Stephen King

[greyman24]

Given the last MS podcast, I figured I'd put this up.

Who has read SK's books? How many? Do you despise him? Like him? Want to get down and dirty with him?

[Gaumer]

Misery; Salem's Lot; a few of the collections; maybe more.

He's ok.

[litanyofthieves]

I've only read the Dark Tower books, but I liked those a lot.

[Slappy]

He often has a great start, runs well, but he just doesn't know how to finish.

[greyman24]

I kind of disagree. He's had some really awesome finishes. The book of Pet Sematary had an excellently creepy finish. The Stand had a perfect denouement. Even The Dark Tower series, to my mind (and I know I may be alone in this) had the best possible ending.

The problem is either when people try to ADAPT his endings or when the book just isn't that good to start with.

It, for example, had a great ending. But now, when people think of the book they think of that horrible ending from the TV movie (where, actually, the whole 2nd half of the movie was just bad). And as much as Pet Sematary (which is one of the scariest books I've ever read) had a great finish, the MOVIE had a HORRIBLE ending.

All of his books from Tommyknockers on, however, were just plain bad, with the exception of the Dark Tower books.

[Damascus]

Comics got me reading, but Stephen King got me really reading novels.  I have always been a voracious reader, ever since I was a kid, but when I came across my first Stephen King book when I was 10 or 11 years old I was hooked.  I have almost all of his books here at the house and I'm frequently buying the same books over again (usually because I'm replacing an old yellowed out reader copy that I had).  When I was about 10, I was at a library with a Book Nazi at the front desk who didn't like the younger kids to be in the adult section, but I was a kid who didn't want to read juvenile literature.  I had to sneak behind the half wall that went behind her desk to get to the adult section and I was skimming through the book ends and one hardback book just stood out to me, it had the picture of a dragon on the binding.  I found Eyes of the Dragon (probably the perfect book of his for a younger reader to get), it was a brilliant book all about dragons and wizards and knights and betrayal.  The main bad guy, many people may know as Randall Flagg (or some derivation of that name), which you may know from The Stand and The Dark Tower series.  Stephen King's It is one of my favorite movies and books, the end half of the movie might fall apart a bit, but for how old I was when I saw it and the fact that it's a made-for-tv movie, I think it's pretty darn creepy.  The Dark Tower series is a brilliant piece of fiction, I never really like when a writer writes themselves into their story so that part was pretty weak, but I loved the books either way.  I would like an Oy-Oy if only I could find one.  The Green Mile is just such a touching and remarkable story, that I think had a very well thought out ending. 

I could profess my adoration for Stephen King for many more paragraphs, but I think you all can get the gist here.

[andrew wiggins]

own every book early career when on drugs carrie salems lot and the shining great books,  love his short stories, and agree his short stories r best but look at the mist book ending totally different. also i love his sons work heart shaped box by joe hill

[greyman24]

Yeah. I was 14 when I read Christine. It made me want to write books. I'd never read anything that was so descriptive. It pulled you into the narrative. I read every book he'd published, gathering them from thrift stores and book stores whenever possible. After Tommyknockers, I kept trying to give him a chance. I still picked up his books, reading Gerald's Game, Desperation, The Dark Half, Rose Madder, Insomnia and Delores Claiborne. But they just weren't as good as his earlier works. Finally, after reading The Regulators, I gave up.

Still, those earlier books have some amazing writing in them. I've gone back and read them from time to time, and they hold up.

[Damascus]

I actually really liked The Regulators and Desperation, especially if read back-to-back.  I liked Cell, I thought it was a different take on a zombie story.  Lisey's Story and Duma Key were a little weak, but I enjoyed the narrative of the stories.  Has anybody read Under the Dome yet?  I have had it for a while, but I'm still trying to get through Just After Sunset right now.  I love his short stories, but for me, once I finish a short story I always take a long time to start the next one. 

Seriously, if anyone hasn't read Eyes of the Dragon, give it a chance it's really good.