ive just been introduced to this guy and hes awesome ive nearly finished Different Seasons a book which consists of four short stories such as The Shawshank Redemption and The Body (Stand by Me) and im eager to read more of his works
stephen king got me into reading a long time ago, because my middle school library had a fair amount of his works. in those three years i probably read about twenty or thirty king books.
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that is exactly how i felt at first. I felt cheated. After further contemplation however, i came to appreciate it. It was almost soley a book for the fans, because it was such a personal venture for King. It seemed to tie together the entire stpehen King universe. I think he tried to make the ending open ended for fans so they could create their own ending. I trully believe he tried his best to include his fans in the writing process. At first it felt just the opposite for me though.
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Re: Stephen King
having read all of his works. I would highly suggest hearts in atlantis and eyes of the dragon (non horror-fantasy tale with a dark ages backdrop). these books are not horror, but showcase Kings dynamics as a writer. Your must read stories though are The talisman (science fiction venture revolving around alternate universes) and salems lot (pure horror), and the shining ( quite possibly the most atmospheric horror story i have read) and one of his most recent books the cell is a very easy and compelling read (story about armageddon with a twist) These are good books to read as a new king fan fan. king has a tendency to draw his stories out, but these four books to me are his shining achievments as a writer.
It is hard to become King fan unless you start out with the right books. you should start out with his easier reads, because sometimes he can be quite complex in his plot wievings. A rare book of his is the long walk, one of his first and very easy and fun weekend read.
but if you liked shawshank, i realy think youll like hearts in atlantis.
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Eyes of the Dragon was my first King book, and I was hooked instantly. Another classic is The Stand. Kind of like Cell in the Armaggedon-y feel, but instead of phones, it's a bio-weapon. I think it's a bit better than Cell because it tells who released it, why, and what happened to those affected. I suggest the expanded and revised edition. (same price, more book)
And if you liked The Shawshank Redemption, The Green Mile's about Death Row. There's also a movie for Shawshank if you're interested. It's pretty good.
looking through king's bibliography, i've read all but firestarter/needful things/delores claiborne/rose madder/everything he's done since dark tower seven. oh, and i guess i haven't read any of his non fiction except danse macabre. point being, out of all those, this is my top ten (no order):
the shining
the stand
the dead zone
the talisman
IT
Misery
Insomnia
desperation/regulators
danse macabre
the dark tower series
out of his short stories, i thought four past midnight, nightmares and dreamscapes, and night shift were all quite good.
hmm...maybe it's time for me to pick up a king book again. it's been a solid five years since i read any king outside of the dark tower franchise. i remember how it happened, too...i read "on the road" and started my "serious" literary career, which ironically led me to profoundly dislike "on the road".
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Last edited by manorastroman on Apr 9th, 2007 at 01:26 PM
I started reading King at school, and have read most of his work. My favourite is probably "The Dark Half" or "Desperation", although I enjoy the short stories too - even if some are a little cheesey.
I liked Rose Madder. It's not a book that seems to come up in conversation a lot, but check it out.
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I've read a lot of King's work and I have to say that Insomnia was my favourite. It demonstrated King's ability to bring diversity into a suffering genre.
A good blend of genres is extremely hard to find and this book did it fantastically. Desperation was also a fantastic work. He seems to be one of the only authors around who can release so much work and the quality not suffer tremendously.
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on writing was a great read -- not only for those interested in learning a little about writing, but for thoe interested in learning more about the WRITER himself. a very worthwhile read if you like king.
"Dolores Claiborne " is an excellent book. Same for "Misery".
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Mar 29th, 2007 05:22 PM
