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Post by StarOpal on Jun 8, 2006 12:27:49 GMT -5
I've only just started reading Stephen King (as in I bought Carrie, Salem's Lot, and The Shining in one big hardback yesterday). So as someone who is completely new to him are there any suggestions to read or avoid?
Bag of Bones sounds pretty interesting. Is it any good?
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Post by Head Mutant on Jun 8, 2006 12:45:41 GMT -5
Best King (my opinion, of course):
Dark Tower series
The Stand
It
His short story anthologies
From A Buick 8
Rose Madder
Talisman/Black House
Hearts in Atlantis
The Green Mile
Desperation
The Long Walk
Misery
I'd say the rest is take it or leave it.
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Post by blinkfan on Jun 8, 2006 14:13:41 GMT -5
What?!!! No Pet Sematary? No The Shining? No Carrie? No Christine. None of his Bachman books.
Pet Sematary is His best in his opinion. I read The Stand. It was good. But I think Pet Sematary is a far superior book.
I also have read the Dark Tower series and 90% of what you put up there. I habe not read It. I have a thing about Clowns. Waaaay To creepy for Old Blinky.
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Post by Spiderdancer on Jun 8, 2006 14:20:40 GMT -5
Mutant travel advisory: if the words "Pet Sematary" appear on this forum at all in the next year, someone is going to get a box of spiders mailed to them. I swear it on the grave of my dead father.*
I'm reading "Sunshine" by Robin McKinley. I don't usually go in for vampire books, not after I quit on Laurell Hamilton for excessive kinkiness, but I'm really enjoying this one. I'm over a hundred pages in and there has actually been NO physical description of the main character, and despite it being a first-person narrative, Ms. McKinley has not taken the typical way out of having a person look in a mirror so you can describe them. That alone earns her valuable bonus points, redeemable for merchandise at a Shalen Center near you.
It gradually begins to occur to me that a lot of these books seem to be about young females and their relationships to older male vampires. Hmmmm. And many of them contain other supernatural elements such as demons, but the book is still about vampires. Hmmm. Someone needs to write a book about a young man and his relationship to an older female demon. Heh heh.
*No, he is not technically dead per se. Picky, picky.
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Post by Magill on Jun 8, 2006 15:09:14 GMT -5
I really enjoy The Dead Zone and Firestarter. I guess I'm more of a fan of early King. It gradually begins to occur to me that a lot of these books seem to be about young females and their relationships to older male vampires. Hmmmm. And many of them contain other supernatural elements such as demons, but the book is still about vampires. Hmmm. Someone needs to write a book about a young man and his relationship to an older female demon. Heh heh. Meredith Ann Pierce's "Darkangel" trilogy deals with the relationship between a young man/teenager and an older, near immortal water-demon. It's not the main focus of the story and only really comes up in books 2 and 3. It also takes place in the distant future on a terraformed moon, so I'm not sure if she really is a demon, after all. Let me know how Sunshine is. I like Robin McKinley's works but haven't gotten around to reading that yet. |
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Post by Spiderdancer on Jun 8, 2006 15:49:21 GMT -5
My point exactly. It's never going to BE the main focus of the story, because most vampire book readers are young women and most vampire book writers are women also. It's like a gorier romance subgenre. And, while I do not claim to understand the young male mind, I've noticed most young male coming-of-age stories involve sports or hunting/survivalism rather than fighting the Undead. Go figure.
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Post by blinkfan on Jun 8, 2006 19:39:23 GMT -5
Mutant travel advisory: if the words "Pet Sematary" appear on this forum at all in the next year, someone is going to get a box of spiders mailed to them. I swear it on the grave of my dead father.* Wait I thought I wasn't supposed to mention the you know what not the book. And What Type of spiders.It dosen't matter (you successfully instilled fear into my heart.I am just curious. |
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Post by Al on Jun 8, 2006 21:11:51 GMT -5
Bag of Bones sounds pretty interesting. Is it any good? Bag of Bones was ultimately worth it, in my opinion, but a long, slow, read. It felt very atypical of his usual stuff. I'd also add to that list The Shining, The Dead Zone, and sticking The Regulators in right after reading Desperation (they're companion pieces). Al |
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Post by Head Mutant on Jun 8, 2006 21:45:04 GMT -5
I'm not saying the others are bad (although Tommyknockers is a great cure for insomnia), just those were my personal faves.
The Long Walk IS a Bachman book.
His 90's writings seemed to suffer in terms of consistent quality... I think he wanted to experiment a lot more with his format, which gave us the great Green Mile serial book project, but we also got some very atypical King works, like Bag of Bones (which depressed and dulled me) and Dolores Clairborne.
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Post by StarOpal on Jun 9, 2006 16:40:16 GMT -5
Thank you to everyone who has/will answer my questions. I really appreciate it.
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Post by Spiderdancer on Jun 9, 2006 16:48:25 GMT -5
.[/quote]Wait I thought I wasn't supposed to mention the you know what not the book.
And What Type of spiders.It dosen't matter (you successfully instilled fear into my heart.I am just curious.[/quote]
Well, my basement is a very successful breeding ground for the aggressive house spider or Tegeneria agrestis, so I figure about fifty large females ought to do it. No one has been known to die from ONE T.agrestis bite, but I'm curious as to what would happen with thirty or so.
Plus I keep threatening Justin, but I've come to the realization that if I kill him I will lose my job here, and who else is going to let me write reviews for their site??
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Post by blinkfan on Jun 9, 2006 16:58:55 GMT -5
I get creeped out just looking at pics of Tegeneria agrestis.Those things are creepy looking.
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Post by Ms. Jellybean on Jun 9, 2006 17:34:23 GMT -5
I've got, ah, ONE book on my current reading list right now (other than the summer reading I've already got for college). I picked up a copy of Lisa Birnbach's "The Official Preppy Handbook" at our local antique store, and it's thoroughly hilarious. Although, I don't know why it was at an antiques store. It was published in 1980. I guess because it's out of print now. No clue.
Anyway. Satirical book lambasting the old-school prepster lifestyle. V.v. funny.
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DTH
Ghostbuster
There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophy.
Posts: 582
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Post by DTH on Jun 12, 2006 11:25:00 GMT -5
My point exactly. It's never going to BE the main focus of the story, because most vampire book readers are young women and most vampire book writers are women also. It's like a gorier romance subgenre. You know, I'd never noticed that. I went through a period of reading Vampire fiction which began with "Interview With The Vampire" and ended with some novel by Laurel K. Hamilton. Although there are a few male authors, they do indeed tend to be women writers. Really weird how that slipped by!  Interesting. Out of all the stuff I read, Nancy A. Collins' stuff was pretty good, though the third novel lost its way, I thiunk. Although I have read the majority of her stuff, the only Anne Rice novels I think are actually any good are "Vampire Lestat" and "The Vampire Armand". The others I just didn't like. My advice to anyone interested, watch the film version of "Interview With the Vampire" and "Queen of the Damned". Yes, the latter is awful but the book is worse. If you really feel the need, you can save yourself a whole of reading. I would be quite happy to summarise the plot of the book to Queen of the Damned for anyone interested, so that they don't have to subject themselves to that novel and still enjoy the good bits of the Vampire Chronicles. |
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DTH
Ghostbuster
There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophy.
Posts: 582
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Post by DTH on Jun 12, 2006 11:31:08 GMT -5
I've been on a reading bender recently and worked my way through the following stuff:
1. Orson Scott Card's "Ender" & "Bean" series. These are two seperate series of books set in the same universe and both are some excellent examples of sci-fi. If you are interested in sci-fi at all, I urge you to at least read "Ender's Game". It is excellent.
4 out of 5 stars.
2. "Pandora's Star" & "Judas Unchained" by Peter F. Hamilton. Mr Hamilton is possibly the United Kingdom's premier sci-fi writer at the moment. These most recent novels are absolutely fantastic and I can't recommend them more highly.
5 out of 5 stars.
3. "Hunting Party" by Elizabeth Moon. Well written, engaging characters and an interesting story, I would like to read more of her stuff.
3.5 out of 5 stars.
4. "Kafka On The Shore" by Haruki Murakami. An English translation of a slightly bizarre Japanese novel, I am currently about half way through and REALLY enjoying it. Will let you know how it goes when I've finished.
Best Regards
DtH
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