The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon
Encyclopedia
The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon (1999) is a psychological horror
novel
by Stephen King
. In 2004, a pop-up book
adaptation was released, designed by Kees Moerbeek and illustrated by Alan Dingman.
, and a Walkman
. Now and then she listens to her Walkman to keep her mood up, either to learn of news of the search for her, or to listen to the baseball game featuring her favorite player, and "heartthrob," Tom Gordon
.
As she starts to take steps to survive by conserving what little food she has with her and consuming edible flora, her mother and brother return to their car without her and call the police and start a search. The rescuers search in the area around the path, but not as far away as Trisha has gone. The girl decides to follow a creek because of what she read in Little House on the Prairie
(though it soon turns into a swamp-like river) rationalizing that all bodies of water lead eventually to civilization.
As the cops stop searching for the night, she huddles up underneath a tree to rest. Eventually, a combination of fear, hunger, and thirst causes Trisha to hallucinate. She imagines several people from her life, as well as her hero, Tom Gordon
, appearing to her. It is left unclear whether increasingly obvious signs of supernatural events in the woods are also hallucinations.
Hours and soon days begin to pass, with Trisha wandering further into the woods. Eventually she begins to believe that she is headed for a confrontation with the God of the Lost, a wasp-faced, evil entity who is hunting her down. Her trial becomes a test of a 9 year old girl's ability to maintain sanity in the face of seemingly certain death. Racked with pneumonia and near death, she comes upon a road, but just as she discovers signs of civilization, she is confronted by a bear, which she interprets as the God of the Lost in disguise. Facing down her fear, she realizes it is the bottom of the ninth, and she must close the game. In imitation of Tom Gordon, she takes a pitcher's stance and throws her Walkman like a baseball, hitting the bear in the face, and startling it enough to make it back away. A hunter who has come upon the confrontation between girl and beast frightens the bear away and takes Trisha to safety, but Trisha knows that she earned her rescue.
Trisha wakes up in a hospital to find her divorced parents and older brother waiting near her bedside. A nurse tells the girl's family that they must leave because "Her numbers are up and we don't want that." Her father is the last to leave. Before he does Trisha asks him to hand her her Red Sox hat (autographed by Tom Gordon) and she points towards the sky, just as Tom Gordon does when he closes a game.
was attached to write and direct, plans for film adaptation had stalled as of October 2005.
, a predatory demon
from Indian
mythology that was said to inhabit the forests of the northeastern United States
and Canada
, and was said to torment humans lost in the woods before eventually devouring them. Another theme common to Indian
cultures as well as cultures around the world is the concept of the ordeal, a rite of passage in which a candidate must prove him or her self by braving a dangerous or daunting task or undertaking to be considered an adult.
Psychological horror
Psychological horror is a subgenre of horror fiction that relies on character fears, guilt, beliefs, eerie sound effects, relevant music and emotional instability to build tension and further the plot...
novel
Novel
A novel is a book of long narrative in literary prose. The genre has historical roots both in the fields of the medieval and early modern romance and in the tradition of the novella. The latter supplied the present generic term in the late 18th century....
by Stephen King
Stephen King
Stephen Edwin King is an American author of contemporary horror, suspense, science fiction and fantasy fiction. His books have sold more than 350 million copies and have been adapted into a number of feature films, television movies and comic books...
. In 2004, a pop-up book
Pop-up book
The term pop-up book is often applied to any three-dimensional or movable book, although properly the umbrella term movable book covers pop-ups, transformations, tunnel books, volvelles, flaps, pull-tabs, pop-outs, pull-downs, and more, each of which performs in a different manner...
adaptation was released, designed by Kees Moerbeek and illustrated by Alan Dingman.
Plot summary
The story is set in motion by a family hiking trip, during which Trisha's brother, Pete, and mother constantly squabble about the mother's divorce with her father, as well as other topics. Trisha falls back to avoid listening and is therefore unable to find her family again after she wanders off the trail to take a bathroom break. Trying to catch up by attempting a shortcut, she slips and falls down a steep embankment and ends up hopelessly lost, heading deeper into the heart of the forest. She is left with a bottle of water, two Twinkies, a boiled egg, a tuna sandwich, a bottle of Surge, a poncho, a Game BoyGame Boy
The , is an 8-bit handheld video game device developed and manufactured by Nintendo. It was released in Japan on , in North America in , and in Europe on...
, and a Walkman
Walkman
Walkman is a Sony brand tradename originally used for portable audio cassette, and now used to market Sony's portable audio and video players as well as a line of Sony Ericsson mobile phones...
. Now and then she listens to her Walkman to keep her mood up, either to learn of news of the search for her, or to listen to the baseball game featuring her favorite player, and "heartthrob," Tom Gordon
Tom Gordon
Thomas Gordon , nicknamed "Flash", is a former Major League Baseball right-handed pitcher. He played with the Kansas City Royals , Boston Red Sox , Chicago Cubs , Houston Astros , Chicago White Sox , New York Yankees , Philadelphia Phillies and the...
.
As she starts to take steps to survive by conserving what little food she has with her and consuming edible flora, her mother and brother return to their car without her and call the police and start a search. The rescuers search in the area around the path, but not as far away as Trisha has gone. The girl decides to follow a creek because of what she read in Little House on the Prairie
Little House on the Prairie
Little House is a series of children's books by Laura Ingalls Wilder that was published originally between 1932 and 1943, with four additional books published posthumously, in 1962, 1971, 1974 and 2006.-History:...
(though it soon turns into a swamp-like river) rationalizing that all bodies of water lead eventually to civilization.
As the cops stop searching for the night, she huddles up underneath a tree to rest. Eventually, a combination of fear, hunger, and thirst causes Trisha to hallucinate. She imagines several people from her life, as well as her hero, Tom Gordon
Tom Gordon
Thomas Gordon , nicknamed "Flash", is a former Major League Baseball right-handed pitcher. He played with the Kansas City Royals , Boston Red Sox , Chicago Cubs , Houston Astros , Chicago White Sox , New York Yankees , Philadelphia Phillies and the...
, appearing to her. It is left unclear whether increasingly obvious signs of supernatural events in the woods are also hallucinations.
Hours and soon days begin to pass, with Trisha wandering further into the woods. Eventually she begins to believe that she is headed for a confrontation with the God of the Lost, a wasp-faced, evil entity who is hunting her down. Her trial becomes a test of a 9 year old girl's ability to maintain sanity in the face of seemingly certain death. Racked with pneumonia and near death, she comes upon a road, but just as she discovers signs of civilization, she is confronted by a bear, which she interprets as the God of the Lost in disguise. Facing down her fear, she realizes it is the bottom of the ninth, and she must close the game. In imitation of Tom Gordon, she takes a pitcher's stance and throws her Walkman like a baseball, hitting the bear in the face, and startling it enough to make it back away. A hunter who has come upon the confrontation between girl and beast frightens the bear away and takes Trisha to safety, but Trisha knows that she earned her rescue.
Trisha wakes up in a hospital to find her divorced parents and older brother waiting near her bedside. A nurse tells the girl's family that they must leave because "Her numbers are up and we don't want that." Her father is the last to leave. Before he does Trisha asks him to hand her her Red Sox hat (autographed by Tom Gordon) and she points towards the sky, just as Tom Gordon does when he closes a game.
Movie adaptation
Although George A. RomeroGeorge A. Romero
George Andrew Romero is a Canadian-American film director, screenwriter and editor, best known for his gruesome and satirical horror films about a hypothetical zombie apocalypse. He is nicknamed "Godfather of all Zombies." -Life and career:...
was attached to write and direct, plans for film adaptation had stalled as of October 2005.
Themes
The novel also features many classic mythological and cultural themes. The entity that stalks Trisha referred to in the novel as "The God of the Lost" is very similar to the WendigoWendigo
The Wendigo is a mythical creature appearing in the mythology of the Algonquian people. It is a malevolent cannibalistic spirit into which humans could transform, or which could possess humans...
, a predatory demon
Demon
call - 1347 531 7769 for more infoIn Ancient Near Eastern religions as well as in the Abrahamic traditions, including ancient and medieval Christian demonology, a demon is considered an "unclean spirit" which may cause demonic possession, to be addressed with an act of exorcism...
from Indian
Indigenous peoples of the Americas
The indigenous peoples of the Americas are the pre-Columbian inhabitants of North and South America, their descendants and other ethnic groups who are identified with those peoples. Indigenous peoples are known in Canada as Aboriginal peoples, and in the United States as Native Americans...
mythology that was said to inhabit the forests of the northeastern United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
and Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
, and was said to torment humans lost in the woods before eventually devouring them. Another theme common to Indian
Indigenous peoples of the Americas
The indigenous peoples of the Americas are the pre-Columbian inhabitants of North and South America, their descendants and other ethnic groups who are identified with those peoples. Indigenous peoples are known in Canada as Aboriginal peoples, and in the United States as Native Americans...
cultures as well as cultures around the world is the concept of the ordeal, a rite of passage in which a candidate must prove him or her self by braving a dangerous or daunting task or undertaking to be considered an adult.
Translations
| Country | Year | Title | Publisher | Translator |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| FIN Finland Finland , officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country situated in the Fennoscandian region of Northern Europe. It is bordered by Sweden in the west, Norway in the north and Russia in the east, while Estonia lies to its south across the Gulf of Finland.Around 5.4 million people reside... |
1999 1999 in literature The year 1999 in literature involved some significant events and new books.-Events:*June 19 - Stephen King is hit by a Dodge van while taking a walk. He spends the next three weeks hospitalized... |
"Eksyneiden Jumala" | Tammi | Ilkka Rekiaro |
| GER Germany Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate... |
2000 2000 in literature The year 2000 in literature involved some significant events and new books.-Events:* February 13 - Final original Peanuts comic strip is published... |
"Das Mädchen" | Schneekluth-Verlag | Wulf Bergner |
| SWE Sweden Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund.... |
2000 2000 in literature The year 2000 in literature involved some significant events and new books.-Events:* February 13 - Final original Peanuts comic strip is published... |
"Flickan som älskade Tom Gordon" | Bra Böcker | Tove Janson Borglund |
| LTU Lithuania Lithuania , officially the Republic of Lithuania is a country in Northern Europe, the biggest of the three Baltic states. It is situated along the southeastern shore of the Baltic Sea, whereby to the west lie Sweden and Denmark... |
2000 2000 in literature The year 2000 in literature involved some significant events and new books.-Events:* February 13 - Final original Peanuts comic strip is published... |
"Mergaitė, kuri mylėjo Tomą Gordoną" | Eridanas | Jurgita Jėrinaitė and Birutė Vijeikienė |
| ICE Iceland Iceland , described as the Republic of Iceland, is a Nordic and European island country in the North Atlantic Ocean, on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. Iceland also refers to the main island of the country, which contains almost all the population and almost all the land area. The country has a population... |
2000 2000 in literature The year 2000 in literature involved some significant events and new books.-Events:* February 13 - Final original Peanuts comic strip is published... |
"Stúlkan sem elskaði Tom Gordon" | Iðunn | Björn Jónsson |
| DEN Denmark Denmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark... |
2000 2000 in literature The year 2000 in literature involved some significant events and new books.-Events:* February 13 - Final original Peanuts comic strip is published... |
"Pigen der elskede Tom Gordon" | Bogklubben Egmont | Jette Røssell |
| XA Mexico The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of... |
2002 2002 in literature The year 2002 in literature involved some significant events and new books.-Events:*March 16: Authorities in Saudi Arabia arrested and jailed poet Abdul Mohsen Musalam and fired a newspaper editor following the publication of Musalam's poem The Corrupt on Earth that criticized the state's Islamic... |
"La Chica Que Amaba A Tom Gordon" | Debolsillo | |
| ID Indonesia Indonesia , officially the Republic of Indonesia , is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania. Indonesia is an archipelago comprising approximately 13,000 islands. It has 33 provinces with over 238 million people, and is the world's fourth most populous country. Indonesia is a republic, with an... |
2006 2006 in literature The year 2006 in literature involved some significant events and new books.-Literature:*Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie - Half of a Yellow Sun*Chris Adrian - The Children's Hospital *Martin Amis - House of Meetings... |
"Gadis Penggemar Tom Gordon" | PT Gramedia Pustaka Utama | B. Sendra Tanuwidjaja |
| HR Croatia Croatia , officially the Republic of Croatia , is a unitary democratic parliamentary republic in Europe at the crossroads of the Mitteleuropa, the Balkans, and the Mediterranean. Its capital and largest city is Zagreb. The country is divided into 20 counties and the city of Zagreb. Croatia covers ... |
2006 2006 in literature The year 2006 in literature involved some significant events and new books.-Literature:*Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie - Half of a Yellow Sun*Chris Adrian - The Children's Hospital *Martin Amis - House of Meetings... |
"Djevojčica koja je obožavala Toma Gordona" | Algoritam | Božica Jakovlev |
| CZ Czech Republic The Czech Republic is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Poland to the northeast, Slovakia to the east, Austria to the south, and Germany to the west and northwest.... |
2007 2007 in literature The year 2007 in literature involves some significant new books.-Events:*November 19 - First Kindle e-book reader released.*December 11 - Terry Pratchett informs fans on-line that he has been diagnosed with a rare form of Alzheimer's disease.-Literature:... |
"Holčička, která měla ráda Toma Gordona" | Pavel Dobrovský - BETA | Linda Bartošková |
| POL Poland Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north... |
2008 2008 in literature The year 2008 in literature involved some significant events and new books.-Events:*January 1 - In the 2008 New Year Honours, Hanif Kureishi , Jenny Uglow , Peter Vansittart and Debjani Chatterjee are all rewarded for "services to literature".*June 15 - Gore Vidal, asked in a New York Times... |
"Pokochała Toma Gordona" | Prószyński i Ska | Krzysztof Sokołowski |
| FR France The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France... |
2009 2009 in literature The year 2009 in literature involved some significant events and new books.-Events:*8 October - Romanian-born German novelist Herta Müller wins the 2009 Nobel Prize in Literature.... |
"La petite fille qui aimait Tom Gordon" | Succès du livre éditions | François Lasquin |
| SLO Slovenia Slovenia , officially the Republic of Slovenia , is a country in Central and Southeastern Europe touching the Alps and bordering the Mediterranean. Slovenia borders Italy to the west, Croatia to the south and east, Hungary to the northeast, and Austria to the north, and also has a small portion of... |
2010 2010 in literature The year 2010 in literature involved some significant events and new books.-Events:*February - The Wheeler Centre, Australia's "literary hub", officially opened.*April 3 - First release of the Apple iPad, electronic book reading device.... |
"Deklica, ki je oboževala Toma Gordona" | Modrijan založba | Aleksandra Kocmut |