The Body - Stephen King

[b_salina]

Hello everyone.

I'm reading "The Body", one of the stories from Stephen King's
"Different Seasons". It takes place in 1960, and there's a lot of slang
in it. There are a few passages that puzzle me:

(Gordie, Chris, Vern and Teddy, four boys, heard screaming)

QUOTE
'It's a bird, isn't it?' I asked Chris.
'No. At least, I don't think so. I think it's a wildcat. My dad says
they scream bloody murder when they're getting ready to mate. Sounds
like a woman, doesn't it?'
'Yeah,' I said. My voice hitched in the middle of the word and two
ice-cubes broke off in the gap.
'But no woman could scream that loud,' Chris said ... and then added
helplessly: 'Could she, Gordie?'
UNQUOTE

"Ice-cubes"?

QUOTE
If there was a ha'ant out there in the woods - what my dad called a
Goosalum - and it wanted us, it would probably get us.
UNQUOTE

I don't know what "ha'ant" and "goosalum" mean. Bear in mind this is
pretty much as far through the story as I am---in case a spoiler would
be explicative.


QUOTE
He backs out onto the road, flicking on the windshield wipers and
pausing for a moment to look at the house. It is a completely
unappetizing aqua colour. The shed sticks off from it at a ragtag,
double-jointed angle, tarpaper and peeled-looking shingles.
UNQUOTE

Am I right in thinking that "tarpaper ..." is loosely connected to the
rest of the sentence? I get the feeling King's style is cinematic here,
but maybe I'm misinterpreting it all.

B.

[Mark Brader]

Post by b_salina
QUOTE
...
'Yeah,' I said. My voice hitched in the middle of the word and two
ice-cubes broke off in the gap.
...
UNQUOTE
"Ice-cubes"?

Not a standard expression. Looks like it's just meant as a colorful
way of saying "I broke off what I was saying, my voice frozen".

Post by b_salina
QUOTE
If there was a ha'ant out there in the woods - what my dad called a
Goosalum - and it wanted us, it would probably get us.
UNQUOTE
I don't know what "ha'ant" and "goosalum" mean. ...

I think "ha'ant" is indicating a pronunciation of "hant", which in
turn is probably a dialect variation of "haunt", which in turn is a
word some people would use for a ghost. "Goosalum" is unfamiliar
to me.

Post by b_salina
QUOTE
... The shed sticks off from it at a ragtag,
double-jointed angle, tarpaper and peeled-looking shingles.
UNQUOTE
Am I right in thinking that "tarpaper ..." is loosely connected to the
rest of the sentence?

Yeah. He's talking about its untidy appearance, and since the tarpaper
is on the outside, it's what you see.

[Jeffrey Turner]

This post might be inappropriate. Click to display it.

[b_salina]

Post by Mark Brader

Post by b_salina
QUOTE
...
'Yeah,' I said. My voice hitched in the middle of the word and two
ice-cubes broke off in the gap.
...
UNQUOTE
"Ice-cubes"?

Not a standard expression. Looks like it's just meant as a colorful
way of saying "I broke off what I was saying, my voice frozen".

Thanks. (Last night I finished the story.)

B.

[Tony Cooper]

Post by b_salina
Hello everyone.
I'm reading "The Body", one of the stories from Stephen King's
"Different Seasons". It takes place in 1960, and there's a lot of slang
(Gordie, Chris, Vern and Teddy, four boys, heard screaming)
QUOTE
'It's a bird, isn't it?' I asked Chris.
'No. At least, I don't think so. I think it's a wildcat. My dad says
they scream bloody murder when they're getting ready to mate. Sounds
like a woman, doesn't it?'
'Yeah,' I said. My voice hitched in the middle of the word and two
ice-cubes broke off in the gap.

A metaphor that the author seems to have made up on the spot. High
notes are supposed to shatter glass, so King may be playing around
with this.

Post by b_salina
QUOTE
If there was a ha'ant out there in the woods - what my dad called a
Goosalum - and it wanted us, it would probably get us.
UNQUOTE

A haunt; something like a ghost that haunts the woods. A "goosalum"
is either a word made up by his father or a word that has some
regional use.

Post by b_salina
QUOTE
He backs out onto the road, flicking on the windshield wipers and
pausing for a moment to look at the house. It is a completely
unappetizing aqua colour. The shed sticks off from it at a ragtag,
double-jointed angle, tarpaper and peeled-looking shingles.
UNQUOTE

Rough shacks, or sheds, are often slapped together out of plywood with
a layer of tarpaper (roofing felt) tacked over the wood to minimally
weatherproof them. A picture of one is shown at
http://tinyurl.com/yf5e5o if you scroll down the page.