Stephen King recommendations (beyond the usual…) - Page 2

Guest 58450 · 29-07-2011, 10:07

Quote:

Originally Posted by mr starface

Havent tried the Dark Tower, do people recommend this? Always thought it looked a bit like it was aimed at the childrens market?

You may have got mixed up with Eyes of the Dragon (I think it's that) which is sort of for children, but a great read. Also has Flagg in it.

I would second Dolores Claiborne. It might actually be my favourite of his books, but it's not a chiller so much as a great story.

The Talisman is amazing and Black House is almost as good. In later years it helps to read his books in order, especially as the references to the Dark Tower come thick and fast. Hearts in Atlantis links to Black House and they both link to The Dark Tower, as does Flagg really.

Spooky_uk · 29-07-2011, 11:02

Second many of the recommendations here and also another thumbs up for Skeleton crew

Ratfink · 31-07-2011, 12:12

Of the most recent reads by King, I really enjoyed Duma Key, which is much, much better than the rather pedestrian and plodding Under the Dome, that people seemed to love.

dunkle · 31-07-2011, 12:17

Read lots of king years back and the one i remember the most was langoliers from four past midnight ( think that was the collection ).

SIMON ADEBISI · 31-07-2011, 12:22

What was the short story where a bloke gets a package full of miniature soldiers and tanks and they proceed to wage war on him? Read it yonks ago and cant remember which collection it came from.

Ratfink · 31-07-2011, 12:28

You're thinking about Battleground from the Night Shift collection. Langoliers was from four Past Midnight, and about the passengers/crew on a commercial airliner awakening to find other passengers missing and..

Langoliers was a great story, turned into an awful Tv movie.

SIMON ADEBISI · 31-07-2011, 12:35

Excellent. Cheers Ratso rizzo.

Mike Mither · 01-08-2011, 07:11

Quote:

Originally Posted by RoboCop4

It sounds clichéd, I know, but IMHO his earlier works are definitely superior - either that or I just outgrew him in my mid-20s.

I suspect that's a common feeling - his were the first 'adult books' I read and there was a point when I would just devour them. I remember rattling through Misery over a breathless weekend when it first arrived in the post from World Books (as I think it was called) - what an unbelievably tense read that one was. Of the rest, I loved Salem's Lot (Needful Things came across as a bit of a rip-off to me) and Pet Sematary, and the 'fairy tale' tone of Eye of the Dragon really went down well, indeed the latter is a book I recently repurchased for my son and he loved it too.

Sadly, all those books went the way of the charity store years ago, back during a purge of everything that wasn't cool or contemporary. Too many books, though in fairness it isn't often that I've read anything that was quite as enjoyable as those old King thrillers.

Some other works I'd heartily recommend:

The Dead Zone - thinking back to it, nothing very much happens in this one, so it's a pleasant surprise that such a meditative novel is actually fairly gripping. As a West Wing fan, I had to smile at the irony of the casting of Martin Sheen in the Dead Zone adaptation as the nutter future President who'd push the button.

Danse Macabre - King's examination of the horror genre, a text that's far more accessible and engaging than most tomes. The book includes a set of lengthier pieces on books he has really appreciated and that have been influential to him over the years, and which - thanks to him - I've since read and enjoyed.

The Girl who loved Tom Gordon - one of his latter works, where all the excesses have been stripped away to leave a short novel that's big on suspense, in fact it's an exercise in pure tension.

Skeleton Crew - for me, the best compilation of his short stories, and features the brilliant The Mist, a kind of novella-length piece that opens the set. The shot story collections are a bit of a mixed bag, but I chose this one for tales that stuck with me, like The Jaunt (a potted history of a teleportation method and why it's critical that you're asleep before you use it) and Survivor Type (surgeon trapped alone on a desert island with nothing to eat...).

Guest 58450 · 01-08-2011, 08:22

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mike Mither

I suspect that's a common feeling - his were the first 'adult books' I read and there was a point when I would just devour them. I remember rattling through Misery over a breathless weekend when it first arrived in the post from World Books (as I think it was called) - what an unbelievably tense read that one was. Of the rest, I loved Salem's Lot (Needful Things came across as a bit of a rip-off to me) and Pet Sematary, and the 'fairy tale' tone of Eye of the Dragon really went down well, indeed the latter is a book I recently repurchased for my son and he loved it too.

I actually would put Misery in the post-good section. It bored me when I tried reading it but by then I'd already read a bunch of his earlier ones.

I've defended his recent stuff before. I went back and read Salem's Lot again recently (just before Dark Tower V came out though I didn't know it would prove so important to that book). It was the first King I read back in the mid-80s and stuck with me, but it was odd to read it again: the story is fast and clever and and the atmosphere is great but in many ways I think he writes better now and with a more 'adult' tone and thought behind it. He has put out some dull/weird books in more recent years too but From a Buick 8, for example, is both chilling and better thought out than a lot of his early efforts. Familiarity does breed a contempt, I think...

mr starface · 02-08-2011, 13:17

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ratfink

Of the most recent reads by King, I really enjoyed Duma Key, which is much, much better than the rather pedestrian and plodding Under the Dome, that people seemed to love.

Really?

I found Duma Key so slow and dull, real struggle to finish whereas I loved Under the Dome eve though the characters are monumentally stupid.

Guest 24292 · 02-08-2011, 13:35

What about his upcoming new novel, "11/22/63" ?

Plot sounds intriguing..

Ratfink · 02-08-2011, 14:04

Quote:

Originally Posted by mr starface

Really?

I found Duma Key so slow and dull, real struggle to finish whereas I loved Under the Dome eve though the characters are monumentally stupid.

Yes, really.

Duma Key was completely refreshing, and the characters were excellent, especially the relationship between the two leads. It had a real brooding intensity to it, and I love the way it played out. Most of all I really invested in the characters.

Under the Dome got tedious fast, had boring characters and the world's most stupid ending. Shame, as it was quite interesting when it started.

mr starface · 02-08-2011, 14:08

Think it was all the descriptive painting stuff that sent me to sleep and as I was listening to the audiobook in the car couldnt really skip it either.

Guest 32525 · 02-08-2011, 20:52

Only issue I had with Duma Key was

Felt really amateurish for someone with King's experience. I do think it is one of his strongest recent works though.

Guest 25784 · 03-08-2011, 07:08

Quote:

Originally Posted by Vaz

What about his upcoming new novel, "11/22/63" ?

Plot sounds intriguing..

I want it to work, but I wanted Under The Dome to work and I couldn't get on with it at all, and the "tinkering with events and affecting the future" is a bit like "The Dead Zone".

Like a lot of the other posters here I loved King's earlier books, but his later output (post illness) just hasn't cut it for me. "Full Dark No Stars" was a good enough read for £2.99 (special offer in WH Smiths), but the four short stories in it were all a bit too similar enough to other, better, King stories. If I didn't know those earlier stories I'd have been more impressed - but I did, and therefore I cqme away less impressed than I might have otherwise been.

Ratfink · 03-08-2011, 10:15

Quote:

Originally Posted by Vicster

"Full Dark No Stars" was a good enough read for £2.99 (special offer in WH Smiths), but the four short stories in it were all a bit too similar enough to other, better, King stories.

I saw a poster for that at on the underground today - never heard of it before. Had I known there was a £2.99 WHSmith offer, I'd have been all over it. I wonder if it's still on?

DrZarkov · 03-08-2011, 18:20

Re-reading 'The Dead Zone' just now and loving it.

Unlike Ratfink, I really enjoyed 'Under the Dome' and thought it one of Kings best books for many years. The character Big Jim is King's best villain for years imo

LouBarlow · 03-08-2011, 18:25

I loved it too. It's the first post-accident book that has really grabbed me.

Guest 25784 · 03-08-2011, 20:06

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ratfink

I saw a poster for that at on the underground today - never heard of it before. Had I known there was a £2.99 WHSmith offer, I'd have been all over it. I wonder if it's still on?

Nope, it's finished - you had to be an o2 customer and signed up for their "o2 Priority" texts or have the app on your phone. That would then give you a code you could show in store. Each offer runs for a week - theres two different books on offer now. It's worth a read, its just nothing in there feels particualry original. Theres mention of Castle Rock though, which is always nice

DrZarkov · 22-08-2011, 21:53

Re-read Carrie after many years. Really enjoyed it, reminded me more of his later novels for some reason (cell?).

Going onto Nightshift now