Stephen King: any and all of his works

[Raymy]

If I got into a conversation with someone about the books I've read by S. King, that it would probably take over whatever thread I was on. Didn't think that would go over too well. I know posting in the Mystery forum is probably a death knell for this topic, but there really wasn't anywhere that seemed appropriate. This began because I had a profile feed that stated I was off to read some S. King and got a response that JayDee had read The Stand twice and the second was quite different from the first. It's pretty hard to elaborate on a profile comment, so here I am to carry that topic forward.

JayDee,

I don't recall how many times I've read The Stand but it has been quite awhile since the last and I could probably go for it again. I also watched the movie and, of course, I enjoyed the book more. King is such an excellent writer, a movie never really does it justice because it's not just about the plot, but the way it unfolds and the way it engages.

The book I was going to go read, and still haven't started, is 11/22/63. Once I give in, I will be sucked into his world and won't emerge for many weeks (days?) until I am finished. My trepidation is that I'd like to maintain some of my other activities but I know they will suffer, and so, I postpone.

I am in no way a major fan or extremely knowledgable of Mr. King's works. I have read at least a half a dozen, maybe more, but loved every one of them. The one's I bought are staying in my library, won't be donating them. I can see myself, finally retired, and rereading all my favourite books from my lifetime.

It would be nice to have a little back and forth on this topic, citing specific books, the parts we really liked, whatever. Just a little diversion before I take up the book and wave goodbye.

[JayDee]

Consarn it! Now I am the most recent poster in this forum again! I was trying to avoid that, heh... As for appropriate forums, while a whole lot of things can be discussed here the other suitable forum would have been the 'Aimless Babble' forum, which is the off topic forum for the site. I'm not suggesting that this topic is babble, that's just the name of the off topic forum. Still, getting chat going in the mystery forum is a noble endeavour. It makes it even more mysterious! [/insert insane laugh here]

Regarding The Stand: I must confess to having been deliberately silly. What happened was that the first time I read The Stand I read the original version, and then a relative lent me the expanded edition that Mr King released later on with pages and pages of extra material. I thought the expanded version to be superior, which just goes to show that editors don't know everything!

So, the books I've read... (There are possible spoilers here, which I’m noting as just because some of them are really old doesn't mean they are not new to someone!)

Most recently, I read Under the Dome, which has very little to do with evil external forces beyond the setting up of the plot, and relies more on how basically good and bad people react to the situation. Even the external force behind the plot is presented as no more necessarily evil than kids crushing bugs. Bit of a take that to anybody who's smashed a wasp really. I'm very much a bee person myself though. The best bit was how the bright little farm kid who survived through ingenuity. I can't check his name because funnily enough I gave it to the same relative who loaned me The Stand after reading it.

On that note, the only book by Mr King I've actually kept is an omnibus edition of The Bachman Books, because my favourite of all his stories is The Long Walk which was originally published under the Bachman name (along with The Running Man, which is very different to the Arnie movie. Both have good points going for them). The Long Walk is such a simple idea – 100 teenage boys have, no, volunteer, to walk without dropping below three miles an hour more than three times, and get shot if they do until one is left; but the physical and psychological toll wears on walker and even almost on reader! Also, despite having an effectively all male cast it would be a real challenge to make a PWP fanfic for it. Hard to jerk your bf off without getting shot for slowing down!

Besides the Running Man, the other two in the collection aren't so great. Oh, a guy doesn't want a road built. He's angry. Yeah, Chilling. The Different Seasons novellas are more consistently good. Rita Hayworth and The Shawshank Redemption, The Body (movie was made as Stand By Me) being the best two, but Apt Pupil and the The Breathing Method are good tales as well. I think Breathing Method hasn't been made into a movie while the other three are good movies! The Breathing Method is a good story about the strength of an expectant mother who is gonna have her kid no matter what. The Shawshank Redemption made a fantastic movie, too. Some of the movies based on Mr King's work have been a little crap (to be blunt!), such as Sleepwalkers or The Langoliers. And some are just brilliant. I never saw The Stand miniseries, but I've been told it was dire by two people - they might have just really really enjoyed the book more!

I tend to prefer Mr King's shorter stories/novellas, the Night Shift collection was the first book of his I ever read, with some real stand out stories like Children of the Corn, Night Surf (which was related to The Stand, kinda) and this one about the bogeyman that actually almost scared me. I'm also pretty sure I've read the Skeleton Crew collection, although the only story I can recall from it is Word Processor of the Gods.

I've also ready Misery, Carrie and Christine... quite why I managed to pick up three that were named after female characters I couldn't say. I thought the book of Misery was better than the movie, but unlike most examples of this I thought the movie was very good as well. Fantastic acting.

I can't recall any more I've read off the top of my head. I know I've seen a few more adaptions for TV such as It, Needful things, Maximum Overdrive (great soundtrack), the others already mentioned and possibly more.

In truth I've not read a great deal of Mr King's work, but he appears to be phenomenally fast at putting the stuff out. From the sounds of it I've read less than you! If I see one in the second hand rack I'll pick it up and see if I fancy it. 11/22/63 sounds like one I'd read. I like a bit of time travel.

Edited November 24, 2012 by JayDee

[Raymy]

@JayDee wrote

On that note, the only book by Mr King I've actually kept is an omnibus edition of The Bachman Books, because my favourite of all his stories is The Long Walk which was originally published under the Bachman name (along with The Running Man, which is very different to the Arnie movie. Both have good points going for them). The Long Walk is such a simple idea – 100 teenage boys have, no, volunteer, to walk without dropping below three miles an hour more than three times, and get shot if they do until one is left; but the physical and psychological toll wears on walker and even almost on reader! Also, despite having an effectively all male cast it would be a real challenge to make a PWP fanfic for it. Hard to jerk your bf off without getting shot for slowing down!

Oh, that imagery! I just can't stop giggling. Sounds like one I'll have to hunt down. Although, now, I don't know if I'll find it sad or funny.

In truth I've not read a great deal of Mr King's work, but he appears to be phenomenally fast at putting the stuff out. From the sounds of it I've read less than you! If I see one in the second hand rack I'll pick it up and see if I fancy it. 11/22/63 sounds like one I'd read. I like a bit of time travel.

I haven't even checked to see what its about other than the JFK assassination. My sister brought it to me, knowing I like King, and its been sitting around in my bedroom, waiting for me. Now, its sitting in front of my computer; it thinks I'll notice it there better.

The books I own of his are as follows:

Carrie

Pet Sematary - once my cats are gone, I don't want them back, thank you very much.

Thinner - Yeah, I wish you could eat some magic pie and become thinner! Of course, I would want it to stop at the perfect weight, not starve me to death.

It

The Stand

Gerald's Game - quite enjoyable! A woman handcuffed to a bed after her lover leaves her, at her remote cabin, with the threat of wolves, if I remember correctly. What will a person do to save their own life? It's an insiders perspective. It's also been awhile since I read it so I'm not sure I have the plot correct.

Dolores Claiborne

Cell

Others I've read:

The Dark Tower I, II, & III - really enjoyed, but again, been awhile, so I will need to reread. There's more books in the series to read now so I can see that being a long hibernation away from the real world.

I'm not sure about some of the movies I've seen, whether I read them also. The Dead Zone and Misery might be. I stopped buying and started borrowing from the library. I may not even remember everything I've read and seen of his; damned computer age has stunted my reading muscles. That is, until I came to AFF, where I've been reading fan fiction voraciously. At least with King, I'm pretty well assured of good quality, but fanfic ... not so much. It is an adventure, though.

Movies I've seen:

Carrie

Christine

Cujo

The Dead Zone

Dolores Claiborne

Firestarter

Golden Years

The Green Mile

It

Misery

The Shawshank Redemption

The Shining

Stand by Me

Didn't you reference an essay he wrote on the place horror has in society or something like that? I think it was on the Mentality thread. I searched and found one and read it. I liked it, "feeding the gators". I'm glad I did, because it helped make some sense out my desire to massacre half the world population when human nature gets me down. I still want to do it, too many people, not enough civility. But I don't think about it as much when I feed my gators. I guess that's why I like epic catastrophe plots, the chance for change, hopefully for the better. The Stand was very compelling because of that. I've been watching The Walking Dead for that reason, I think. It's character driven, and really good, the zombies are just bonus. (I used to hate zombie movies!)

[JayDee]

Yes, I've read some essays and articles but I can't for the life of me remember the various sources - I think some were just posted to websites which'd interviewed him and some were in magazines. Truthfully, I wasn't even 100% if it was by him or by another horror writer.

I definitely read a series of extracts from his book 'On Writing', but I haven't read the whole thing. I'd really like to at some point as it is supposed to be very good for writers. I've talked about it with a couple of people and heard very good things - of course, that one is non-fiction/semi-autobiography rather than fiction, which is probably why I haven't found it second hand as with many of the fictions.

I liked the sound of the Dark Tower books, but there seemed to be a few of them and I didn't feel up to tracking an ongoing series down. I understand they have a connection to The Stand of some sort.

Cell I remember picking up the book, reading the summary, and deciding to get something else instead. I'd probably have liked it but just didn't feel like it.

Green Mile was a great film! I didn't rate it quite as much as Shawshank, but very good nonetheless. I've also seen The Shining, which I've forgotten. Didn't really entertain me that much - I dunno, it's supposed to be an absolute classic, but I was pretty much "Yeah, Jack, you can act but you're still a dull boy..."

***off topic***

I've been watching the Walking Dead because I got the chance to borrow the comics for free when they came out, and thought "Hell, I liked the comics so much I gotta follow the TV series!". The TV series is pretty different to the comics, but great in it's own way. I might see if I can get the large compendium collections of the comics at some point ... though a second hand copy'd be much better given the cost!

If you get a chance and fancy some more epic catastrophie, try Max Brooks' World War Z, which is presently being made into an apparantly entirely unrelated movie with Brad Pitt. The way the book builds up and through with the various characters stories is absolutely amazing. Sad, funny, lotta zombies!

[Raymy]

I liked the sound of the Dark Tower books, but there seemed to be a few of them and I didn't feel up to tracking an ongoing series down. I understand they have a connection to The Stand of some sort.

I don't really think they do. My memory isn't connecting them. I think I have a pretty good memory of the Stand, having read the book a few times and seen the movie. I only read Dark Tower books once, seeing as I borrowed them. Too bad there wasn't someone more knowledgeable reading this who could set us straight.

You know, come to think of it, it was the movie, The Stand, that got me really liking King's works. I watched it because of Gary Sinise and that prompted me to read the book. It wasn't what I was expecting. I may have only seen some movies like Carrie, kinda meant to be scary, and didn't know that it was his writing that made the difference. So even when a good movie is made from them, I fully expect the book to be better. I waited a long time before attempting The Dark Tower series, not knowing what to expect. I'm so glad I made myself try because I was engrossed in it. I finally came to the conclusion that if it had his name, it was worth trying.

***further to the off topic comments on The Walking Dead***

I have difficulty reading manga or comics in black and white. (grey-scale?) Sometimes the images aren't well defined for me and they blur into each other. Plus, I think I've been spoiled by anime. The movement that fills between the comic frames is easier on the eyes. So, I attempted to read the first comic of TWD and the same phenomena occurred. Much as I prefer to "go to the source" when getting facts and info, in the case of B/W comics, I have to be content with interpretation. However, it is my understanding that TWD comics writer, Robert Kirkman, is also an Executive Producer on the show. What that means to me is that his vision comes through, even if it is presented slightly different than when it was created in the comic.

***off topic regarding World War Z and other zombie flicks***

I will keep that book in mind, thank you. I have heard about Pitt's "Z", but only that it was delayed or something. I enjoyed the movie, Zombieland, mostly because of the main character, the young man with all his rules to survival. I also enjoyed Shaun of the Dead a lot. It's easier to stomach the zombie thing when you're laughing at it. So I'd have to say that my interest in zombies is incidental to the characters and plot. They're just meant to be a device, the obstacle that the characters must reconcile somehow. That's why TWD works for me. Even though it's not funny, mostly, the gore and terror doesn't affect me deeply. I'm so into the characters that my mind isn't receptive to being scared.

I had the same experience when I watched Jeff Goldblum in "The Fly". My friends were all, "Oh, yuck, he's gross cause he's turning into this fly-creature," while I was practically crying at the torment he was going through. I don't want to watch Zombie movies for the thrill of getting scared any more than I would watch "Saw" or any other shock flick. That goes for physical thrills also, my body's limit to interpret a thrill as pleasure remains in the "suggestive" realm. Examples: Fast driving, most amusement park rides, having my feet tickled. I did experience one roller coaster ride that went beyond my boundaries, though, it was called the "Mouse" or something like that. It was a rickety, wooden one that felt like you were going to be tipped out as you turned a 90 degree corner right at the edge of the construct. I was swearing the whole way through, had no control over my vocals.

***connecting topics S. King and zombies***

I don't think Mr. King has written anything zombie-related, has he? It would be interesting what his world would be like.

[JayDee]

We don't need folks with knowlege! We have google!

http://www.stephenking.com/darktower/connections/

So, yeah... not just to The Stand, but to a whole lot of other things. Including 11/22/63, so if you look scroll down real fast past that bit to avoid spoilers.

I had a search for Zombie stories - apparantly 'Home Delivery' is a Zombie story in the Nightmares and Dreamscapes collection, can't specifically recall any in the collections I've read. They're probably too scared to show up in a lot of his stuff. It's not as if being dead is the worst that can happen in Mr King's Maine!

Zombieland was hilarious! Man, that was a good movie. I don't see a film like that as in the horror catagory really, it's such an out-and-out comedy. Shaun of the Dead was pretty good but I didn't find it as funny as Zombieland - maybe I am not subtle enough.

Robert Kirkman did a Marvel Zombies comic in full color, which is probably better if you know the Marvel characters. Lines such as "In fact Thor's leaning over to eat some of that" relating to half-eaten Magneto bursting from another zombie's stomach. Yeah, I am really not subtle!

[Raymy]

Wow! There is a lot of subtle references intertwining his works. I probably picked up on some when reading The Dark Tower as I read it after The Stand. Randall Flagg or his incarnations do ring a bell. I just couldn't pick it out of my brain until a light was shone on it.

All this talk of cool stuff I haven't seen or read makes me itchy to get on it. Not enough time to waste away the hours, though. I'll stick to my current decision to read 11/22/63, and then I'll see where I go from there.

Consarn it! Now I am the most recent poster in this forum again! I was trying to avoid that, heh...

If you don't want to be the most recent poster, you could just leave the thread here, I won't mind.

[BronxWench]

Apropos of nothing, I've always enjoyed King's work, and preferred the books to the adaptions in general, with the exception of the movie adaptation of "Misery" simply to see Jimmy Caan.

I did know someone who lived down the road from the Kings in Bangor, He was apparently a rather nice fellow.

[Raymy]

I did know someone who lived down the road from the Kings in Bangor, He was apparently a rather nice fellow.

That is quite shocking. I would assume that there would only be weirdness within a 20 mile radius.

[BronxWench]

She said people just treated him like anyone else, and that was apparently exactly how he liked it. I've always been of the opinion that it's the exceedingly normal types that bear watching, actually, so that sort of cinched it for me.

But, having grown up reading a great many of the authors he claims were strong influences on him, I'm not surprised that I like his books. He's also refreshingly blunt on the topic of writing.

[Dean_Wax]

YOU GUYS.

Sequel to the Shining!

I'm so excited.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doctor_Sleep_%28novel%29

[JayDee]

I thought The Simpsons already did that

[Dean_Wax]

Simpsons have done everything. Forget about them!

This book is the future. And also, a copy will be my birthday present.

[Cuzosu]

My mother got me into Stephen King.... She has, last I was aware, 1-5 of his Dark Tower series. We borrowed 6 from a library and I bought 7 in hardback. Wonderful series. I love his choice of ending, versus the fan one. It's not happy, but it's...very much par for the main character's luck in the series. Saying anything further would give spoilers to people who may not want them, so I'll just note that I still love the Dark Tower series.

Um.... There are a number of other books of his that my mom has, but I think the one that stands out in my mind the most, apart from the Dark Tower series, is Rose Madder. I believe there is a movie that's supposedly based off the book (Rose Red? It was advertised on SciFi at one point....), but I was so disappointed by the mini-preview and the commercials that I never bothered to watch it. I think it would be hard to do justice to Rose Madder, anyway--unless, perhaps, Tim Burton was in charge of making the movie.

Dreamcatcher was...different, but it left me kind of ambivalent, as opposed to my mother's response of, "What the hell was he thinking?"

[the4w5neko]

I liked most of his horror novels, taking place in our real world. I liked the first four Dark Tower books, but King just got really weird in the last 3. I won't spoil the end, but it's just really weak and some characters were killed off before they should have been.

[Muhabba]

I've read most of Stephen King's novels starting from when I was a kid. I love the Dark Tower books and have reread them more times than any of his other books.

[pippychick]

I'll just add my adoration of Stephen King to this thread, and add a little to say I prefer his horror novels to his thrillers.

I can't remember the first one I read. My mother says I was a strange baby, and that it was almost as if I could sing before I could talk, and read before I could walk. My Dad was a horror and sci-fi fan, and despite his best efforts, as a kid I did get my hands on his books now and again.

Favourites: definitely The Stand, IT, The Tommyknockers (and I know not everyone likes that one), Insomnia was pretty good, and the collaborations with Straub.

Anyone who writes should read On Writing. It's one of the best books of it's type I've come across.

[Muhabba]

I also liked the Tommyknockers. It was a very interesting take on the alien invasion trope. Also I really enjoyed On Writing, it was a cool look at his writing process. On a technical note Stephen King is a very poor writer in that he doesn't stick to the ridged structue involved in writing liturature as he has a personal style that wouldn't work with any other writer.

[BronxWench]

I would disagree that his personal style makes Stephen King a poor writer. By adhering to an overly rigid structure for literature, you run the risk of sacrificing creativity for form. While form has a place in things like sonnets and waka, one of my absolute favorite writers, Samuel R Delany, tossed the style book out the window when he wrote some of his most amazing works. "Dhalgren" can still leave me breathless, and "Stars in My Pocket Like Grains of Sand" is sheer gorgeousness.

On the other hand, the relentless predictability of Barbara Cartlandt is what gave romance writing such a bad name.

[JayDee]

Well, that, and the fact that everything she owned was bright pink.

[Muhabba]

I totally agree that his personal style of writing vs. the traditional structue completely works for him. But strickly speaking on the technical means that everyone learns in school what he does simply shouldn't work but for him it does. If most writers tried to write the way Stephen King does they'd fall flat on their faces.