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Bits of Lisey's Story were fantastic, like the creepy parts in the netherworld, and that one scene with Scott's brother in the basement. But there was just no cohesiveness to the story as a whole. He could have written one novel about Boo'Ya Moon (if he gave it a different loving name jesus christ) and another about a woman mourning her dead husband and whatever sort of messed-up family-destroying hereditary magical insanity the bad gunky was (if he gave it a different loving name jesus christ) and they both could have turned into great books. As it was, he tried to do about five different things, and ended up with a massive sprawling mess of a novel, bits and pieces of genuinely cool stuff, only tenuously related to each other, all glued together with this noxious cloying "romantic" soup of grown-rear end men throwing temper tantrums and talking like babies. What a waste. Also Lisey's whole folksy "Aw shucks, I'm just lil' ol' Lisey who's not too smart but loves her babyluv, ayup ayup" internal narration got very grating, very fast.
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Mar 25, 2013 05:39
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So it turns out that King's OTHER son, Owen, is a writer too and his debut novel just came out. I read a review of the book (Double Feature) and its supposedly pretty good. Although its supposed to be a straight drama and not a horror story.
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Mar 25, 2013 21:01
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I'm trying to get through The Dark Tower series. Book one was fine, but I'm having a hard time staying with book 2. Roland's injury at the beginning if book 2 is just very out of character for him and annoys me.
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Mar 26, 2013 01:31
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Mr.48 posted:Also, King loves throwing in random tidbits from other books, it doesn't necessarily mean anything. Yeah, after reading DT7, everyone should know by now that they should stop trying to tie together all his books under one big mythology. That thing from Under the Dome is just an easter egg, nothing more.
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Mar 26, 2013 13:18
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natetimm posted:I'm trying to get through The Dark Tower series. Book one was fine, but I'm having a hard time staying with book 2. Roland's injury at the beginning if book 2 is just very out of character for him and annoys me. How is an injury out of character? e: Bob never gets mangled at home. :airplane:
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Mar 26, 2013 14:01
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rypakal posted:How is an injury out of character? He's just very methodical, careful and smart in the first book and then he decides to take a nap in the ocean with his bullets on to start off the first book.
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Mar 27, 2013 18:01
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natetimm posted:He's just very methodical, careful and smart in the first book and then he decides to take a nap in the ocean with his bullets on to start off the first book. You mean where he was explicitly put under a spell that made him sleep a magical sleep for a 100 years? What a slacker.
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Mar 27, 2013 18:12
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Astfgl posted:Yeah, but by that point any sane person would have considered stopping a dozen times already, and probably did. Although I eventually came to love the series, Wizard and Glass took me several tries to get through because of the flashback. When King tells you to stop it's what...twenty pages from the end? I was actually a little pissed off at that bit. I mean, the reader at that point has presumably invested a large amount of time reading the novels and waiting for them to be released (well, the first 4, before he started crapping out one every 6 months), and to have made it that far means they stuck through the thick and thin. So for King to waltz out and glibly tell the reader that they should put the book down lest they be struck dumb by how painful the ending is ( Why do I not remember this happening at the end of Wizard and Glass? I just finished the audiobook a little while back. All I remember at the end is they go to the Emeral City and have that episode with the man in black, then set off along the path of the beam again. What's this faux Eddie and Jake business?
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Mar 28, 2013 16:09
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) is pretty frustrating. The ending had better be painful, because you've only been building up to it for about 20 years. But instead, after all his hamfisted attempts to induce drama, he pulls all the teeth from his story by
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chippy posted:Why do I not remember this happening at the end of Wizard and Glass? I just finished the audiobook a little while back. All I remember at the end is they go to the Emeral City and have that episode with the man in black, then set off along the path of the beam again. What's this faux Eddie and Jake business? He's talking about the end of the Dark Tower. He just mentions Wizard and Glass as a place he would have considered stopping.
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Mar 28, 2013 16:17
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Oh right, I see.
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Mar 28, 2013 16:21
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Just read Quitters, Inc and oh man that is one terrifying, unsettling story. King's short works are great. EDIT: Read the Mangler. Whoever was writing about it earlier was dead right, that is one completely insane story. "It was already out" 
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Mar 31, 2013 06:04
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Two Finger posted:Just read Quitters, Inc and oh man that is one terrifying, unsettling story. King's short works are great. Although I do love many of King's novels, his real power is in the short story. At least, that's where he's continued to generally kick rear end, even as the quality of his novels has become a bit wobbly. Stephen King has an astounding ability to tell the most ridiculous stories and make them utterly believable. I never once asked why there was an endless multi-knuckled finger in the guy's drain, or questioned the ability of a giant pair of chattering teeth to drag off a human being, I just enjoyed the ride. Sometimes, though, when he tries to stretch out the weirdness to novel length, it starts to fall apart. Also, he's started trying to explain the weirdness (like in the Dome, and Cell), when part of what made previous King works so great was that he didn't bother - that poo poo was scary because it just was, and it didn't need a reason to be. I feel like that's more reflective of real life, and, for that reason, scarier and easier to swallow. Bad poo poo happens because bad poo poo happens, and that's just the way it is.
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Mar 31, 2013 22:42
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I completely agree. I genuinely think one of the most powerful moments in Cujo was towards the end, when the dad is trying to figure out where the gently caress his kid and wife are, and he goes into the child's room and the closet door keeps opening itself and he can smell that awful smell. It makes no sense, is completely and utterly bizarre, and yet is creepy as all gently caress. He cops a lot of flak for some of his work, and in some cases rightly so, but goddamn can that man create a mood. I had it a lot the first time I read The Langoliers - just the all-encompassing dread that soaks through everything leading up to the sheer insanity of the escape from the airport. I've always said the mark of a good book is the ability to make you feel something, and nearly every one of his I've read did that in spades. Salem's Lot in particular.
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Mar 31, 2013 23:26
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Shawshank/Mist endings. Both films are ostensibly different sides of the same subject - hope. For the record Darabont was asked to add the additional bit to Shawshank. He originally ends the film with the Bus driving away but was told by the studio that the additional few minutes offers a catharsis for the viewer and obviously it's up to the individual to decide if that's true or not. I think the problem with The Mist is that it's sort of a victim of bad editing at the end. In reality the guard don't turn up moments later, it's just that the film almost makes it seem that way.
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Apr 1, 2013 11:52
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Regarding the movie ending of The Mist, I think the mom showing up alive at the end functions as this weird additional kick in the pants. It's the one instance I can think of where a parent overcoming impossible odds to save their children just comes off as mean-spirited.
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Apr 1, 2013 14:29
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Two Finger posted:I completely agree. I genuinely think one of the most powerful moments in Cujo was towards the end, when the dad is trying to figure out where the gently caress his kid and wife are, and he goes into the child's room and the closet door keeps opening itself and he can smell that awful smell. It makes no sense, is completely and utterly bizarre, and yet is creepy as all gently caress. The parts in Cujo with the kid's room are some of the best parts of that book. His nightmare about the boogeyman/rapist from Dead Zone is among King's creepiest.
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Apr 1, 2013 15:53
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DirtyRobot posted:Regarding the movie ending of The Mist, I think the mom showing up alive at the end functions as this weird additional kick in the pants. It's the one instance I can think of where a parent overcoming impossible odds to save their children just comes off as mean-spirited. It's the only part of the ending I don't actually like because I think it pushes the point too far. It's not about whether she finds her kids, it's about whether they choose to help her and, honestly, despite what the film claims they actually make the most rational decision they can under the circumstances. They obviously don't know at that point that everything is going to turn to complete poo poo but they do know what's outside. We don't really need to see her after the fact other than to have a grim chuckle at the end. Darabont kinda says the same thing twice with the ending and I don't think he needed to but then he's hardly subtle as a film-maker.
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Apr 1, 2013 19:40
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Hey ho, Under the Dome footage! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hDS28r2qnAw&hd=1
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Apr 2, 2013 01:50
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Aatrek posted:Hey ho, Under the Dome footage! I was skeptical of the casting (outside of Dean Norris) but that dude's a perfect Barbie.
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Apr 2, 2013 04:43
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Mr.48 posted:What if it was just Pennywise's stupid kid messing around?
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Apr 2, 2013 13:13
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Aatrek posted:Hey ho, Under the Dome footage! I don't have a good feeling about this. In the scene where Barbie is pressing his bloody palm into the dome the sound they play sounds like a fx clip from Duke3D. And even a great actor can give a poo poo performance with a bad director. Look at Giancarlo Esposito's performance in Revolution.
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Apr 2, 2013 14:07
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I think it looks pretty cool. Excited!
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Apr 2, 2013 14:31
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I am pretty deep into Robert McCammon's Swan Song, and I can safely say if you are a fan of The Stand you should enjoy this book. You can feel the influence of King's work all over this, and as a child of the 80's I love the Cold War influence of that time on the book (which is slighted dated now). I know this is a King thread, but I think this is something most King fans should check out.
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Apr 2, 2013 15:16
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nate fisher posted:I am pretty deep into Robert McCammon's Swan Song, and I can safely say if you are a fan of The Stand you should enjoy this book. You can feel the influence of King's work all over this, and as a child of the 80's I love the Cold War influence of that time on the book (which is slighted dated now). I know this is a King thread, but I think this is something most King fans should check out. Bought this on your recommendation!
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Apr 3, 2013 01:46
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nate fisher posted:I am pretty deep into Robert McCammon's Swan Song, and I can safely say if you are a fan of The Stand you should enjoy this book. You can feel the influence of King's work all over this, and as a child of the 80's I love the Cold War influence of that time on the book (which is slighted dated now). I know this is a King thread, but I think this is something most King fans should check out. I pretty much blame that book on my long abiding love of post-apocalyptic fiction.
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Apr 3, 2013 05:13
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The Hunger Games movie was just put on Netflix. Watching it, I'm wondering when we're getting our Long Walk movie.
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Apr 3, 2013 07:28
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cheerfullydrab posted:The Hunger Games movie was just put on Netflix. Watching it, I'm wondering when we're getting our Long Walk movie. There's no way they could make a Long Walk movie in the vein of Hunger Games without adding a bunch of poo poo so that it wasn't just boys walking on the road with soldiers in jeeps watching them. I can sort of imagine a more indie thing but honestly I just don't think it would make for a good movie. It's a great book though, so we'll always have that.
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Apr 3, 2013 08:08
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Greggy posted:There's no way they could make a Long Walk movie in the vein of Hunger Games without adding a bunch of poo poo so that it wasn't just boys walking on the road with soldiers in jeeps watching them. I can sort of imagine a more indie thing but honestly I just don't think it would make for a good movie. It's a great book though, so we'll always have that.
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Apr 3, 2013 08:52
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Greggy posted:There's no way they could make a Long Walk movie in the vein of Hunger Games without adding a bunch of poo poo so that it wasn't just boys walking on the road with soldiers in jeeps watching them. I can sort of imagine a more indie thing but honestly I just don't think it would make for a good movie. It's a great book though, so we'll always have that.
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Apr 3, 2013 11:59
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nate fisher posted:I am pretty deep into Robert McCammon's Swan Song, and I can safely say if you are a fan of The Stand you should enjoy this book. You can feel the influence of King's work all over this, and as a child of the 80's I love the Cold War influence of that time on the book (which is slighted dated now). I know this is a King thread, but I think this is something most King fans should check out. Reading books like that just makes me appreciate Stephen King all the more, despite his less desirable qualities. I listened to Swan Song on audiobook a while back, and to me, it was like someone went back in time to the early 80's, converted Stephen King into a born again Christian, then took out the parts of his brain that handle subtlety, can write characters beyond generic "good" and "bad", tolerates women, and understands the concept of consensual premarital sex. Then they were like "write an 'early-teens reader' version of The Stand, but make it really depressing and gruesome and don't skimp on the rape". I mean, sorry, aspects were entertaining, but it was dreck. Locus fucked around with this message at 15:20 on Apr 3, 2013 |
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Apr 3, 2013 15:15
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Locus posted:Reading books like that just makes me appreciate Stephen King all the more, despite his less desirable qualities. I listened to Swan Song on audiobook a while back, and to me, it was like someone went back in time to the early 80's, converted Stephen King into a born again Christian, then took out the parts of his brain that handle subtlety, can write characters beyond generic "good" and "bad", tolerates women, and understands the concept of consensual premarital sex. Then they were like "write an 'early-teens reader' version of The Stand, but make it really depressing and gruesome and don't skimp on the rape". I thought about posting some of the shortcomings of the book before, because McCammon is no Stephen King. It is a lot like if Bentley Little for example tried to write an epic novel. It just doesn't have the depth of a King novel, but to call it a 'teens' reader version of The Stand might be a little harsh. I just finished a Hemingway novel before I started this, and I still didn't think the McCammon was that bad. Just pretty average for the horror genre. You make him sound like he is the level of someone like Stephanie Myers. You think it could be the difference in reading versus hearing it? Just curious. That said the difference in a nuclear apocalypse and the apocalypse that happens in The Stand would lend itself to a more depressing and gruesome story. If I would've read this back in 1988 the effect would be stronger. At that time we still had some of that Cold War fear raging, and as a kid at that time we was still being taught to fear Russia. I guess what I should've said was if you like the basic 'tropes' of The Stand there is a good chance will enjoy Swan Song because it borrows a lot of those 'tropes'. iostream.h posted:I read that book as a kid and it just creeped the hell out of me, went back to it not long ago and it's held up surprisingly well over the years! I am still reading it. I just finished the part where Killer dies (what an awesome dog) and Swan plants all the corn seeds. My only real complaint about the story is it is taking so long for Swan and Sister to meet. nate fisher fucked around with this message at 16:19 on Apr 3, 2013 |
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Apr 3, 2013 16:14
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nate fisher posted:I thought about posting some of the shortcomings of the book before, because McCammon is no Stephen King. It is a lot like if Bentley Little for example tried to write an epic novel. It just doesn't have the depth of a King novel, but to call it a 'teens' reader version of The Stand might be a little harsh. I just finished a Hemingway novel before I started this, and I still didn't think the McCammon was that bad. Just pretty average for the horror genre. You make him sound like he is the level of someone like Stephanie Myers. You think it could be the difference in reading versus hearing it? Just curious. I haven't read Stephanie Meyer (just seen the Rifftrax version of the movie), but I thought 1987 McGammon was a bar or two below modern Koontz in many ways. Listening to the audiobook while working vs reading and coming up with your own inflections and emphasis can definitely make a difference, so that could be a factor. I think what bothered me most was the shallowness of his human element in the apocalypse, which is the whole point of an apocalypse/post-apocalyptic novel to me. And obviously that's one of King's strong points. It's just stuff like, there being no presence of any religion or follower of a religion other than Christianity in the book, for example. Or the fact that it takes place over almost two decades, but there is not one instance of two characters having sex, other than all that rape (which is treated pretty flippantly), weird racial stuff, as he's guy from Alabama making an effort at having a positive black character who humorously enough makes it his life duty to protect a blond-haired blue-eyed messiah. When I say "teens reader" I just meant the depth of characters and the treatment of morality, religion, sex, romance, etc, but of course then there's a ton of horrible content on top that makes it inappropriate for younger readers.
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Apr 3, 2013 16:32
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Actually, in one of those short story/novellas King likes so much, The Library Policeman, Swan Song is mentioned as being a favorite of the younger kids. Thus kids like being scared, so it was totally OK to have those creepy as hell posters on Stranger Danger plastering the walls. I thought Swan Song was OK, not great or anything, but a decent time. Sticking him below Koontz seems pretty harsh to me, but then I've never been a Koontz fan. Plus didn't he have himself a Christian conversion, where now all of his books have to end with God saving everyone? I don't think I could handle the finger of God ending on every bargain basement King book out there.
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Apr 5, 2013 10:51
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nate fisher posted:My only real complaint about the story is it is taking so long for Swan and Sister to meet. Ha ha, that doesn't happen until about the very end of the book. The things that bugged me about Swan Song were how they set her up as a messiah figure but then don't really do anything with it. Also didn't really like the "true face" stuff. Mostly because it decided that the nerd kid was evil completely ignoring any mitigating circumstances to his situation.
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Apr 5, 2013 12:29
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muscles like this? posted:Ha ha, that doesn't happen until about the very end of the book. I just finished the book this morning. It became comic book like (Nazi uniforms, Skull Face Macklin) at times. I could see the comic panels in my mind. While heavy handed at times I still didn't mind how it was pretty much Christ like allegory story. That said I have the same problem as you. Even more they build up her wearing the crown, but it never really happens (outside of the one time she tried it on in Sheila's trailer). Also I kept waiting for her to do something powerful (outside of healing the land) or make some kind of sacrifice at towards the end. So I agree with you. I would give it maybe 3 out of 5 stars on Goodreads. Seeing something like this as a HBO series (limited to 3 seasons) or even The Stand would be pretty cool. Sorry didn't mean to derail the thread, so no more talk about Swan Song. I am glad I finally read it after all these years (almost read it over 20 years ago).
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Apr 5, 2013 18:54
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I just flipped through my copy of Gerald's Game and, while it's definitely one of King's weaker books, I did think the introduction to the dog was quite good. There's so many people in my area who abandon pets and try to justify it through all kinds of mental gymnastics. I had forgotten how much that part of the story resonated with me. (Not really applicable to this thread but I'm having a hard time getting through Imajica. I feel compelled to finish most books I start but right now the going is laborious. Wish I had just started The Dark Tower instead.)
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Apr 7, 2013 07:47
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Gerald's Game is a weird loving book. It's one of the few books that have made me really uncomfortable. The basic premise for horror there is pretty inventive, tho.
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Apr 7, 2013 12:14
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Kemper Boyd posted:Gerald's Game is a weird loving book. It's one of the few books that have made me really uncomfortable. Gerald's Game is the only Stephen King book I've started and not finished. It's all of Stephen King's worst instincts about writing women all in one book, without any of the redeeming qualities that let me get past that in Dolores Claiborne. e: I kinda wish King's women weren't so often awful like Frannie goldsmith or strong women who have sexual assault in their past.
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Apr 7, 2013 17:28
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Gerald's Game seemed like it was going to be a great psychological horror novel, and then out of nowhere he just tacked on crazy, deformed, necrophiliac cannibal for shock value at the end. Sort of, "Oh, ayuh, better add in the gross-out." Edwardian fucked around with this message at 19:55 on Apr 7, 2013 |
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Apr 7, 2013 17:33
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The degloving sequence in Gerald's Game is so goddamned gross.
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Apr 7, 2013 19:10
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