2 If I may, I think I can clear this up. There were three versions of the book set in 1980, 1985, and 1990.
The 1978 edition was set in 1980 and was somewhat confusing at first, due to references to stuff that they had to edit out to make it more to the publisher's liking. We did not see, for example, Larry Underwood acquiring the .30-30 rifle in the original, only references to it once he had it. Another was his fantasy about being Inspector Underwood of The Yard. The Wolf-man that the Four came across in Colorado is mentioned only in passing and The Kid is changed from the repulsive character in the original to that of an equally repugnant dirty old man in a wife-beater and a T-bird. The poor editing of the 1978 book is evident in the number of errors it contains. I've said this before, but King, while he is a marvelous storyteller is a very sloppy writer sometimes.
The 1980 paperback edition, edition set in 1985, is essentially the same book as the 1978 version, with the exception of the dates and changing Harold Lauder's candy bar of choice to a Milky Way.
In the 1988 edition, set in 1990, the mysteries are clear up, regarding the .30-30, and Inspector Underwood, we are told of the things missed in the 1978 version, and we have the additional material of Campion's escape from Project Blue and we also have what (spoiler)happened to Flagg after Vegas, among other things. And, just as in the 1978 version, the number of mistakes is legion here as well.
Hm, I don’t think there was an ‘80s edition, just the cut ‘78 and the uncut ‘90
Hope this helps.
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Ant1238 (839)
3 years ago
Ah, didn't realize anything was changed from the cut hardcover to paperback. In the uncut '90 version, Harold eats Paydays, no?
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BullSchmidt (3189)
3 years ago
Yep. IIRC he also ate Paydays in the 1985 setting.
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Gary O. (997)
3 years ago
2 No; he definitely ate Milky Ways in 1985, but it was changed back to Paydays in the 1988 C&U.
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BullSchmidt (3189)
3 years ago
Ah'll take yer word fer it; like Ah said b'low, it's been at leas' twenny years since Ah read the 1985 version.
Either way, he was packing a lot of weight. In the new miniseries he's of normal weight, and his personal grooming seems far better than in the book. His hairstyle and fashion choices do mark him as being considerably out of touch with his teen peers ... unless I'm horribly out of touch with teenage fashion, which is quite possible. But I don't see any kids around here who look like him.
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BullSchmidt (3189)
3 years ago
> The Wolf-man that the Four came across in Colorado is mentioned only in passing and The Kid is changed from the repulsive character in the original to that of an equally repugnant dirty old man in a wife-beater and a T-bird.
I very vaguely remember this in the 1985 version. Without The Kid's story to explain it, the dead Wolfman became an unsolvable mystery – the four find him, wonder what the hell happened, muse that they'll never know, and we readers never know either. Kind of a nice touch, really – there's not only all the weirdness that we and the characters see, but a lot more beyond that.
As for the old man in the wife-beater … yeah, that rings a bell but I can't recall details at all. I had the 1985 and 1990 versions, but when I moved from one home to another about twenty years ago, the 1990 book made it but the 1985 got lost somewhere. I haven't read it since then. I might pick up a used copy somewhere and give it another look.
Another thing I remember is that the 1990 version briefly mentioned AIDS; a doctor made comparisons between it and the superflu. The 1985 book didn't have that IIRC.
The new miniseries is set in something like the present day. Harold has a MacBook or something similar, the Internet is mentioned, and when Lloyd and Poke rob a service station the cigarette prices on the wall are reasonably current. I haven't thought through which changes in characterization, plot, et cetera are due to this but I'm sure many are. You can't move a story forward 40 years from its original setting without some consequences; I mentioned The Power above as an example.
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