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Myrmidongs posted:I'm re-reading The Stand for my second go-around with it. I love the book, but I find I'm skipping through shitloads of it. Namely any time it switches to Mother Abigail's perspective, or Trashcan Man. The other biggest flaw I think is that the first act, the from the introduction and when everyone realizes they are all hosed just goes on for way, way too long. Still, though, the first act also has my absolute favorite part of the book - the random deaths of survivors of the flu. I guess I have a really dark sense of humor, but the one woman getting locked in her basement cooler thing always came off as hilarious to me. I'm currently re-reading The Stand, as well. But in my case, I've only ever read the original as opposed to the "Director's Cut". To me, it seems that are just too many words. The original Stand didn't need all that exposition. For example, when reading the original, you slowly come to realize just how bad that mortality rate is - it's implied through the first chapters, culminating in Larry's bad trip out of New York. But now, there's a passage fairly early on where King details just how bad it will be, with bodies everywhere, as an aside to something else in the chapter. It's only a few sentences, but it undercuts the horror that we're building towards. He did a lovely job of updating the timeframe of the book, but that may just be a quibble on my part.
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Jan 7, 2012 21:19
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I got 11/22/63 for Christmas, and am looking forward to reading it after I knock some other books out of the way. But I was just wondering - am I the only one that thinks The Langoliers is one of the best pieces King has ever written? It's only really come up once or twice in this thread, and never for very long. At a glance it might just seem like "hurr Stephen King does time travel", but I remember when I first read it when I was younger being completely sucked into this extremely creepy environment - a dead, empty airport along with a group of confused characters. Combined with the presence of the titular beings that just seem to consume reality, I ended up feeling really drained at the end, even though it has a relatively happy ending. Then again I also like Gerald's Game so v  v
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Jan 8, 2012 16:24
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I've never read the "original" version of The Stand. Is there an easy way to find it anywhere or would I have to go around searching used book stores? All I've ever seen in bookstores is the "Expanded and Uncut" version.
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Jan 8, 2012 18:16
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muscles like this? posted:I've never read the "original" version of The Stand. Is there an easy way to find it anywhere or would I have to go around searching used book stores? All I've ever seen in bookstores is the "Expanded and Uncut" version. I think used bookstores would be the only way now. It's a shame that they don't offer it as an alternative ebook. My paperback copy fell apart or got lost in a move at some point. 
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Jan 8, 2012 18:21
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muscles like this? posted:I've never read the "original" version of The Stand. Is there an easy way to find it anywhere or would I have to go around searching used book stores? All I've ever seen in bookstores is the "Expanded and Uncut" version. Your local library might have a copy.
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Jan 8, 2012 19:22
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I also like The Langoliers for precisely the reasons Lacklustre Hero mentioned. It's very creepy and the characters are great.
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Jan 8, 2012 20:50
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Despite its characteristic Kingisms, a fairly silly underpinning concept (Northern Lights time warps?), and the ridiculous movie, I think The Langoliers was a pretty fantastic Twilight Zone homage, so yeah.
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Jan 8, 2012 21:00
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muscles like this? posted:I've never read the "original" version of The Stand. Is there an easy way to find it anywhere or would I have to go around searching used book stores? All I've ever seen in bookstores is the "Expanded and Uncut" version. I would try Abebooks. This one might be what you're looking for. I would just email the seller to double check.
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Jan 8, 2012 21:00
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Another Langoliers fan signing in. I think it's a fantastic story; I remember my experience reading it really vividly. It's a shame The Sun Dog and Secret Garden, Secret Window were kind of misfires, because I happen to think that The Library Policeman is maybe the very scariest King story I've ever read. I'm not sure why that effects me so strongly. But regardless, with both The Langoliers and The Library Policeman, Four Past Midnight is my favorite of his novella collections. I have like absolute recall of reading The Library Policeman for the first time; I remember where I was, why I was there, I remember a conversation I had with a friend who walked up during the time I was reading . . . that one's just really burned into my brain for some reason.
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Jan 8, 2012 22:41
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All anyone will ever need to know about the filmed version of The Langoliers is that it ends with a freeze-frame of a character jumping in celebration. All it needed was the credits theme for Happy Days to start playing.
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Jan 9, 2012 03:33
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The Langoliers was a triumph of a movie compared to The Night Flyer though. It's been a long time since I've seen it but it has a good cast, the start is really promising but it falls apart in a spectacular mess at the end. And not in a funny "Oh poo poo they've wrecked it," way either. It just drops from the screen like a turd. I recommend it if you have not been getting your "What the gently caress?" horror movie allowance.
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Jan 9, 2012 10:08
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Local Group Bus posted:I recommend it if you have not been getting your "What the gently caress?" horror movie allowance. Yeah, I especially like that the character that's supposed to be from Northern Ireland (Nick?) has a very clear Australian accent!  e: Ok, checking on IMDb, the actor is British, but for some reason I hear his accent as Australian 
brylcreem fucked around with this message at 12:12 on Jan 9, 2012 |
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Jan 9, 2012 11:59
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The Langoliers look so utterly stupid in the TV movie, and Balki is so over the top, that it's a fun watch, even if it's not good by any means.
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Jan 9, 2012 17:00
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I just finished 11/22/63 today and caught up with this thread today. I am in the loved it camp. I haven't read that much King (Salem's Lot, The Stand, The Shining, Cujo, and Everything's Eventual until now), and the last book I read was about four years ago, so I'm not that huge of a King fan. This was easily my favorite book by him, though. I have read everyone's criticism, and I don't really agree with much of it. I don't have much experience, but I don't think was your typical King book. 11/22/63 was as much historical fiction as it was sci-fi, and I enjoyed that the assassination was not the main storyline of the book. I don't really understand the complaints about the sagging middle. Maybe a lot of the characterization with Oswald and his group could be considered plodding, but it seemed spiced with enough dynamic (Oswald's fights, Sadie and Jake getting to know each other, Sadie's ex-husband coming back)to keep it interesting and fresh during the progression. The past is obdurate concept was constructed to allow for the plot points to be convincing. I thought the beating and subsequent memory loss was really well done, considering he had all of his information and was ready to do the deed, and the past makes him lose it just like that to add some desperation. All the problems the hero faced could easily be traced to the past trying to prevent itself from being destroyed, which gave King a lot of room to work with. What surprised me the most was the Jimla concept. The entire time, along with the harmonies, the reader has the feeling a monster is going to come along in typical King fashion. However, as is discovered at the end, the "Jimla" monster was Jake the entire time, which is proven with how Jake single handedly wrecked the future, making the obdurate past's attempts to stop him actually in the interest of good. I do wish King put more effort into illustrating the alternate future a bit, as it was really interesting to me. I understand why he didn't though, as it wsan't the real point of the book. I do think some of the Sadie parts were cheesy, especially the idolization of their dance by the kids. Overall I enjoyed the entire ride. I'm a little unreliable, however, as I've been on a Vietnam/JFK assassination/60's turmoil kick for a while, so I was invested in the Oswald profiling more than your average King fan, probably.
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Jan 10, 2012 03:49
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If you're still on the 60's, Vietnam era kick you owe it to yourself to pick up Hearts In Atlantis. Forget the movie - if you've seen it - just grab that book and dig in. Five or six novellas/short stories spanning that time period about a group of people but each story is from a different era in their lives and told in a different way. But it's certainly something you'd enjoy if you want more from King regarding that era.
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Jan 10, 2012 06:15
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var1ety posted:Your local library might have a copy.
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Jan 10, 2012 07:48
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Local Group Bus posted:If you're still on the 60's, Vietnam era kick you owe it to yourself to pick up Hearts In Atlantis. Forget the movie - if you've seen it - just grab that book and dig in. Five or six novellas/short stories spanning that time period about a group of people but each story is from a different era in their lives and told in a different way. But it's certainly something you'd enjoy if you want more from King regarding that era. Just started the 11/22/63 audiobook, and I'm liking it so far. When I first heard the premise of a "time tunnel in a pantry," I was kind of "Whaaaaa? Meh...", but I'm enjoying it so far (end of chapter 2.) Oddly, my brain seems to accept it - I think maybe it is because King hasn't tried to explain it in some pseudo-scientific way. It's a time tunnel in a pantry. Accept it. It just is. Also: The original version of The Stand was far better than the expanded editions that came later. I agree with the previous posts stating that you don't need the excessive verbiage to understand what is going on. It doesn't add anything useful to the story. berzerkmonkey fucked around with this message at 14:43 on Jan 10, 2012 |
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Jan 10, 2012 14:41
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berzerkmonkey posted:Oddly, my brain seems to accept it - I think maybe it is because King hasn't tried to explain it in some pseudo-scientific way. It's a time tunnel in a pantry. Accept it. It just is. This is the key to enjoying King, and why I liked Under The Dome so much. Read his comments on the short story The Moving Finger in Nightmares and Dreamscapes (and the story itself) - he loves stories where people have to deal with bad poo poo happening to them for no good reason.
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Jan 10, 2012 19:03
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Leovinus posted:This is the key to enjoying King, and why I liked Under The Dome so much.
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Jan 10, 2012 19:31
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The problem though is King does offer explanations that are often weak and crammed into the last hundred pages and sometimes they make no sense or aren't given the room they need to make sense. I also like the novels and short stories where things happen just because they do happen (With King it often seems to be people driving through the wrong town or some form of Other appearing and screwing things up) which is why I think Buick 8 works so well for me compared to Dome. Late era King seems to mostly be about having something happen, the characters react, and the something is stuffed in at the end as an, "Oh, by the way, this was what was going on all along," which is why Dome fell down. A lot of writers have written about us as being nothing more than entertainment but when King did it he only half explained it and that half was pushed back to the end and the possibility was not a major part of the work. It was almost as if he needed a bow to tie onto the end because we must have the creepy explanation when it would have been better had there been more clues or glimpses on the way to the end. King said all he needed to say about unchecked power and the feelings of powerlessness before the ending and had he have the dome rise for no reason it would have worked a lot better. You're right, it would have been a mystery. Over-explaining things seems to be a problem because you either are good enough as an author to sow the mystery and then reap it for all it is worth or you just wave your hand and go, "Aliens did it. G'night folks!" Compare Dome with Buick. Throughout the latter King keeps telling you there is going to be no solution, in fact the book is all about how we fold mysteries that cannot be solved into our lives, but the former has the mystery (Dome) and a totally unwarranted ending because it's been what the book was about all along. Sure it ties in with the idea of the novel but if someone gets to the end of Dome and wonders what the books been about and needs the answer explained to them again then that's just silly and probably the sign of a writer who wants to hit you over the head with the ideas and motifs already explored and that's a bad habit of Kings. "Oh, so she escaped from her husband and had to adjust, because that's what life is about, adjusting to change and realising your worth, but in the end she had to escape and adjust and again be told of her worth," (Rose Madder) or "artists create their own worlds and characters, they don't know where they come from, it's kinda spooky guys, oh look this writer has created a monster," (Dark Half). Dark Half works because we know the monster is out there killing people for Thad but in Rose Madder we've already had that theme throughout the book and don't need it again. But mostly it's just some readers don't want a book that doesn't tie it all up for you and tells you outright what it has been about. King got a lot of letters asking how the guys son turned out at the end of Cell. They didn't care that the book was about finding that kid, they wanted to know what happened when the phone was held to his ear. Was he okay? Did it fix him? You can let an author write open endings, and most of my favourite books have them, but King has so many fans who only read King-Horror that they want to close the book knowing exactly what was going to happen. And because he is a populist King is going to give it to them and explain the Dome, what's on Duma Key and it's going to be a rushed ending and feel tacked on because of it. How did the Overlook become so haunted? We don't know why it started storing the memories when other places seem not to, but if King were to write it now I imagine he would include a reason. Local Group Bus fucked around with this message at 23:01 on Jan 10, 2012 |
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Jan 10, 2012 22:47
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^^^^^ Yeah that same thing happened with 11/22/63 as well, with the explanation of the time travel's consequences, which--upon thinking about it for a day or so--really wasn't necessary. It didn't make it bad, but it wasn't really necessary. By the way, how was Needful Things? My girlfriend got me her copy of it since I'm kind of interested in King's work now. I really want to read IT thanks to this thread, but I figure since I have this for free I might as well read it. I really didn't like the movie that much, is the book better?
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Jan 11, 2012 02:44
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crankdatbatman posted:By the way, how was Needful Things? My girlfriend got me her copy of it since I'm kind of interested in King's work now. I really want to read IT thanks to this thread, but I figure since I have this for free I might as well read it. I really didn't like the movie that much, is the book better? I haven't read 11/22/63 (Duma Key was the last straw for putting me off King's later stuff). So, the comments I'm about to make really don't carry any weight. Needful Things is polarizing, like a good bit of his work. It's one of my favorites of his. I like the build and it has touches of humor. IT has that scene, but I really enjoyed it. King really built up a background with Pennywise, I mean a real historic detailed background and I was just fascinated by it when I first read it.
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Jan 11, 2012 03:47
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Cover art is up for "The Wind Through the Keyhole"! quote:We join Roland and his ka-tet as a ferocious storm halts their progress along the Path of the Beam. As they shelter from the screaming wind and snapping trees, Roland tells them not just one strange tale, but two--and in doing so sheds fascinating light on his own troubled past. It's very....Narnia.
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Jan 11, 2012 04:50
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I don't like that art, but I'm supper excited.
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Jan 11, 2012 05:01
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RC and Moon Pie posted:Needful Things is polarizing, like a good bit of his work. It's one of my favorites of his. I like the build and it has touches of humor. The callbacks in that book are amazing and it still has one of my facourite bits of King dialogue which was when Gaunt had the dead rat n his palm and went to shake Aces hand. "Oh, I do believe I just offered you my dinner. Sorry Ace, the older I get the more forgetful I become. Now don't you have things to do?" And then Gaunt closes the door and Ace can hear hear Gaunt asking, "Now where did I put that cheese?" in a soft voice. That novel was so funny in a horrible consumer-blues way and I don't think I'll ever get tired of visiting the crazies who live there. Local Group Bus fucked around with this message at 06:14 on Jan 11, 2012 |
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Jan 11, 2012 06:09
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Ridonkulous posted:I don't like that art, but I'm supper excited. I like it, but I don't like it as a Stephen King cover if that makes sense.
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Jan 11, 2012 06:09
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So it's not really DT 4.5, but more tales from Roland's past. That's cool with me, I guess.
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Jan 11, 2012 14:15
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Hmm. That's the stuff I tend to skip over during Wizard and Glass re-reads.
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Jan 11, 2012 14:24
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It sounds like a tie-in novel based on a TV show or something. I'll be waiting for Dr Sleep I think. For me the Dark Tower is complete. We all know what happened at the end of the books, this back-filling isn't going to offer much or shed light on what was missing or suddenly change the series so it's a pass for me too. Dammit King, where is the rest of the plant? At least there's new stuff to write there. Stop "Survivor Typing" yourself and get new stuff out before everything tastes like lady-fingers. Local Group Bus fucked around with this message at 14:47 on Jan 11, 2012 |
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Jan 11, 2012 14:42
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That cover art really looks like it should be printed on a t-shirt and given to people who participate in a litter clean-up day.
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Jan 11, 2012 15:23
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I don't know what you guys are going on about - the new book's middle was the heart and soul of the work. Compelling right the way through.
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Jan 11, 2012 16:45
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Aatrek posted:Hmm. That's the stuff I tend to skip over during Wizard and Glass re-reads. Yeah, I really don't want/need to know all this stuff about Roland's past. Also fairly disappointed that the book is just Wizard and Glass redux and not really "what happened between Wizard and Glass and Wolves."
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Jan 11, 2012 17:25
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H.P. Shivcraft posted:That cover art really looks like it should be printed on a t-shirt and given to people who participate in a litter clean-up day. Was going to saw generic fantasy art, thats usually on a poster in a 14 year old girl's room, but that nails it completely.
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Jan 11, 2012 19:26
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Ensign_Ricky posted:Cover art is up for "The Wind Through the Keyhole"! Everything about this looks terrible.
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Jan 12, 2012 00:51
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Bug Bill Murray posted:Everything about this looks terrible. It's like an album cover for Enya. Even the title. If it was, I'd fucken buy it though.
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Jan 12, 2012 12:14
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I need to read under the dome. I found myself in a King re-read fiesta these past few months. It, the Stand and Misery, to name a few. I had forgotten just how incredible misery was. I saw the movie years ago - it stands up to the book if I recall but noticed it on instant netflix and may have to check it out to see. Anyone have thoughts on the book vs the movie on Misery? The Stand will always be my favorite. I tried the gunslinger and I LOVE western and sci fi but dear god it was like going to a dentist appointment opening those books every day... My problem with King (like so many others it seems), is the 1000 pages of pure awesome, followed by 20 pages of some bizarre "time to end the book" scenario that leaves me wanting actual closure and not just a nuke or child sex (the stand and It). "It," is loving scary and just a great, great read. Say what you will about his technique but the man created a town that seems to live and breathe and the cameo of derry in 11/22/63 was just fantastic. I am going to pick up under the dome this week I think. Another vote for 11/22/63 also. I really enjoyed it. But what got me back into his writing was "Full dark, no stars." Trully some of the darkest poo poo I've ever read. When I read full dark, no stars I figured he was back on the sauce and powder. It was just incredibly dark but had a great deal of substance.
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Jan 14, 2012 20:02
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Hi Jinks posted:Anyone have thoughts on the book vs the movie on Misery? I was slightly disappointed that the hobbling scene was changed, but otherwise I was pleased with the movie. Kathy Bates earned that cock-a-doodie Oscar. I couldn't have cast that role better myself. I am currently reading 11/22/63. So far, so good.
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Jan 14, 2012 22:35
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She was also really good in Delores Claiborne. The movie deviates from the book a lot and is more concerned with Selena and her mothers relationship much to its betterment. Worth a watch if you've not seen it before.
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Jan 15, 2012 00:24
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Mister Kingdom posted:I was slightly disappointed that the hobbling scene was changed, but otherwise I was pleased with the movie. Kathy Bates earned that cock-a-doodie Oscar. I couldn't have cast that role better myself. The best part of that TV Bag of Bones was the scene in the bookstore where they referenced her after the creepy dude claimed to be the writer's #1 fan when asking him to sign his book.
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Jan 16, 2012 14:29
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I just read Rage and The Long Walk and I was pretty impressed. I have nothing bad to say about The Long Walk - it was fantastic and incredibly depressing. I had read the Hunger Games trilogy a few weeks ago and there are sort of obvious parallels. I very much enjoyed how there's no explanation for the Walk. It just happens, it's horrible, and eventually it's over in the unpleasant and cynical way that the Bachman books all end. Rage was pretty good too, but I found the way the narrator was converting the other students to his viewpoint to be really weird and...sort of...adolescent wish fulfillment? Had I read it while in high school I would probably have found the book enthralling, but as an adult I just found it weird.
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Jan 16, 2012 23:46
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