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ShadowedFlames posted:I might be the only one but I actually liked Cell. Salem's Lot is in my top 5, you'll like it if you liked his older novels.
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Oct 22, 2013 14:39
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| # ? May 17, 2024 23:07 |
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I liked the starting premise of Cell where everyone goes crazy but then he just kind of ruins it by having the victims turn into psychic zombies.
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Oct 22, 2013 14:46
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Yeah the beginning of Cell is one of my favorite King beginnings ever, it's great. It just goes off the rails later on.
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Oct 22, 2013 14:53
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Pixie cuts.
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Oct 22, 2013 14:57
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muscles like this? posted:I liked the starting premise of Cell where everyone goes crazy but then he just kind of ruins it by having the victims turn into psychic zombies. What about the massive product placement throughout? I just remember stuff like "He put his AT&T cellphone into his Prada bag, then shoved his hands into the pockets of his Levi's jeans."
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Oct 22, 2013 15:49
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uptown posted:What about the massive product placement throughout? I just remember stuff like "He put his AT&T cellphone into his Prada bag, then shoved his hands into the pockets of his Levi's jeans." Massive product placement? Maybe since I have read all of Bret Easton Ellis' works, I never noticed that once.
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Oct 22, 2013 16:00
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I know more about what rich kids in 1986 wore because of Ellis than I do about people my own age right now.
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Oct 22, 2013 16:30
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Blade_of_tyshalle posted:I know more about what rich kids in 1986 wore because of Ellis than I do about people my own age right now. You should try looking up what descriptions the protagonist gives actually would be. Most of the time the outfits he describes would completely not match, and as you go later in the book they become even more ridiculous. All of the descriptions sound like typical "here's some rich people brand clothes" but the results would actually be something on the order of wearing green flannel pants with a denim shirt and a black suit jacket and sneakers - for someone the passage is implying is dressed for work at a bank. Adds a neat touch to the "Patrick is probably hallucinating" theme, but it's hard to see the first time unless you're familiar with the clothes in question.
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Oct 22, 2013 17:27
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Install Windows posted:You should try looking up what descriptions the protagonist gives actually would be. Most of the time the outfits he describes would completely not match, and as you go later in the book they become even more ridiculous. All of the descriptions sound like typical "here's some rich people brand clothes" but the results would actually be something on the order of wearing green flannel pants with a denim shirt and a black suit jacket and sneakers - for someone the passage is implying is dressed for work at a bank. Have you SEEN what people wore in the 80s?
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Oct 22, 2013 19:49
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ravenkult posted:Have you SEEN what people wore in the 80s? It wasn't that though, they were deliberately written descriptions to become less and less sensible for outfits worn at the time. Unfortunately, the movie version didn't stick to that aspect of the book, so that specific part is lost on film, where it would have become really apparent.
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Oct 22, 2013 19:58
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You kids, I grew-up in the 80's (I graduated high school in 1990). That said I wore what you would imagine a punk rock/headbanger/skateboarder kid would wear in the late 80's. Sorry for the Ellis derail. It's just anytime I hear product placement, guess who comes to mind.
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Oct 22, 2013 20:10
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I prefer fake product placement.
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Oct 22, 2013 20:34
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I thought Cell was okay. The flying psychic zombies felt a nice change of pace from the bog-standard Romero variety; it seemed like King was having fun with the premise. On the other hand, the ending felt like a retread of The Mist with a bit of Pet Sematary. The ambiguity worked in those earlier stories, but in Cell, it felt like he'd run out of ideas.
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Oct 22, 2013 21:09
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I liked Cell. I love the ending with the explosion on the football field and everything. (I refuse to believe that there are flying zombies and group think and God drat It, WHY?) It does have some great scenes, though. The opener is great. Alice's death was heartbreaking. What's-His-Name's suicide that the main character recollects as a comic book was interesting. And there was some fun-but-weird poo poo. Zombies that make white noise when they sleep. An old man zombie eating a pumpkin instead of chasing anyone. The ritual killings of the teenagers for disobeying the zombies. But then again, that book gave us "Pho fo you you", which makes the top list of most retarded and phonetically awkward phrases I've read.
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Oct 22, 2013 22:19
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I think someone said earlier in the thread that Cell is the only Stephen King book where every chapter is worse than the one before it, and I really have to agree. Such a good beginning, but it went to crap sooner rather than later.
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Oct 25, 2013 04:51
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I've read Carrie, Christine and Cujo in the last year or so and enjoyed them all in varying degrees. Now on The Shining, only a few chapters in.
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Oct 25, 2013 22:25
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ryanmoviefan posted:I've read Carrie, Christine and Cujo in the last year or so and enjoyed them all in varying degrees. It would be interesting to hear your opinions now, and again at the end of the book really. I'll assume you're not one of the 12 people in the developed world who hasn't seen the movie, so I'd like to know what you're expecting going in. I've always liked the movie a lot, but the book has some seriously creepy atmosphere and vivid descriptions. When the family are driving to the Overlook during the snow storm and King writes about it, he talks about the blizzard's dark mouth. Can't remember the specific description, but stuff like that just nails the experience home.
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Oct 25, 2013 22:44
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WattsvilleBlues posted:It would be interesting to hear your opinions now, and again at the end of the book really. I'll assume you're not one of the 12 people in the developed world who hasn't seen the movie, so I'd like to know what you're expecting going in. The start of The Shining has been interesting because of getting an insight into the family's past and Jack & Wendy's marriage. It's been a while since I watched the film but I don't recall seeing much of that stuff in it. I'll report back when complete......I'm a steady paced reader 
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Oct 25, 2013 22:53
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Ugly In The Morning posted:I think someone said earlier in the thread that Cell is the only Stephen King book where every chapter is worse than the one before it, and I really have to agree. Such a good beginning, but it went to crap sooner rather than later. That's a pretty apt description. I was completely hooked after the first two or three chapters but afterwards it became increasingly... well, not terrible, but meh. The longer it went on, the more generic and lame it got, but because I was hooked at the start (and it's pretty short) I kept reading it anyway. Such a shame. The beginning is as memorable as the rest of it is forgettable which ends up defining the book.
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Oct 25, 2013 23:16
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Cell is a book that could only be written by an old person. There's nothing spooky about the ubiquity of cell phones for anyone under 40.
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Oct 26, 2013 08:08
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Dark Tower junkies owe it to themselves to read Insomnia. It's not his greatest book, but it isn't bad either. The reason it should be read is because it has serious ties to the Dark Tower series. Out of all the SK books with ties to the Dark Tower, Insomnia easily has the most connection to it, by far. Nothing comes close. In fact, I'd say that other than Insomnia, reading the first story in Hearts in Atlantis is the only other non DT book you really need to read to get all the important tie ins. Insomnia does a lot to explain what exactly the tower is and does. More than the first 4 books of the series itself does, and more than the last 3 in some ways as well. It's seriously chock full of Dark Tower poo poo, including a certain character you will meet in DT7. Well, characters plural technically. Also, if you are a comic book person, the Dark Tower comics are actually pretty good. After the first 7 issues it tells stories that aren't just repeats of poo poo you already read. And, probably the coolest part, the extras at the end of the single issue versions have some really great world building encyclopedia type articles and also short stories and in world myths written by King's DT continuity assistant/expert Robin Furth. Lots of great, great backstory is explain there. I highly recommend checking them out. Unfortuantely, the complete trade/hardcover collections of the comics don't have those articles in them, for some dumb as hell reason. So your only option is the single issues. If you don't want to track down 50+ single issues of comics (and I don't blame you) just buy the digital versions. Either way, don't get the collections. You really don't want to miss out on that stuff. Damo fucked around with this message at 10:52 on Oct 26, 2013 |
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Oct 26, 2013 10:50
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edit: Totally got a copy of the original version of The Gunslinger.
juliuspringle fucked around with this message at 19:27 on Oct 26, 2013 |
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Oct 26, 2013 12:46
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Insomnia was published in 1994, so between books 3 & 4.
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Oct 26, 2013 12:53
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Semprini posted:Insomnia was published in 1994, so between books 3 & 4. So back when the series was good before he got all remember this thing from this book and then decided to tell you the connections meant nothing. I can still enjoy it then. I love the whole psychic Grandpa thing and still get upset everytime I remember the movie Insomnia is not based on that book.
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Oct 26, 2013 13:50
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Damo posted:Also, if you are a comic book person, the Dark Tower comics are actually pretty good. After the first 7 issues it tells stories that aren't just repeats of poo poo you already read. And, probably the coolest part, the extras at the end of the single issue versions have some really great world building encyclopedia type articles and also short stories and in world myths written by King's DT continuity assistant/expert Robin Furth. Robin Furth, you say? 
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Oct 26, 2013 14:21
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Damo posted:Dark Tower junkies owe it to themselves to read Insomnia. It's not his greatest book, but it isn't bad either. Except (DT book #7 spoilers) Insomnia is basically ignored by the end of the series, and is explicitly retconned as being irrelevant toward the middle of the last DT book I loved Insomnia, and still recommend it because it was a good book, but I wouldn't say it has "serious ties".
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Oct 26, 2013 18:04
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It read it years ago but I really hated Insomnia. Other than perhaps The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon, which is at least short, it's probably my least favourite King book. Its long, ponderous and for the most part incredibly dull. If I came back to it now after having read more of King's books I think its possible I would appreciate it more. After reading IT I'd at least probably be more interested in Derry as a setting and more likely to pick up on references to stuff like the 'Storm of 85' or the fact that one of the main character's finds Patrick Danvile's shoe. The fact that there's hundreds of pages about an old man who can't sleep was pretty taxing in my opinion though. And to be honest I really hated the supernatural elements as well. It felt so hokey and almost pseudo-Christian and really ruined the darker almost Lovecraftian tones present in some of his better works. I mean sure King has always had a sentimental spot, and I appreciate that, but the idea that every death that happens in the world is actually caused by good or bad spirits following us around who follow either 'Purpose' or 'Randomness' just seems inane and dumb. It feels like nothing happens in that book, and then when something finally does happen I wished it hadn't.
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Oct 26, 2013 19:10
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As per my earlier post I have managed to acquire a Trade Paperback copy of the original version of The Gunslinger. If any of you would like to buy it let me know. Does anyone know if Stephen King is still planning on writing a The Shining/Firestarter crossover novel?
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Oct 26, 2013 19:39
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jfjnpxmy posted:Bool. 118 pages and I haven't seen "puffickly huh-yooge" appear anywhere. It made me want to scream even more than the thousands of bools and babyluvs.
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Oct 27, 2013 07:41
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There's no theater arts subforum so I figure this is as good a place as any to mention that a few nights ago I saw The Ghost Brothers of Darkland County, the stage musical that King wrote with John Mellencamp, and hoo-boy is it bad. It's in a touring production right now but if it comes anywhere nearby I'd advise you to see it only if you can get a student discount on tickets and you want to see a fascinating stage failure, or if you love Stephen King so much you want to play "spot the Kingism" during the non-musical parts, or you love musicals that have pretty good music but absolutely atrocious lyrics. (For the record, the Kingisms I spotted included: a main character who is a writer, pop cultural cliché phrases repeated ad absurdum, nonsense family baby-talk catchphrases, a single black character who is a (semi)magical God figure, some light misogyny that gets turned up to loving 11 by what I imagine is Mellencamp's input on the libretto, and a bullshit deus ex machina ending with vaguely Christian "God will save us all in the end" overtones.)
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Oct 27, 2013 16:58
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It is easily my favorite King book of all time so I loved Insomnia. I'll read anything set in Derry. It was nice to have a protagonist who wasn't an alcoholic writer, just a lonely old man slowly going crazy. He also nailed what insomnia is really like. Coincidently I developed actual insomnia about 6 months before I picked up that book so reading Ralph's first few chapters when he started to lose sleep at 4:45 in the morning was quite a trip. Has anyone heard anything about the 3rd Talisman book? I keep seeing the graphic novels at Barnes&Nobles but I haven't really heard anything new in awhile.
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Oct 27, 2013 17:28
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Having reread 'Salem's Lot lately, are any of the screen adaptations worth a watch?
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Oct 27, 2013 18:59
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I just started reading The Stand a few days ago, it's the first time I've picked it up and I'm enjoying it a lot. My only problem is I'm currently trying to get over a cold. I think I might cry.
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Oct 27, 2013 19:40
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tehgrif posted:I just started reading The Stand a few days ago, it's the first time I've picked it up and I'm enjoying it a lot. You just THINK it's a cold.
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Oct 27, 2013 19:58
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tehgrif posted:
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Oct 27, 2013 21:05
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juliuspringle posted:You just THINK it's a cold. Just take some Flu Buddy and you'll be fine.
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Oct 27, 2013 22:12
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Odd request: I may be part of a reading club tackling/retackling the dark tower series, and I'd like to provide a reading list broken up into reasonable chunks. Previously this podcast did 1 chapter per day in books where the chapters were 10-15 pages long. This one could be longer chunks less frequently if needed. I know tor.com has a readalong, but I don't want to expose people to spoilers. Anyone know of other resources like this?
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Oct 28, 2013 03:03
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ConfusedUs posted:No great loss. Perfect response. IM_DA_DECIDER posted:Having reread 'Salem's Lot lately, are any of the screen adaptations worth a watch? The 2004 one is garbage. The 1979 one isn't a cinematic masterpiece but it did scare the poo poo out of me when I was a kid so it holds a place in my heart.
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Oct 28, 2013 03:32
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The Salem's lot movies are not that great. That said I am old enough to have watched the original mini-series when it aired (I was in 1st grade) thanks to my King loving Mom, and it warped me for life.
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Oct 28, 2013 03:37
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| # ? May 17, 2024 23:07 |
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Speaking of Stephen King movies... I watched IT when I was a wee little boy and it still scares me to think of clowns.
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Oct 28, 2013 03:47
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