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ravenkult posted:You didn't like The Regulators? Look, I'm sorry that the climactic description of a mentally challenged boy going to the bathroom failed to be fun for me. Thanks for all the suggestions, you guys! I guess I will pick up The Shining from the library and check that out, so we'll see how that goes.
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Nov 27, 2013 17:00
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rypakal posted:No, he claims to be a superfan that never finished It. It's •worse•. I wonder where he gave up on It? I loved the epilogue(s), especially Mike Hanlon's story coming to a close.
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Nov 27, 2013 17:08
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WattsvilleBlues posted:I wonder where he gave up on It? There's a specific scene which, I imagine, gives quite a few people pause.
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Nov 27, 2013 17:09
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Blade_of_tyshalle posted:There's a specific scene which, I imagine, gives quite a few people pause. Well if you're that far from the end of a book that size, you may as well finish the run.
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Nov 27, 2013 17:12
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crowfeathers posted:Thanks for all the suggestions, you guys! I guess I will pick up The Shining from the library and check that out, so we'll see how that goes. The Shining will be a good test. If you don't like it maybe King is just not your thing. Don't feel bad I never could get into Hemingway after several novels. I finally had to give up.
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Nov 27, 2013 17:33
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Franchescanado posted:
I kinda dug those romance novel chapters. At first I thought they were there just there to lengthen what was already a relatively short novel, but on re-reads I've discovered they pull an interesting double duty: like Tales of the Black Freighter in Watchmen, they tell a parallel story that adds another layer to Paul's situation (the Bourka Bee Goddess), but they're also a very subtle tell concerning Paul's deteriorating mental state. If you get a chance, try reading just those chapters, and you can see that the guy who wrote them at the beginning isn't the same guy at the end. It's a neat little trick that adds to the theme.
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Nov 27, 2013 17:42
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You guys aren't real fans unless you love The Regulators. FACT. Now Desperation, yeah, that was poo poo.
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Nov 27, 2013 17:47
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rypakal posted:No, he claims to be a superfan that never finished It. It's •worse•. You guys are not reading that post correctly. "I'm a King superfan and I couldn't even finish The Regulators. It (The Regulators) and The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon are the only two books of his that have that honor." Italics mine. He couldn't finish The Regulators or TGWLTG.
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Nov 27, 2013 18:15
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ravenkult posted:You guys aren't real fans unless you love The Regulators. FACT. Now Desperation, yeah, that was poo poo. Regulators has a special place in my heart. It's not a good book, but it is so bizarre and hosed up that I can't help but love it anyway. I hate Desperation too.
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Nov 27, 2013 18:21
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To be fair, The Regulators is not "really" a King book, it's a Bachman book.
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Nov 27, 2013 19:39
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Regulators and Desperation need to be read together for best effect. Poor Collie Entragian, short end of the stick both times 
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Nov 27, 2013 19:54
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Eyes of the Dragon and The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon are both pretty terrible, if either of them had been the first King book I read then I doubt I would have kept going. Ditto if I'd read them both in a row. Honestly if you're trying to figure out why King is such a big deal you might be better off grabbing one of his books of short stories. That's where he really excels, even though some of his longer novels are quite good as well.
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Nov 27, 2013 21:57
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Was The Girl Who Loved Tim Gordon that book about a girl who gets lost and wanders through a boring forest that was all a dream at the end? Because I think I've read that too.
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Nov 27, 2013 23:18
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Eyes of the Dragon was my first King book and it was great when I was 12. Now not so much.
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Nov 28, 2013 00:04
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Well, Eyes of the Dragon was explicitly written for King's daughter Naomi when she was 13 after all, with his goal being to make a book his kids would enjoy reading. It's not surprising it loses a little of its luster when you're older.
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Nov 28, 2013 00:08
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ravenkult posted:You guys aren't real fans unless you love The Regulators. FACT. Now Desperation, yeah, that was poo poo. The thing I like best about the Regulators I think is the strong characterization. And as batshit insane as the story itself is, I really like the set-up: some ancient subterranean force takes over the mind of an autistic kid and uses it to wreak havoc on a quiet suburban street. I hated Desperation, but I think it may be because I read that one second. I was already invested in the characters and I had them all set in my mind from reading the Regulators, and I didn't like the way they were used differently in Desperation. I just couldn't make that transition. Also, I didn't like the set up of Desperation nearly as much. I'll admit the idea was interesting: let's use the same characters and drop them into different settings with the same basic evil force in both and see what happens. Sometimes I wonder if I had read Desperation first if I might prefer that one instead. Then again, I love Eyes of the Dragon, so what do I know.
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Nov 28, 2013 00:16
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ConfusedUs posted:Regulators has a special place in my heart. It's not a good book, but it is so bizarre and hosed up that I can't help but love it anyway. I haven't read it in years, but I liked it largely because it was so hosed up, bizarre, and over the top compared to the average "poo poo goes wrong here in Anytown, USA" story. Having that sort of storyline following a line (that I may not be remembering correctly) like "Saturday afternoon on Poplar Street, oh brother can you dig it." appeals to the part of me that likes watching people fall on their rear end when it's icy out.
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Nov 28, 2013 01:04
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I read them in the opposite order and I really enjoyed them both. Regulators was just so loving crazy, like a super-charged horror version of the Twilight Zone. Remember the movie, where they redid the kid with the superpowers and it was terrifying as hell? But since I read Desperation first, I enjoyed it more. Collie was such an amazing bad guy, tearing up the streets in his cruiser and blasting the odd survivor to pieces, or running them down. The crazy behavior of the creepy crawlies (especially the spiders, I cannot abide spiders) and the cool backstory of the mine was awesome. Basically, I freaked out when Collie just stuck his gun in that guy's stomach and blew him apart, completely out of nowhere. And then killing the little girl. One last thing that really redeemed Desperation for me: At the end, when the now completely orphaned boy (David?) wants to go into the cave and do battle with Tak right after his Dad is killed, Johnny won't let him and says one of the very best lines King's ever written, something to the effect of, "God's a real rear end in a top hat, David. Sometimes he makes you live. That choked me up hard.
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Nov 28, 2013 18:42
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I read Desperation first, then Regulators soon after. They had similar covers and I was just completely mindfucked that they had the same characters but they were different characters... and also I was 16, just getting into King, and didn't know that Bachman was also just King. I remember asking my ex, whose books they were, "are Stephen King and Richard Bachman friends or something?" and having him just  at me. I loved Desperation and hated Regulators.
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Nov 29, 2013 08:15
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When describing The Regulators to people I often describe it as "Stephen King's weirdest book." This usually results in  and slowly putting the book down, but it really is true.
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Nov 29, 2013 18:41
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Jazerus posted:When describing The Regulators to people I often describe it as "Stephen King's weirdest book." This usually results in It is. It's weirder than poo poo weasels and cellphone zombies and brainwave-chasing weedwackers and killer clowns from outer space. It's weirder than loofa handjobs and M-O-O-N spells whatever and it's even weirder than that giant, grasping finger that comes out of the drain. Greasy diner time machines and crushing tentacles in the backroom of a supermarket do not compare at all. The Regulators:It's weirder than you think
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Nov 29, 2013 20:37
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I picked up Eyes of the Dragon in a sort of "guess I'll dip into the B-list" mode after reading most other things King had written, only to find out that I had already read it and loved it as a kid because it had a shiny green cover and the word "dragon" in the title; at the time I had no idea who King was or that he had written anything else and apparently didn't care to find out. Baby's first King 
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Dec 2, 2013 17:53
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King of Gulps posted:I picked up Eyes of the Dragon in a sort of "guess I'll dip into the B-list" mode after reading most other things King had written, only to find out that I had already read it and loved it as a kid because it had a shiny green cover and the word "dragon" in the title; at the time I had no idea who King was or that he had written anything else and apparently didn't care to find out. Baby's first King I read Eyes first, given as a "you will like this fantasy novel" sort of thing. My favorite thing in the novel was the napkins. Then a couple years later, a couple I was babysitting for had Skeleton Crew on top of their refrigerator. I read The Mist that night. The next morning when I was walking to the bus stop was probably the thickest fog I've ever experienced. Let's just say I became a Constant Reader then.
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Dec 2, 2013 18:11
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I read Eyes after I read the Stand, so seeing a villain named Flagg pop up in both was pretty mortifying when I was 12.
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Dec 2, 2013 21:15
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The first King book I read was Under the Dome, which was perhaps not the best introduction. I almost stopped there, but I decided to give it another try with Misery and boy am I glad I did. I know the first part of the thread title is from It, but what's "Jealous Cow"? Is Joyland any good? Farecoal fucked around with this message at 05:22 on Dec 3, 2013 |
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Dec 3, 2013 05:01
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Jealous Cow is a goon.
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Dec 3, 2013 05:59
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withak posted:Jealous Cow is a goon. That's what I suspected. Anyway, I just finished reading IT for the first time. I was so afraid that the ending was going to be the adult Losers being defeated by It, or them thinking they finally killed it but it was still alive. But nope, they did it, they killed It 
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Dec 3, 2013 06:03
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Farecoal posted:But nope, they did it, they killed It Nope. It's not in IT, but in Dreamcatcher, there's a stand-pipe with "Pennywise Lives" spraypainted on it. Pennywise hasn't made any appearances since then, and there's no proof that the spray painted words are true, but... whoever did it does knows Pennywise's name. EDIT: Fixed a spelling error. Rauri fucked around with this message at 06:59 on Dec 3, 2013 |
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Dec 3, 2013 06:28
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Rauri posted:Nope. It's not in IT, but in Dreamcatcher, there's a stand-pipe with "Pennywise Lives" spraypainted on it. Pennywise hasn't made any appearances since then, and there's no proof that the spray painted words are true, but... whoever did it does know Pennywise's name. I think Duddits was in the same alien vein as Pennywise (started out well but both televisual interpretations turned out meh.) And 11/22/63 seemed to reinforce that IT was never really gone from Derry. Or I'm reading too much in to things because the King EU is drug addled and now spanning generations.  And to anyone who didn't like The Eyes of the Dragon, it's YA but still enjoyable. For some reason I thought the dog that smelled in color was a neat touch. And the napkins.
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Dec 3, 2013 06:42
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syscall girl posted:I think Duddits was in the same alien vein as Pennywise (started out well but both televisual interpretations turned out meh.) And 11/22/63 seemed to reinforce that IT was never really gone from Derry. The Derry part in 11/22/63 takes place in 1958 though, right? That's before It is defeated in the 80s. Plus all the stuff about happy endings at the end of IT.
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Dec 3, 2013 07:29
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Farecoal posted:Is Joyland any good? It's an enjoyable quick read. It's a coming of age story, a nostalgic look at 70's culture, the characters are fun, and there's a ghost story and a murder "mystery" tacked on. I really enjoyed it, and I think a lot of people in this thread agrees. I forget the exact quote, but a goon summed it up well with "Not much is happening, and I'm really enjoying it."
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Dec 3, 2013 16:02
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King of Gulps posted:Baby's first King He actually wrote it for his daughter when she was about twelve, because she didn't like scary stories.
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Dec 3, 2013 17:17
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Right about now would be the perfect time for a sequel to IT in light of the fact that its been 28 years since the events of the book. However King has stated he doesn't think he'll ever write a sequel and perhaps that is for the best. There's also a new movie version of IT in either production or pre-production and based on the director's previous work it could actually be really good.
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Dec 3, 2013 23:37
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Franchescanado posted:It's an enjoyable quick read. It's a coming of age story, a nostalgic look at 70's culture, the characters are fun, and there's a ghost story and a murder "mystery" tacked on. I really enjoyed it, and I think a lot of people in this thread agrees. I forget the exact quote, but a goon summed it up well with "Not much is happening, and I'm really enjoying it." That sums up my thoughts on it. It's nothing I can really point at and say it was amazing, but I enjoyed it cover to cover.
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Dec 3, 2013 23:45
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Meow Tse-tung posted:That sums up my thoughts on it. It's nothing I can really point at and say it was amazing, but I enjoyed it cover to cover. I absorbed this one via audiobook, and I agree - a really enjoyable story, worth hearing/reading. I think my reaction was, "Oh man, he didn't gently caress this one up three quarters of the way through!" Still a huge fan of SK, but boy howdy, does he love to drive good or even amazing books into a pond and spend the remaining quarter book trying to drive back out... Joyland didn't take that route.
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Dec 4, 2013 04:03
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I want to join the earlier chorus that recommended The Talisman. It's not just my favorite Stephen King book, it's one of the books I've enjoyed the most over my lifetime. Although I'll agree with other posters that I did read it at a certain age. As a younger person, it definitely changed my life at least a small and tiny bit. I'm really just posting this to try and further convince someone who may be on the fence to read this book. For reals, read this dang book.
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Dec 4, 2013 10:12
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Helsing posted:However King has stated he doesn't think he'll ever write a sequel and perhaps that is for the best. Do you mean oof IT or in general? Since he did one of those this year.
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Dec 4, 2013 15:58
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Rauri posted:Nope. It's not in IT, but in Dreamcatcher, there's a stand-pipe with "Pennywise Lives" spraypainted on it. Pennywise hasn't made any appearances since then, and there's no proof that the spray painted words are true, but... whoever did it does knows Pennywise's name. Tommyknockers takes place after IT and there are two references in there.
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Dec 4, 2013 16:57
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bobkatt013 posted:Do you mean oof IT or in general? Since he did one of those this year. He's denied ever wanting to write a sequel to IT. Darko posted:Tommyknockers takes place after IT and there are two references in there. This, and other references, show that IT isn't dead. Or maybe one of the baby ITs survived. Whatever the case, there's still something bad in Derry.
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Dec 4, 2013 16:59
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Under the Dome even had an It reference - the symbol they find on the dome's generator thingy is the same symbol on It's door.
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Dec 4, 2013 17:30
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