Elevation

by Stephen King
146 pgs

Elevation is a short novella by Stephen King that will take less time to read than it would to watch a movie adaptation of it, if one is eventually made. When I learned what it was about, I thought "Hasn't he already written this book before?" In a sentence, it's about a man who begins losing weight every day and can't stop it. But it doesn't take more than a couple of pages to realize that this story bears only a passing resemblance to Thinner.

Scott Carey is a normal guy who lives in Castle Rock, Maine. who inexplicably starts losing weight every day. Regardless of how much he eats, the weight continues to gradually drop off. But what's even more perplexing is the fact that his clothes seem to weigh nothing as soon as he puts them on. In fact, he can stand on his bathroom scale fully dressed and wearing a coat with pockets filled with quarters and the scale reads the same as it does when he takes everything off. But while he's getting lighter every day, his physical appearance doesn't change. His stomach still hangs over his belt just as it has for the last decade or so of his life.

One of the trademarks of a Stephen King story is that he takes ordinary people and places them in extraordinary situations. And from that perspective, Elevation is classic King. But it's also a departure from what I've come to expect form him. It' snot just a great story that incorporates elements of the fantastical. It's also a thinly-veiled allegory and social commentary on the weight our prejudices add to our lives, and the freedom that can come if that weight is dropped.

Elevation is a book I'd recommend to everyone. Even those who don't think they'd like a Stephen King book will like this one. Take an hour of your life and read it.

★ ★ ★ ★ ☆