|
Pheeets posted:I for one would not like to see Joe attempt any sequels of his father's books. He's already an established writer, for one thing, and doing the father/son thing would probably hurt his own career, credibility-wise. And he has a really different style of writing, so unless he tried to totally adopt his dad's style (difficult at best) it would be weird to have a sequel written in a different voice. Maybe a Bachman book though... I could see it happening a little further down the line once King is fully retired and Hill has another 5-10 years experience under his belt. He just needs some more to establish himself before taking on the ridiculous pressure that would come along with continuing one of his father's stories. But I wouldn't be against the idea, no.
|
#
?
Dec 6, 2013 23:45
|
|
|
|
| # ? Jun 4, 2024 02:12 |
|
|
Basebf555 posted:I could see it happening a little further down the line once King is fully retired and Hill has another 5-10 years experience under his belt. He just needs some more to establish himself before taking on the ridiculous pressure that would come along with continuing one of his father's stories. But I wouldn't be against the idea, no. Yes, I could see maybe some years down the line. King is getting up there in years though; if Joe did decide to make a sequel, I would hope it's while he still has his dad around to read, comment and advise on it. I would hope that he'd at least have his father's specific blessing for any particular book if he tried after King is gone.
|
|
#
?
Dec 6, 2013 23:57
|
|
|
On the topic of It: I've been having to drive around a whole lot these past few months, and I got a bunch of audiobooks to listen to while I am driving, and I would really like to praise the audiobook for It. The narrator does an absolutely fantastic job, and it is probably one of the few cases where I've found that the narration improved some of the "feel" of the book. I literally got goosebumps listening to the first time when Bill opens Georgie's photo album.
|
|
#
?
Dec 7, 2013 01:57
|
|
|
IT will always be the scariest Stephen King book to me, and the one that is most... "Stephen King" in a way, if that makes any sense. I think he was really tuned in on an intuitive level to some very primal, lizard-brain stuff. Which is why IT is so unrelentingly terrifying in this really basic way. There is also a very Maine vibe to IT, and I have my own thoughts about what town "Derry" is most alike to - some would say it's Bangor, because that's where the Charlie Howard murder took place (for those who don't know the "Adrian Mellon" murder that begins IT was a literal real life incident where a gay teenage boy of 17 was killed when he got thrown over a bridge into the Kenduskaeg). And the murder never achieved any real notoriety, unlike, say, Matthew Shepard's murder. But I would say the place that Derry truly resembles is this awful little Maine "city" called Lewiston, that is just... weird. I would honestly say that Lewiston is like... every twisted Maine town King has ever written about, but Derry in IT is the most direct and overt depiction he ever did. Lewiston is that creepy place where awful poo poo is commonplace and everyone turns a blind eye. Where there is what would look to be a normal Main Street at first with typical shops and restaurants, but if you look a little closer and you'll notice that everyone and everything just looks wrong. And acts wrong. There is this awful tension in the air, and you get the sense that there is something that you are not privy to or not aware of, based on the way everything looks and the way everyone acts. It's really weird and hard to describe, but I have never been to Lewiston and not felt a weird, lingering paranoia. There are empty streets here and there, scattered around. Most filled with abandoned mills covered in overgrown weeds that sit silent and empty, all the time. The architecture is very old, because it is a very old town, and it almost seems stuck in time. The people seem stuck in time too. Lewiston was the town where, when it gained a small influx of Somalian immigrants about 10 years ago, had residents putting signs in their yards decrying the Somalians with expletives, telling them they weren't welcome and to go home. Last time I was in Lewiston I was just walking down the street and overheard some people casually discussing "the niggers". You get that a lot all over Maine, though. Anyway - just my opinion. Lewiston just *is* Derry, though, as far as I'm concerned. If there is a dormant and ancient evil that exists in Maine, it is loving definitely in Lewiston and I doubt most Mainers would argue on that account. kaworu fucked around with this message at 08:57 on Dec 7, 2013 |
|
#
?
Dec 7, 2013 08:50
|
|
|
kaworu posted:Lewiston Good call. Lewiston is also a failed milltown with polluted waters, like Derry.
|
|
#
?
Dec 7, 2013 09:01
|
|
|
kaworu posted:was killed when he got thrown over a bridge into the Kenduskaeg) The Kenduskeag river is real? Woah
|
|
#
?
Dec 7, 2013 22:18
|
|
|
kaworu posted:IT will always be the scariest Stephen King book to me, and the one that is most... "Stephen King" in a way, if that makes any sense. I think he was really tuned in on an intuitive level to some very primal, lizard-brain stuff. Which is why IT is so unrelentingly terrifying in this really basic way. Write my life! Bit of a change of tone and genre, but Pines is a good book you can check out for towns that just seem... off. Not a horror story, just a nice popcorn thriller that sets a nice tone in the town.
|
|
#
?
Dec 7, 2013 23:55
|
|
|
WattsvilleBlues posted:Bit of a change of tone and genre, but Pines is a good book you can check out for towns that just seem... off. Not a horror story, just a nice popcorn thriller that sets a nice tone in the town. Pines is more like a Shirley Jackson story than a Stephen King story, but it seemed like a horror story to me. It's pretty creepy. I enjoyed it, also its sequel, Wayward.
|
|
#
?
Dec 8, 2013 00:25
|
|
|
Pheeets posted:Pines is more like a Shirley Jackson story than a Stephen King story, but it seemed like a horror story to me. It's pretty creepy. I enjoyed it, also its sequel, Wayward. Feel free to recommend some Shirley Jackson stuff. I'm trying to get through Misery right now so I can get to a Dan Simmons book. What should I read first: Summer of Night, The Terror or Carrion Comfort? Looking for a scare.
|
|
#
?
Dec 8, 2013 00:58
|
|
|
I'm currently reading short stories by Algernon Blackwood, who King says influenced him a lot. I liked The Wendigo (which is referenced in Pet Semetary), but I'm halfway through The Empty House and Other Stories and they seem to be getting more and more like rehashes of the same story. Is anyone familiar with these stories? Do they get any better or should I just stop wasting my time with the rest of them? Also, what about Arthur Machen, another old writer that King likes? (and who may have influenced Shirley Jackson)
|
|
#
?
Dec 8, 2013 01:44
|
|
|
Pines was awful. It reads like a bad Dean Koontz novel.
|
|
#
?
Dec 8, 2013 02:15
|
|
|
kaworu posted:IT will always be the scariest Stephen King book to me, and the one that is most... "Stephen King" in a way, if that makes any sense. I think he was really tuned in on an intuitive level to some very primal, lizard-brain stuff. Which is why IT is so unrelentingly terrifying in this really basic way. My favorite thing about King has always been his depictions of life in a small town. I never really got into the Stand, Carrie, Running Man (I know some of these take place in small towns, but they are never really about the town for any extended period of time). But I absolutely love Christine, Salem's Lot and, most of all, It. He captures the feeling of claustrophobia (for the lack of a better term) of small town living better than anyone I've read.
|
|
#
?
Dec 8, 2013 02:19
|
|
|
quote:Lewiston chat My company has an office in Lewiston, and at one point they wanted me to move there. I declined for various reasons. The money was good but there were a lot of things I didn't like. All the chat I've heard about Lewiston in this thread makes me doubly glad I didn't go there.
|
|
#
?
Dec 8, 2013 02:48
|
|
|
WattsvilleBlues posted:Feel free to recommend some Shirley Jackson stuff. I'm trying to get through Misery right now so I can get to a Dan Simmons book. What should I read first: Summer of Night, The Terror or Carrion Comfort? Looking for a scare. The terror
|
|
#
?
Dec 8, 2013 02:54
|
|
|
WattsvilleBlues posted:Feel free to recommend some Shirley Jackson stuff. I'm trying to get through Misery right now so I can get to a Dan Simmons book. What should I read first: Summer of Night, The Terror or Carrion Comfort? Looking for a scare. I think The Terror is his best, but Summer of Night is by far his scariest, and the easiest gateway into Simmons. Just stay away from his later right wing stuff.
|
|
#
?
Dec 8, 2013 03:10
|
|
|
The Terror is my first and so far only Simmons book (I'm going to read Hyperion next month though!). It's got so many great scary moments. Here's some of my reactions in the form of Goodreads status updates as I've been reading it: "Holy poo poo, what an awesomely creepy start." "Holy loving poo poo. This book is aptly titled." "I can't wait for the TV series of this to get made. ____'s death was freaky." "My loving god, the ____ chapter was intense as poo poo. When the TV series gets made it's going to be the most heart-attack-inducing action/horror scene." "The Carnivale stuff is surreal. I love how visual this novel is." "Scurvy is gross" "What in the actual gently caress just happened??" "The final moment of that chapter gave me the chills." However it's a long-rear end book and some parts of it drag. Prepare for 50 page passages about men hauling sledges across ice, and other 50 page passages about men dying of scurvy. (I guess if you can deal with King's 50 page passages about Mother Abigail makin' her own bread and walking between towns, then you can deal with Simmons)
|
|
#
?
Dec 8, 2013 14:11
|
|
|
So all this talk of how great It is got to me and I picked it up for the first time. I'm only in the 6 calls part so far, but I can already tell it's going to be one of my favorites. Thanks for the recommendations guys! On another note, which stories does King write about Nebraska in? I've lived here all my life, and the chapter in It about Ben Hanscom was pretty intense to me because Hemingford Home sounds almost exactly like my hometown (and probably about every other tiny town in Nebraska). I read Children of the Corn in Night Shift and was a very big fan of that - I just wondered if he used it as a location in any other stories.
|
|
#
?
Dec 8, 2013 21:34
|
|
|
Hemingford Home is heavily involved in The Stand. It's also the setting for one of the short stories in Full Dark, No Stars. That story is called 1922. You should read The Stand after you finish It, I think.
|
|
#
?
Dec 8, 2013 22:02
|
|
|
When you guys talk about right wing stuff in Dan Simmons's books, what are we getting at? There are facets of the political right I'm OK with, and facets I'm not OK with. For instance, some of the characters I have loathed most (as intended) in King stories are the religious fanatics, or even just the stiff types. Whether it's Mrs. Carmody and her acolytes and their blind and desperate Christianity, gently caress Yeah stuff in The Mist, or just Eddie Kaspbrak's mother/wife in It, they irk me no end. I like the sound of those 3 Simmons books I listed above. I can forgive a weak ending in a book so long as getting there has been good, but I don't like being bashed over the head with the author's political or religious views in a novel. Sometimes technology websites slip in a little dig on politics now and then and it pisses me right off, even if I agree with the viewpoint. Dr. Goonstein posted:So all this talk of how great It is got to me and I picked it up for the first time. I'm only in the 6 calls part so far, but I can already tell it's going to be one of my favorites. Thanks for the recommendations guys! What in particular was said about It that made you want to start? It would be interested to see if you end up identifying with any of the characters. I was quite deflated by the end of the book. I really felt like I'd been through hell with these people, and Mike Hanlon in particular just resonated with me in a big way. His epilogue is so... melancholy? I don't know.
|
|
#
?
Dec 8, 2013 23:45
|
|
|
WattsvilleBlues posted:
Absolutely. People talk about It having a happy ending, but I always thought it was bittersweet at best. I found the whole thing with them forgetting each other so incredibly sad, and specially Eddie's ending. The idea that he'd be forever a missing person for his wife just struck me as so depressing. As far as the book itself, I think part of the reason it felt so much more powerful to me than anything else King's written is because there are some things that I can really relate to. Between 1st and 4th grade I had a small group of really tight friends, about 6 or 7 boys and 1 girl as well, and some of them have also met tragic ends. The girl died in a towed tubing accident as an adult, one committed suicide as a teenager, one died in a glider accident, one died in a car crash and one had to move out of the country because his father was threatening to kill his mother and him. Which I guess is what made the spoilered part above so moving to me, as I also completely lost touch with all of them starting at age 11 or 12, and only learned of their deaths through newspapers or second hand accounts, and despite the fact that they were my closest friends for about 5 years today I could not even remember their last names. In any case, It is my favorite King book, by quite a bit now.
|
|
#
?
Dec 9, 2013 01:05
|
|
|
WattsvilleBlues posted:What in particular was said about It that made you want to start? It would be interested to see if you end up identifying with any of the characters. I guess I'm not really sure. I plan on reading all (or the vast majority) of King's stories at some point, and had yet to read It. Everyone in here makes it sound really intense - like how you say you felt deflated by the end of it. It sounds pretty powerful and I figured it would be a good time to read it. I found chapter about Stan Uris pretty gripping. Actually, so far, all of these chapters about the calls have been really interesting. Definitely going to plow through this once I get done with finals.
|
|
#
?
Dec 9, 2013 01:17
|
|
|
WattsvilleBlues posted:When you guys talk about right wing stuff in Dan Simmons's books, what are we getting at? He comes across as very anti-Islam in some of his post 9/11work. Flashback is by the worst offender of this (a post-Obama world?). It was the first Simmons book I couldn't finish.
|
|
#
?
Dec 9, 2013 03:45
|
|
|
ConfusedUs posted:a bad Dean Koontz novel. The epitome of redundancy
|
|
#
?
Dec 9, 2013 16:54
|
|
|
I liked Phantoms 
|
|
#
?
Dec 9, 2013 17:17
|
|
|
ConfusedUs posted:Pines was awful. It reads like a bad Dean Koontz novel. I'll grant it wasn't high-lit, but I think it did its job effectively. It's popcorn, but popcorn's fine if that's all you want. Popcorn doesn't change your life. Popcorn doesn't stay with you and resonate. It does its job and you forget it after the taste has left your mouth. Speaking of Koontz, I like some of his work, but there's other stuff that, apart from being bland, is also horribly written. I'm looking at you, Strangers. Dr. Goonstein posted:I guess I'm not really sure. I plan on reading all (or the vast majority) of King's stories at some point, and had yet to read It. Everyone in here makes it sound really intense - like how you say you felt deflated by the end of it. It sounds pretty powerful and I figured it would be a good time to read it. I found chapter about Stan Uris pretty gripping. Actually, so far, all of these chapters about the calls have been really interesting. Definitely going to plow through this once I get done with finals. Do me a favour if you have the time and the inclination - talk us through your thoughts as you read it. Maybe other people would find that boring, so if the goons here think that would be awful, PM me.
|
|
#
?
Dec 9, 2013 22:27
|
|
|
Sorry to keep with the Koontz subject, but I have a quick question. I've only read one of his books, Velocity, and despite having a strong start, it went downhill after a third of the way in. I've never read anything after that. However, a friend of mine who loves King recommended me a Koontz book. He said it was about demons and possession or something, and that it was really freaky. But he couldn't remember the title, or anything like that. Does anyone know what book this is? And is it anything worth pursuing? Also, Pines was awesome.  In no way is it high lit or anything, but everything about it is fun. It's fast paced, knows where it's going, and actively kept my attention the whole time. I thought it would make a good Netflix series or limited series. (And then I found out it was picked up my M. Night Shyamalan and I regret ever saying that.) It's a fun read, and only $3.99 in the Kindle store. It's worth it.
|
|
#
?
Dec 9, 2013 22:46
|
|
|
WattsvilleBlues posted:Do me a favour if you have the time and the inclination - talk us through your thoughts as you read it. Maybe other people would find that boring, so if the goons here think that would be awful, PM me. Edit: ^^^^ The book you're looking for is Hideaway. It was pretty good actually. Simple, a non-surprise surprise at the end, but it was fun. I'll admit, I'm an unabashed fan of Koontz. Approach it in the same mindset you'd tell stories around a campfire and you'll find they're a lot more fun.
|
|
#
?
Dec 9, 2013 22:50
|
|
|
iostream.h posted:The book you're looking for is Hideaway. Thanks! I've been tempted to give him another shot, but every time a person has a book recommendation for him, four people tell me they're terrible. For instance, Strangers. And most people seem to love the book about the dog and the monster, but I remember seeing how terrible the movie was and never wanting to read the book after that. Anyway, done with the Koontz derail. Please continue with the IT discussion. I'm planning to read it for the first time in January (hopefully).
|
|
#
?
Dec 9, 2013 23:05
|
|
|
I've just recently gotten into reading King, which of the dozens of companion books is the best? I have the illustrated companion solely because it was on the 20% off table at Barnes and Noble.
|
|
#
?
Dec 9, 2013 23:25
|
|
|
Franchescanado posted:Thanks! I've been tempted to give him another shot, but every time a person has a book recommendation for him, four people tell me they're terrible. For instance, Strangers. And most people seem to love the book about the dog and the monster, but I remember seeing how terrible the movie was and never wanting to read the book after that. The dog and monster book is called Watchers. I loved the book, partly because some of it gave me nightmares, but overall I just thought it was a fun read. There's a scene in it with an under-construction housing development out in the desert and poo poo goes down in the middle of the night. The movie shares little in common with the book other than the name (so I'm told, I haven't seen the movie). I can't warn you off Strangers enough though. I had high expectations (including King's apparent assertion that it was Koontz's "best book" - maybe he was being sarcastic), but I always temper expectations. It was poo poo. About 300 pages too long. There was a good story in there somewhere, but the whole thing needed a tighter edit and a dialogue scrub to make it palatable to me, as well as the removal of half its characters. What a shower of knobs. Ahem. iostream.h posted:Please do this! Heh, I mentioned doing this to another goon (can't remember who) earlier this year but I guess s/he didn't get the memo. Is anyone reading this a good sketch artist? I'd love to see a drawing (or hell, a painting) of Pennywise as the clown as described in the book. The TV movie depiction was great, but wasn't accurate to the book. There's one edition of the novel with this cover:  Some dude was just told to stick a clown on that cover, hit Print, and gently caress off.
|
|
#
?
Dec 9, 2013 23:30
|
|
|
WattsvilleBlues posted:
There's this, if tattos count: 
|
|
#
?
Dec 10, 2013 00:27
|
|
|
Sorry if this is continuing a Koontz derail; but like many people around here, I found his books pretty terrible. I mostly got the feeling that he could only write one kind of protagonist. There is, however, one book he wrote that I found very satisfying for several reasons, and I want to talk about it with anyone else who has read it. False Memories is a bit of a sleeper at first that widens in scope as you go along, much more than I expected as I went along. The bad guy is a psychologist who might as well just be a parallel-universe Hannibal Lecter. Even still, I gotta say I enjoyed that one particular ride. Anyone else?
|
|
#
?
Dec 10, 2013 00:41
|
|
|
I really liked a bit of koontz, not always great, but entertaining, particularly as a kid. I tend to like his older stuff better, before he started recycling plots. His new stuff is pretty lovely. (He has two repeating plots and they're not that bad the first time around) large guy is an inhuman monster who doesn't seem to die and kills for the thrill of it, and innocent Everyman has to stop it. Or loner who removed himself from society because of his violent but heroic past has to re-enter society to protect a quirky woman the "government" wants to kill, they fall in love and bullshit ensues. I actually really liked Strangers, it might be my favorite. Its been awhile since I read it, but i have fond memories. If you want most slight coming of age horror stories, the voice of the night was really good. There are a few others that were decent, Door to December (guy obsessed with Altered States turns his kid into a psychic monster), Servants of Twilight (woman and her kid on the run from a screwed up cult who insist the kid is the anti-Christ), Twilight Eyes (a young carny goes around killing people because he thinks they're goblins), are all pretty good, phantoms was fun. Seriously, pick and choose through the 70s and 80s, and get really picky once you get to the 90s. The first Odd Thomas book was pretty good, but don't even think about reading any of the others. If a King novel is a root beer float, koontz is a diet coke. I can see how a lot of people would really hate it, but there are worse things out there. If you really want to go down this road, read the back of a few books from his 70s and 80s stuff and pick what grabs you and then work your way through those decades, intensity is where it starts to get really preachy, dog obsessed, and stupid. I tried reading "What The Night Knows" after it hit paperback and it was just about the stupidest goddamned thing I've ever read. Roydrowsy fucked around with this message at 02:34 on Dec 10, 2013 |
|
#
?
Dec 10, 2013 02:25
|
|
|
Pheeets posted:There's this, if tattos count: Close but no cigar. What's that based on?
|
|
#
?
Dec 10, 2013 03:03
|
|
|
WattsvilleBlues posted:Close but no cigar. What's that based on? It's my buddy's tattoo, he has this thing about scary clowns. They show up in his photography a lot.
|
|
#
?
Dec 10, 2013 03:05
|
|
|
Franchescanado posted:However, a friend of mine who loves King recommended me a Koontz book. He said it was about demons and possession or something, and that it was really freaky. But he couldn't remember the title, or anything like that. Does anyone know what book this is? And is it anything worth pursuing?
|
|
#
?
Dec 10, 2013 06:22
|
|
|
There was a clown in the stormdrain. The light in there was far from good, but it was good enough so that George Denbrough was sure of what he was seeing. It was a clown, like in the circus or on TV. In fact he looked like a cross between Bozo and Clarabell, who talked by honking his (or was it her?--George was never really sure of the gender) horn on Howdy Doody Saturday mornings--Buaffalo Bob was just about the only one who could understand Clarabell, and that always cracked George up. The face of the clown in the stormdrain was white, there were funny tufts of red hair on either side of his bald head, and there was a big clown-smile painted over his mouth. If George had been inhabiting a later year, he would have surely thought of Ronald McDonald before Bozo or Clarabell. The clown held a bunch of baloons, all colors, like gorgeous ripe fruit in one hand. In the other he held George's newspaper boat. "Want your boat, Georgie?" The clown smiled. George smiled back. He couldn't help it; it was the kind of smile you just had to answer. "I sure do," he said. The clown laughed. " 'I sure do.' That's good! That's very good! And how about a balloon?" "Well... sure!" He reached forward... and then drew his hand reluctantly back. "I'm not supposed to take stuff from strangers. My dad said so." "Very wise of your dad," the clown in the stormdrain said, smiling. How, George wondered, could I have thought his eyes were yellow? They were a bright, dancing blue, the color of his mom's eyes, and Bill's. "Very wise indeed. Therefore I will introduce myself. I, Georgie, am Mr. Bob Gray, also known as Pennywise the Dancing Clown. Pennywise, meet George Denbrough. George, meet Pennywise. And now we know each other. I'm not a stranger to you, and you're not a stranger to me. Kee-rect?" 
|
|
#
?
Dec 10, 2013 06:36
|
|
|
Do they float?
|
|
#
?
Dec 10, 2013 07:31
|
|
|
uptown posted:Do they float? Oh, they all float. And when you're down here, you'll float too...
|
|
#
?
Dec 10, 2013 08:01
|
|
|
|
| # ? Jun 4, 2024 02:12 |
|
|
Ok so this is a little weird. A family friend by the name of Bob Grey, he's a real crack up, always with the jokes. Also he was in the Navy. Did I grow up in proximity to Pennywise?
|
|
#
?
Dec 10, 2013 12:02
|
|
