|
Rudy Riot posted:Is Duma Key any good? The hardcover is only $7 bucks at B&N and I know nothing about it. Its actually very good, classic King, slow to get going with lots of character development but by the time poo poo goes wrong you really care what happens to the characters.
|
#
?
Nov 13, 2010 21:53
|
|
|
|
| # ? May 28, 2024 11:39 |
|
|
I just got through reading the first story from "Full Dark, No Stars," and it is pretty drat dark. It's about a farmer who coerces his son into helping him murder his wife and the hosed up consequences that ensue. I'm looking forward to seeing where the other stories go.
|
|
#
?
Nov 14, 2010 22:46
|
|
|
Wait, he coerces his son into murdering his (the son's) mother?!
|
|
#
?
Nov 14, 2010 23:23
|
|
|
ConfusedUs posted:The Running Man is arguably the best of the Bachman books. The best part of Running Man is easily the last chapter, and the image of the dude crashing the plane and flipping them off as he dies. gently caress the corporate overlords and burn them to the ground. I actually found an old copy of the Bachman Books (the collection) in a used store for four bucks a year or so ago. When I say "old" I mean it actually had Rage in it. Snapped that bitch up. Love it. I think the only one I dont like is Road Work. Read Apt Pupil again this summer, too, first time since I was in high school. I hadn't realized how badly it suffered from "gently caress, now what?"
|
|
#
?
Nov 15, 2010 03:19
|
|
|
You've made me want to read Apt Pupil again. I thought it was excellent, even the ending. It was certainly better than the movie. My favorite from that collection was The Body, even with the writer wankery in there (hey, I'm a writer writing this, check out this old thing I wrote once as a young man, isn't that funny?  )I acquired the Bachman Books from Amazon and read Rage and Running Man, and re-read The Long Walk. The 3rd was just as good as the first time I read it. I loved Rage, even though I could see how some would think it was corny. The climax with Ted was pretty corny, but overall I liked it. I liked the story that the narrator tells about visiting the hippie party and failing to get it up when he tries to get with the hot hippie girl, the memories/confrontations of his father were excellent, etc. I liked the ending, too, with the diary of Nathan or whatever-his-face's-name was. He was truly an anti-hero, I found myself gawking at the students who were participating in his shenanegans, I found his behavior disgusting, but I didn't want the police to shoot him. Running Man was good. I searched this topic to remind myself of the opinions floating around of it. The most mine aligns with Dickeye's, I loved that ending image, brilliant way to finish the novel. I thought the main character took too much abuse to be able to perform his last actions but still. Loved the confrontations with the head Free-Vee Games guy, loved the black president of the Games corporation, and even if the main character was smug, he was bitter and downtrodden in a way that made me root for him. LOVE the picture he paints with the lower class, air polution, people going on TV for money in games that abuse the players. Really amazing and chilling stuff. It's a novella you can read where you can clearly see that King doesn't plan out his stories. The air pollution stuff isn't addressed, but it's used as a poker chip that the narrator might need, but doesn't use. Still a good element to the story, though. Major kudos to King in killing off the guy's family, I think him losing it all was vital. I'm reading through Road Work, on the second section. I love everything King has done here, a man hitting the "chaos" button on his entire life and throwing everything away. I was really engrossed, then it got to the part with the jaded 19 year old that was sleeping with hitchhikers. Come on, it's so cheesy, do we need the main character to nail a really hot young girl? It was irritating, I was really hoping King wouldn't go through with it, or at least make it interesting. He's got the mescaline pill, so maybe something comes with that, but knowing King, that isn't necessarily the case. I hope the Chekhov's gun principle really kicks in here or I'll be angry. Considering the synopsis of the first story and the reader's impression, I'm definitely getting a copy of Full Dark, No Stars. Perhaps hardback, if the stories here get enough hype (I trust your opinions  ). I won't read it immediately, I don't like to read too much of any one author, but I look forward to it and the comments here about it.
Lurk Ethic fucked around with this message at 06:48 on Nov 15, 2010 |
|
#
?
Nov 15, 2010 06:38
|
|
|
Full Dark is good, but don't go into it expecting anything totally original. Like most of Kings stuff it riffs on motifs and scenarios we have seen before. That said some of the stuff in there is really dark and you get a sense of him not shying away from that so it is recommended. Fair Extension is probably both the funniest and most harrowing short story King has written. It's almost joyful in its descent into how hosed up somebody can get and I was both laughing and feeling horrified that I was. It's not his best collection of novellas but it would be damned difficult to outshine Different Seasons.
|
|
#
?
Nov 15, 2010 08:20
|
|
|
Yeah, I'm not sure how I felt about the whole thing in general, now that I've finished it. It was like a different genre than a lot of his work, and a lot "simpler" in some ways. Fair Extension was the only one I really liked though, which I think reflects on what I wanted going into the book, rather than the quality of the others (which were well done for the most part).
|
|
#
?
Nov 15, 2010 08:24
|
|
|
Gerald's Game was not only Stephen King's worst novel, but among the worst books ever published anywhere in the entire world. I mean, really... the wife is handcuffed to the bed for what, 30 seconds before she has a mental break? I didn't care about any of the characters, as flat as they were, the entire back story was cliche, the dog thing was stupid, and then psycho out of nowhere! With his finger-bone chest? REALLY? The book broke me. I didn't read any Stephen King for about ten years after that till I was convinced to read the Dark Tower books. The first Dark Tower book, The Gunslinger, was pretty bad as well. It was like a book written by a 13 year old (no offense to 13 year olds). I heard he wrote it very early in his career but couldn't get it published till he'd made a name for himself. I got through it on the promise that the next few books were better, and they were excellent. I've only read up to book four though, because I've heard so many bad things about the subsequent books that I'm scared to tarnish my wonderful memories of Dark Tower. As to the ragging on Bag of Bones, I liked it a lot for the first two thirds of the novel. Genuinely creepy! Slow books don't bother me too much, so I have some tolerance for it. But the final third of the book was pretty standard King, not much originality there. Too bad, because I was really loving it.
|
|
#
?
Nov 16, 2010 18:59
|
|
|
Local Group Bus posted:My suggestion is: Weaveworld then move on to Great and Secret Show if you liked that. Save Imajica for later; it's a hell of a slog and unless you trust Barker the build up can be a little off-putting. Imajica is my favorite book of Barker's. I think I was most impressed by how intimate the setting was and how Clive didn't really resort to any fantasy cliches, and I always get something new out of it when I reread it.
|
|
#
?
Nov 17, 2010 06:08
|
|
|
Lurk Ethic posted:I liked Apt Pupil the first time I read it, but I worked through it again this summer (Listened to the audiobook driving back from Jersey, actually) and it just kind of...ends After all this scheming and poo poo to get away with their poo poo, it ends up being foiled purely by chance, he shoots a guy and goes crazy sniper and it just ENDS. There's no build to it. It just gets to the Nazi dying and then wraps the gently caress up Running Man on the other hand? Still loving awesome. Exactly what I needed after reading Long Walk. Going from a book where everyone dies to one where everyone dies because welp you just tormented a man for no reason and now he's pissed off so y'all get shot with an airplane is great
|
|
#
?
Nov 17, 2010 06:49
|
|
|
Magnificent Quiver posted:Imajica is my favorite book of Barker's. I think I was most impressed by how intimate the setting was and how Clive didn't really resort to any fantasy cliches, and I always get something new out of it when I reread it. Oh yeah it's such a wonderful book that way. Just a shame we won't be seeing any grown-up barker for a while. His adult fiction publishers split with him. So don't hang on for Rainbow or Art 3 anytime soon 
|
|
#
?
Nov 17, 2010 11:20
|
|
|
I just picked up 'Under the Dome'. Is it worth it? I'm trudging through it, just got past the initial 'holy gently caress, the dome has killed people!' startup.
|
|
#
?
Nov 17, 2010 15:28
|
|
|
Rupert Buttermilk posted:I just picked up 'Under the Dome'. Is it worth it? I'm trudging through it, just got past the initial 'holy gently caress, the dome has killed people!' startup. A lot of people seem to like it, but for me, the whole thing was a trudge, and I hated every character including the good guys.
|
|
#
?
Nov 17, 2010 15:37
|
|
|
Rupert Buttermilk posted:I just picked up 'Under the Dome'. Is it worth it? I'm trudging through it, just got past the initial 'holy gently caress, the dome has killed people!' startup. I enjoyed about half of it. I think it could have been a passable short story or novella and didn't need to be this long. And the final act was blah to me. Don't see myself ever needing to re-read it.
|
|
#
?
Nov 17, 2010 16:42
|
|
|
Rupert Buttermilk posted:I just picked up 'Under the Dome'. Is it worth it? I'm trudging through it, just got past the initial 'holy gently caress, the dome has killed people!' startup. If you're a) enjoying any of the characters b) wanting to punch big jim in his fat head you'll probably be invested enough to make it worth it. Personally I really liked it a lot, it was a pretty good study of mob psychology. I disagree that it's too long, like many of King's best books it gets you invested in the characters and situations before things inevitably go to complete and utter poo poo. Also it has an ending that's both thematically and narratively consistent, which I think might be a first for King.
|
|
#
?
Nov 17, 2010 18:58
|
|
|
I just finished reading The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon and I kind of liked it  I don't understand all the hate for it.
|
|
#
?
Nov 18, 2010 00:11
|
|
|
Dr. Tough posted:I just finished reading The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon and I kind of liked it I liked it a lot. I likened it to Gerald's Game, a girl is losing her mind and may or may not have been stalked by a killer. This is a very loose comparison but the idea that TGWLTG was so much shorter made me like it more, GG was like wading through thick marsh (I made it through but it took longer than it should have).
|
|
#
?
Nov 18, 2010 04:55
|
|
|
The Walrus posted:If you're Pacing was its strongest quality I think. It did not feel like an 1100 page novel. It read like a 400 page novel.
|
|
#
?
Nov 19, 2010 00:46
|
|
|
Ugly In The Morning posted:I enjoyed it, except every so often King would come along with the most heavyhanded foreshadowing and pull me right out of a story that had, up until then, somehow pulled me in even though it was moving along fairly slowly. Though, oddly enough, I don't really remember much about the book aside from the last third or so. It's all blended together. Pet Sematary is the worst offender when it comes to heavy-handed foreshadowing. It's a good story, but this is partly why it's my least favourite King novel.
|
|
#
?
Dec 23, 2010 08:28
|
|
|
I liked knowing how things were going to be in Pet Sematary. It just spiralled down into complete poo poo for everyone and I think that added to it. It was pretty much a "I'm going to burn this family to the ground," from page one and never let up. I miss old everything works out for the worst King.
|
|
#
?
Dec 23, 2010 08:36
|
|
|
Cuchulainn posted:I'm a big fan, but I've got to go with Gerald's Game. I couldn't tell you exactly why, only that it's the only book of his I don't believe I've ever finished. I own a copy, and about every six months or so I pick it up, and generally a day or so later I put it back on the shelf. Gerald's Game started out interesting. Sort of. You didn't miss anything by not finishing it, though. The end is borderline retarded and ruined what could have been a decent story about the fear of being alone and helpless. Still doesn't hold a candle to poo poo Weasels from Outer Space.
|
|
#
?
Dec 23, 2010 16:46
|
|
|
Local Group Bus posted:I liked knowing how things were going to be in Pet Sematary. It just spiralled down into complete poo poo for everyone and I think that added to it. I re-read Dolan's Cadillac and only really remembered the main twist of the story and forgot about the bad things that befall the main characer After he buries Dolan alive in the desert: The guy fucks his spine up, he concedes he'll never have another woman after Elizabeth, he gets creeping paranoia about Dolan coming to get him and being buried alive, he's clearly left disturbed by the whole ordeal. I forgot all that part and it made the story more of a downer than I thought.
|
|
#
?
Dec 29, 2010 14:52
|
|
|
I'm about to start the third story in Full Dark No Stars. I had zero expectations going in and so far I am pleasantly surprised. It takes me back to the pre accident younger coked out King
|
|
#
?
Jan 8, 2011 04:24
|
|
|
Full dark, no stars was a very pleasant surprise that I enjoyed quite a bit. Kind of a downer since I picked up Joe Hills 20th century ghosts and it is terribly disappointing. Ill take a bad ending over no ending at all ugh...
|
|
#
?
Jan 8, 2011 06:34
|
|
|
I picked up Full Dark, No Stars today and wasn't able to put the book down until the end of the first story. It reads and feels like classic coke craze King.
|
|
#
?
Jan 8, 2011 07:43
|
|
|
I'm liking it so far. Finished "1922" the other day but I'm taking a break to finish another novel I'm reading. I'm really digging the four-novellas format. It gives me an excuse to spread out the reading of the book! I should check out his other similar collections after this.
|
|
#
?
Jan 8, 2011 13:41
|
|
|
If you are save Different Seasons for last. You'll need something good after four past midnight because it's shite.
|
|
#
?
Jan 8, 2011 21:00
|
|
|
So I finally got to cracking open the nice copy of Full Dark, No Stars that I got for Christmas today. So far I've only read 1922. Not too bad, I thought. Do the other stories get better or worse?
|
|
#
?
Jan 9, 2011 00:47
|
|
|
They get better. Less rats in them. Someone needs to tell King that rats are not that scary. Fair Extension is the kind of story that is hilarious and horrible and the same time and the other two are better than 1922 I thought. That one kind of dragged for me. A good marriage is King at his "This situation is all hosed up, how the hell will this play out," best.
|
|
#
?
Jan 9, 2011 01:33
|
|
|
The Story UR. gently caress YOU KING! BLAH, BLAH, BLAH THE KINDLE IS AWESOME. OH HEY, DIFFERENT STORIES, MuST BE FROM ANOTHER DIMENSION OMG THE KINDLE IS FROM AMAZON PLEASE BUY THE KINDLE YOU MIGHT GET A PINK ONE ZOMG REFERENCES TO THE TOWER
|
|
#
?
Jan 9, 2011 01:41
|
|
|
At least he finished that particular slice of poo poo. Still waiting on The Plant, King. Where the hell is the rest of that it was just getting good. And I paid a dollar or something for it.
|
|
#
?
Jan 9, 2011 02:11
|
|
|
Local Group Bus posted:If you are save Different Seasons for last. You'll need something good after four past midnight because it's shite. The Library Policeman and The Langoliers are both awesome. 
|
|
#
?
Jan 9, 2011 02:13
|
|
|
I think you mean serviceable. The Library Policeman would have made a great short story although I agree that the langoliers was awesome. The Sundog and whatever the other story was were both crap though. Oh and when looking at novellas, Hedrigall, Hearts in Atlantis should be on the list if you have not read it already. The stories are connected but each is set in a different time period spanning pre-Vietnam war through to the modern day and written in a different voice. Really recommend this one because it shows how King can link characters and a world across different stories and make it work.
|
|
#
?
Jan 9, 2011 02:20
|
|
|
Also if oyu haven't seen the Langoliers tv movie you really have to. Pure b-movie goodness.
|
|
#
?
Jan 9, 2011 02:45
|
|
|
Local Group Bus posted:The Sundog and whatever the other story was were both crap though. I actually really liked most of The Sundog. It got pretty creepy, until the ending kind of went overboard and ruined the mood.
|
|
#
?
Jan 9, 2011 02:50
|
|
|
Mm, I'm going to read four past again. Because, yeah you are right, the sundog was creepy in parts. And funny when Pop tried to offload the camera. Also it was set in Castle Rock and bridged nicely between The Dark Half and Needful Things. Maybe this time I will also enjoy Secret Garden. But you won't be able to make me like the movie version, never! 
|
|
#
?
Jan 9, 2011 03:04
|
|
|
The Sun Dog reads like Stephen King tried to write a Goosebumps book.
|
|
#
?
Jan 9, 2011 03:09
|
|
|
fishmech posted:Also if oyu haven't seen the Langoliers tv movie you really have to. Pure b-movie goodness. Oh my lord, that miniseries was made at JUST the right time. If it had come just a few years later CGI effects would have been better, and the Langoliers.. wouldn't have looked like they looked. I'm a fan of the novella because I am a big time travel buff and it's an interesting take on it.. the miniseries is just hilarious though.
|
|
#
?
Jan 9, 2011 04:24
|
|
|
FreezingInferno posted:So I finally got to cracking open the nice copy of Full Dark, No Stars that I got for Christmas today. Big Driver is essentially just a revenge story that's been done before. I liked Fair Extension due to its brevity and well placed humor.
|
|
#
?
Jan 9, 2011 12:32
|
|
|
|
| # ? May 28, 2024 11:39 |
|
|
Was anyone else kind of baffled that a movie version of Secret Window happened at all? When I saw the previews for it (and eventually watched it, though not in theatres; I DO have some dignity!), I just kept thinking 'Out of all of King's material, THIS is the one they chose to adapt? This, of course, was before The Mist. Still want a properly-funded and produced version of The Jaunt (my favourite story).
|
|
#
?
Jan 10, 2011 13:43
|
|