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Khizan posted:The pervasive feeling of filth and despair is what MAKES it one of his best books. Stephen King books have a lot of terrors which are remote, esoteric, or just impossible. But grabbing a darting toddler as they run towards the street is a heart-stopping moment of terror I've actually experienced. Still not sure if I can reread that book. For me the zombie people and pets are secondary to the real life horror.
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Sep 24, 2013 04:40
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Doctor Sleep is out today, good so far. Wasn't expecting such a close tie in to NOS4A2. Further bulletins as events warrant.
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Sep 24, 2013 19:30
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Say what you will about some individual pieces of King's work, few other authors can bring me back to characters I last read about 10 years ago (or more) and have me engrossed and caring about them again so effortlessly.
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Sep 24, 2013 21:38
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I want a book all about Trashcan Man. My Life for You: a Memoir
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Sep 24, 2013 21:41
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Any Denver area goons going to see King @ Chatauqua tomorrow? I am going with a co-worker. Should be fun! https://tickets.chautauqua.com/Onli...essionlanguage=
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Sep 24, 2013 22:16
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VanillaGorilla posted:Say what you will about some individual pieces of King's work, few other authors can bring me back to characters I last read about 10 years ago (or more) and have me engrossed and caring about them again so effortlessly. With King it's always swing or miss with regards to the characters, at least for me. Often they're completely believable and I can totally relate to them (funnily enough, often with relatively minor characters), but sometimes the main characters are downright flat stereotypes or mary-sue kind of garbage. Still, he's one of the few writers that can have the plot of his stories be really simple and pretty much mediocre, but entirely save it and make it great with the characters, relations between them and the social intrigue in general.
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Sep 24, 2013 22:38
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Delzuma posted:Doctor Sleep is out today, good so far. Wasn't expecting such a close tie in to NOS4A2. Further bulletins as events warrant.
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Sep 24, 2013 23:22
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I'm going to let you guys tell me how Dr. Sleep is before I decide to read it. The premise sounds interesting, but the idea of a sequel to the Shining just seems to have a stink on it. I don't really consider Pet Sematary one of King's best...sorry. The only thing it really has going for it is the horror of the child dying and how he dies, but other than that it pales in comparison to works like Salem's Lot and the Dead Zone, especially the later part of the book. It's still a good read, but to put it in the same category as his best works seems a little dishonest. How do people feel about the ending to the Dead Zone, by the way? I consider it to be one of his best (especially that epilogue, one of the few King things to make me cry since the Green Mile back when I was a kid), but I think I've read here or there that a lot of people didn't like it.
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Sep 25, 2013 02:04
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Dr. Faustus posted:Should I read NOS4A2 first, then; or does it matter? A ton of references to the bad guy of NOS4A2 in the first 10 or so pages of Doctor Sleep. It still makes sense within the King book, just a lagniappe for those who've read both.
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Sep 25, 2013 02:27
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crankdatbatman posted:I'm going to let you guys tell me how Dr. Sleep is before I decide to read it. The premise sounds interesting, but the idea of a sequel to the Shining just seems to have a stink on it. I'm about halfway through - what I'll say, so far, is that if what you want is to just go back to the Overlook, this isn't your book. It is turning into a pretty fantastic character study of a recovering addict, though, and I'm really enjoying that aspect. This is a book about a man who has to learn to live with and deal with ghosts - both literal and figurative. There are plenty of supernatural/horror elements - and King leverages his ability to make the mundane feel uneasy and uncomfortable - but it's not a horror story, if that makes sense. edit: so, in summary, I really like it so far. I think there are probably going to be plenty of people who just wanted The Shining, PART DEUX who won't, though, and I'm glad that I didn't go through with my planned re-read before picking it up today, because it might have conditioned my initial experience with the story.
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Sep 25, 2013 02:46
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VanillaGorilla posted:I'm about halfway through - what I'll say, so far, is that if what you want is to just go back to the Overlook, this isn't your book. It is turning into a pretty fantastic character study of a recovering addict, though, and I'm really enjoying that aspect. This is a book about a man who has to learn to live with and deal with ghosts - both literal and figurative. There are plenty of supernatural/horror elements - and King leverages his ability to make the mundane feel uneasy and uncomfortable - but it's not a horror story, if that makes sense. That actually sounds...pretty captivating. I might give it a read after all. I was in the group of people who did NOT want The Shining revisited, personally, so this is making me lean towards reading it.
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Sep 25, 2013 03:02
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Khizan posted:The pervasive feeling of filth and despair is what MAKES it one of his best books. Yeah that reminds me of something Poe said about the purpose of his writing - something about evoking a very specific feeling from the reader. It's not always a good feeling.
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Sep 25, 2013 16:53
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Just finished Dr. Sleep, and I really enjoyed it. As an above poster mentioned...it is far less a horror story, than a character study. The Shining is a really scary novel, and Dr. Sleep really isn't. And, that's fine. It works, because Danny is Dan, now. An adult. It really does seem like King relied pretty heavily on a lot of his own struggles with addiction, when writing it, and it absolutely made the story more compelling. There are some very typical King-isms, with some eye-rolling teenage dialogue...but it wouldn't be a Stephen King novel without that.
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Sep 25, 2013 23:18
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ganthony posted:it is far less a horror story, than a character study. The Shining is a really scary novel, and Dr. Sleep really isn't. I've had it sitting here since Monday's mail delivery and haven't had time to open it and I was irritated at first, but now I'm rather 'meh'. Don't get me wrong, I love his more serious works and all, it's just, this is the SHINING fer chrissakes! I don't want a character study based on blahblah I want to be so scared I have to hide the book in my freezer at night. Seriously, I got all the 'years pass by character study' out of my system with Black House.
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Sep 25, 2013 23:28
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So go read the Shining again.
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Sep 25, 2013 23:35
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Blade_of_tyshalle posted:So go read the Shining again.
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Sep 25, 2013 23:45
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A 'salem's Lot sequel or prequel is what I always hoped King would write. I would love for him to explore the time around the house was built up to the death of Hubie or what is happening in the Lot in 2013.
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Sep 25, 2013 23:56
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nate fisher posted:A 'salem's Lot sequel or prequel is what I always hoped King would write. I would love for him to explore the time around the house was built up to the death of Hubie or what is happening in the Lot in 2013. There is a Salem's Lot sequel, it's just a short story. Two of them, in fact. Or is it one prequel and one sequel? e: yeah, Jerusalam's Lot is the prequel, One for the Road is the sequel regulargonzalez fucked around with this message at 02:06 on Sep 26, 2013 |
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Sep 26, 2013 02:04
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iostream.h posted:I did earlier this year, when I thought a sequel was coming out. I don't really know what made you think Doctor Sleep would be The Shining II: Shine Hard With a Vengeance.
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Sep 26, 2013 02:06
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regulargonzalez posted:There is a Salem's Lot sequel, it's just a short story. Two of them, in fact. Or is it one prequel and one sequel? Yes I read both of those (in Night Shift). I just wished he would expand that story with a full novel.
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Sep 26, 2013 02:27
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Been catching up on Salem's lot during a few train rides today, and things are starting to go poorly. Poor Susan, even though he foreshadowed it pretty clearly I desperately wanted her to escape the basement. Finding it difficult to accept how competent Mark is though.
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Sep 26, 2013 02:27
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I don't see how Dr. Sleep could be a true sequel since Jack Torrance is dead and the Overlook burned to the ground, and they were the two major elements in The Shining. It's more of a novel that shares some characters from The Shining and references some events from The Shining (and from some other works), and that's just what I was expecting. I'm at 32% and so far I'm liking it a lot.
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Sep 26, 2013 02:33
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EmmyOk posted:Been catching up on Salem's lot during a few train rides today, and things are starting to go poorly. Poor Susan, even though he foreshadowed it pretty clearly I desperately wanted her to escape the basement. Finding it difficult to accept how competent Mark is though. What makes me irrationally angry about Susan is that she's so capable and a truly interesting character until she meets Mark and then does completely idiotic things so she can be fridged.
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Sep 26, 2013 02:34
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rypakal posted:What makes me irrationally angry about Susan is that she's so capable and a truly interesting character until she meets Mark and then does completely idiotic things so she can be fridged. I felt the exact same way to be honest, she becomes really cowed as soon as she meets Mark. I'm still hoping King will do something interesting with them i.e. the bitten people. Considering how the book opens I'm just waiting for Jimmy Cody and Matt Burke to be screwed. I know what happens to Callahan at least. I could almost have forgiven Mark being 'oh so great' up until his zen moment when he unties himself. His focus being described as like that of a guru etc. was eye rolling. I love/hate how King can write something like that just pages after a line as great as "nerve endings idling in neutral"
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Sep 26, 2013 02:42
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Blade_of_tyshalle posted:I don't really know what made you think Doctor Sleep would be The Shining II: Shine Hard With a Vengeance.
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Sep 26, 2013 02:59
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He has a point. Also, he doesn't seem aggressive so much as, like... making a joke.  And the "gosh, you seem pretty upset" rhetorical move is dumb.
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Sep 26, 2013 03:16
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DirtyRobot posted:He has a point. Also, he doesn't seem aggressive so much as, like... making a joke. As far as the dumb upset remark, I didn't know if I'd missed something or what.
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Sep 26, 2013 03:23
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In other non-exciting news, I never pictured Aaron Paul as a good Eddie Dean because I assumed people were just like "but he plays one in Breaking Bad, he's ideal!". Which I still think is why people mainly say it. However after seeing the Need for Speed trailer of all things, I think he could play the role brilliantly.
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Sep 26, 2013 03:38
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EmmyOk posted:In other non-exciting news, I never pictured Aaron Paul as a good Eddie Dean because I assumed people were just like "but he plays one in Breaking Bad, he's ideal!". Which I still think is why people mainly say it. However after seeing the Need for Speed trailer of all things, I think he could play the role brilliantly. Well, they also say it because he came out and said he wanted the role.
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Sep 26, 2013 08:44
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Braking Gnus posted:Well, they also say it because he came out and said he wanted the role. On his twitter yeah, but that doesn't mean he would make a good Eddie Dean. Even though Jessie and Eddie are/were both addicts their characters are incredibly different.
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Sep 26, 2013 13:10
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Get James Franco. He was born to play the role of Eddie Dean.
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Sep 26, 2013 13:14
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I always thought Eddie was supposed to be full of wasted potential, a great person who was ruined by his brother. People also comment on his looks occasionally, so Franco would be a good fit. He's too old now though, Eddie is quite young iirc. e: Paul is too, but he could more believably play someone ten years younger. Or they could just make Eddie older in the adaption I guess.
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Sep 26, 2013 13:32
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I think the main thing with Eddie is that whoever plays him has to be able to play a New Yorker convincingly. I think of Eddie's New Yorkness(the accent is part of it, but there's much more to it) as one of his primary traits.
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Sep 26, 2013 14:44
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Any Dark Tower connections in Doctor Sleep? The villain's name is Rose the Hat for crying out loud!
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Sep 26, 2013 14:50
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Race Realists posted:Any Dark Tower connections in Doctor Sleep? There was also some major event that happened on October 19, 1999, but I forget what it was.
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Sep 26, 2013 14:52
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Reading Roadwork. I spent a good 30 minutes last night trying to find the Mustangs football team, to see what team they became. At first I thought he was talking about some minor league, but he says professional and they're playing the Chargers. Then it slowly dawned on me that there were no real identify details about the city in that book, even though I clearly remember thinking it was New York City.
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Sep 26, 2013 15:20
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Not all that far into Doctor Sleep yet, but I'm digging it. The Shining is one of those books I've read pretty much annually--the kind that changes tone as you get older, the kind where you get something new out of it depending on your age and your experience. I read it as a teenager and loved the horror; reading it as an adult, I love it for the insight into alcoholism, anger, and pride. Doctor Sleep feels (so far, anyway) like the latter more than the former. Thematic point (not really a spoiler but just to be safe): Danny living in the shadow of his father, and the early points where their thoughts parallel, is goddamned painful to read.
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Sep 26, 2013 19:35
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3Romeo posted:Not all that far into Doctor Sleep yet, but I'm digging it. I had a recent massive turnaround in my understanding of The Shining. Earlier I was with King's interpretation, that Jack is a basically good guy corrupted by his addiction and then later by the Overlook. King himself was heavily into drink at this time, so this seems a natural interpretation. But after I had kids I saw Jack in an entirely new light. Now I see him as a basically abusive guy, and all the liquor or hotel do is unlease the shackles on the monster within. (Incidentally, I think this was Kubrick's interpretation, or at least the one he presented in the film.)
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Sep 26, 2013 20:48
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rypakal posted:I had a recent massive turnaround in my understanding of The Shining. Earlier I was with King's interpretation, that Jack is a basically good guy corrupted by his addiction and then later by the Overlook. King himself was heavily into drink at this time, so this seems a natural interpretation. But after I had kids I saw Jack in an entirely new light. Now I see him as a basically abusive guy, and all the liquor or hotel do is unlease the shackles on the monster within. (Incidentally, I think this was Kubrick's interpretation, or at least the one he presented in the film.) Some Doctor Sleep stuff, so I'm gonna spoil it just in case since the book is so new. King seems to have come around to this interpretation as well. Dan fights having the exact same thing happen to him, and also ends up being a violent shithead when he's drinking. Learning to stay off the sauce and keep the leash on that darker part of him is a pretty big part of his character development, but it's still there even when he's sober. He's only let it out once so far in the first half, though. I'm about halfway through Doctor Sleep, and it's really good. I saw it got a C- at the AV Club, so I was worried, but even though it's really different from the original it feels like a natural continuation, especially for Dan. Kinda getting some Dead Zone-ish vibes from the story, actually.
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Sep 26, 2013 20:54
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I haven't read Dr Sleep, but I think the problem with ranking King books is that I'm comparing them to The Running Man, Salem's Lot, Long Walk, etc. Those are phenomenally good books, and so it's not surprising that new King comes off seeming a bit bleh in comparison. I'm harder on King's new books than I would be on a new author because I know how good he can be, and I'm disappointed when it's not at that level.
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Sep 26, 2013 21:18
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