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Local Group Bus posted:Even bring Pennywise back. There's been a lot of hints about It still being in Derry and I'm sure there's a lot to say differently about childhood and adulthood than there was in '85. "IT" is my favorite King book and so I always like it when callbacks to Pennywise are dropped in his books. Then I start thinking maybe he's going to do another IT book and I get happy. Then I start thinking that the odds are not good that the book will be as good as I want it to be and I get sad.
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Mar 4, 2011 15:45
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Man, I just finished Christine and I forgot what a loving downer this book ends on. Arnie and his parents all die, Leigh and Dennis date for a bit but LeBay memories haunt their relationship and they split up, and stay in contact. Dennis never gets over Leigh, who remarries. He never gets over Arnie either, though he kind of gets to say goodbye in his hallucination. Dennis's leg is hosed a little for the rest of his life. The detective who crushes Christine goes silent, and in the epilogue four years on the last of Buddy's friends who got away gets killed by a crazy hit and run driver. It's implied Christine is back, and killed the detective, then Buddy's friend, and might be working her way across the country, just as Leigh implies to Dennis in a postcard that she's forgotten or buried Christine in her memory. It definitely seemed like LeBay was evil and kinda possessed / influenced the car though. Towards the end it's not so much "the car is evil!" but "this guy is evil and killed people and caused his wife to suicide and his rage and evil even infected the car as some kind of talisman of his rage". I see it as Arnie is haunted, not Christine. Arnie is haunted and carries on the weird symbiosis of LeBay's will and evil into Christine. The John Carpenter film made it seem like the car was evil. It's less goofy King's way. Not non-goofy. Just less. This has shades of the Shining (I think there's a reference to back this up - it mentions a school caretaker who left his job under bizarre circumstances) in that there's a malevolent evil kind of "infecting" things. And LeBay is this evil or influenced by evil (his brother tells Dennis he was "swapped with a changeling"). LeBay's spite and hate alienates him from his family, and he just drives around in his car, and it isn't as much of a stretch to think his rage just kind of seeped into the car he loved so much. Though there's definitely elements of Christine being somewhat sentient from this process - jealousy of Leigh, who LeBay also lusts for. (Arnie is basically replaced by him.) But I'd prefer to think Christine is still just an object, guided (unconsciously or ritually, the book implies) by LeBay's evil - for example, it's not that Christine can regenerate as such. Time actually moves backwards in and around her; the radio, traffic lights, roads, to reverse her back into mint condition, and LeBay's ghost does this also, from a skull, to a rotting corpse, to a young man (usually Arnie's form but sometimes Dennis just sees LeBay and no trace of Arnie.) This definitely cut down the level of goof I expected going in. It's not just "lol haunted car". It's "lol this dude is evil and hosed" and his hate radiates into everything he does, and he loved a car more than his family, and spent more time with it as Arnie does. I like the term Dennis uses of Christine just being the object of "love gone rancid". The sad part is Dennis's memories of Arnie, just a page of him reeling out memories, man, there's one thing King can do and it's write characters, and this was just a bummer. I'd say Christine, a Plymouth Fury, is definitely back because it ends: His unending fury. Isn't the car mentioned in a few later novels? Man, so many words for a book most people would poo poo on 
ZoDiAC_ fucked around with this message at 17:39 on Mar 4, 2011 |
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Mar 4, 2011 17:05
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ZoDiAC_ posted:Man, so many words for a book most people would poo poo on You're not alone, I was really surprised with Christine. It really turned out to be a lot better than I expected it to be!
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Mar 4, 2011 17:49
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I can't believe there are so many people who disliked Bag of Bones so much! That book was genuinely good, maybe in my top 10 novels from King, period. Under the Dome was his best novel released since his accident, but that's faint praise. Still, read quickly, was fun. Excited about the new one, 11/22/63: I think King will have an interesting take on time travel, I like the idea that the characters will have to live through 5 years of the past to even attempt their plan, and I'm hoping Under the Dome signalled a revival of his storytelling mojo. Couldn't finish Cell, From a Buick 8, or Lisey's Story, though I'll give Lisey's Story another shot... and From a Buick 8 as well, probably. The last three books of the Dark Tower series were all bad in different ways, but I had to finish 'em anyway 
onefish fucked around with this message at 02:20 on Mar 12, 2011 |
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Mar 4, 2011 22:59
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Only thing I dislike about Bag of Bones is how slow it starts. You really should finish From a Buick 8 - though I like the audiobook versions of From a Buick 8 and Bag Of Bones both a lot better - you should really try them .
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Mar 4, 2011 23:18
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fishmech posted:Only thing I dislike about Bag of Bones is how slow it starts. You really should finish From a Buick 8 - though I like the audiobook versions of From a Buick 8 and Bag Of Bones both a lot better - you should really try them . I never really could get into it. I don't know if it's because it was in first person, or if it was because I really didn't like the narrator or his voice, or that King has used the same persona before. I mean, I finished the novel, but it's one that I wanted to end instead of the opposite. Asbury fucked around with this message at 02:44 on Mar 5, 2011 |
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Mar 5, 2011 01:41
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I loving loved From a Buick 8. It read like Stephen King channeling Clive Barker. Or maybe more appropriately Stephen King characters and Clive Barker's propensity for stories about an odd gateway to a very well flushed out and fully realized world that is horrific and fantastical. It was the book I enjoyed the most since his accident. I also enjoyed Dreamcatcher though, right up until the halfway point when it becomes an excruciatingly detailed grind of a chase with humvees driving in the snow over a great distance and nothing else at all going on. Yes driving in a snowstorm is intense...when you're the one doing it. Reading about people doing white knuckle driving is brutal, it just does not transition into the written word that well
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Mar 5, 2011 16:02
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I'm not a big Stephen King fan, but I've heard from actual Stephen King fans that Duma Key is among his worst.
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Mar 6, 2011 01:19
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JohnnyLurg posted:I'm not a big Stephen King fan, but I've heard from actual Stephen King fans that Duma Key is among his worst. Uh you're a dumb because it's got pretty much nothing but praise around these parts. I loved it.
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Mar 6, 2011 02:15
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Yeah, I really liked Duma Key. It was long, had a lot going on in different parts of the book, and overall was really entertaining. *edit* It was also kind of neat that I got to hear King read a short story for the first time at a talk/presentation sort of thing in Florida. It just involved Kamen and the pet dog, and I guess it was an early draft that he wasn't sure about yet. I guess it later grew into the book, or got merged with another idea. *edit2* Picking up From a Buick 8 right now on Audible. Locus fucked around with this message at 02:29 on Mar 6, 2011 |
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Mar 6, 2011 02:21
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Best short story? I vote for Dolan's Cadillac. Or The Jaunt.
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Mar 6, 2011 03:01
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I'm partial to Survivor Type, but The Jaunt is way up there. Can't remember a lot of great ones offhand. There are plenty that I enjoyed like Trucks, Graveyard Shift, and Jerusalem's Lot
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Mar 6, 2011 04:23
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I don't know about best individual short story, but the absolute best collection has to be Skeleton Crew because it has the quartet of The Mist, The Jaunt, The Raft and Survivor Type AKA the most hosed up work King has ever written. Goddamn I need to find my copy and read it all again. 
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Mar 6, 2011 04:31
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Gramma for best short story hands down. And yes, skeleton crew had the best of them in it. Mrs Todds shortcut was another good short story.
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Mar 6, 2011 05:20
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The Jaunt is my favourite. It's scary and clever all the way through but that ending is loving chilling.
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Mar 6, 2011 05:43
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Survivor Type gets my vote for best short story. It doesn't have the unsettling twist ending of The Jaunt or Gramma, but I love the ending anyway because it weaves together the content of the story and the narrative structure so cleverly. The story ends when it does because it absolutely has to - the narrator can't write anything else down on account of he just ate his own hands!.
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Mar 6, 2011 06:12
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flog montresor posted:Survivor Type gets my vote for best short story. It doesn't have the unsettling twist ending of The Jaunt or Gramma, but I love the ending anyway because it weaves together the content of the story and the narrative structure so cleverly. The story ends when it does because it absolutely has to - the narrator can't write anything else down on account of he just ate his own hands!. they taste like lady fingers That and The Jaunt are quite unsettling, but the one that always gave me a chill was The End Of The Whole Mess from Nightmares and Dreamscapes. Those final paragraphs as the narrator becomes a senile illiterate mess gave me the creeps. Narrator decay always creeps me out, and it's why House of Leaves was so damned effective on me I think.
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Mar 6, 2011 06:25
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End of the Whole Mess was good too. What's the one with the guy who walks outside the edge of a building? I liked that one though it wasn't very surprising. All That You Love Will Be Carried Away is great too though, Everything's Eventual had some good stories including the title story.
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Mar 6, 2011 14:40
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I just bought Duma Key for my Kindle. It better be good! 
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Mar 6, 2011 15:24
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ZoDiAC_ posted:End of the Whole Mess was good too. What's the one with the guy who walks outside the edge of a building? I liked that one though it wasn't very surprising. The Ledge. Also given the film treatment
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Mar 6, 2011 16:31
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Leovinus posted:The Jaunt is my favourite. "My name is Gully Foyle" I think N+ is one of his best. Probably the standout in whichever compilation it was.
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Mar 6, 2011 17:31
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The story that has really stuck with me is the one where the guy is awake but immobile as he is lying on a table as the doctors around him prepare for his autopsy. The first story in Everything's Eventual I think. Just the horror of lying there unable to move as they discuss how they'll cut you up really made my skin crawl.
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Mar 7, 2011 03:35
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zedar posted:The story that has really stuck with me is the one where the guy is awake but immobile as he is lying on a table as the doctors around him prepare for his autopsy. The first story in Everything's Eventual I think. Just the horror of lying there unable to move as they discuss how they'll cut you up really made my skin crawl. Pretty sure that's Nightmares and Dreamscapes again because I had the DVDs of the TNT series and I think that was one of the episodes. fake edit: I looked it up and it stars Richard Thomas who was also one of the grown-up kids in IT.
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Mar 7, 2011 06:35
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JustFrakkingDoIt posted:Pretty sure that's Nightmares and Dreamscapes again because I had the DVDs of the TNT series and I think that was one of the episodes. No, that story is in Everything's Eventual, it's called "Autopsy Room Four". Not all of the segments from TNT series actually come from N&D. For example, "Battleground" is from Night Shift and "The Road Virus Heads North" is another one from Everything's Eventual. Though I think that actually covers all the episodes not from N&D. Ornamented Death fucked around with this message at 06:49 on Mar 7, 2011 |
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Mar 7, 2011 06:47
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My favorite is The Running Man. Though I'm a King fan I guess, I can't believe he wrote something that good. I refuse to.
Undead Unicorn fucked around with this message at 09:12 on Mar 7, 2011 |
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Mar 7, 2011 08:58
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Undead Unicorn posted:My favorite is The Running Man. Though I'm a King fan I guess, I can't believe he wrote something that good. I refuse to.
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Mar 7, 2011 13:19
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Undead Unicorn posted:My favorite is The Running Man. Though I'm a King fan I guess, I can't believe he wrote something that good. I refuse to. That's more of a novella. If we're going to talk novellas, Shawkshank Redemption and The Body are the tippy-top toppest of tip-top stuff.
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Mar 7, 2011 15:58
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ZoDiAC_ posted:That's more of a novella. If we're going to talk novellas, Shawkshank Redemption and The Body are the tippy-top toppest of tip-top stuff. Long Walk.
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Mar 7, 2011 17:29
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Undead Unicorn posted:My favorite is The Running Man. Though I'm a King fan I guess, I can't believe he wrote something that good. I refuse to. I love this one, and I can't believe he cranked that out in a week.
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Mar 7, 2011 21:19
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Under the Dome was nice, granted it was every Stephen King Character ever trapped together in a small town but aside from the weak ending (suprise) I thought it was pretty good, what did everyone else think of it?
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Mar 8, 2011 03:11
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Awesome Andy posted:Under the Dome was nice, granted it was every Stephen King Character ever trapped together in a small town but aside from the weak ending (suprise) I thought it was pretty good, what did everyone else think of it? I thought Under the Dome was perfectly readable, not "great" but not "bad" either. Still, it's probably his best long story in a while. I haven't read it in a while, is there a magical retard in it? Should I feel bad for just buying all 7 Dark Tower books for my Kindle after already reading them about 5 times and owning the paper copies? Say thankya big-big 
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Mar 8, 2011 11:19
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davestones posted:Should I feel bad for just buying all 7 Dark Tower books for my Kindle after already reading them about 5 times and owning the paper copies? Say thankya big-big Not at all! I enjoyed the books, and probably half of the books that are on my Kindle are books that I already own in paper form. drat Kindle and its easy to use store. 1-click buy is the bane of my bank account.
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Mar 8, 2011 13:02
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Just started Night Shift, and one story in I'm loving it more than any King I've read in ages. The combination of 18th century gothic, epistolary and lovecraft really hits all my soft spots. Definitely worth a read. Any other stories from this collection I can particularily look forward to?
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Mar 8, 2011 17:07
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I love Night Shift. Almost all of the stories in it are gold, IMO. My personal favorites, aside from Jerusalem's Lot which you're already on: Graveyard Shift, Night Surf (kind of a precursor to The Stand), The Mangler, Battleground, Trucks, Sometimes They Come Back, The Ledge, Quitters, Inc., Children of the Corn, The Man Who Loved Flowers (I actually read this for my English class in middle school), One for the Road (just as the first story is kind of a prelude to Salem's Lot, this one is a postscript), and The Woman in the Room. So yeah, basically almost all of the stories in it. I've said it before here and I think I was alone in it, but I think Night Shift is my favorite King short story collection.
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Mar 8, 2011 17:37
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Leovinus posted:The villain is probably King's most hatable, which is great. There's a chapter mid-way through the book where everything goes his way and it's genuinely hard to read, because gently caress that guy. I'm honestly having a hard time getting through Under the Dome because I hate Big Jim with every coarse fiber of my being. I hate him more than I hated Judge Holden. Hate hate hate. I've never been more infuriated by a villain in any book. The only thing that pushes me towards the end is the hope that he'll reap the whirlwind. Him and his psychopath son.
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Mar 8, 2011 18:58
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Strange Matter posted:GOD I almost felt sorry for junior renny. Between his evil father and mental problems, he seemed more like a victim of circumstances than a villain.
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Mar 9, 2011 02:24
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I'm listening to it on audiobook, and the narrator's interpretation of Junior makes him very unsympathetic. Someone posted about the audiobook earlier saying they don't like it, but I'm digging it. My only complaint is his voice for Scarcecrow Joe and his friends which makes the terrible dialog King writes for them that much more grating.
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Mar 9, 2011 04:57
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Strange Matter posted:I'm listening to it on audiobook, and the narrator's interpretation of Junior makes him very unsympathetic. Yeah, that might have been me. I guess I felt like the narrator forced a specific intonation (Big Jim Rennie's drawl and over-patronizing tone was annoying as hell, in a way that made me enjoy the book less) on some characters, when they could have been better served by reading them straight and letting the listener interpret. Also one of the characters sounds like Keanu Reeves from Bill and Ted, as I recall. *edit* I guess to me, all of that characterization just made them sound more fake and one-dimensional than if I were reading the words and imagining it. Locus fucked around with this message at 05:13 on Mar 9, 2011 |
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Mar 9, 2011 05:11
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The drawl on Rennie worked perfectly for me. It made me hate him even more than I already did, elevating me to near AM levels of rage.
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Mar 9, 2011 06:01
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the homosexual subtext in Jerusalem's Lot is remarkably tasteful for King.
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Mar 9, 2011 07:23
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