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Ensign_Ricky posted:What sucks is its after those first 50 pages that it gets really good. "You'll hate the first 50 pages and last 25 pages, but the 400 in between are AWESOME" is a good review for almost any King book.
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Nov 8, 2009 04:40
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I cannot explain why I enjoy his boring drivel so much. There is a scene in Bag of Bones where Noonan is simply sitting in front of his dead wife's belongings and he eats a mouse-shaped chocolate covered marshmallow and I just lap scenes like that up.
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Nov 8, 2009 19:06
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kosherpickle posted:I cannot explain why I enjoy his boring drivel so much. There is a scene in Bag of Bones where Noonan is simply sitting in front of his dead wife's belongings and he eats a mouse-shaped chocolate covered marshmallow and I just lap scenes like that up. He's honestly excellent at characterization. That, and building a town/city/world that feel "real" would be, I would say, his best ability.
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Nov 8, 2009 19:41
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kosherpickle posted:I cannot explain why I enjoy his boring drivel so much. There is a scene in Bag of Bones where Noonan is simply sitting in front of his dead wife's belongings and he eats a mouse-shaped chocolate covered marshmallow and I just lap scenes like that up. If Stephen King wrote a book about mid-life crises/divorce/disfigurement/growing old that didn't have a horror or supernatural element I would buy it in an instant. Bag of Bones and Duma Key I greatly preferred the "lonely old man puttering around his vacation home trying piece together his identity and find meaning" so much that I was almost dreading whenever the next ghost handjob/ghost ship scene would pop up because then it would be another 100 pages of supernatural stuff.
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Nov 8, 2009 19:55
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...of SCIENCE! posted:If Stephen King wrote a book about mid-life crises/divorce/disfigurement/growing old that didn't have a horror or supernatural element I would buy it in an instant. Ditto.
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Nov 8, 2009 21:06
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I would buy it too and read it to death. I enjoy the scary shits he does but I also enjoy the way he writes in general. It's not Shakespeare(thank god) but I find it great. Is there not a normal King thread here? 'Cus Under the dome comes out in two days and I would love to discuss the gently caress out of it. Maybe a read along/discussion thread for the book itself would be nice, like, read to a certain chapter by a certain day and discuss and/or discuss with spoilers if you read ahead. I know they have a thread like that already stickied, but not for this book.
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Nov 8, 2009 21:34
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This IS the normal King thread. Planning to go by a Wal-Mart on Tuesday and grab a copy. Can't beat 9 bucks.
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Nov 8, 2009 22:44
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Chamberk posted:This IS the normal King thread. I thought the $9 was only for walmart.com? Not instore.
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Nov 8, 2009 23:11
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My local Kroger already has Under The Dome for sale. Still don't really want to read it.
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Nov 8, 2009 23:34
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muscles like this? posted:I thought the $9 was only for walmart.com? Not instore. Yeah, it's pre-order only.
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Nov 9, 2009 05:23
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Oh. Weak. Well, whatever - I'm sure I can find it relatively cheap.
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Nov 9, 2009 05:34
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Chamberk posted:Oh. Weak. Well, whatever - I'm sure I can find it relatively cheap. Local supermarkets with a book section are a best bet. New hardcovers tend to get good discounts for the first week or two.
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Nov 9, 2009 05:57
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I am going to 100th The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon as his worst book. I was bored to tears, and I only finished it because I cannot stand to stop reading a book without knowing what happens. I have also read some hate for The Tommyknockers. I found a 25 cent hardback version of it in a book cart, and it has been sitting on my shelf for 2 or 3 years. Now I am debating whether to put it next in my queue, or use it to weatherproof my windows. So is The Tommyknockers worth a read or is it drivel?
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Nov 9, 2009 18:30
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Wiggles Von Huggins posted:I am going to 100th The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon as his worst book. I was bored to tears, and I only finished it because I cannot stand to stop reading a book without knowing what happens. I like the Tommyknockers, it's funny and interesting.
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Nov 9, 2009 20:31
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My copy of Under the Dome came today. Woo  gently caress this is a big book. Comparing it to the size of Infinite Jest, it is slightly bigger.
lamb SAUCE fucked around with this message at 20:42 on Nov 9, 2009 |
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Nov 9, 2009 20:32
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Wiggles Von Huggins posted:So is The Tommyknockers worth a read or is it drivel? Tommyknockers is highly inventive and unique from his other books, and it's the only book, iirc, that he doesn't recall writing. What's particularly interesting, from a writing perspective, is that he claims the book was born out of a single event: tripping over something in the woods.
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Nov 9, 2009 21:13
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epoch. posted:Tommyknockers is highly inventive and unique from his other books, and it's the only book, iirc, that he doesn't recall writing. What's particularly interesting, from a writing perspective, is that he claims the book was born out of a single event: tripping over something in the woods. I thought it was him attempting to 'remake' Lovecraft's The Color Out of Space. But anyways yes, it's definitely worth reading, I don't get the hate for it.
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Nov 9, 2009 22:38
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Questions for the King fans: I read the "review" of under the dome, checking out the wiki entry on Tommyknockers and I think some other books that I can't think of the name of (Stand maybe?). But does the forced politics bother people? Conservative = murder and rapists with dark secrets they try to keep covered Liberals = heroes of the stories with dark secrets they try to atone for I will admit that I'm not that well read of his books, but I can't help but notice a bit of a theme
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Nov 9, 2009 23:04
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epoch. posted:Tommyknockers is highly inventive and unique from his other books, and it's the only book, iirc, that he doesn't recall writing. What's particularly interesting, from a writing perspective, is that he claims the book was born out of a single event: tripping over something in the woods. Cujo's the one he has no memory of writing. He remembers writing Tommyknockers and has stated in interviews that it's somewhat like a metaphor for his various addictions he had at the time. Late last night and the night before, Tommyknockers, Tommyknockers, knocking at the door. I want to go out, don't know if I can, 'Cause I'm so afraid of the Tommyknocker man. Chairman Capone posted:I thought it was him attempting to 'remake' Lovecraft's The Color Out of Space. I think people hate it because it isn't all horror all the time, instead being a pretty drat good horror/sci-fi yarn.
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Nov 9, 2009 23:27
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Kid Awesome posted:Questions for the King fans: Mother Abagail is pretty conservative in The Stand and she's essentially the main 'good guy.' While Randall Flagg is depicted as the liberal permissive type guy.
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Nov 10, 2009 00:13
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madprocess posted:I like the Tommyknockers, it's funny and interesting. epoch. posted:Tommyknockers is highly inventive and unique from his other books... Chairman Capone posted:But anyways yes, it's definitely worth reading, I don't get the hate for it. Thanks folks. I am definitely going to finally read this instead of just letting it mock me from the shelf. I would also like to defend Bag of Bones. When I read this (probably in about 2001), I loved it and it was my favorite King book for a while. You fall in love with some of the characters, and then King crushes your spirits by doing something bad to one of them. I nearly teared up, and I don't even bat an eyelash when Sarah McLachlan plays sad music and shows video of tortured animals on my television.
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Nov 10, 2009 00:27
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Kid Awesome posted:Questions for the King fans: It would be pretty hard to read just a wikipedia summary of two books by any author and not come away thinking they lacked subtlety. I mean, the general theme of his books like Under the Dome and The Stand are "a group of people work together to stop some incomprehensible supernatural evil". Conservationism is the polar opposite of that, where the strong survive and the weak are allowed to be brought down. If it's any consolation the overwhelming majority of horror fiction is overtly conservative, where fearing the "other" is a virtue and people who "deserve it" are killed off.
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Nov 10, 2009 00:38
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Aatrek fucked around with this message at 21:10 on Dec 31, 2011 |
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Nov 10, 2009 00:56
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...of SCIENCE! posted:If Stephen King wrote a book about mid-life crises/divorce/disfigurement/growing old that didn't have a horror or supernatural element I would buy it in an instant. You could just read the first 200 pages of Insomnia, and assume anything Ralph sees is an age-induced hallucination. Conversely, if King wrote a book about mid-life crises/divorce/disfigurement/growing old that didn't have a horror or supernatural element I would probably never buy it, because I was bored to tears by the first 200 pages of Insomnia. Wiggles Von Huggins posted:So is The Tommyknockers worth a read or is it drivel? It has a modest story with some decently engaging characters but out of all his books, the Tommyknockers is the one that most strikes me as "in need of an editor." There's a lot of digressions that interrupt the flow of the narrative and don't contribute all that much to the progression of the plot, and just feel like King is indulging himself. If they'd cut about a quarter or a third of the book, I think I'd like it a lot more. Astfgl fucked around with this message at 01:01 on Nov 10, 2009 |
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Nov 10, 2009 00:59
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Kid Awesome posted:Questions for the King fans: James Lileks (of the Star Tribune) wrote a bit about the preview copy he read, and he thinks King's worst tic as a writer is not being able to write religion with any realism. The instant someone goes "boo" everybody turns into baby-sacrificing snake handlers. But other than that Lileks is a fan and thinks Dome is quite good.
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Nov 10, 2009 02:01
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...of SCIENCE! posted:Conservationism is the polar opposite of that, where the strong survive and the weak are allowed to be brought down. Google posted:Conservationism, or the conservation movement also known as nature conservation is a political, social and, to some extent, scientific movement that seeks to protect natural resources including plant and animal species as well as their habitat for the future. I might suggest waiting to read Tommyknockers if you plan on reading Under the Dome when it comes out. Too much King gets really old really quick, and thats a couple thousand pages right there.
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Nov 10, 2009 02:35
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Maybe it's just because I read it on the beach, but I really enjoyed Duma Key. I'm also a big fan of From A Buick 8. Dreamcatcher is the only King book that I couldn't finish because it was so terrible.
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Nov 10, 2009 02:41
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Aatrek posted:DAVID BROWN IS ON ALTAIR 4 That part actually gave me goosebumps thinking about that poor kid. Also, flying Coke machine.
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Nov 10, 2009 03:28
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Well, gently caress getting Under the Dome from the grocery store, it's still about $26 there. Thanks, Walmart!
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Nov 10, 2009 04:50
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Droopy Goines posted:Maybe it's just because I read it on the beach, but I really enjoyed Duma Key. I'm also a big fan of From A Buick 8. I really like From a Buick 8 too. It avoids King's problem with endings by being blatantly open-ended, and not actually needing to come up with some lame explanation. Question: when will an audiobook version of Under the Dome be out? Call me crazy but I really love hearing audio versions of King's books after I read the text.
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Nov 10, 2009 05:42
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madprocess posted:Question: when will an audiobook version of Under the Dome be out? Call me crazy but I really love hearing audio versions of King's books after I read the text. Just looked on Amazon and they had it as tomorrow as well. I'm glad this thread pointed out the whole pre-order thing because the price is up to around what you'd get in a bookstore new. (about $18)
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Nov 10, 2009 05:52
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Astfgl posted:Conversely, if King wrote a book about mid-life crises/divorce/disfigurement/growing old that didn't have a horror or supernatural element I would probably never buy it, because I was bored to tears by the first 200 pages of Insomnia. Seriously? I thought the actual literal insomnia aspect of Insomnia was the scariest part of it. I liked the book in general, but the creeping inevitability of Ralph's lack of sleep was way worse to me than the invisible midget doctors who cut balloon strings.
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Nov 10, 2009 06:52
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Wasn't Roadwork a non-supernatural mid-life crisis/divorce novel? It's in the Bachman books, and I liked it although it was overshadowed by The Long Walk. I have Under The Dome on order here. Most of the bookshops I visited to pick it up are only offering the paperback version. Screw that. With a book this size I want a hard cover.
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Nov 10, 2009 08:09
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There's always Rage, which is a proto-Columbine story.
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Nov 10, 2009 12:49
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Aatrek posted:There's always Rage, which is a proto-Columbine story. Except it takes place in some bizarre fantasy world where a class of high school kids sides with the shooter while sitting around sharing their sexual experiences and other dark secrets. He says he wrote it as an angry young teenager in high school, so I guess it makes sense why all of the students in the story sympathize with the main character.
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Nov 10, 2009 17:49
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Wiggles Von Huggins posted:Thanks folks. I am definitely going to finally read this instead of just letting it mock me from the shelf. I'll add something else concerning The Tommyknockers. The book is painful to read. Jim Gardner is one of his best written characters, and that's saying a lot concerning an author whose strength is in characterization. The problem is that Jim is completely despicable in almost every way and reading about what a mess he made his life--and the passive fuckups he makes in the book--is really, really hard. It's well worth reading but it isn't something you, like, pick up again later to read for fun.
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Nov 10, 2009 19:10
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3Romeo posted:I'll add something else concerning The Tommyknockers. The book is painful to read. Jim Gardner is one of his best written characters, and that's saying a lot concerning an author whose strength is in characterization. The problem is that Jim is completely despicable in almost every way and reading about what a mess he made his life--and the passive fuckups he makes in the book--is really, really hard. It's well worth reading but it isn't something you, like, pick up again later to read for fun. This was my biggest problem with the book, that and the fact that Jim was constantly having loving headaches and just in general physical pain for like 800 pages. I'm not even a very sensitive reader, but I got tired of hearing about how miserable he was. It's the kind of thing that would be a success in a shorter book, but with something as long as The Tommyknockers I just got sick of it.
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Nov 10, 2009 19:54
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Jim represents how King himself was feeling at the time with all his drug addictions and poo poo. He says he didn't even realize he was using Jim like that until he'd finished the book.
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Nov 10, 2009 21:32
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Kid Awesome posted:Questions for the King fans: Steve is pretty lefty in terms of his politics. Liberals = good Horrible Right Wing Selfish Fucks = bad. As for Tommyknockers, I love it. It's one of my favorite books by Steve and one of my favorite endings.
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Nov 10, 2009 22:11
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Ninja Bob posted:Seriously? I thought the actual literal insomnia aspect of Insomnia was the scariest part of it. I liked the book in general, but the creeping inevitability of Ralph's lack of sleep was way worse to me than the invisible midget doctors who cut balloon strings. Personal opinion. I'm not a fan of elderly protagonists (Stone Angel  ) and generally get pretty bored by their geri-antics. And I didn't feel as though King did anything strikingly different or provocative with Ralph. He was really just portrayed as your average, run-of-the-mill old dude who gets up super early, leads a boring life, copes with incontinence (ok, maybe I'm still projecting some residual Hagar-Shipley-hate here) and mopes around. I am, however, a huge Dark Tower fan so as soon as the book started to get into that poo poo, it really took off for me.
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Nov 10, 2009 22:16
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