Which of the following words best describes tad’s emotional state after cujo first attacks the car?

A book that will bite you!

...in the fictitious town of Castle Rock, Maine. It begins with a reference to Frank Dodd, the Castle Rock deputy sheriff whose murder spree was the central episode in the first half of The Dead Zone.Read more

The central theme of this book is simply about a dog which gets rabies and kills people,terrifyingly.But that is the simpliest way I can explain the book.The book,though a very short read is impregnated with a lot of great things to follow,making the story more that simply a dog killing people.It is a great book a typical SK book.It would also be important to read this book slowly so as not too miss the important messages in this book.If you read it fast however,I am certain that you will inevitably find yourself reading it again,it is that good.

Here is the main Plot:(taken from wikipedia):The novel is set almost entirely in the fictitious town of Castle Rock, Maine. It begins with a reference to Frank Dodd, the Castle Rock deputy sheriff whose murder spree was the central episode in the first half of The Dead Zone. In fact, there is some hinting to the question of whether or not Cujo is possessed by Dodd and whether or not Dodd is haunting the Trenton house (Tad is scared by a monster in his closet and the words put up on the wall by his father is the only way he sleeps with ease). Except for these vague hints, there are no supernatural elements in the book and is mainly a thriller.

The Trentons, Vic, Donna, and four-year-old Tad, are having problems of their own when Vic finds out that Donna, the typical bored housewife, has been cheating on him. In the midst of this household tension, Vic's business is failing, and he is forced to leave on a business trip to Massachusetts. Donna, home alone with Tad, takes their failing Ford Pinto to the Cambers'. However, the car breaks down when they reach the farm. With Joe dead, there is nobody on the farm except for Cujo, and thus begins a three day struggle to not only keep Donna herself alive, but also her son Tad. They are trapped in the car, with the murderous rabid dog outside, during the hottest summer in Castle Rock history. The sheriff of Castle Rock, George Bannerman, arrives and is murdered by the dog, but not before making a reference to Frank Dodd. In the end, Vic, worried that his wife has not answered the phone at home, returns to Castle Rock and figures out where they are, yet by the time he gets there, Donna has killed Cujo in a gory showdown and Tad has died of dehydration after being trapped in the car for three days...enjoy...Nigel

Page 2

A book that will bite you!

...in the fictitious town of Castle Rock, Maine. It begins with a reference to Frank Dodd, the Castle Rock deputy sheriff whose murder spree was the central episode in the first half of The Dead Zone.Read more

The central theme of this book is simply about a dog which gets rabies and kills people,terrifyingly.But that is the simpliest way I can explain the book.The book,though a very short read is impregnated with a lot of great things to follow,making the story more that simply a dog killing people.It is a great book a typical SK book.It would also be important to read this book slowly so as not too miss the important messages in this book.If you read it fast however,I am certain that you will inevitably find yourself reading it again,it is that good.

Here is the main Plot:(taken from wikipedia):The novel is set almost entirely in the fictitious town of Castle Rock, Maine. It begins with a reference to Frank Dodd, the Castle Rock deputy sheriff whose murder spree was the central episode in the first half of The Dead Zone. In fact, there is some hinting to the question of whether or not Cujo is possessed by Dodd and whether or not Dodd is haunting the Trenton house (Tad is scared by a monster in his closet and the words put up on the wall by his father is the only way he sleeps with ease). Except for these vague hints, there are no supernatural elements in the book and is mainly a thriller.

The Trentons, Vic, Donna, and four-year-old Tad, are having problems of their own when Vic finds out that Donna, the typical bored housewife, has been cheating on him. In the midst of this household tension, Vic's business is failing, and he is forced to leave on a business trip to Massachusetts. Donna, home alone with Tad, takes their failing Ford Pinto to the Cambers'. However, the car breaks down when they reach the farm. With Joe dead, there is nobody on the farm except for Cujo, and thus begins a three day struggle to not only keep Donna herself alive, but also her son Tad. They are trapped in the car, with the murderous rabid dog outside, during the hottest summer in Castle Rock history. The sheriff of Castle Rock, George Bannerman, arrives and is murdered by the dog, but not before making a reference to Frank Dodd. In the end, Vic, worried that his wife has not answered the phone at home, returns to Castle Rock and figures out where they are, yet by the time he gets there, Donna has killed Cujo in a gory showdown and Tad has died of dehydration after being trapped in the car for three days...enjoy...Nigel

Page 3

Verified Purchase

...disturbed head the way we do in the novel. The real Cujo is a good dog. King has said he does not remember writing very much of this novel, that it was written in an almost perpetual drunken haze. It's ironic because Cujo is an amazingly sober...Read more

Cujo is special. This was my introduction to Stephen King; oh, I'd read that story of his about toy soldiers (in seventh grade English class, no less), but this was my first real Stephen King experience. It was also my first truly adult novel; there's some pretty racy stuff in here, especially when you're an innocent twelve-year-old kid. Steve Kemp, Donna Trenton's jilted lover, is a cretin. That's part of the reason why Cujo has always been my least favorite Stephen King novel - until now, that is. Having finally reread this book, I am quite bowled over by the experience. This is King at his most visceral, his most unrelenting, his most vicious. Dark doesn't begin to describe this novel. The ending was and is controversial (so controversial that it was changed - quite cowardly - in the film adaptation). Speaking of the film, it's important not to judge this novel by that adaptation - in the movie, young Tad is almost impossible to like because Danny Pintauro was just such an annoying child actor, and Cujo himself is little more than a monster because we don't get inside his increasingly disturbed head the way we do in the novel. The real Cujo is a good dog.King has said he does not remember writing very much of this novel, that it was written in an almost perpetual drunken haze. It's ironic because Cujo is an amazingly sober read. Maybe the booze explains the brutality of the story, but I think not - like any great writer, King lets the story tell itself. What happens at the end of this novel just happens; King doesn't make it happen. That ending - actually, the whole book - opens up all kinds of questions about Fate and justice. I have a hard time liking Donna Trenton, and a part of me thinks there is a certain amount of justice in her fate (although the punishment grossly outweighs the crime in this case). How do you explain what happens here, though - all these coincidences that seal our characters' - especially the child's - fates? Why and how does such a horrible tragedy happen? As the reader, you ask these questions, and they echo the questions we sometimes ask in real life. King taps directly in to your worst nightmares with this seemingly simple story.

The basic foundation of this novel is a pretty simple one: man vs. nature. In one corner, you have a mother fighting for the life of her son as well as herself; in the other corner, you have Cujo, a two hundred pound St. Bernard, a gentle, loving dog who has gone rabid - very rabid, insanely murderous rabid. It's essential to realize that there are no villains here, though, only victims. Curiosity killed the cat, but it gave Cujo rabies, and we experience his own canine mental breakdown as the disease lays waste to his central nervous system. Cujo would never dream of hurting anyone; the rabies eventually kills the real Cujo, though, and turns his huge canine body into a horrible killing machine, a very fiend from hell itself, the personification of the terrible monster in the closet that frightens young Tad so much every night in his room. King conjures this malevolent connection in a wonderfully tangible way, going even farther to tie "the monster" in to the murderous deeds of Frank Dodd - King directly cites events chronicled in The Dead Zone, already building the aura of the doom-shrouded town of Castle Rock.

So it's a simple story - yet it's not simple at all. You have marital discord between the Trentons, the result of a stupid affair between Donna and the aforementioned cretin Steve Kemp. Vic is trying to save his business at the same time that he is hammered with the news of his wife's infidelity. You have Tad's fear of the monster in his closet and his trust in his father to keep him safe. You have the wife of country mechanic Joe Camber and her fears that her son will turn out just like his father. You basically have all manner of compelling subplots going on at the same time, somehow coming together to conjure an unimaginably horrible series of events. In other words, this is real life taken to extremes - and there are monsters in real life, oh yes.

Page 4

A book that will bite you!

...sheriff whose murder spree was the central episode in the first half of The Dead Zone. In fact, there is some hinting to the question of whether or not Cujo is possessed by Dodd and whether or not Dodd is haunting the Trenton house (Tad is scared...Read more

The central theme of this book is simply about a dog which gets rabies and kills people,terrifyingly.But that is the simpliest way I can explain the book.The book,though a very short read is impregnated with a lot of great things to follow,making the story more that simply a dog killing people.It is a great book a typical SK book.It would also be important to read this book slowly so as not too miss the important messages in this book.If you read it fast however,I am certain that you will inevitably find yourself reading it again,it is that good.

Here is the main Plot:(taken from wikipedia):The novel is set almost entirely in the fictitious town of Castle Rock, Maine. It begins with a reference to Frank Dodd, the Castle Rock deputy sheriff whose murder spree was the central episode in the first half of The Dead Zone. In fact, there is some hinting to the question of whether or not Cujo is possessed by Dodd and whether or not Dodd is haunting the Trenton house (Tad is scared by a monster in his closet and the words put up on the wall by his father is the only way he sleeps with ease). Except for these vague hints, there are no supernatural elements in the book and is mainly a thriller.

Cujo belongs to the Cambers, a family living outside of Castle Rock where Joe Camber does mechanic work. While hunting in the fields around the Cambers' house, Cujo is bitten by a bat infected with rabies. After he is infected, Cujo attacks and kills the Cambers neighbor, Gary Pervier. Joe goes to Gary's to pick him up and finds Gary dead. Before he is able to call the cops, Cujo kills him too. Joe's son and wife are spared as they had left on a trip to visit relatives.

The Trentons, Vic, Donna, and four-year-old Tad, are having problems of their own when Vic finds out that Donna, the typical bored housewife, has been cheating on him. In the midst of this household tension, Vic's business is failing, and he is forced to leave on a business trip to Massachusetts. Donna, home alone with Tad, takes their failing Ford Pinto to the Cambers'. However, the car breaks down when they reach the farm. With Joe dead, there is nobody on the farm except for Cujo, and thus begins a three day struggle to not only keep Donna herself alive, but also her son Tad. They are trapped in the car, with the murderous rabid dog outside, during the hottest summer in Castle Rock history. The sheriff of Castle Rock, George Bannerman, arrives and is murdered by the dog, but not before making a reference to Frank Dodd. In the end, Vic, worried that his wife has not answered the phone at home, returns to Castle Rock and figures out where they are, yet by the time he gets there, Donna has killed Cujo in a gory showdown and Tad has died of dehydration after being trapped in the car for three days...enjoy...Nigel

Page 5

The world was full of monsters, and they were all allowed to bite the innocent and the unwary.

...enveloping a small town in Maine. From the first page, we’re told that ten years ago, a bad cop named Frank Dodd terrorized Castle Rock. He had killed several women, only to off himself soon after being discovered.Read more

As with many of Stephen King’s books, Cujo opens on a peculiar darkness enveloping a small town in Maine. From the first page, we’re told that ten years ago, a bad cop named Frank Dodd terrorized Castle Rock. He had killed several women, only to off himself soon after being discovered. Though a monster rots away in his coffin, the true monster never really dies. And it’s this monster, which through a rabid bat, finds its way into a playful and lovable St. Bernard named Cujo. It’s also this same monster that subtly infects the lives of each character in the book.

The main plot focuses on the Trentons, an average American family composed of four-year-old Tad and two parents in a stable, but staid marriage. Recent migrants from the hustle and bustle of New York, Donna Trenton finds herself scared of growing old and falling into the mold of the small-town housewife while her husband, Vic, is absorbed in his work, trying not to lose his career over circumstances outside his control. These are only some of the elements pulling Castle Rock’s citizens into a downward spiral, the churning of which brings about a heart-wrenching conclusion which I won’t spoil for you (If you’ve only seen the movie, just know the book ends differently).

A recurring theme in this book is isolation. We see it physically, when Donna and Tad are prisoners in their own car, scared and helpless during the hottest summer in twenty years. We see it emotionally in Vic and Donna’s marriage. We also see it in the various minor characters throughout the book, which brings me to another point.

If you’ve seen the movie, I still recommend you check out the book. It’s not long. Just be forewarned that King’s state of mind at the time of writing is reflected in the book, for good and for bad.

Page 6

...its quality as a powerful piece of horror. Surely it's no The Shining or Salem's Lot, but there's a sheer, unbridled energy in these pages. This simple story about a rabid dog has a vicious, nervous quality to it, the way it determinedly moves...Read more

Man's best friend goes on a rampage in Cujo, a 1981 novel by Stephen King. Supposedly written under the influence, Cujo's rather modest position in King's canon belies its quality as a powerful piece of horror.

Surely it's no The Shining or Salem's Lot, but there's a sheer, unbridled energy in these pages. This simple story about a rabid dog has a vicious, nervous quality to it, the way it determinedly moves the characters around, setting them up for a final showdown: the Trentons, Donna and her son Tad, cooped up in a broken Pinto while Cujo, a giant, insane St. Bernard, waits outside.

Read all my reviews at mikareadshorrorfiction.wordpress.com

Page 7

Verified Purchase

...in The Dead Zone, already building the aura of the doom-shrouded town of Castle Rock. So it's a simple story - yet it's not simple at all. You have marital discord between the Trentons, the result of a stupid affair between Donna and the...Read more

Cujo is special. This was my introduction to Stephen King; oh, I'd read that story of his about toy soldiers (in seventh grade English class, no less), but this was my first real Stephen King experience. It was also my first truly adult novel; there's some pretty racy stuff in here, especially when you're an innocent twelve-year-old kid. Steve Kemp, Donna Trenton's jilted lover, is a cretin. That's part of the reason why Cujo has always been my least favorite Stephen King novel - until now, that is. Having finally reread this book, I am quite bowled over by the experience. This is King at his most visceral, his most unrelenting, his most vicious. Dark doesn't begin to describe this novel. The ending was and is controversial (so controversial that it was changed - quite cowardly - in the film adaptation). Speaking of the film, it's important not to judge this novel by that adaptation - in the movie, young Tad is almost impossible to like because Danny Pintauro was just such an annoying child actor, and Cujo himself is little more than a monster because we don't get inside his increasingly disturbed head the way we do in the novel. The real Cujo is a good dog.King has said he does not remember writing very much of this novel, that it was written in an almost perpetual drunken haze. It's ironic because Cujo is an amazingly sober read. Maybe the booze explains the brutality of the story, but I think not - like any great writer, King lets the story tell itself. What happens at the end of this novel just happens; King doesn't make it happen. That ending - actually, the whole book - opens up all kinds of questions about Fate and justice. I have a hard time liking Donna Trenton, and a part of me thinks there is a certain amount of justice in her fate (although the punishment grossly outweighs the crime in this case). How do you explain what happens here, though - all these coincidences that seal our characters' - especially the child's - fates? Why and how does such a horrible tragedy happen? As the reader, you ask these questions, and they echo the questions we sometimes ask in real life. King taps directly in to your worst nightmares with this seemingly simple story.

The basic foundation of this novel is a pretty simple one: man vs. nature. In one corner, you have a mother fighting for the life of her son as well as herself; in the other corner, you have Cujo, a two hundred pound St. Bernard, a gentle, loving dog who has gone rabid - very rabid, insanely murderous rabid. It's essential to realize that there are no villains here, though, only victims. Curiosity killed the cat, but it gave Cujo rabies, and we experience his own canine mental breakdown as the disease lays waste to his central nervous system. Cujo would never dream of hurting anyone; the rabies eventually kills the real Cujo, though, and turns his huge canine body into a horrible killing machine, a very fiend from hell itself, the personification of the terrible monster in the closet that frightens young Tad so much every night in his room. King conjures this malevolent connection in a wonderfully tangible way, going even farther to tie "the monster" in to the murderous deeds of Frank Dodd - King directly cites events chronicled in The Dead Zone, already building the aura of the doom-shrouded town of Castle Rock.

So it's a simple story - yet it's not simple at all. You have marital discord between the Trentons, the result of a stupid affair between Donna and the aforementioned cretin Steve Kemp. Vic is trying to save his business at the same time that he is hammered with the news of his wife's infidelity. You have Tad's fear of the monster in his closet and his trust in his father to keep him safe. You have the wife of country mechanic Joe Camber and her fears that her son will turn out just like his father. You basically have all manner of compelling subplots going on at the same time, somehow coming together to conjure an unimaginably horrible series of events. In other words, this is real life taken to extremes - and there are monsters in real life, oh yes.

Page 8

A book that will bite you!

...will inevitably find yourself reading it again,it is that good. Here is the main Plot:(taken from wikipedia):The novel is set almost entirely in the fictitious town of Castle Rock, Maine. It begins with a reference to Frank Dodd, the Castle Rock...Read more

The central theme of this book is simply about a dog which gets rabies and kills people,terrifyingly.But that is the simpliest way I can explain the book.The book,though a very short read is impregnated with a lot of great things to follow,making the story more that simply a dog killing people.It is a great book a typical SK book.It would also be important to read this book slowly so as not too miss the important messages in this book.If you read it fast however,I am certain that you will inevitably find yourself reading it again,it is that good.

Here is the main Plot:(taken from wikipedia):The novel is set almost entirely in the fictitious town of Castle Rock, Maine. It begins with a reference to Frank Dodd, the Castle Rock deputy sheriff whose murder spree was the central episode in the first half of The Dead Zone. In fact, there is some hinting to the question of whether or not Cujo is possessed by Dodd and whether or not Dodd is haunting the Trenton house (Tad is scared by a monster in his closet and the words put up on the wall by his father is the only way he sleeps with ease). Except for these vague hints, there are no supernatural elements in the book and is mainly a thriller.

Cujo belongs to the Cambers, a family living outside of Castle Rock where Joe Camber does mechanic work. While hunting in the fields around the Cambers' house, Cujo is bitten by a bat infected with rabies. After he is infected, Cujo attacks and kills the Cambers neighbor, Gary Pervier. Joe goes to Gary's to pick him up and finds Gary dead. Before he is able to call the cops, Cujo kills him too. Joe's son and wife are spared as they had left on a trip to visit relatives.

The Trentons, Vic, Donna, and four-year-old Tad, are having problems of their own when Vic finds out that Donna, the typical bored housewife, has been cheating on him. In the midst of this household tension, Vic's business is failing, and he is forced to leave on a business trip to Massachusetts. Donna, home alone with Tad, takes their failing Ford Pinto to the Cambers'. However, the car breaks down when they reach the farm. With Joe dead, there is nobody on the farm except for Cujo, and thus begins a three day struggle to not only keep Donna herself alive, but also her son Tad. They are trapped in the car, with the murderous rabid dog outside, during the hottest summer in Castle Rock history. The sheriff of Castle Rock, George Bannerman, arrives and is murdered by the dog, but not before making a reference to Frank Dodd. In the end, Vic, worried that his wife has not answered the phone at home, returns to Castle Rock and figures out where they are, yet by the time he gets there, Donna has killed Cujo in a gory showdown and Tad has died of dehydration after being trapped in the car for three days...enjoy...Nigel

Page 9

A Centerpiece in Stephen King's career

...to his wife and son's trip begins to plan a trip to Boston for himself and his best friend, the alcholic Gary Pervier, who is his next door neighbor, the only one for a few miles. After Vic Trenton's absense, Donna's brand new Pinto begins to act...Read more

Cujo is one of the most memorable and well written novels Stephen King has written to this day. There are fond memories from everybody who has read the book or seen the movie of the Infamous Pinto scene, which stands as one of the most riveting scenes in any novel and the reader just sucks it up like a black hole. Many people read the novel after seeing the movie just to get to the Pinto scene, mostly missing all the carefully laid plot twists and intricate ironies that mask the characters in a macabre shadow. Minor points aside, Cujo stands as Stephen King's most fastpaced and well written novel to date, and therefore should be read by all, and remember, DOGS DO BITE!Here's a summary of the Story and its Writing:

Story: Enter the Trentons, Donna, the lonely housewife who has just broken off an affair under rather nasty circumstances, Vic, the interminably busy ad maker whos Biggest client is envoloped in a fatal scandal, and Tad, The curious son who's just begun to see monsters in his closet. Then we see the Cambers, Joe, The auto mechanic with an attitude, his wife Charity, Who dreams of a better lifestyle, and their son Brett, the precosious youth who owns a rather large St. Bernard named Cujo. This is where the story really starts to pick up. Cujo in fact is one of the most tame dogs you could have the fortune of having, but after chasing a rabbit into an unforseen hole and being bitten by a cache of bats, Cujo starts to feel different. Cujo was in fact infected with rabies and the disease slowly starts to eat away his mind. The oldest person in town, Evvie Chalmers, predicts that the summer of '82 will be the hottest in 30 years. Vic Trenton's ad campaign for a cereal backfired after the cereal caused its consumers to vomit blood, and he has to quickly rush to New York to reassess his issues. Donnna Trenton puts a stop to her affair with Steve Kemp(Her Neighbor), but he has other ideas. He soon after mails Vic an anonymous letter making him aware of the affair. Depressed and belittled, Vic gratefully travels to New York to get away for awhile. Tad Trenton starts to see a monster in his closet more frequently, and that monster is itching to get out. Back with the Cambers, Charity Camber wins the lottery to her great surprise and plans to take her son Brett with her to Hartford, Connecticut to visit her sister and show her son a "Better Lifestlyle". But before Brett leaves he notices that Cujo looked very sick, but he neglected to tell his father. Joe Camber, unhappy but agreeable to his wife and son's trip begins to plan a trip to Boston for himself and his best friend, the alcholic Gary Pervier, who is his next door neighbor, the only one for a few miles. After Vic Trenton's absense, Donna's brand new Pinto begins to act up, the needle valve apparently skewered, so she decides to take the car to the cheapest auto mechanic in town, Joe Camber(BAD IDEA). But beforehand, Cujo has been degraded to a mindless 250 pound mongrel hellbent on the thought of murder, and starts his killing spree by biting off Gary Pervier's throat and instantly killing him. The next day Joe Camber arrives at his friends house to find his dead friend and his worst nightmare, Cujo. He soon is made into lunch. By now, the Camber residense is totally deserted except for Cujo, and when Donna and Tad Trenton pull into the Camber's driveway in their fabled Pinto, Cujo's the first one they meet. It attacks and turns the Pinto into his own personal toy, and the people inside are it's puppets. The Pinto is unresponding and will not start up to Donna and Tad's dismay, and they are stuck for days under the watchful gaze of the insane and slowly dieing Cujo and under the sweltering sun of summer. Ultimately, the ultimate sacriface must be made for the survival of Donna, who saintly risks her life for her son but soon realizes he's already dead. Thus ends an Epic tale of irony and plot twists.