The Farm House

Farm Goddess · Goddess

Stephen King

Shannon · Honored Guest

I started losing my love for Stephen King since "Tommy Knockers" came out. I hear "IT" was a great book, but I just couldn't get into it. I haven't read one since then. But, before that, I read all of them. "The Shining" was my favorite and "Misery" scared me the most.

I do, however, like Stephen King as a person (based on what I've read about him, of course) and have seen his house. It's cool.

-- Edited by Shannon at 10:58, 2008-09-18

Farm Goddess · Goddess

I loved The Shining. I read that as a teen. In later years I tried reading him but he kept going so far off track that I'd get bored. Now, if I get tempted to read his books, I skim. I truly do love his short story collections though. To write short stories you cannot wander aimlessly in a forest of words. You have to be concise and to the point. His short stories are spellbinding, beautifully written, entertaining and thought provoking.

Shannon · Honored Guest

Farm Goddess wrote:

he kept going so far off track that I'd get bored.

Exactly my problem with him. It started with either IT or Tommy Knockers--I can't remember which one came out first.

I never thought of trying out his short stories again. I read a bunch of them back when I was reading his stuff all the time, but have since forgotten about them.

-- Edited by Shannon at 13:58, 2008-09-18

Kapitan Mors · Supreme Being

Farm Goddess wrote:

I like his books even though I end up skimming through them because he has a tendency to wander around. Kapitan Mors, however, is a big fan of the books and the man. He has a great blog post up now that includes a hysterical "interview" with King. You can read his blog at http://dubious-maxims.blogspot.com

I like King because he's a big fan of Harry Potter hehehe. Smart man!

I liked the Dark Tower series in particular. Not all of the books are great, and none of the books are uniformly great, but it's good enough that you accept the investment required to read fifteen trillion pages and you get on with it. The first book - "The Gunslinger" is particularly good, being fresh and unusual and liable to move at a pretty good pace. "Wolves of the Calla" (I think it's book 5) is also excellent, as it introduces an excellent new character, Father Callahan, and his longish side-story is actually good enough it doesn't feel like what it really is, a huge digression.

So in my opinion, "The Gunslinger" is the best novel-length thing King has ever written (though his short stories are often even better) and "Cujo" is easily the worst.

Jaye · Old Hand

I'm a huge Stephen King fan. I have read every one of his books. 'Salem's Lot and The Stand are probably my favorites. Back in the late 90's I had to go to Portland, Maine on business about once a month. My dream was to have him sign all my books. I even wrote him and asked. He responded about 3 months later saying he'd been in the wilds of northern Maine and had not been around to sign my books. His newest book, Duma Key, has some very scary moments. I was impressed overall by this one since lately it seemed his books were not nearly as suspenseful as his earlier works. One thing I love about him is his ability to write so clearly that you can "see" what is happening.

Kapitan Mors · Supreme Being

Jaye wrote:

I'm a huge Stephen King fan. I have read every one of his books. 'Salem's Lot and The Stand are probably my favorites. Back in the late 90's I had to go to Portland, Maine on business about once a month. My dream was to have him sign all my books. I even wrote him and asked. He responded about 3 months later saying he'd been in the wilds of northern Maine and had not been around to sign my books. His newest book, Duma Key, has some very scary moments. I was impressed overall by this one since lately it seemed his books were not nearly as suspenseful as his earlier works. One thing I love about him is his ability to write so clearly that you can "see" what is happening.

I'm reading Salem's Lot right now, oddly enough, and I quite like it. I'm only just getting to the horror guts of the story (they've just buried - and unburied - Danny Glick and we've met Father Callahan for the first time) but it's been quite good so far.

I haven't read The Duma Key yet, but I finished Lisey's Story a while back. Although I thought it was a little self-indulgent in places, it still turned out to be good, and nothing at all like I expected.

Jaye · Old Hand

Ah, 'Salem's Lot. I'd love to be reading it now for the first time. I couldn't tell you how many times I've read it. I've got a first edition of it, but unfortunately it's not in very good shape. I also have a first edition of The Gunslinger that's illustrated. It's not in very good shape either because it was damaged by flooding in Hurricane Hugo. I love the Danny Glick part especially when he's outside Mark's window pawing at it. I think the first movie based on 'Salem's Lot was actually pretty good. They did well with Danny Glick both when he was buried and after he rose from the grave. Aside from David Soul and the reversal of characters of Barlow and his servant, I think the character portrayals were pretty close to the book.

Kapitan Mors · Supreme Being

My favorite part of Salem's Lot, so far, is when Susan and Matt are talking in his kitchen and Matt suddenly stops and says with complete certainty "There's someone upstairs." That was good and creepy.

I went for years not reading any of King's books at all. The only novel of his I read for years was The Stand, and that was because I was in a basketball league and banged up my ribs and needed a fairly lengthy book to keep me occupied during my so-called convalescence.

But now that I've started reading King, I'm pleased to note that I have what amounts to a whole library of King to read without having to wait. I read the whole Dark Tower series in one continuous go, and didn't have to wait for him to finish any of them. I think having to wait would have driven me mad.

The Gunslinger is probably my favorite of his. I didn't know there was an illustrated version. I have semi-illustrated versions of Wolves of the Calla and The Dark Tower, but they're not first printings and aren't in any way special. An early illustrated Gunslinger, however, would be worth something.

Jaye · Old Hand

The illustrated version of The Gunslinger would be worth something if it hadn't suffered extreme water damage. I got it because I was reading another of his books, can't remember which one, and noted The Gunslinger in the credits. I wrote him & asked him about it. He sent me back a letter & said to send a copy to Donald Grant Publishing in Rhode Island, and I could get the book which is what I did. I remember at the time, my mom had a hissy fit because it cost $35.00. Also from Donald Grant I got this really weird book he wrote called "My Pretty Pony" which was illustrated and way oversized, maybe 18"x24". Don't think it ever made it to mass publishing. It is strange, almost a children's book. You've read "The Shining," haven't you? If not, you need to read it next.

-- Edited by Jaye at 22:36, 2008-09-29

Kapitan Mors · Supreme Being

I'm a little better at protecting books these days, but for years I was the nemesis of every book on the planet, mostly because I had the bad habit of reading in the bathtub. If I didn't drop the book and soak it entirely (which was likely) I'd grip it in wet hands or otherwise expose it to water. Many of my old paperbacks have a slightly crisp, somewhat puffy appearance as a result...

But none of my books are really worth anything from a collector's point of view, except for six or eight issues of a highly unconventional comic book called "The Red Star". They're valuable (as comic books go) which is why they're in a cardboard box out in the garage, exposed to heat and gnawing insects... Oh, sometimes I just hate myself.

I finished Salem's Lot today. Very good indeed - and I had to sort of tip my hat to Stephen King that at even that early stage of his career, he'd go for a highly unconventional ending. I imagine his editors fought him tooth and nail, but in the end, I think his instinct was right.

Farm Goddess · Goddess

Jaye wrote:

Also from Donald Grant I got this really weird book he wrote called "My Pretty Pony" which was illustrated and way oversized, maybe 18"x24". Don't think it ever made it to mass publishing. It is strange, almost a children's book.
-- Edited by Jaye at 22:36, 2008-09-29

There's a short story by this title in the collection "Nightmares and Dreamscapes". Silly me... I was expecting a horse story LOL.

Kapitan Mors · Supreme Being

Strange, but all I could think of in the "Pretty Pony" context was the toy horse with the poofy mane and tail. Quadruped Barbie.

Cat Whisperer · Johnny Come Lately

I love Stephen King and really enjoyed Duma Key. I think it's truly one of his best books ever. I also really enjoyed "It" if you ignored the end with the ridiculous "dead light" spewing spider. "The Tommyknockers" and "The Talisman" are the worst King books I think I've ever read. I swear, whatever drugs he was on during "Tommyknockers" must have been either very very good or very very bad because that book is completely insane.

Kapitan Mors · Supreme Being

Cat Whisperer wrote:

I love Stephen King and really enjoyed Duma Key. I think it's truly one of his best books ever. I also really enjoyed "It" if you ignored the end with the ridiculous "dead light" spewing spider. "The Tommyknockers" and "The Talisman" are the worst King books I think I've ever read. I swear, whatever drugs he was on during "Tommyknockers" must have been either very very good or very very bad because that book is completely insane.

I haven't read It or the Tommyknockers. I enjoyed the TV miniseries of It until, as you say, it turned out to be a big spider with "dead lights" (wouldn't it have been ironic if it had been a big spider with bug lights?). I recall uttering the universal particle of interrogation when I saw that ("WTF??").

The Talisman was weird. I kept wanting to call a huddle with the book so it could explain itself. Why are we going to this hotel in California? Who are these tin-can knights again? What's the deal with the train ride? It never seemed coherent, or even internally consistent, and in the end I had to say "Well, I don't think I enjoyed that very much."

I don't know if it was written during King's famous "Cocaine Period" (similar to but more addictive than Picasso's "Blue Period") but I do know that Cujo was written during the cocaine period and King today professes no memory of having written that book at all. There are many things I've written over the years that'd like I forget I wrote too!