Same here on the adaptation - it's such a good book. For me, I think 11/22/63 just pips it for the best post-accident work, but Duma Key is right up there
Duma Key is so far my number one favorite novel by Stephen King. I loved the historical mystery factor, the setting and of course the two supporting characters Wireman and Jack. I highly recommend this one to any King fan!
I read Duma Key for the first time during the pandemic and it started my journey to reread all his books in chronological order. I am currently on Lisey's Story, so right back up to where Duma Key is coming up soon. I can't wait to read it again.
Just finished this book about an hour ago, that was a wild ride. The 2nd half in particular is batshit crazy at times. But it's brilliantly written, one of my Top 15 books for sure, still deciding where exactly to rank it! Great book.
Thank you for this review. DUMA KEY is criminally underrated. King's writing here is so good and so personal, which makes a huge difference. I was hit by a drunk driver when I was walking home from high school. Landed on my head when I went over the car. My parents noticed changes in my personality before I did. DUMA KEY takes me back to those days of trying to make sense of an event and it's aftermath. The way in which Edgar's wife is affected and how his daughters have been changed by his recovery rings perfectly true. Edgar is my favorite King character, bar none. Special shout out to John Slattery of MAD MEN who voices Edgar in the audiobook. I hope he narrates more SR in the future. I would absolutely recommend this to anyone struggling to recover from a brain injury. It's been a great reminder (hey, I lost 60% of my memory in the accident, give me a break) to try more creative outlets like painting when I'm feeling frustrated at what's been lost. King's never been better or more grounded at talking about the mourning process Edgar goes through, and his swearing up and down made me laugh each time. Such a very, very good book. Thank you again.
Thank you Dave for finding and showing us the Croatian cover art! So cool! I agree that the ending felt gloomy; I think it went along with the overall mood of the book. Do I dare to hope for a sequel?
Hello constant reader! Thank you so much for uploading this video. Duma Key is my favourite book of all time. I just finished my third read of the amazing novel today. This book is definitely underrated. I love everything about the book, absolutely everything. I've also made a lot of links to the Dark Tower series, which is super interesting. You've earned yourself a new subscriber and I can't wait to see more of your novels. DO THE DAY.....
I read and enjoyed Duma Key when it was first published and have always thought of it as "pretty good." But you make many good points that I fully agree with, so I'm thinking I've underestimated it and now want to have another go (especially since I was not a resident of Minnesota in '08, but I am now). When you raised the possibility that Edgar is black, I immediately thought, "I don't think so, because King would have made a huge deal of the fact that he's black." So I got a good chuckle when you said the very same thing a moment later. Also chuckled at your "throw in a few ayuh's." Good review!
You had me at your intro line - such great 19 reasons, Dave!! 💜 Duma Key is my very favorite SK book and you gave such wonderful insights! Thanks for showing that other cover - super cool - and you immediately had me running to my own copy: "is his name in the water?!?!?!" 😝 Great review and great insights as always! Thanks for the topic of Duma Key! 💜📚
@@DaveReadsKing Yes! Lucky enough to have found a holographic in the water copy! Truely by luck! Thanks for passing along the fact - you always share such cool other covers! Always so neat to see 😊
This is my favorite lesser known King and even very close to the top of all of his books for me. The atmosphere and the painting magic really spoke to me. I can still hear the shells under the beach house when I think about it.
This is my first novel I ever read as an adult. As a kid I read goosebumps I think. But at 34 I picked this up on a whim, challenging myself to do something I don't like. I read it in like 2 weeks, always looking forward to sitting and reading it. Loved it, cried twice when He gave a speech to the artist and when he speaks of Isle drawing him. In my mind Edgar was white.
I like his writing style. How he gets distracted in the middle of his work and leaves that in there. He starts talking about music and movies he likes. This is a beautiful portrait of Sarasota in vivid color. You see it all Tamaimi Trail, the shut down of the city aftee ten, and he even details St. Armands circle. Freemantle is doing the paintings of 'Girl and Ship' painting series, 8 being the final. Edgar has lived his life and has three daughters. Gets divorced after his accident involving a crane and moves to Florida. There is a rush of art creativity, suddenly lots of canvases are being produced in a short period of time. The idea that the creativity was bottled up and there isn't much time left is explored. Edgar seems to have come to terms with who he is now and befriends a guy named Wireman. He is taking care of Elizabeth who is in a wheelchair and all of them seem to share similar interests and the strange phenomena surrounding their lives. Stephen King keeps a good slow pace. I like him because of this though
Just finished it this evening. I have this thing with books where if I really enjoyed one that I read, I’ll then immediately follow up by listening to the audiobook version. Just started listening to Duma Key :) I also really enjoyed your highlights and commentary here.
I'm late to this video but Duma Key is one of my favourite books, easily in my top ten for SK. Every time I re-read it I notice something new. It's spooky & epic & heartfelt.
I've not read this one. So jumped off before the spoilers for the first time. I'm going to tackle it this summer holiday. Great insights as always mate!
Finally got round to reading this, really enjoyed it. A lot slower than I thought it would be be but yes indeed top stuff in the end and worth sticking around for muchacho!
I think you just motivated me to read it. I normally don’t need to be motivated to read a Stephen King book, but in this case I was postposing it because I have it in Russian. While Russian is my maternal language I live in Spain since I was 9 and it’s shameful to say but due the lack of practice I read slower in Russian than in Spanish or Catalonian or even English. So I bought it years ago thinking “this will be a great way to practice Russian because Stephen King is one of my favorite authors so it will be a fast read even in Russian” but nope… every time I was about to read it I thought “maybe I should read something in English instead, improving my English is more important right now”. Anyway, thank you for the motivation! Judging by your review and the comments it may end up in a fast read even if I struggle a bit with the language.
IMHO Duma Key is King's best work. (Wireman Rules!) I also had "My Other Life", and now think of it as that. Its so well written that its one of the few books that I've read several times, and enjoy as much each time, like Larry McMurtry's Lonesome Dove.
I assume that's the UK paperbook edition of Duma Key? I have multiple 1st US hardcover editions but can't find a paperback that has the same cover art as the hardcover
Reading this for the first time. And coincidentally, reading King for the first time! I'm enjoying it so far and am only about at the 100 page mark. Can't wait to read more!
I'm enjoying these reviews, thanks man. I am a huge fan of Duma Key. I think it's in my top 3. I don't understand why it's so unsung. These next few years were a definite rosy patch for him. Under The Dome, Full Dark, 112263, Joyland. Impressive.
I’m with Rain here. Duma Key is also a top 10 King for me. It was total joy for me to read. I liked Edgar, and Wireman is such a great character, all through the book I wanted to know him as a real person!🤗
It is kinda similar to Alan wake but Alan wake feels much darker. Overall, duma key honestly is one of his best. First time I tried to read it I stopped after 200 pages because the burn was too slow for me. But after two years I picked it up again and it blew me away. I think this book is awesome but you need to be in a right state of mind to enjoy it fully.
While I to enjoy the idea that Edgar could possibly be related to Mother Abigail from “The Stand” I’m going to have to guess that they are not. Simply because when comparing this book to the Stand it just seems that they are both set in different universes.
I’m currently 400 ish pages in of this book and I’m kinda bored. Not a lot has happened, I’m now on chapter 12. Please tell me it gets better cause at the moment I don’t understand all the hype
It’s definitely not for everyone’s tastes. The ending is good, so I would say stick with it. But, if you’re that far in and it isn’t vibing with you then you might well still not like it, sorry!
My favorite of all time!, (followed closely by Lisey's Story)!! It is a brilliant scary story, not many of these out there anymore. Seems like the world has confused the meaning horror to mean it must be bloody & disgusting, they have forgotten what fear is and how to play on one's inner shadows.
I seem to remember this book getting really bad reviews when it came out, especially here in the UK. I'm not entirely sure why. Maybe the slow burn (it's quite a long book with very few actual exciting incidents) was a little too slow, and went on just a little too long. I remember it having some really good descriptive writing in it - although it felt like it ended just a little too suddenly for me, as if the payoff wasn't really worth all the great world-building and character drama of the quite lengthy second act. Also, all the italicised inserts concerning art and how to draw felt superfluous and a bit puzzling to me. It sounds like I wasn't keen on Duma Key but I was. It's definitely worth anybody's time although I wouldn't rate it as highly as yourself. Also, just a side note, the first act of this book is so reminiscent of Oliver Stones's first film for a major studio, THE HAND (1981), starring Michael Caine, I'm surprised Oliver didn't sue King. Or perhaps Marc Brandel, who wrote the original book THE LIZARD'S TAIL, which Stones's film is based on, should have sued King for plagiarism instead.
But you didn't talk about the paintings! Or the exhibition, or the curse, or the twins drowning! Giant frogs! And a crazy old jockey popping up! Let alone his good friend Jake!
Maybe the ambiguity of the main character allows anyone who reads it take on that character without being tied to a particular skin colour or culture? I'm surprised this book has not had the Hollywood treatment yet lol, and no Tractor interruption 🤣🤣🤣
@@DaveReadsKing this is true about him sign posting characters. Maybe he was advised not too this time or he just forgot and got so invested in his story?.
Duma Key is bottom of the list for me. It took me 4 tries to get through it, it was way too wordy in the middle. The one thing I loved about it was the relationship between the main character and Wireman.
Fair enough, you can't like them all! I don't think there's much middle ground on Duma Key, it either does nothing for people or makes them do heart-eyes emoji :-)
@@DaveReadsKing It is a really polarizing book I've found. I understand why it's so loved, I just don't think it hit that chord with me personally, but, I would read it again just for the relationship between Edgar and Wireman, that made the whole book for me
Yessss, Duma Key is a top 10 King for me, it's so haunting and atmospheric. It also felt like a puzzle coming together at the end, so goooooood 🌊
Awesome!
In my opinion the best post accident book King has written. Really hope one day it gets a movie or tv series that does the source material justice.
Same here on the adaptation - it's such a good book. For me, I think 11/22/63 just pips it for the best post-accident work, but Duma Key is right up there
@@DaveReadsKing agreed that 11/22/63 is a great book and would be my second place for sure
@@defiantsisko nice
Duma Key is so far my number one favorite novel by Stephen King. I loved the historical mystery factor, the setting and of course the two supporting characters Wireman and Jack. I highly recommend this one to any King fan!
YES! Totally!
it’s my absolute favourite!! I love seeing other people say the same
I read Duma Key for the first time during the pandemic and it started my journey to reread all his books in chronological order. I am currently on Lisey's Story, so right back up to where Duma Key is coming up soon. I can't wait to read it again.
Nice - ka is a wheel!
Yeah, all I read anymore is King. From A to Z. Its like he is writing me. Such a great man and story teller.
Just finished this book about an hour ago, that was a wild ride. The 2nd half in particular is batshit crazy at times. But it's brilliantly written, one of my Top 15 books for sure, still deciding where exactly to rank it! Great book.
Yes! Such a good one!
Thank you for this review. DUMA KEY is criminally underrated. King's writing here is so good and so personal, which makes a huge difference.
I was hit by a drunk driver when I was walking home from high school. Landed on my head when I went over the car. My parents noticed changes in my personality before I did.
DUMA KEY takes me back to those days of trying to make sense of an event and it's aftermath. The way in which Edgar's wife is affected and how his daughters have been changed by his recovery rings perfectly true. Edgar is my favorite King character, bar none. Special shout out to John Slattery of MAD MEN who voices Edgar in the audiobook. I hope he narrates more SR in the future.
I would absolutely recommend this to anyone struggling to recover from a brain injury. It's been a great reminder (hey, I lost 60% of my memory in the accident, give me a break) to try more creative outlets like painting when I'm feeling frustrated at what's been lost. King's never been better or more grounded at talking about the mourning process Edgar goes through, and his swearing up and down made me laugh each time.
Such a very, very good book. Thank you again.
I’m so sorry that happened to you - thank you for sharing such a personal comment!
Thank you Dave for finding and showing us the Croatian cover art! So cool! I agree that the ending felt gloomy; I think it went along with the overall mood of the book. Do I dare to hope for a sequel?
Oh yeah, the ending was definitely well-matched with the novel. As for a sequel...I'd be up for that
Hello constant reader! Thank you so much for uploading this video. Duma Key is my favourite book of all time. I just finished my third read of the amazing novel today. This book is definitely underrated. I love everything about the book, absolutely everything. I've also made a lot of links to the Dark Tower series, which is super interesting.
You've earned yourself a new subscriber and I can't wait to see more of your novels.
DO THE DAY.....
…and let the day do you muchacho!
I read and enjoyed Duma Key when it was first published and have always thought of it as "pretty good." But you make many good points that I fully agree with, so I'm thinking I've underestimated it and now want to have another go (especially since I was not a resident of Minnesota in '08, but I am now).
When you raised the possibility that Edgar is black, I immediately thought, "I don't think so, because King would have made a huge deal of the fact that he's black." So I got a good chuckle when you said the very same thing a moment later. Also chuckled at your "throw in a few ayuh's."
Good review!
Thanks so much - hope you enjoy your reread when you get to it!
You had me at your intro line - such great 19 reasons, Dave!! 💜 Duma Key is my very favorite SK book and you gave such wonderful insights! Thanks for showing that other cover - super cool - and you immediately had me running to my own copy: "is his name in the water?!?!?!" 😝 Great review and great insights as always! Thanks for the topic of Duma Key! 💜📚
Thank you! Most important though...on your version, is his name in the water???
@@DaveReadsKing Yes! Lucky enough to have found a holographic in the water copy! Truely by luck! Thanks for passing along the fact - you always share such cool other covers! Always so neat to see 😊
@@lizzietizzy Cool!
This is my favorite lesser known King and even very close to the top of all of his books for me. The atmosphere and the painting magic really spoke to me. I can still hear the shells under the beach house when I think about it.
It’s such a good and underrated book!
This is my first novel I ever read as an adult. As a kid I read goosebumps I think. But at 34 I picked this up on a whim, challenging myself to do something I don't like. I read it in like 2 weeks, always looking forward to sitting and reading it. Loved it, cried twice when He gave a speech to the artist and when he speaks of Isle drawing him. In my mind Edgar was white.
That is awesome, thanks for sharing!
I like his writing style. How he gets distracted in the middle of his work and leaves that in there. He starts talking about music and movies he likes. This is a beautiful portrait of Sarasota in vivid color. You see it all Tamaimi Trail, the shut down of the city aftee ten, and he even details St. Armands circle. Freemantle is doing the paintings of 'Girl and Ship' painting series, 8 being the final. Edgar has lived his life and has three daughters. Gets divorced after his accident involving a crane and moves to Florida. There is a rush of art creativity, suddenly lots of canvases are being produced in a short period of time. The idea that the creativity was bottled up and there isn't much time left is explored. Edgar seems to have come to terms with who he is now and befriends a guy named Wireman. He is taking care of Elizabeth who is in a wheelchair and all of them seem to share similar interests and the strange phenomena surrounding their lives. Stephen King keeps a good slow pace. I like him because of this though
Yep, the slow burn pace of this is great. I thought Edgar only had one daughter though?
Two daughters. Ilse and Melinda.
Great review, not read this since it came out, think that's my next revisit sorted.
A great choice - I loved my reread so much
Just finished it this evening. I have this thing with books where if I really enjoyed one that I read, I’ll then immediately follow up by listening to the audiobook version. Just started listening to Duma Key :) I also really enjoyed your highlights and commentary here.
Nice one! Enjoy round 2!
I'm late to this video but Duma Key is one of my favourite books, easily in my top ten for SK. Every time I re-read it I notice something new. It's spooky & epic & heartfelt.
Absolutely!
Looking forward to your 00s king ranked books. When you releasing that lol
Soon! We've got Just After Sunset and Under the Dome, then it'll drop!
I've not read this one. So jumped off before the spoilers for the first time. I'm going to tackle it this summer holiday. Great insights as always mate!
Awesome - hope you enjoy and glad the spoiler warning was helpful!
Finally got round to reading this, really enjoyed it. A lot slower than I thought it would be be but yes indeed top stuff in the end and worth sticking around for muchacho!
Niiiice 🔥
This one is the next on my list. Excellent video by the way!!!
You’re most welcome! Enjoy Duma Key!
Has this gotten a movie adaptation? It should! I can definitely see the Alan Wake references
Nope this book hasn't been adapted yet 🤔
It has not...but should be! Forget all the remakes - adapt some new stuff already!
I think you just motivated me to read it. I normally don’t need to be motivated to read a Stephen King book, but in this case I was postposing it because I have it in Russian. While Russian is my maternal language I live in Spain since I was 9 and it’s shameful to say but due the lack of practice I read slower in Russian than in Spanish or Catalonian or even English. So I bought it years ago thinking “this will be a great way to practice Russian because Stephen King is one of my favorite authors so it will be a fast read even in Russian” but nope… every time I was about to read it I thought “maybe I should read something in English instead, improving my English is more important right now”.
Anyway, thank you for the motivation! Judging by your review and the comments it may end up in a fast read even if I struggle a bit with the language.
That’s really kind of you to say, I’m very pleased to be a motivator! Hope you enjoy the book 😊
❤❤❤❤ I love Stephen king I’ve just got the book I can’t wait to read it 👍👍
Nice! Enjoy!
IMHO Duma Key is King's best work. (Wireman Rules!)
I also had "My Other Life", and now think of it as that.
Its so well written that its one of the few books that I've read several times, and enjoy as much each time, like Larry McMurtry's Lonesome Dove.
That’s fantastic - thank you for sharing!
I really loved Duma Key and Bag of Bones!
Me too! Both creepy and compelling
I assume that's the UK paperbook edition of Duma Key? I have multiple 1st US hardcover editions but can't find a paperback that has the same cover art as the hardcover
Weirdly, it is actually a US paperback - but one that I randomly found in a secondhand store in the U.K.
Reading this for the first time. And coincidentally, reading King for the first time! I'm enjoying it so far and am only about at the 100 page mark. Can't wait to read more!
Excellent! Welcome to the world of Stephen King - you’ve got so much to explore! 😊😊
I read Duma Key many years ago and was so very impressed… it is his very best.
It is so good!
I'm enjoying these reviews, thanks man. I am a huge fan of Duma Key. I think it's in my top 3. I don't understand why it's so unsung. These next few years were a definite rosy patch for him. Under The Dome, Full Dark, 112263, Joyland. Impressive.
You’re welcome! And yes, this was a great period - you can throw in Doctor Sleep, Revival and Bazaar of Bad Dreams onto that list too
@@DaveReadsKing Yep, big fan of Revival and Bazaar. Also really liked Wind Through the keyhole.
@@tdrdavies2 nice!
I’m with Rain here. Duma Key is also a top 10 King for me. It was total joy for me to read. I liked Edgar, and Wireman is such a great character, all through the book I wanted to know him as a real person!🤗
Big agree on everything you’ve said here!
i just bought Duma Key along with The Body and im looking forward to start them as soon as i finish carrie.
Nice!
It is kinda similar to Alan wake but Alan wake feels much darker. Overall, duma key honestly is one of his best. First time I tried to read it I stopped after 200 pages because the burn was too slow for me. But after two years I picked it up again and it blew me away. I think this book is awesome but you need to be in a right state of mind to enjoy it fully.
👍👍
While I to enjoy the idea that Edgar could possibly be related to Mother Abigail from “The Stand” I’m going to have to guess that they are not. Simply because when comparing this book to the Stand it just seems that they are both set in different universes.
Definitely. And I get no sense at all that Edgar is Black, I think it’s just one of those occasions where he reuses a name.
I’m currently 400 ish pages in of this book and I’m kinda bored. Not a lot has happened, I’m now on chapter 12. Please tell me it gets better cause at the moment I don’t understand all the hype
It’s definitely not for everyone’s tastes. The ending is good, so I would say stick with it. But, if you’re that far in and it isn’t vibing with you then you might well still not like it, sorry!
Great review. On my reread list.
nice, thanks!
I love any King story where a group of people band together to defeat a villain/evil.
👍👍
Yeah man, this is a great book. One of my favorite King books.
Yessssss
My favorite of all time!, (followed closely by Lisey's Story)!! It is a brilliant scary story, not many of these out there anymore. Seems like the world has confused the meaning horror to mean it must be bloody & disgusting, they have forgotten what fear is and how to play on one's inner shadows.
Heck yeah!
I've tried it a few times but never really got through the beginning. Might give it another go.
It's one of those where, if it clicks with you, you'll have a wonderful time.
Now I knew Alan wake was heavily inspired by twin peaks but I didn't know about the connection to this that's cool.
Nice!
I just bought it and started reading yesterday.
Nice, enjoy! I love this one 😊
I didn't notice the holographic letters. Nor did I notice name in the water.. King likes to write about the rich and powerful.
The lettering is just so cool!
I seem to remember this book getting really bad reviews when it came out, especially here in the UK. I'm not entirely sure why. Maybe the slow burn (it's quite a long book with very few actual exciting incidents) was a little too slow, and went on just a little too long. I remember it having some really good descriptive writing in it - although it felt like it ended just a little too suddenly for me, as if the payoff wasn't really worth all the great world-building and character drama of the quite lengthy second act. Also, all the italicised inserts concerning art and how to draw felt superfluous and a bit puzzling to me.
It sounds like I wasn't keen on Duma Key but I was. It's definitely worth anybody's time although I wouldn't rate it as highly as yourself. Also, just a side note, the first act of this book is so reminiscent of Oliver Stones's first film for a major studio, THE HAND (1981), starring Michael Caine, I'm surprised Oliver didn't sue King. Or perhaps Marc Brandel, who wrote the original book THE LIZARD'S TAIL, which Stones's film is based on, should have sued King for plagiarism instead.
I don’t know that movie or book - might have to check them out, thanks!
But you didn't talk about the paintings! Or the exhibition, or the curse, or the twins drowning! Giant frogs! And a crazy old jockey popping up! Let alone his good friend Jake!
Yep - it’s one of those that is very tricky to distill down to just 19 reasons. And I wanted to leave plenty for people to discover by themselves!
What was the curse? I just finished reading the book and I felt like I missed a lot. 😞
@@b.b.4010 That Duma Key is not a safe place for daughters
@@DaveReadsKing ohh ok yeah I at least got that haha :)
Our favorite King books are sooo different. Another great book, but definitely not in my top 15.
That’s all good - we all seem to have different favourites, not surprising when there’s so many to choose from!
@@DaveReadsKing you are absolutely right. It makes a lot of sense when you have 20+ master pieces from the guy.
Maybe the ambiguity of the main character allows anyone who reads it take on that character without being tied to a particular skin colour or culture? I'm surprised this book has not had the Hollywood treatment yet lol, and no Tractor interruption 🤣🤣🤣
Yeah, I agree with you. It's just, y'know, King usually will make sure we know! It definitely needs adapting though!
@@DaveReadsKing this is true about him sign posting characters. Maybe he was advised not too this time or he just forgot and got so invested in his story?.
@@Mark-nh2hs yeah maybe
@@DaveReadsKing just a thought lol who really knows. But it's still a great book regardless lol.
Duma Key is bottom of the list for me. It took me 4 tries to get through it, it was way too wordy in the middle. The one thing I loved about it was the relationship between the main character and Wireman.
Fair enough, you can't like them all! I don't think there's much middle ground on Duma Key, it either does nothing for people or makes them do heart-eyes emoji :-)
@@DaveReadsKing It is a really polarizing book I've found. I understand why it's so loved, I just don't think it hit that chord with me personally, but, I would read it again just for the relationship between Edgar and Wireman, that made the whole book for me
Can't believe the cover art spoils the last sentence of the book
I suppose, but you kind of don’t really notice it until you’re done - and in some ways that makes it more chilling
Unfortunately I didn't like duma key it started good but then it slowly felt like a slog over time 😔😴💤
Oh well, can't win them all!
It wasn't one of his better novels from the past 20 years. Okay, muchacho?
@@titusmccarthy personally, I disagree - I think only 11/22/63 and Lisey's Story are better, since 2000
Stopped at 1:54. Nuff said.
Is that because reason 1 was all you needed? Or could you only stand 2 minutes of me?? 😂
Hated the book. Boring,
Well, they can’t all be winners for everyone - I loved it!