Review: The Institute
Gaby Meares
Stephen King is in fine form! The Institute combines many of his favourite tropes: kids as heroes; kids versus unknown evil; the kindness of strangers; references to current products and politics. He has created the perfect mix. At 482 pages it’s a commitment, but I can guarantee it’s a commitment well worth making.
Tim Jamieson is at a loose end. He’s a disgraced cop who finds himself in the small town of DuPray, South Carolina, working as the night knocker (not a term familiar to Australian readers but it’s basically night security for the small town).
We meet Luke Ellis as he’s sitting exams for early entrance to University - Luke is twelve years old and is a child genius. Fortunately, it hasn’t gone to his head (pun intended) and he’s a likeable, typical teenager. His parents are cool and he loves them to bits. As a regular reader of Stephen King, you just know this is not going to end well. In the middle of the night, he is stolen from his home and he wakes up in The Institute.
‘Great events turn on small hinges’ and how Tim and Luke meet and join forces is typical King magic. What else is King magic is his fine eye for detail, be it place or people. Passing characters are drawn as lovingly as main characters. For example, Tim thumbs a ride with Marjorie Kellerman, an elderly librarian with a car load of donated books to deliver to a library which has no money because ‘Trump and his cronies took it all back. They understand culture no more than a donkey understand algebra.’ King does not hide his political leanings!
Some of the best dialogue is between the kids trapped in the nightmare that is The Institute. Even though they are experiencing shocking treatment, they can still share a joke and a laugh. They are irreverent and made me laugh out loud: ‘“Stick your nose up my ass and fight for air, “Luke said, and began to laugh.’
And there are many more such exchanges which are reminiscent, in particular, of The Body and It. But these gifted kids also look out for each other, and discover that, together, they are a force to be reckoned with, just as King is still a major force whose gift for storytelling is irrefutable.