Remember when you were a kid, fantasizing about having a super human ability like flying or becoming invisible? Let’s be real – I STILL wish I could teleport (saves on gas) and control time (who doesn’t need a few extra hours, amiright?) What could possibly be the downfall of such superior capabilities?
In Stephen King’s view, the complete destruction of the entire world could be the result, apparently.
There is a belief in a particular sect of the population that children can be born with psychic abilities that should be nurtured and cultivated. These children are dubbed “perceptive children” (what the actual eff) and they contain a strong PSI or psychic energy. There are forums dedicated to the study of kids believed to show telepathic and telekinetic symptoms, and there are even fun little tests to try at home!
Example: The Candy Game, where the parent or care taker puts 25 M&Ms in a brown bag and has the child guess what color M&M will be selected out of the bag.
Okay, can someone come up with the equation for this one? How likely is a kid to choose one out of the five colors of M&Ms? And what’s the threshold for if they’re officially telepathic? If they get one wrong, are they in the clear from all this ridiculousness? Or is it more of a range scoring set-up? Seems vague.
I shit you not, this is a real site where actual people share the most absurd “experiences of telepathy.” Example: Story shared on the Perceptive Children Support Forum: “Fred, 10, reported while walking down the street talking with his friend, they both suddenly began singing the same song, at exactly the same moment with no radio on.”…wh…what?
Anywho, I definitely prefer the fun-fiction version of telepathy and telekinesis, versus the cultish following behind the idea that these are scientifically proven abilities and not entirely based on coincidence or kids making inferences.
That’s why Stephen King’s The Institute was spot on (per usual) with the freakiness and drawbacks behind having such extraordinary powers. I always enjoy King’s spin on precognition and psychokinesis. He writes about both abilities in a few of the books of read by him, including The Shining and Dr. Sleep. Though King definitely plays on the disastrous consequences of harboring such abilities, he also highlights the unbreakable bond fusing the community of TKs and TPs, managing to make what they endure together both heartbreaking and soul warming.
The Institute is a place shrouded in mystery. Dedicated to the preservation of the human race and located in the deep back woods of Vermont, children are spirited away there in the late hours of the night. But not just any children – these are adolescents with the capacity to change the world, for better or for worse.
One such child, Luke Ellis, is not only exceptionally brilliant (already applying to attend MIT at the age of twelve), but he has an even more intriguing talent; Luke has telekinetic abilities. Though they appear in small actions, such as moving an empty pizza box when agitated or causing papers to flutter off of a desk, they are obvious and a little disconcerting to Luke. But they aren’t the most pressing issue in Luke’s life at the moment. Right now, Luke’s focus is on acing the SATs and moving with his family to attend one of the most prestigious colleges in the word.
Until he wakes up one morning and finds himself in his room…but it’s not his room. Luke discovers that he’s in weird, asylum-like place, where children wander the halls smoking cigarettes and drinking booze they purchase from vending machines with funny tokens “earned” through docility. Luke becomes friends with a motley crew of other children with TK and TP abilities, and slowly he begins to unravel the secret behind their abductions and what happens when children get promoted from Front Half to Back Half at The Institute…
With time running out and his friends vanishing into the dreaded Back Half, Luke hatches a plan that could save all of them…but might destroy the world.
This book is a combination of IT by Stephen King and Stranger Things. Kids coming together to bring down a terrible, extraordinary rapscallion? Yaaaas, sign me up. Of course, in true Stephen King fashion, it’s not a cut-n-dry happy ending where everyone gets out unscathed. Tragedy adds to the storyline here and makes the reader feel even more connected to the characters and their plight for justice, so don’t be discouraged by the impending doom and don’t get too vested in any of the characters (I’m great at pitching things, obvs).
I would love to go into the real reason I got sucked into this book – it reeks of government conspiracy and human rights violations – but I don’t want to start giving all of the juicy parts away.
All I’m going to say is I definitely enjoyed this read! One of my favorites by The King to date. King can be long-winded sometimes, hence the 550+ pages, but the reader definitely does not feel short changed in the end.
If you want a twisted sci-fi thriller (that will leave you feeling a little paranoid), this is it. Annnd if you want to talk about/dissect it afterward, hit a sister up!
Find a warm blanket, pour yourself a nice drink & get cozy while you crack open this read!
Happy & healthy reading!
Lexi
