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Nintendo Kid posted:Derry is explicitly an evil version of Bangor with a little bit of another Maine city mixed in. Driving an hour, hour and a half outside of Bangor was the only time I've ever seen actual scary hillbilly hammerskins.
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Nov 15, 2014 09:11
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ExtraNoise posted:Now I'm reading the classic The Stand for the first time. I'm on chapter five of what appears to be about a bajillion. Any recommendations of things to pay attention to for a first-time reader? So far it's great. There's nothing you need to look for, but if you're interested in the craft, there's a couple of things worth looking at. I'm trying to make this as spoiler-free as possible, because reading that novel for the first time is a treat. King's strength is in his characters and not so much his stories. By his own admission, he rarely plots stuff out; he just puts some people in interesting situations and sees how they react. The Stand is notable because there's a huge cast of characters but you can open up to a random page and know whose point of view you're reading from without ever reading a name. That itself is a trick, but it's even more interesting because of how much those characters change. Out of all his other books, only Under the Dome comes close to this, but never quite pulls it off. The pacing in the novel shouldn't work, but it does. It starts off by introducing some main characters, then about two hundred pages in it becomes a collection of vignettes about the end of the world,* then it introduces some more characters while still jugging the stories of the old ones. There's a long strip in the middle of the novel where nothing major (that is, plot-centric) seems to happen--it's the quest part of the fantasy, and involves a lot of traveling--but it's still compelling because you're invested in the people you're reading about. In this long strip, probably five hundred pages, the characters' personalities cause them to do things that seem minor but have major consequences later on (it's a completely organic bit of cause-and-effect storytelling, not plot-based storytelling) but the frankly amazing thing is that it's never uninteresting. To put it another way, King writes boring stuff very well. That's an incredibly hard thing to do. Edit: All that craft poo poo aside, it's a hell of a good story, so long as you keep in mind what King said in the intro of the uncut version: it's a long tale of dark Christianity. Once you finish it, look at some of the Biblical parallels. But the first time through, seriously, don't think much about it. Just enjoy the experience. I read it for the first time when I was twelve or thirteen, over spring break, and I'd fall asleep reading and wake up and get right back to it. Very few books ever pulled me in the way The Stand did. *Incidentally, some of the best stuff King ever wrote Asbury fucked around with this message at 00:52 on Nov 16, 2014 |
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Nov 15, 2014 16:24
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That series of stories, with the repeated refrain "no great loss", is the best chapter he has ever written. Without question.
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Nov 15, 2014 17:09
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I haven't seen it mentioned but there was a lengthy King interview in a recent Rolling Stone that's worth checking out just to hear hin say "Hemmingway sucks". Here it is: Nice illustration too. http://www.rollingstone.com/culture/features/stephen-king-the-rolling-stone-interview-20141031
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Nov 15, 2014 18:08
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Which is weird, because in On Writing, King calls him a genius even when he was drunk off his rear end. I don't know if King's tastes changed, or if he's just saying something goony for Rolling Stone to use as a blow-out quote.
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Nov 15, 2014 18:12
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It can be both. King is my favorite author and I think he's a genius but sometimes, he sucks.
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Nov 15, 2014 18:55
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BiggerBoat posted:I haven't seen it mentioned but there was a lengthy King interview in a recent Rolling Stone that's worth checking out just to hear hin say "Hemmingway sucks". Here it is: How can I put this? He shows so much intelligence and at the same time he admits he doesn't really know much. Awesome interview, a must read.
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Nov 15, 2014 22:04
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Dr. Faustus posted:Thank you so much for sharing this. My opinion of SK was high before, but now... Thanks. I liked it too and, again, that illustration was rather bad rear end. He seems to have the right combination of humble and hubris, meaning he knows what he knows and admit what he doesn't. He knows what he likes and what he's good at but doesn't pretend to be an expert on the rest. He readily admits his faults, his anger and his shortcomings while at the same time acknowledging his strengths and recognizing them. He knows he's good but admits Dreamcatcher and Tommyknockers were poo poo. He really is an artist in the truest sense of the word and I thought that came through in the interview. I want to pick up Lisey's Story again and read it. What I managed to read seemed fine I just got busy and had to return it to the library. Even though so many people in this thread hate it he said it's his favorite, which really took me aback.
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Nov 15, 2014 22:58
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BiggerBoat posted:Thanks. I liked it too and, again, that illustration was rather bad rear end. He seems to have the right combination of humble and hubris, meaning he knows what he knows and admit what he doesn't. He knows what he likes and what he's good at but doesn't pretend to be an expert on the rest. He readily admits his faults, his anger and his shortcomings while at the same time acknowledging his strengths and recognizing them. He knows he's good but admits Dreamcatcher and Tommyknockers were poo poo. I liked it, but I have no taste. I think the reason it's his favorite, and everyone here hates it, is that the story is personal to him. He's said a few times that it's about a marriage, and all the stuff that annoys readers (smucking, SOWISA, etc.) are the kinds of in-jokes and code words that people who are married a long time have. Those things make perfect sense to the couple, and are so familiar to them that they use them all the time without thinking, but it's annoying as hell to everyone around them. Given the really amazing relationship that it seems like SK has with his wife, I can see why writing an ode to a strong marriage would hold a lot of meaning to him. His acceptance speech for the National Book Award was really a beautiful tribute to his wife and their marriage: http://www.nationalbook.org/nbaacceptspeech_sking.html#.VGfli_nF_AI (I can't read that without getting a little teary-eyed. I'm a sap.)
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Nov 16, 2014 00:47
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  thats not me in the wheelchair.
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Nov 16, 2014 00:55
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Finished Revival this morning after reading it in 2 sittings. Overall I enjoyed it quite a bit. As some other people pointed out, I think it's his best since 11/22/63. I agree that the ending seemed a tiny bit weak (only a little though) after what was essentially the entire book building up to it. However, I thought that the build up itself was really great. There didn't seem to be much in the way of the usual King scary/creepy segments through out (really just the couple dreams he had) but overall it did have a really unsettling feeling though, which was what really worked for it I thought. Seeing Jacobs becoming darker and slightly more obsessed each time Jamie met him over his entire life was great.
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Nov 16, 2014 01:41
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BiggerBoat posted:Thanks. I liked it too and, again, that illustration was rather bad rear end. He seems to have the right combination of humble and hubris, meaning he knows what he knows and admit what he doesn't. He knows what he likes and what he's good at but doesn't pretend to be an expert on the rest. He readily admits his faults, his anger and his shortcomings while at the same time acknowledging his strengths and recognizing them. He knows he's good but admits Dreamcatcher and Tommyknockers were poo poo. I always thought King was incredibly insightful about his own career. I forgot which book, but there is one where in the foreword he talks about his discussions with his agent, who was afraid he was going to get branded as a "horror writer," that was a great look into his mind and his approach.
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Nov 16, 2014 06:05
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joepinetree posted:I always thought King was incredibly insightful about his own career. I forgot which book, but there is one where in the foreword he talks about his discussions with his agent, who was afraid he was going to get branded as a "horror writer," that was a great look into his mind and his approach. That must have been an early one. I read all of his "constant reader" forewords and I can't place it.
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Nov 16, 2014 06:08
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syscall girl posted:That must have been an early one. I read all of his "constant reader" forewords and I can't place it. It is either in a reprint of one of the early ones or one of the ones he wrote early but was only published later. It starts pretty much with his agent or editor saying "another horror novel? this way you are going to be pigeonholed as a horror writer and there's no market for those."
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Nov 16, 2014 06:48
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It's the front of Different Seasons.
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Nov 16, 2014 18:26
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Any recommendations for a newbie to Stephen King? I've read Carrie, have 11/22/63 and an e-book version of The Running Man which I have not read.
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Nov 16, 2014 22:52
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Violet_Sky posted:Any recommendations for a newbie to Stephen King? I've read Carrie, have 11/22/63 and an e-book version of The Running Man which I have not read. Read The Running Man immediately.
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Nov 16, 2014 22:57
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Pheeets posted:Read The Running Man immediately. Then watch the movie. Not because it's a faithful adaptation of the book, but because it's the closest thing to a Mega Man movie we'll ever get. It's bizarre, really. Fun 80s Schwarzenegger cheese.
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Nov 17, 2014 00:14
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Violet_Sky posted:Any recommendations for a newbie to Stephen King? I've read Carrie, have 11/22/63 and an e-book version of The Running Man which I have not read. Read The Running Man immediately, because it's awesome and because you already have it. That aside, my top five King books would be, in no particular order: 1) The Running Man 2) Pet Sematary 3) Night Shift (Short Story Collection) 4) Skeleton Crew (More Short Stories) 5) The Long Walk
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Nov 17, 2014 01:24
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I'll add The Shining and The Stand to the list. After you've read the stuff mentioned and have a decent number of King books under your belt make sure to read the Dark Tower series at some point as well. The Dark Tower in particular works best after having read The Stand at the very least, but even more so after reading a bunch of King in general to get you used to his worlds and style. You'll understand when you do get to reading it. Some people poo poo on the last three books of the Dark Tower, but whatever they say it's worth reading through the whole series at least once and deciding for yourself. The first four books at least are unarguably good stuff. I didn't hate the last three as much as others, but your mileage may very. Either way after reading the first four you will want to read through the end no matter what anyway. Enjoy! Damo fucked around with this message at 02:40 on Nov 17, 2014 |
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Nov 17, 2014 02:35
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Violet_Sky posted:Any recommendations for a newbie to Stephen King? I've read Carrie, have 11/22/63 and an e-book version of The Running Man which I have not read. It's all uphill from here (almost) because Carrie is pretty bad compared to most of his books. Do you want to go in rough chronological order or skip around? With someone who has written so many books it can be interesting to read them in the order they were published (edit: except Dark Tower) and watch his style slowly evolve.
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Nov 17, 2014 03:55
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Rough chronological order, most likely. I like watching things evolve. Carrie is pretty bad. The ending reads like some sort of fanfic. "Oh, and by the way, she died."  And King did not know how to write teenagers. They're more like plot devices than actual people.
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Nov 17, 2014 04:50
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Violet_Sky posted:Rough chronological order, most likely. I like watching things evolve. If you're doing this, I recommend checking in with Stephen King Revisted every now and then. Richard Chizmar, the publisher at Cemetery Dance Publications, is rereading all of King's books in publication order and sharing his thoughts. Other people will be contributing essays and whatnot, too.
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Nov 17, 2014 05:00
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I don't think The Stand should come before Salem's Lot and The Shining. Carrie and Cujo should be read, too; before The Stand. Maybe even Firestarter and The Dead Zone should come first. Then reward yourself with Pet Sematary, It, The Stand. But don't skip the short stories. Fit them in. Just my current thoughts.
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Nov 17, 2014 05:08
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IT is his best book and will make you a fan of his for life. The Stand is too draggy in some parts. At least with the unedited version I have. The Stand also has the worst ending out of any King book I've ever read.
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Nov 17, 2014 05:15
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You have to read The Talisman
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Nov 17, 2014 05:30
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Super Ninja Fish posted:IT is his best book and will make you a fan of his for life. The Stand is too draggy in some parts. At least with the unedited version I have. The Stand also has the worst ending out of any King book I've ever read. Stephen King has the amazing ability to spin straw out of gold, and nothing he has written demonstrates this as well as The Stand. The ending is pretty awful. However, the chapter "No Great Loss" from the front half of the book is possibly the best thing he's ever written.
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Nov 17, 2014 05:53
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savinhill posted:You have to read The Talisman Shadowland, the Blue Rose trilogy, Floating Dragon (this one is insane), Ghost Story, Mr. X) Shadowland is special. It's The Talisman but without King. And it's heart-wrenching. Read it.
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Nov 17, 2014 05:55
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Violet_Sky posted:
lol "did"
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Nov 17, 2014 05:57
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I liked The Stand a lot more than IT. Probably because I read The Stand in high school while I read IT for the first time this year and I'm 30 now.
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Nov 17, 2014 09:52
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I had to laugh in that Rolling Stone interview - when SK is asked about his daily writing process he says that he writes new copy for only about two hours every day and that he used to write more but aging "slows you down a little bit". And he's still cranking out more than one book a year, and more often than not they're at least pretty good.
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Nov 17, 2014 17:05
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Schlitzkrieg Bop posted:I had to laugh in that Rolling Stone interview - when SK is asked about his daily writing process he says that he writes new copy for only about two hours every day and that he used to write more but aging "slows you down a little bit". And he's still cranking out more than one book a year, and more often than not they're at least pretty good. Shows you how little other authors write. (I'm looking at you GURM)
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Nov 17, 2014 20:38
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Violet_Sky posted:Rough chronological order, most likely. I like watching things evolve. You probably want to jump right into The Shining and Salem's Lot then, as well as The Bachman Books (you should look for this collection specifically in a library if you want to read Rage - it is no longer in print). Basically you can't go wrong if you just go down the list in publication order! There aren't any bombs to avoid for quite a while, Carrie and The Tommyknockers are basically his only bad pre-1990 work. I agree that you should put off The Stand until you finish several if not all of his early-career shorter books though.
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Nov 17, 2014 21:23
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savinhill posted:You have to read The Talisman King and Straub wrote a sequel to this - Black House. It was good... I think? It had a pretty weird feel to it, not least because it's written in the present tense. Lots of crazy stuff in it though, really visceral (often literally), nightmarish stuff that reminded me of the atmosphere of It.
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Nov 17, 2014 22:45
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Khizan posted:However, the chapter "No Great Loss" from the front half of the book is possibly the best thing he's ever written. Which chapter was that? Umiapik posted:King and Straub wrote a sequel to this - Black House. It was good... I think? It had a pretty weird feel to it, not least because it's written in the present tense. Lots of crazy stuff in it though, really visceral (often literally), nightmarish stuff that reminded me of the atmosphere of It. What bugged me about Black House was the retconning to make the Territories in the first book just yet another part of the Dark Tower universe.
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Nov 17, 2014 23:24
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Phanatic posted:Which chapter was that? Specifically, it's chapter 38 of Book 1 of The Stand The first line is: "As the superflu epidemic wound down, there was a second epidemic that lasted roughly two weeks.
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Nov 18, 2014 01:30
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I finished Revival tonight. I'm just gonna leave this here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=orivEatc2fw Edit: It's possible this could be considered spoilery, so watch at your own risk. Zamboni Rodeo fucked around with this message at 21:50 on Nov 18, 2014 |
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Nov 18, 2014 02:24
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Reading The Shining; it's tough to put down. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5yGJGTjV2WE
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Nov 18, 2014 03:36
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Finished Revival, and I liked it. It was an interesting choice, focusing on what really is a secondary character in the main story. I don't remember if revival is one of the books that King has said will have a follow up, but I really wish it did. The idea of living knowing that the afterlife is hell no matter what you do is an interesting one to explore.
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Nov 18, 2014 07:07
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Phanatic posted:Which chapter was that? And then pretty much retconning what we see in Black House when it actually came to the climax of the Dark Tower and the Crimson King.
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Nov 18, 2014 12:55
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