you have so many to
ACM || choose from. Furthermore, if you don't like any of them, you
Secretary || can just wait for next year's model."-- My Comp. Networks Text
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
---Grizabella----.aka.----Misti D. Jordan----...@cs.tulane.edu---
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Fenris
> Not particularly related to horror, but this is where the King authorities
> hang out, so...
> I just finished the first story in Four Past Midnight, "The Langoliers".
> It seems to me that this story was a commentary on the fall of communism
> in the east. I may be in left field here, but does anybody out there know
> for sure what the inspiration for this story was? The movement of the
Well, as I believe he said in the afterword to the story, he was flying
on a red-eye one dark and charming night, and the idea occurred to him.
He didn't say anything in the afterword about it being a political
parable; that doesn't mean it isn't, though. Check out _Danse Macabre_
for his thoughts on unconscious thematic ideas in literature.
Fenris
--
____________________________
Fenris {nolt...@uidaho.edu}| Sig. files: another part of my nefarious
____________________________| scheme to take over the world!
Now, join the U.S. Postal Service and get a free NRA membership!!
Sean K Reynolds
I myself use "Lan-GO-lee-ers."
My sister says it "Lan-go-lee-AYE" (like it's French or something).
I can see how it could be said "Lango-LEERS."
--
Sean K Reynolds a.k.a. Veggie Boy skr...@watserv.ucr.edu skr...@aol.com
"The george George Stark george starked over the starky stark." - S. King
Grizabella
Sean K Reynolds <skr...@watserv.ucr.edu> wrote:
>OK, got a question. How do _you_ pronounce "Langoliers?"
>
>I myself use "Lan-GO-lee-ers."
>My sister says it "Lan-go-lee-AYE" (like it's French or something).
>I can see how it could be said "Lango-LEERS."
Hi Sean, long time so see. :)
Anyway, If I had thought about it carefully, I would have
probably agreed with your sister, but as it is, I always
say "lang-oh-LEERS".
Adam M. Lipkin
: In article <2pu5oc$e...@galaxy.ucr.edu>,
: Sean K Reynolds <skr...@watserv.ucr.edu> wrote:
: >OK, got a question. How do _you_ pronounce "Langoliers?"
: >
: >I myself use "Lan-GO-lee-ers."
: >My sister says it "Lan-go-lee-AYE" (like it's French or something).
: >I can see how it could be said "Lango-LEERS."
: Hi Sean, long time so see. :)
: Anyway, If I had thought about it carefully, I would have
: probably agreed with your sister, but as it is, I always
: say "lang-oh-LEERS".
Well, although I've pronounced it all sorts of ways, Langoliers has
been announced as the next SK ABC Miniseries, so we'll soon find
out.
--
Adam Lipkin ali...@emoryu1.cc.emory.edu
_____________________________________________________________
"Good. Bad. I'm the guy with the gun."
--Ash, Army of Darkness
Brian Barrett
I saw a promo for it "next season on ABC" and it was pronounced
"Lang-o-LEERS."
--Brian D. Barrett bbar...@paul.spu.edu
"It's not easy having a good time...even smiling makes my face ache."
-- Frank-n-Furter
freddie...@hotmail.com
Andrew
> I love finding posts on the internet from decades ago, it's like looking into the past. Glad to have found out how to pronounce it correctly!
>
years and years and years? Have fun with it.
:)
Andrew
Lesmond
--
If there's a nuclear winter, at least it'll snow.
Adam
> On Tue, 07 Apr 2015 17:27:18 -0500, Andrew wrote:
>
>> On 4/4/2015 2:23 PM, freddie...@hotmail.com wrote:
>>> I love finding posts on the internet from decades ago, it's like
>>> looking into the past. Glad to have found out how to pronounce it correctly!
>>>
>>
>> You do know there is an entire archive of posts on USENET going back
>> years and years and years? Have fun with it.
>>
>> :)
>
> Yeah, just try to find anything, though.
Lesmond
Andrew
Andrew
Lesmond
Andrew
> On Sat, 18 Apr 2015 10:47:13 -0500, Andrew wrote:
>
>> On 4/8/2015 10:39 PM, Lesmond wrote:
>>> On Thu, 9 Apr 2015 00:21:27 +0000 (UTC), Adam wrote:
>>>> Have you looked on top of the fridge?
>>>
>>> I HAVE! And I found my vomiting cow that I forgot existed.
>>>
>>
>> What is a vomiting cow?
>
> http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8155/7388788306_751e7d3465.jpg
>
Andrew