Institute
writer’s work, and Luke and Co. in the Institute reflect everything from the psychic-kid-on-the-run theme of “Firestarter” to the type of youthful power in King’s novels that so inspired “Stranger Things.”
“I think we’re all losers,” one girl says, a not-so-subtle reference to the Losers’ Club of “It.” (It’s also probably no coincidence this book’s releasing on the heels of “It: Chapter Two” in theaters – it’s King’s world, man, and we’re just avoiding the clowns.)
Yet even though King’s writing still has the gumption, folksiness and, sure, full-on creepiness his Constant Readers have always loved, “The Institute” is missing the appealing vim and vigor displayed in the author’s recent foray into detective work with the outstanding “Mr. Mercedes” trilogy and spinoffof-sorts “The Outsider.” Those works – and last year’s surprisingly uplifting “Elevation” – felt like an icon stretching himself, and you don’t have to be a psychic to figure out there’s a lot of “been there, read that” with “The Institute.”
That said, King does well inserting a certain modern relevancy, and not just with the subtle shots (and others, not so much) at his social-media foil, Donald Trump. One rural Southern area is described as a place where “Obamacare is looked upon as a libtard blasphemy, and a trip to Walmart is considered an occasion.” There are certain aspects of Luke’s situation that eerily resemble what’s happening in real life with kids at the Mexican border, though in other instances it’s like the X-Men if Professor X was a sadistic stooge always trying to save his own keister.
With “The Institute,” King leans into the theme of “great events” happening with the smallest of decisions as well as the world-changing power of togetherness. And in that case, it’s a frequent lesson he extols that never gets old.