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In the Journal that ends Song of Susannah he talks about writing the book and having his publisher sell it in parts to MF&SF. Since he spoke of his problems with alcohol and everything else very literally, I assumed he did not make up the fact that he wrote it as a book first instead of short stories. I tried to find an interview backing this up but I can not.
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Aug 20, 2011 02:04
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trandorian posted:Eyes of the dragon was too, for that matter. It should've stayed that way.  Really don't like that book, even though it wasn't his worst. Cell i s pretty infurating- it was awesome at the beginning, but then when they started flocking together and becoming psychic poo poo got real dumb quick.
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Aug 21, 2011 16:13
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Wasn't Eyes of the Dragon meant for kids? I read it in middle school when it was published and really enjoyed it. I saw a first edition hardcover for sale over the past week but decided against it because it probably wouldn't hold up like the Choose Your Own Adventure books don't hold up. Cell pissed me off because of the same reason. It started good, then got mind blowingly stupid.
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Aug 21, 2011 22:22
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Philthy posted:Wasn't Eyes of the Dragon meant for kids? I read it in middle school when it was published and really enjoyed it. I saw a first edition hardcover for sale over the past week but decided against it because it probably wouldn't hold up like the Choose Your Own Adventure books don't hold up. While not really for "kids" I would say that Eyes of the Dragon is definitely his most "young adult" book.
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Aug 21, 2011 23:45
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muscles like this? posted:While not really for "kids" I would say that Eyes of the Dragon is definitely his most "young adult" book. It was written specifically for his then 13-14 year old daughter since she didn't like his horror books and was initially only published in a run of under 400 copies, mostly for family and friends.
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Aug 21, 2011 23:57
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trandorian posted:It was written specifically for his then 13-14 year old daughter since she didn't like his horror books I hope he didn't make his kids read IT
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Aug 23, 2011 00:43
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ZoDiAC_ posted:I hope he didn't make his kids read IT I read It when I was 8 or 9 and I'm not severely broken. I read The Stand when I was 10, then unabridged later on, like 11 or 12. Tommyknockers, Eyes of the Dragon, some of the other stuff in-between like Misery, Christine, Firestarter, etc. At that age I was totally willing to follow him down every rabbit hole and enjoyed each funhouse ride. (A lot of that was from repeated trips to the local public library, then picking up yard sale copies at 25 or 50c)
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Aug 23, 2011 03:04
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I read the loving Library Policemen when I was like 11. Thankfully the fact that the main character was being raped by a pedophile escaped me and I wasn't traumatised.
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Aug 23, 2011 03:18
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Wasn't there a dedication to his kids in IT? Anyway, the whole thesis of IT is that a childs mind is stronger than an adults and they can handle things adults would have trouble with which was why they had to resume their childhood persona when they returned in 1985 to finish IT off. Poor Stan had an organised adults mind even as a teen and he had the hardest time dealing with what was going on. I think Christine was my first King book followed by The Shining. The latter scared the hell out of me as a young teen. The Overlook is really A Very Bad Parent and old hotels still scare me a little because of that book. Christine was great fun though. I was friends with an "Arnie," and the relationship between him and Dennis as well as the arguments that went on at the Cunninghams house rang so true to me. Christine is nostalgia in book form; even the red cover with the chrome title and horribly horrificTERRORIFING!! synopsis reminds me of what it was like to read that book and think, "holy poo poo, this guy gets teens!"
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Aug 23, 2011 03:28
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Dude gets into his characters' heads (and by extension, getting us in there) like no other author I've ever read. I credit my empathetic growth almost entirely to reading his books.
VAGENDA OF MANOCIDE fucked around with this message at 03:34 on Aug 23, 2011 |
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Aug 23, 2011 03:32
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I've decided that when I finish my thesis I'm going to read through the Dark Tower series properly. Last time I tried was late 2004, right before I started uni, and I got about halfway through Wizard And Glass before stopping. Thinking about it, I remember my paperback copy of book 3 was retarded, because at the end of each book there was a preview chapter for the next one. At the end of book 3 they had the first chapter of book 4, which happened to be the reprinted final chapter of book 3. So my copy went: (Final scene where Blaine challenges them to the riddle game) (Cliffhanger where they will surely die!) AND NOW A SNEAK PREVIEW OF "WIZARD AND GLASS"... (Scene where Blaine challenges them to the riddle game) (Cliffhanger where they will surely die!) It was a bit of a waste of paper. I'm looking forward to reading them again. I remember loving book 3 in particular. Hopefully I'll finish all 7 books in time for The Wind In The Keyhole to be published, next year. And I think I'll skip the comics and "related novels".
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Aug 23, 2011 03:34
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Also, this is pretty loving awful:
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Aug 23, 2011 03:58
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Hedrigall posted:Also, this is pretty loving awful: Hahaha, he needs to go back to the big blocky letters on a black background with 1 vaguely-related object covers. Those weren't great but this one looks like an early 90s video game box.
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Aug 23, 2011 04:29
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What's the consensus on The Dark Half? I rarely see it mentioned. I read it last year and thought it was OK, but thought he gave away too much too soon. Stark shouldn't have been revealed as the real killer so early (which really isn't a spoiler but I'm staying on the safe side).
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Aug 23, 2011 07:14
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Hedrigall posted:Also, this is pretty loving awful: No part of this isn't awful. The chrome effect on his name. The title being in a digital style font. With lensflare behind it. The trite photo of JFK with wacky perspective warping The terrible tagline
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Aug 23, 2011 10:37
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RC and Moon Pie posted:What's the consensus on The Dark Half? I rarely see it mentioned. I read it last year and thought it was OK, but thought he gave away too much too soon. Stark shouldn't have been revealed as the real killer so early (which really isn't a spoiler but I'm staying on the safe side). That one was weird. I remember it alternated between being really goddamn great and pretty boring with no real rhyme or reason. It wasn't like "oh, chapter about Thad, all aboard the train to dullsville!" or anything like that, it'd just hit some sort of snag in the momentum or something. I would totally read one of the George Stark books if King ever wrote one, though.
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Aug 23, 2011 12:34
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Rented The Dead Zone tonight, should be good. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2tr6tJfsSDk
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Aug 23, 2011 12:39
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The Dark Half is strange because Secret Window Secret Garden in one of his collections is practically the same story.
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Aug 23, 2011 13:04
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Hedrigall posted:Also, this is pretty loving awful: There's a lot wrong with this cover. But the lovely Photoshop emboss style on the text? That's going way to far.
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Aug 23, 2011 18:13
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Is that the cover for the ebook or something?
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Aug 23, 2011 18:33
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It's the UK cover I believe.
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Aug 23, 2011 20:15
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RC and Moon Pie posted:What's the consensus on The Dark Half? I rarely see it mentioned. I read it last year and thought it was OK, but thought he gave away too much too soon. Stark shouldn't have been revealed as the real killer so early (which really isn't a spoiler but I'm staying on the safe side). When I was in middle school The Dark Half was my favorite King book. I haven't read it since and I don't trust my pre-teen tastes so I might have to revisit that one again soon.
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Aug 23, 2011 21:45
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The first time I read The Stand (think when the "uncut" version came out in paperback) I was maybe 13 or 14 and super sick for like 2 weeks straight one summer. I was so freaked out reading about a super flu while having a loving super flu. I remember I kept spraying my room with Lysol while reading it, so now that nasty smell always brings back memories of the Stand.
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Aug 24, 2011 09:16
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Does anyone remember a short story King did about a child molester who kidnaps a kid and drives away with him, only to have the kids vampire grandpa show up?
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Aug 24, 2011 18:53
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KillRoy posted:Does anyone remember a short story King did about a child molester who kidnaps a kid and drives away with him, only to have the kids vampire grandpa show up? I remember this movie.
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Aug 24, 2011 19:02
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KillRoy posted:Does anyone remember a short story King did about a child molester who kidnaps a kid and drives away with him, only to have the kids vampire grandpa show up? "Popsy" and "The Night Flier", both in Nightmares and Dreamscapes.
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Aug 24, 2011 19:15
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Anybody read Mile 81 yet?
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Sep 4, 2011 03:48
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I find it hard to get excited about individually-released short stories, even by my favourite authors. Maybe it's just because the OCD in me can't tick it off as a book read, so it seems like wasted effort. I'll wait 'til it's collected in his next short story compilation, then I'll read it.
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Sep 4, 2011 04:27
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Sporadic posted:Anybody read Mile 81 yet? I did. It was very short -- 115 pages or so -- and not very good. A car from outer space eats five adults, scares the poo poo out of two small children and is ultimately chased off the planet by a 10-year-old who burns it with a magnifying glass. The preview for his newest isn't that compelling, either. I kind of wish I could get my $2.99 back.
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Sep 5, 2011 21:30
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You know you're talking about Stephen King when a 115-page short story is referred to as "very short." Unless that was supposed to be 15, of course.
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Sep 5, 2011 21:42
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Mile 81 is really weak. King uses the annoying "omniscient narrator tells us a character is going to die several paragraphs before they actually do" about 3 times, which really undercuts whatever tension he could have built in those scenes. The story isn't even consistent in its internal logic: the evil alien car drives itself to the rest stop, but then remains immobile for the rest of the story, even when it's being set on fire. There's also a scene that revolves around an iPad and Words With Friends, which is really distracting.
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Sep 6, 2011 05:10
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Kentucky Shark posted:King uses the annoying "omniscient narrator tells us a character is going to die several paragraphs before they actually do" about 3 times, which really undercuts whatever tension he could have built in those scenes. I wish he'd knock this off. I HATE when King does this above all other quirks. He telegraphs or outright states when someone is about to die with phrases like "and that's the last time she saw Character alive" and it wrecks all suspense.
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Sep 6, 2011 16:56
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I don't mind the "And that was the last time they where together" but not the directly "this guy will be dead in 5 pages"
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Sep 6, 2011 17:02
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ZoDiAC_ posted:I wish he'd knock this off. I HATE when King does this above all other quirks. He telegraphs or outright states when someone is about to die with phrases like "and that's the last time she saw Character alive" and it wrecks all suspense. I hate that as well; I forgot what book I was reading where it drove me absolutely crazy as maybe a larger percentage of deaths were spelled out immediately.
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Sep 6, 2011 17:08
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Ridonkulous posted:I don't mind the "And that was the last time they where together" but not the directly "this guy will be dead in 5 pages" I do like that occasionally he does the "And that was the last time they where together" but it turns out it's just because one of the people involved moves to a different town or something.
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Sep 6, 2011 17:49
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Re-reading The Stand recently, he did that at the end a lot, although by then you just kind of let him do it, because goddamn.
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Sep 6, 2011 18:24
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Darko posted:I hate that as well; I forgot what book I was reading where it drove me absolutely crazy as maybe a larger percentage of deaths were spelled out immediately. It's been a few years since I read it but I'm pretty sure he does this to a totally obnoxious degree in Duma Key, with maybe one death not spoiled 20 pages in advance.
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Sep 7, 2011 04:53
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And the main death he spoils then turns into a chapter that is supposed to be suspenseful. It's like he forgot about the announcement because that later chapter reads like a red herring and the answering machine message that Freemantle receives would have been a huge kick in the guts if that earlier announcement had been left out. Mile 81 is probably one of his worst short stories I think. I'm trying to think of any others that are as bad as this but can't come up with any. It's like Buick8 but without the really well done mystery angle.
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Sep 7, 2011 05:08
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Darko posted:I hate that as well; I forgot what book I was reading where it drove me absolutely crazy as maybe a larger percentage of deaths were spelled out immediately. Pet Sematary did it all the time.
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Sep 7, 2011 12:18
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Octy posted:Pet Sematary did it all the time. Gage's death in Pet Sematary really was written awesomely, even with the foreshadowing. I remember feeling really bad for the father when I read that in high school or whenever. The flashforward into what he COULD have been was really well done, I think. And yes, Mile 81 was absolutely terrible. Even the ending was ridiculous; what was spoiled above was correct in that it made little to no sense whatsoever.
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Sep 7, 2011 14:59
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