The Stephen King Thread - Part 1

[The Navigator]

Just started this, got up to

Spoiler

Danny's second encounter with Ms Massey. He's the first Ghostbuster. I'm glad King didn't try to skip or gloss over the aftereffects of the Overlook Hotel, I was worried we'd start 20 years later with a few obligatory flashbacks.

 

[Rocketman]

 

[cabel]

Do I need to read The Shining to get Doctor Sleep, or can I get by having only seen the Kubrick film?

 

[The Navigator]

Do I need to read The Shining to get Doctor Sleep, or can I get by having only seen the Kubrick film?

I think you'll be okay with only the movie under your belt, the references are fairly general (so far anyway, I just started part 3).

 

[TheDreamMaster]

I already got my copy!!
AND I got it for 25% off! Booyah!

*opens up the the first few pages, smells that new-page smell*

Ahhhhhhhhhhhh

I work at Kroger now, and they have it on sale for $18, 40% off until the 20th of October. I also had some "Safety Cash", basically store cash that can be used on almost anything in the store. Dropped my $3 of SC on it and managed to get the book for 16.08 after tax.

 

[Batkhan]

I have all books of him except Doctor Sleep and just finished joyland.
it also goes without dark scary...seems to me SK became more peacefull in his stories, cant explain

 

[Piper Maru]

Just picked up my copy of Doctor Sleep, going to start reading it tonight.

 

[The Navigator]

Well, I just finished this. Very disappointed.

 

[squeekness]

Aw, I'm at 80% on my Kindle and still loving it. Hopefully you will like the next one better.

EDIT: Hey, did our last two posts get deleted? I didn't think there was anything spoilery that wasn't in brackets.... Or am I thinking of another thread...?

 

[The Navigator]

Aw, I'm at 80% on my Kindle and still loving it. Hopefully you will like the next one better.

EDIT: Hey, did our last two posts get deleted? I didn't think there was anything spoilery that wasn't in brackets.... Or am I thinking of another thread...?

That was in the "last book you read" thread.

 

[squeekness]

Ah, okay. Thought I was losing my mind, lol. Old age and all.

 

[GremlinZilla89]

I started re-reading The Shining again due to Doctor Sleep getting great word of mouth. When I first read The Shining I thought it was the most overrated book King had ever written.

I was a lot younger, but that doesn't really mean much imo because I had read IT and The Stand and various other books before The Shining. I usually don't have a film adaptation in mind when I read a book because well, it's a smart thing to separate the two but for some reason I was disappointed the novel wasn't like Kubricks film in tone. Kubricks film is more cerebral while King gets into the nitty gritty of the characters and actually sort of explains things from time to time. The scares in the book are also more conventional, haunted house type stuff than the film. The ending also annoyed me. Dick doesn't die? Nobody dies but Jack? What is this? It felt anti-climatic and like the stake weren't high enough.

Cut to now and I'm kicking myself for not being patient with it the first time. Again, I don't know why I felt this way before because I had absorbed much of his denser work before but I'm glad I've loving The Shining better this time around. King can just write characters with such an ease. Jack Torrance is one of his most compelling characters. He's a bastard a lot of the time but he doesn't want to be. He tries but he just can't seem to keep it together. He's one of the most realistically layered of all of Kings characters.

 

[Marvolo]

The Shining is my favorite King novel hands down. Cant wait to read Doctor Sleep!

 

[jonathancrane]

For my birthday, my parents purchased a copy of Doctor Sleep for me (due to my current finances, I would not have been able to acquire one until Christmas.) I had difficulty putting the book down; I read it in two days. Stylistically, it reads like one of King's early novels, which is a plus. Additionally, I enjoyed how he incorporated elements from The Shining, especially in the climax of the novel. This is one of his best books in the past few decades. 5/5

 

[cabel]

I'm about 120 pages into The Gunslinger and about 40 pages into Cujo.

I also have The Shining, Carrie, Christine, The Drawing of the Three, and 11/22/63 sitting in a stack on my table.

 

[Whiskey Tango]

I'm about 120 pages into The Gunslinger and about 40 pages into Cujo.

I also have The Shining, Carrie, Christine, The Drawing of the Three, and 11/22/63 sitting in a stack on my table.

Good times ahead.

 

[cabel]

Now 64 pages into the Shining as well.

 

[GremlinZilla89]

What do you all think are his most underrated books? You hear Carrie, Salems Lot, The Shining, The Stand, IT, Pet Sematary and to a lesser extent Firestarter, The Dead Zone, Misery and Christine as the go to books everybody seems to love and praise yet many books outside of his "golden age" that tossed aside, and imo, don't deserve to be.

I personally feel his top 5 most underrated books are in no real order: Dreamcatcher, The Regulators (better than Desperation imo), Lisey's Story, Road Work, and From A Buick 8.

To be honest I'm a bit of a fanboy. I've only flat out disliked a few of his books: Thinner, TommyKnockers (not bad but for some odd reason it never grabbed me like his others. It felt forced a lot of the time), Cujo (highly overrated imo), Cell (Fell flat about half way through) and Just After Sunset are about it. His only books I haven't read are Insomnia and Doctor Sleep.

 

[squeekness]

Bag of Bones for me. And The Girl who loved Tom Gordon. Loved both of them!

 

[childeroland]

His most underrated book is Road Work.

 

[JewishHobbit]

So I've finished The Stand and Under the Dome.

I'm starting to wonder if Stephen King just phones in his climaxes. I was very disappointed with both, though the rest of each book was pretty good.

 

[GremlinZilla89]

So I've finished The Stand and Under the Dome.

I'm starting to wonder if Stephen King just phones in his climaxes. I was very disappointed with both, though the rest of each book was pretty good.

I never understood this complaint. I've rarely been disappointed in his endings. To me, most book endings feel like a bit of a disappointment. Not because of the author per say, but because the journey of a good book is so strong the ending is never gonna stack up.

 

[DeGenerate10]

I just finished Dr. Sleep yesterday.

Spoiler

I kind of saw it coming that Abra was going to be related to Dan after their first real interaction. I liked that aspect of it though. I really liked that they had Jack's ghost for a brief cameo. I wish there would have been more of an interaction with him and Dan though.

 

[Marvolo]

King's endings tend to disappoint me. Its a result of his writing style. He doeant plan. He just lets the story go where it goes and focuses more on character so sometimes at the end It just kind of peters out.

 

[Victarion]

King's endings tend to disappoint me. Its a result of his writing style. He doeant plan. He just lets the story go where it goes and focuses more on character so sometimes at the end It just kind of peters out.

I find IT, Salem's Lot, and The Dark Tower to be an exception to this, but for the most part his endings are forgettable.

I couldn't get into The Regulators; Black House is definitley underrated. It's got solid characters in the Thunder Five and a great villain. Insomnia is also a favorite of mine, though it seems that there's more Dark Tower fans who enjoy it compared to people who know of King through IT, Cujo, and Carrie.