|
Echoing the Night Shift is probably his best book. It just reinforces the idea, that he has good ideas, just terrible at writing them in novels. He needs an editor badly. Running Man was pretty good, but the whole "The air is polluted  " was a bit hamfisted. The book also highlights one of my petpeeves that King does, when he has a character make some folkism (?) phrase, it will get repeated endlessly. How many times did that one black kid say "poo poo in a boot and eat it!" for the short scene he had.
|
|
#
?
Mar 9, 2011 17:09
|
|
|
|
| # ? May 16, 2024 04:23 |
|
|
JammyLammy posted:Echoing the Night Shift is probably his best book. It just reinforces the idea, that he has good ideas, just terrible at writing them in novels. He needs an editor badly. M-O-O-N, that spells my laws, yes!
|
|
#
?
Mar 9, 2011 18:09
|
|
|
You believe that happy crappy?
|
|
#
?
Mar 9, 2011 18:14
|
|
|
They are eating roast beef and mashed potatoes with Jesus!
|
|
#
?
Mar 9, 2011 18:26
|
|
|
Another thing I hate in King books is sometimes he blunts the impact of character death scenes by having prior chapter with stuff like: "That was the last time that she saw Eddie Dean alive."
|
|
#
?
Mar 9, 2011 19:35
|
|
|
ZoDiAC_ posted:Another thing I hate in King books is sometimes he blunts the impact of character death scenes by having prior chapter with stuff like: He does it habitually. It's a good trick if you want to create a sense of impending disaster, but Stephen King out and out abuses it. I think he tries to do it so that readers can't say "oh, I saw that coming." He's so awesome that he's going to spoil it for you, but then still make the scene rule. Then it comes out kind of lackluster.
|
|
#
?
Mar 9, 2011 21:00
|
|
|
Sometimes "That was the last time he saw Bob Jones alive." ends up being a trick because the character seeing the other character for the last time is the one who actually ends up dying, or the characters simply never meet in the story again without either dying.
|
|
#
?
Mar 9, 2011 21:02
|
|
|
JammyLammy posted:Running Man was pretty good, but the whole "The air is polluted Actually, given its dystopian vibe and Richard's dawning realization of how hosed up the world is outside of his own life, the affect its having on other people, and his growing empathy justify the "OH poo poo, LOOK HOW BAD THE AIR IS! NOSE FILTERS BITCHES". But your absolutely right about his use of slang and catchphrases. I just look at things like The Running Man and The Long Walk, and am struck by the fact he had some real drat talent and could have actually written literature if he had taken a different path instead of pop novels. Speaking of witch Needful Things is one of my favorite pop novels and really exemplifies is inability to write well despite really interesting ideas. Undead Unicorn fucked around with this message at 22:23 on Mar 9, 2011 |
|
#
?
Mar 9, 2011 22:14
|
|
|
Undead Unicorn posted:Actually, given its dystopian vibe and Richard's dawning realization of how hosed up the world is outside of his own life, the affect its having on other people, and his growing empathy justify the "OH poo poo, LOOK HOW BAD THE AIR IS! NOSE FILTERS BITCHES". But your absolutely right about his use of slang and catchphrases. Of course, all of the early Bachmann boosk were supposed to be pop novels, moreso than his normal stuff.
|
|
#
?
Mar 9, 2011 22:23
|
|
|
fishmech posted:Of course, all of the early Bachmann boosk were supposed to be pop novels, moreso than his normal stuff. Yeah but they were all more...well...introspective and his themes blended more organically into the stories themselves. In his own words he was an angry teenager but unlike most could communicate why he was angry.
|
|
#
?
Mar 9, 2011 22:28
|
|
|
This was announced in March. Totally missed it. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/11/22/63 It sounds like a recycling of quite a lot of sci fi ideas ..
|
|
#
?
Mar 10, 2011 00:04
|
|
|
ZoDiAC_ posted:This was announced in March. Totally missed it. Robert Charles Wilson's A Bridge of Years had a man who found a time tunnel in his basement that went back to 1962 New York. The only difference was that he couldn't change anything.
|
|
#
?
Mar 10, 2011 03:05
|
|
|
Undead Unicorn posted:Yeah but they were all more...well...introspective and his themes blended more organically into the stories themselves. In his own words he was an angry teenager but unlike most could communicate why he was angry. The Long Walk and Running Man were fun and all, but they both struck me as pretty immature books. Especially character-wise. The heroes seem like angry teenager wish-fulfillment, and the portrayals of some of the female characters and the hero's dealings with them struck me as a bit chauvinistic. I guess the best example of that is the scene in Running Man where he ogles the woman to make her feel uncomfortable and is all  when he succeeds. I enjoyed reading them, but I really rolled my eyes at a few scenes. That's not to say that there aren't scenes in his later books that make me roll my eyes too. It's just for different reasons.
|
|
#
?
Mar 10, 2011 05:32
|
|
|
ZoDiAC_ posted:Another thing I hate in King books is sometimes he blunts the impact of character death scenes by having prior chapter with stuff like: Yeah, I mentioned that before. It comes up about three times in Pet Sematary.
|
|
#
?
Mar 10, 2011 10:46
|
|
|
Strange Matter posted:I'm listening to it on audiobook, and the narrator's interpretation of Junior makes him very unsympathetic. "Baaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaarrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrbie."
|
|
#
?
Mar 10, 2011 14:37
|
|
|
I smucking hate it when King overdoes that. Though some dark, terrible part of me wonders what a Stephen King novel where every character spoke in repetitive catch phrases and every chapter begins or ends (or both) with a tired cliche. A parody of King, written by King.
|
|
#
?
Mar 10, 2011 19:11
|
|
|
I kept imagining Scarecrow Joe as Stephen Merchant. Anyone else?
|
|
#
?
Mar 10, 2011 23:51
|
|
|
King is releasing a new Dark Tower book in 2012. http://www.stephenking.com/promo/wind_through_the_keyhole/announcement/ quote:Dear Constant Readers, I'm definitely reading this, regardless of how I felt some of the books in that series turned out. Edit: Oh hey, this is posted in the dark tower megathread, oops. Dantares fucked around with this message at 02:17 on Mar 11, 2011 |
|
#
?
Mar 11, 2011 02:15
|
|
|
Dantares posted:King is releasing a new Dark Tower book in 2012. We HAVE one of those? Either way, I have mixed feelings on this. On the one hand, more Dark Tower! Hooray! On the other hand, I didn't really like the post-accident Tower books. Beyond the weird additions, they just felt sort of off. Either way I'm in your boat; reading this thing for sure.
|
|
#
?
Mar 11, 2011 02:36
|
|
|
Dantares posted:King is releasing a new Dark Tower book in 2012. Sounds great, there was clearly a lot of stuff that must have happened between 4 and 5 that got glossed over.
|
|
#
?
Mar 11, 2011 06:51
|
|
|
fishmech posted:Sounds great, there was clearly a lot of stuff that must have happened between 4 and 5 that got glossed over. I'm pretty sure he also realized he had a mortgage payment to make. Though I've been convinced for awhile now that he won't stop writing Dark Tower books till there are 19.
|
|
#
?
Mar 11, 2011 15:17
|
|
|
juliuspringle posted:I'm pretty sure he also realized he had a mortgage payment to make. Though I've been convinced for awhile now that he won't stop writing Dark Tower books till there are 19. Pfft. The one thing that's become just so INCREDIBLY obvious about King in the past 10 years is that he doesn't write anything for the money. He just can't help writing whatever is in his head as a story. Totally compulsive, and he'll never be able to stop. It's why we sometimes get long novels about totally off-the-wall ideas, but he constantly comes back to the same ideas that obsess him, or that he'd have reason to think about all the time: writing, being a kid, having a kid, living in Maine, etc etc etc.
|
|
#
?
Mar 12, 2011 02:17
|
|
|
In On Writing he credits writing with getting him through a lot of pain and before the accident he's credited it with helping him work through a lot of stuff, drug and alcohol withdrawals and at one stage a stomach bug. I wouldn't be surprised if writing has become his go to drug. Over the last few years most of his work hasn't been "original" works but re-writes and this is from someone who in one of his forwards said that all the good stuff had been released and all the bad stuff has been buried deep in a drawer never to see the light of day. But they did. Blaze, Under the dome (Which he tried writing twice before finally getting through it) and now the new Dark Tower thing which might be an original story but still seems to be a throwback to a series he had seemingly finished. So even if the ideas aren't coming as thick and fast as they once were he is still writing even if it is over old stuff that should have probably died a natural death. In a way I feel like he is doing his own Survivor Type thing and eating himself because there's just not much else that does it for him like writing does. Guy just can't stop and probably won't stop until he slumps at his desk. What I'd like is another miniseries. What was the last one? Rose Red? Remake of the Shining? Something original would be nice although I'd take an adaptation of Needful Things as either a TV series like Haven or a miniseries. Lots of good characters in that book and I can think of quite a few standalone episode ideas if it does become a TV series.
|
|
#
?
Mar 12, 2011 07:14
|
|
|
I came into The Book Barn with the urge to complain about sex-obsessed scifi writers, but then I realized that there's only a random discussion/criticism/speculation thread for Stephen King, and not Peter F. Hamilton... So back on topic! I listened to "From a Buick 8" in audiobook format, and wasn't sure what to make of it. I didn't dislike it, but it was definitely a strange book. It sort of felt like it should have been a short story (4-5 hours as opposed to 13 maybe), but at the same time, shortening it would kind of defeat the message and tone he was trying to convey. So it's kind of a paradox. I thought it had worth and was well-made, but it wasn't nearly as fun as I was hoping, as listening to all of it over a period of two or three days kind of left me restless and impatient. I think I just wanted a story where the Buick is introduced/explained partially, then someone actually takes it for a drive, and a horrific adventure ensues instead of a story that's sort of about growing old and passing on. *edit* It also expanded on King's "truly mature people don't need answers or endings" sentiment, but in a much more reasonable and less insulting way than that Dark Tower end note. Although he did switch things up and actually add an ending and some answers, ironically. Locus fucked around with this message at 14:28 on Mar 12, 2011 |
|
#
?
Mar 12, 2011 14:14
|
|
|
Octy posted:Yeah, I mentioned that before. It comes up about three times in Pet Sematary. I think Duma Key was worse about this with [/spoiler]the daughter[/spoiler] (do we need to use spoilers in this thread? Ah well, I'll do it anyway). It seemed to come up every single chapter. He really needed an editor on that book. I enjoyed it, but there was a fair bit of dumb bullshit like that, or him writing the one-armed protagonist doing things with both arms that was just frustrating. Definitely really interesting, though. I'd like to see King try writing mysteries one of these days, since he's really good at making central questions to a plot.
|
|
#
?
Mar 12, 2011 21:21
|
|
|
The reason it didn't work in Duma Key was that King seems to have forgotten it's there and then spends a chapter trying to build suspense around the attempt to save this person and drops in a kicker that she died anyway which we already knew. Remove the narrators spoiler and there'd be a fair bit of suspense. It worked in Pet Semetary because that book was just a spiral of darkness from the first page and it worked in Bag Of Bones because the character was a main one and the line just seems to come from nowhere and it's a good kick in the guts when you read it but remove that part from Duma Key and you have even more suspense. Why would an author remove the suspense from a horror novel knowingly? The payload is so much smaller when delivered this way. Had I not of known the character was going to die that phone call would have been a much more effective chapter. Maybe King can work out a promotional deal with Amazon and have them added in spoiler tags if you buy the e-book version.
|
|
#
?
Mar 13, 2011 00:28
|
|
|
I recently read Carrie, from what I gather it's one of his first books. I know the story about how he threw it the garbage at first... What is the general opinion about it? I liked the interview sections at the start, I thought it was going to be more mystery than supernatural and we were going to find about Carrie through Sue. They gave lots of definitions about physic powers and telekinesis to make it sound credible but the end just destroyed it all when he made her powers superman like. Other than that I liked the start where we learned about Carrie and her life as a loser, I don't even know how this book does 250+ pages... Ulio fucked around with this message at 02:27 on Mar 22, 2011 |
|
#
?
Mar 22, 2011 02:22
|
|
|
From what I remember reading somewhere the ending of the book was to make it publishable length. It is his first published novel though and I really liked it even though the characters are pretty bland. Sue built up nicely though. Her confrontation with Carrie was pretty damned sad. Apparently the new novel is 850+ pages. This is either going to be a fantastic book or an incredible pile of poo poo. So far the premise hasn't hooked me yet and that concerns me. The best part of most of Kings work have been the "What would happen if?" that starts the stories off but this one is leaving me cold. Then again I would have said that same thing about Hearts in Atlantis - the whole book, not just the opening story - and I loved the hell out of that. It's King. As soon as it's on the shelf, or reduced through Amazon wars like Dome was, it'll be an automatic buy. It's a Pavlov reaction I think. I can't help getting all excited at the prospect of something new from King to read. Oh, and a quick plug for one of my other favourite horror authors. Straubs A Dark Matter is a lot better than most reviews have suggested. I'd put it up there with the Lost Boy/Lost girl and Nightroom books. It's certainly not another Ghost Story unfortunately, but what is? Although read those two first, in published order, if you want your horror fill. Dark Matter isn't a horror novel as such, it's more of a character study of those who have gone through supernatural events rather than the events themselves.
|
|
#
?
Mar 22, 2011 03:00
|
|
|
I'm in the middle of Under the Dome right now. (Barbie was just arrested) I swear to god if Big Jim isn't dead by the end I'm going to scream.
|
|
#
?
Mar 23, 2011 04:41
|
|
|
Mister Kingdom posted:Robert Charles Wilson's A Bridge of Years had a man who found a time tunnel in his basement that went back to 1962 New York. The only difference was that he couldn't change anything. I think the idea for the story is that he keeps loving poo poo up and he has to keep going back in time to stop himself from doing stupid things again and again. Think of it like Majora's Mask and Groundhog Day. I think it sounds really interesting and can't wait to read it.
|
|
#
?
Mar 23, 2011 06:04
|
|
|
I've been re-reading The Talisman. Does Jack's mom strike anyone else as particularly neglectful? I mean yeah, she's dying, but even in Jack's flashbacks she strikes me as really awful parent material. I have this feeling that it is supposed to be portraying how they have a "special" relationship that is different than that of most parents/children, but it just seems really wrong to me. I only bring it up because it never bothered me on previous readings, but this time it just really stuck out. Also, the scene where Wolf transforms and rips apart Sunshine Gardener and his lackeys is one of my favorites in the book. Something about it is just so cinematic.
|
|
#
?
Mar 23, 2011 06:24
|
|
|
Stephen King should write a book about a writer who keeps going back in time to write the same kind of story. He could live in Maine! There's actually a really good short story by Nick DiChario called "The Winterberry" that explores what would've happened if Kennedy had been shot, but survived. It's incredibly moving and I encourage you guys to check it out instead of reading King's turdy book about time travel.
|
|
#
?
Mar 23, 2011 06:30
|
|
|
Philo posted:I've been re-reading The Talisman. Does Jack's mom strike anyone else as particularly neglectful? I mean yeah, she's dying, but even in Jack's flashbacks she strikes me as really awful parent material. I have this feeling that it is supposed to be portraying how they have a "special" relationship that is different than that of most parents/children, but it just seems really wrong to me. I only bring it up because it never bothered me on previous readings, but this time it just really stuck out. Yeah, I definitely felt the same way. I can't even imagine seeing a kid Jack's age hitchhiking, although the book takes place 20 or 30 years ago, so maybe that happened then. The thing that keeps me from rereading the book though is all the traveling. The big scenes (Oatley Tap, Sunlight Gardener's lockup, the hotel where the talisman actually is) are pretty great, but they're separated by all that walking and hitching and Wolf complaining/dying. I know that's the whole point of a quest novel like that, but it makes the novel a slog.
|
|
#
?
Mar 23, 2011 08:08
|
|
|
Well Jacks mother is fairly loosely strapped into the sanity seat. She's an old queen of B movies fading into nothing in a closed down seaside resort hiding from a very bad man so I think what her son is up to is pretty much the last thing on her mind. Half the time she isn't even listening to him talk and I think it's a plot device to help him cut ties and start walking. "I'm going cross country now see you when I get back." "Okay have fun Jacky!" There's a bit about her in Black House, I think, where her agreeable nature to anything Jack wants to do is explaied and, from memory, midway through the Talisman it's implied that she is other directed which probably comes from her fading health and the closeness that brings to her twinner.
|
|
#
?
Mar 23, 2011 08:15
|
|
|
It was all destiny, see, she was a neglectful mom so that Jack would be independently-minded enough to carry out his quest to get the Talisman and fix everything. You see, the power of the Talisman is like a wheel...
|
|
#
?
Mar 23, 2011 10:36
|
|
|
A wheel with 19 spokes...
|
|
#
?
Mar 23, 2011 13:49
|
|
|
I think the thing that most dated Talisman as being from the 80's wasn't hitch-hiking, but was the line explaining that Jack, a 12 year old boy, was used to being hit on and propositioned by adult men because he had previously lived in an area with lots of gay people.
|
|
#
?
Mar 23, 2011 16:45
|
|
|
I just bought a Kindle, and I have been going through all of King's stories that I haven't read in a long time. Holy poo poo I forgot how good of a story The Long Walk was. Probably some of the best dialog King has ever written, no moment where everything just goes absolutely bat poo poo insane, and a good solid ending that lets the reader interpret what may really have happened. I think it is going to join A Clockwork Orange, Moby Dick, and 1984, the books that I reread every year or two. Since this thread is the "Worst Stephen King novel?" thread, let me say that I have also recently read Ur for the first time, and I think that it mediocre at best. I like the idea a lot, but by the time it ends, it just kind of felt like a big build up to nothing. Whargoul fucked around with this message at 02:03 on Mar 24, 2011 |
|
#
?
Mar 24, 2011 02:00
|
|
|
ZoDiAC_ posted:
It's one of the better King books in my opinion. Mostly, because it's in the "everything ends badly" vein like Pet Semetary. I particularly liked the epilogue where it's suggested that the car/Lebay has recovered from being crushed and is again taking revenge
|
|
#
?
Mar 26, 2011 03:18
|
|
|
|
| # ? May 16, 2024 04:23 |
|
|
When can we expect another Jack Sawyer book? Talisman was awesome in a way few King books are. Maybe because it is an actually traveling adventure as opposed to IT and the second half of The Stand, but every new city/town/cage was so exciting. I lived in fear of reading The Black House because it could not be as good, but I think in retrospect I liked Black House more. Not the Jack Sawyer forgetting then remembering but the killer and the characters. The back story on the bikers and the Radio host. So where is the end to a passive Trilogy?
|
|
#
?
Mar 26, 2011 03:25
|
|
