Stephen King thread
I felt like starting a thread about this author because I would like to give some thoughts on his upcoming novel, Joyland, to be distributed by Hard Case Crime.
From what I have read, a certain someone who had read the book ahead of publication stated that the book had made him cry. Usually, when you know how moved you are by a certain book or movie, you know that that movie or book will be a success. I also like the fact that he is combining a whodunnit, a story of growing up, a tragedy, and a ghost story all in one. I am very looking forward to the release of this novel, and I will make sure that I am one of the first buyers. Dr. Sleep is another definite buy for me.
Please don’t spam me.
From what I have read, a certain someone who had read the book ahead of publication stated that the book had made him cry. Usually, when you know how moved you are by a certain book or movie, you know that that movie or book will be a success. I also like the fact that he is combining a whodunnit, a story of growing up, a tragedy, and a ghost story all in one. I am very looking forward to the release of this novel, and I will make sure that I am one of the first buyers. Dr. Sleep is another definite buy for me.
Please don’t spam me.
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Comments
Looks like you met your own expectations.
A lot of his new stuff is pretty meh, but the classics remain just that. Let's face it, he ALWAYS has a new book coming out. I recall them joking about that in the 90's, but he's just spewing it out constantly now. I'm really not surprised I've heard nothing about this book.
I'm sure you can tell by the DVD pictures, that I'm a fan(I own almost every adaptation, even though they generally aren't very good). I just don't read a lot anymore and I long ago gave up trying to read at the pace he's writing.
After I finish my reread of Harry Potter (and the super-fan sequel books I recently discovered, called "James Potter"), I'm hitting up my library for the Dark Tower series.
Actually, I really liked 11/22/63. It took me 8 months to finish it, and it was pretty compelling. Also, there are some good Stephen King adaptations and there are some shit ones.
Good ones:
Stand By Me
Misery
‘Salem’s Lot
Bag of Bones
The Shawshank Redemption
The Green Mile
The Shining
Children of the Corn
Silver Bullet
Carrie
Cujo
The Dead Zone
Pet Sematary
Christine
Firestarter
The Running Man (Bachman book)
The Stand
1408
The Tommyknockers
Secret Window
Shit ones:
Maximum Overdrive
Creepshow
All of the sequels to Children of the Corn
Sometimes They Come Back and all of it’s sequels
It
Quicksilver Highway
The Langoliers
The Mangler
Sleepwalkers
The Lawnmower Man
The Mist
Dreamcatcher
Hearts in Atlantis
Riding The Bullet
Dolan’s Cadillac
Want something controversial? I liked The Shining miniseries better than the Kubrick movie. Why? because I read the book first and Kubrick changed A LOT. I preferred the miniseries that stuck closer to the book.
Parts of the film are chilling, charged with a relentlessly claustrophobic terror, but others fall flat. Not that religion has to be involved in horror, but a visceral skeptic such as Kubrick just couldn't grasp the sheer inhuman evil of The Overlook Hotel. So he looked, instead, for evil in the characters and made the film into a domestic tragedy with only vaguely supernatural overtones. That was the basic flaw: because he couldn't believe, he couldn't make the film believable to others. What's basically wrong with Kubrick's version of The Shining is that it's a film by a man who thinks too much and feels too little; and that's why, for all its virtuoso effects, it never gets you by the throat and hangs on the way real horror should.
This just about sums it up.
Oh it was great at that. Very memorable with it's visuals, design, and cinematography. I just felt disappointed with the story that was told.
In the novel he doesn't die.
The ending was better though. When I watched the movie the first time, I sat there stunned for a minute, thinking "really"?
It's not scary, it's unintentionally funny.
I bet that's what got him on Batman.
Waitwaitwait...there's a 4.5 book to the Dark Tower series? Aw dang it I was almost done. (almost being Wolves of the Calla but still). Did you know he wrote a mini-story as well? It's called "The Little Sisters of Eluria" and was a pretty good read. I know for a fact it's in his "Everything's Eventual" book (which is a collection of shorts for the most part). Thanks for the heads up with the 4.5 book, I'm gonna try and find that one!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VJ_FcdFIJqU
No the best is The Shawshank Redemption. Followed by The Green Mile. Then Stand By Me.
The Dark Tower Series. Everyone who enjoys adventure games should read it.
The Gunslinger took King 20 years to finish and the entire series much, much longer (He claimed it was his most difficult accomplishment, writing these books.)
The Gunslinger (Book One) is excellent (though short, quick, and hard, like much of his works back then)
The Drawing of The Three (Book Two) is fantastic as well but it was left as a cliff hanger that a lot of fans didn't like at the time, also because his 3rd book was slow in coming (he struggled through book three)
The Wastelands (Book Three) is also excellent.
Wizard and Glass (Book Four) this is where two things happen. He begins spending more time with the series as he has made a commitment to the fans to do so, and the level of the story somehow begins to become a bit strained, like it is being forced.
Wolves of the Calla (Book Five) I honestly don't remember a great deal about this book, which says something. Not that it wasn't worth reading, I am sure it was, but nothing about it stood out.
Song of Susannah (Book Six) The most memorable part of this book is the tie in with Salem's Lot's main character.
The Dark Tower (Book Seven) Most fans hated the ending. But it was a necessary ending and I liked it.
Wind Through The Keyhole (Book 4.5) adds nothing to the series. You can take it or leave it. It answers no questions, it does not move the plot forward. It is simply a story within a story.
The Dark Tower is the center of Stephen King's universes. It ties so many of his books together into one massive world full of different horrors. I don't see how anyone who has read his books cannot read this series, even if they end up hating it.
I've also enjoyed Duma Key, 11/22/63, and a couple other recent works. But the man isn't under contract anymore and isn't being pushed by agents and publishers to write only "certain types" of fiction, so he's basically writing all the stuff he never got to when he was stuck in contracts. And some of it just isn't to my taste.
I thought the Bag Of Bones adaptation was crap but I read the book several times because I enjoyed it so much.