― anthony kyle monday (akmonday), Monday, 23 February 2004 04:20 (twenty years ago) link
― s1ocki (slutsky), Monday, 23 February 2004 04:31 (twenty years ago) link
"I read the Mist today, and boy was it scary!"
If you can find it, there's a audio dramatization of the Mist available on cassete. The cool thing about it is that it's in three-dimensional sound, which gives the story an extremely spooky effect.
― latebloomer (latebloomer), Monday, 23 February 2004 04:32 (twenty years ago) link
― Emilymv (Emilymv), Monday, 23 February 2004 05:20 (twenty years ago) link
― s1ocki (slutsky), Monday, 23 February 2004 05:21 (twenty years ago) link
This is so true. His were the first "adult" books I got into reading, as a kid. (I remember learning about most aspects of sex -- except the nuts and bolts, of course, which my mom taught me -- from Stephen King books.) And I think he made for a pretty good segue into the more usual fiction, when I became a preteen... (Because, y'know, he writes about couples and relationships and people musing about their lives and all that shit... just with monsters.)
And I remember "It," which I read in sixth grade, as being one heck of a great book.
― morris pavilion (samjeff), Monday, 23 February 2004 06:07 (twenty years ago) link
― Ned Raggett (Ned), Monday, 23 February 2004 06:11 (twenty years ago) link
― morris pavilion (samjeff), Monday, 23 February 2004 06:24 (twenty years ago) link
― sunjammerr, Monday, 23 February 2004 06:49 (twenty years ago) link
I think his stuff in the last decade or so is unbearable nostalgic crap, I still think his first 15 years had a few genuinely great novels (The Dead Zone and Pet Sematary seem to stand up the best) and a boatload of really scary scenes (the Lincoln Tunnel sequence in The Stand, Ben's Hubie Marston nightmare in 'Salem's Lot).
At this point, though, I'd wager that most of his stuff made for better movies, at least when real directors (as opposed to Frank Darabont) were at the helm. Carrie, The Shining, and Christine are all way beyond the source material. And Cujo, The Dead Zone and 'Salem's Lot are all great movies in their own right.
― Eric H. (Eric H.), Monday, 23 February 2004 07:34 (twenty years ago) link
― latebloomer (latebloomer), Monday, 23 February 2004 07:37 (twenty years ago) link
― Stuart (Stuart), Monday, 23 February 2004 07:38 (twenty years ago) link
― Stuart (Stuart), Monday, 23 February 2004 07:39 (twenty years ago) link
― miloauckerman (miloauckerman), Monday, 23 February 2004 07:47 (twenty years ago) link
― luna (luna.c), Monday, 23 February 2004 07:54 (twenty years ago) link
― Stuart (Stuart), Monday, 23 February 2004 07:56 (twenty years ago) link
Dude, did you see my post upthread?
― latebloomer (latebloomer), Monday, 23 February 2004 08:06 (twenty years ago) link
― miloauckerman (miloauckerman), Monday, 23 February 2004 08:10 (twenty years ago) link
I stopped caring before the first chapter of Delores Claiborne ended (tho that movie was good).
― weather1ngda1eson (Brian), Monday, 23 February 2004 08:58 (twenty years ago) link
― Rob Bolton (Rob Bolton), Monday, 23 February 2004 10:07 (twenty years ago) link
― Rob Bolton (Rob Bolton), Monday, 23 February 2004 10:08 (twenty years ago) link
― Stuart (Stuart), Monday, 23 February 2004 14:14 (twenty years ago) link
― Stuart (Stuart), Monday, 23 February 2004 14:17 (twenty years ago) link
Short stories: great. Dark Tower also good in principle (the first one was only good enough to get me vaguely interested in the seond one, which was great), but if it turns out that I'd have to read all his other books to understand the next volume, I'll be pissed off.
You have to reckon he's jumped the shark when he starts making TV miniseries of all his longer stories, including The Shining. Apparently the film was fine, but not what he was looking for.
And Christine to thread!
― Andrew Farrell (afarrell), Monday, 23 February 2004 14:37 (twenty years ago) link
1. The Shining2. The Strand was good as I recall though the middle 500 pages dragged a bit3. He wrote some book about dragons. I forget what it was called but dragons are so awesome.4. His short stories I think are generally excellent, and much different from his fiction. They're published in the New Yorker and other such magazines quite often. He had an excellent one about highway restroom graffiti.5. Also he got hit by a truck, which is so crazy. Then he wrote lots of memoirs about being hit by a truck. The one celebrity we have in the whole state of Maine gets mauled by a drunk driver. I thought we should have put his giant creepy head on our state quarter, but apparently that wasn't taken into consideration.
― j c (j c), Monday, 23 February 2004 14:45 (twenty years ago) link
― j c (j c), Monday, 23 February 2004 14:46 (twenty years ago) link
― scott seward (scott seward), Monday, 23 February 2004 14:46 (twenty years ago) link
― Stuart (Stuart), Monday, 23 February 2004 14:49 (twenty years ago) link
>Anyway, 4mph isn't very fast
True. This is the beauty of the contest. The 100 starters can go on for quite a while before the 1st person is shot, which is obviously a sobering event for the remaining 99. Only after about 48 hours things start to go a bit crazy. People start to freak out, as one would expect. Dunno why that story stuck with me for so long - it's a disturbing concept.
― Rob Bolton (Rob Bolton), Monday, 23 February 2004 14:51 (twenty years ago) link
-- anthony kyle monday
then why "stephen king's kingdom hospital"?
-- s1ocki
Stephen King signing on to the Kingdom remake is the only thing that got it made; it's been in and out of production for years, so I assume they're tagging it with his name because they aren't confident in it except as a King vehicle (whereas a Johnny Depp movie is a Johnny Depp movie, and you really don't need the Inspector 13 tag.
I haven't seen Dreamcatcher and don't know if I will, but coming so soon after the extended discussion of "trunk novels" in Bag of Bones (which, love it or hate it, is considerably different in scope, tone, and approach), and King's subsequent accident and public difficulties with returning to writing, I half-assumed it was a trunk novel itself. It certainly reads like one.
― Tep (ktepi), Monday, 23 February 2004 14:54 (twenty years ago) link
― Rob Bolton (Rob Bolton), Monday, 23 February 2004 14:56 (twenty years ago) link
(xpost)
― Andrew Farrell (afarrell), Monday, 23 February 2004 14:57 (twenty years ago) link
― Rob Bolton (Rob Bolton), Monday, 23 February 2004 14:58 (twenty years ago) link
― scott seward (scott seward), Monday, 23 February 2004 14:59 (twenty years ago) link
No, we have Dean Koontz for that.
― Ned Raggett (Ned), Monday, 23 February 2004 15:52 (twenty years ago) link
― Sarah (starry), Monday, 23 February 2004 15:58 (twenty years ago) link
― Stuart (Stuart), Monday, 23 February 2004 16:16 (twenty years ago) link
― Tep (ktepi), Monday, 23 February 2004 16:31 (twenty years ago) link
i mean the thing with stephen king is he's really good at writing really readable stuff, and he has some neat ideas, but man oh man does he repeat himself. which is kind of interesting in a way, i guess. it's like he applies whatever good idea he has to the basic mold of "writer in maine" and lets it rip.
(obviously that applies more to the novels)
― s1ocki (slutsky), Monday, 23 February 2004 17:02 (twenty years ago) link
― s1ocki (slutsky), Monday, 23 February 2004 17:09 (twenty years ago) link
― s1ocki (slutsky), Monday, 23 February 2004 17:10 (twenty years ago) link
― kephm, Monday, 23 February 2004 17:20 (twenty years ago) link
Me?
I like him. I haven't read the new Dark Tower book yet, though. I've neglected literary pursuits quite badly of late. The revised version of the first volume is a big improvement, BTW.
(There goes my resolution not to post. Ego can be terrible.)
― ChrissieH (chrissie1068), Monday, 23 February 2004 21:31 (twenty years ago) link
Except Rose Madder and Gerald's Game.
― luna (luna.c), Monday, 23 February 2004 21:33 (twenty years ago) link
― Kingfish Cowboy (Kingfish), Tuesday, 16 March 2004 20:33 (twenty years ago) link
― pete s, Tuesday, 16 March 2004 20:37 (twenty years ago) link
― The Huckle-Buck (Horace Mann), Tuesday, 16 March 2004 20:39 (twenty years ago) link
― strongo hulkington (dubplatestyle), Tuesday, 16 March 2004 20:39 (twenty years ago) link
― anthony kyle monday (akmonday), Tuesday, 16 March 2004 20:42 (twenty years ago) link
y'all wanna see a deracinated body?
― i cannot help if you made yourself not funny (forksclovetofu), Friday, 21 January 2022 05:05 (two years ago) link
i want him to do a full boomer feverdream with wall to wall springsteen, dylan & creedence songs & old cars & washed up musicians & jaded ex-hookers
― terminators of endearment (VegemiteGrrl), Friday, 21 January 2022 06:38 (two years ago) link
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xEYjZB0K5sI
― i cannot help if you made yourself not funny (forksclovetofu), Friday, 21 January 2022 15:59 (two years ago) link
whoa
― terminators of endearment (VegemiteGrrl), Friday, 21 January 2022 16:54 (two years ago) link
!
― war mice (hardcore dilettante), Saturday, 22 January 2022 05:03 (two years ago) link
legendary flop if you're unfamiliarhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carrie_(musical)
― i cannot help if you made yourself not funny (forksclovetofu), Saturday, 22 January 2022 06:47 (two years ago) link
Early in the 21st century, playwright Erik Jackson attempted to secure the rights to stage another production of the musical, but his request was denied. Jackson eventually earned the consent of Stephen King to mount a new, officially sanctioned, non-musical production of Carrie, which debuted Off-Broadway in 2006 with drag queen Sherry Vine in the lead role.Similarly, other unofficial spoofs have been staged over the years, most notably Scarrie! The Musical, Carrie White the Musical and Carrie's Facts of Life, which was a hybrid of Carrie and the American sitcom The Facts of Life.In 2018, a high school production of the musical is the focus of "Chapter Thirty-One: A Night to Remember" episode of Riverdale. The Riverdale cast album of the musical was produced via WaterTower Music.
Similarly, other unofficial spoofs have been staged over the years, most notably Scarrie! The Musical, Carrie White the Musical and Carrie's Facts of Life, which was a hybrid of Carrie and the American sitcom The Facts of Life.
In 2018, a high school production of the musical is the focus of "Chapter Thirty-One: A Night to Remember" episode of Riverdale. The Riverdale cast album of the musical was produced via WaterTower Music.
― i cannot help if you made yourself not funny (forksclovetofu), Saturday, 22 January 2022 06:49 (two years ago) link
Carrie's Facts of Life, which was a hybrid of Carrie and the American sitcom The Facts of Life
I'd workshop that title a little more, but that sounds brilliantly funny.
― Max Hamburgers (Eric H.), Saturday, 22 January 2022 15:38 (two years ago) link
https://i.imgur.com/ynUGYez.png
― papal hotwife (milo z), Thursday, 10 February 2022 19:43 (two years ago) link
I've read that book three times and I still forget some of that shit.
― Three Rings for the Elven Bishop (Dan Peterson), Thursday, 10 February 2022 20:13 (two years ago) link
lol
It's also why I can reread books and rewatch movies. I forget things.― Three Rings for the Elven Bishop (Dan Peterson), Thursday, January 20, 2022 2:33 PM (three weeks ago) bookmarkflaglink
― Three Rings for the Elven Bishop (Dan Peterson), Thursday, January 20, 2022 2:33 PM (three weeks ago) bookmarkflaglink
― Three Rings for the Elven Bishop (Dan Peterson), Thursday, 10 February 2022 20:15 (two years ago) link
I don't usually post pictures of myself, but today is an exception. pic.twitter.com/IvuiH3QVZv— Stephen King (@StephenKing) February 28, 2022
If those are actually SK’s bookshelves then i guess believe he actually likes all those books he writes blurbs for.
― Chappies banging dustbin lids together (President Keyes), Monday, 28 February 2022 21:01 (two years ago) link
Shit, that's just his "to blurb" shelf for March.
― a superficial sheeb of intelligence (jon /via/ chi 2.0), Monday, 28 February 2022 22:03 (two years ago) link
Is there anything in the recent run that actually sticks the landing as well as 11-22-63 did? I kinda feel like picking something up. The Institute had some raves - anyone read it?
― Chuck_Tatum, Wednesday, 25 May 2022 14:05 (two years ago) link
Yeah, I dug it. It definitely felt like a pastiche of his greatest hits, tho
― Glower, Disruption & Pies (kingfish), Wednesday, 25 May 2022 14:48 (two years ago) link
^^^^
― Legalize Suburban Benches (Raymond Cummings), Wednesday, 25 May 2022 14:53 (two years ago) link
I enjoyed The Institute, but yeah
― Legalize Suburban Benches (Raymond Cummings), Wednesday, 25 May 2022 14:54 (two years ago) link
i still need to read Revival
― terminators of endearment (VegemiteGrrl), Wednesday, 25 May 2022 16:46 (two years ago) link
My wife says the holly gibney related books are all good (esp the outsider) and co-signs on The Institute
― covidsbundlertanze op. 6 (Jon not Jon), Wednesday, 25 May 2022 16:51 (two years ago) link
The Outsider is pretty good but it definitely doesn't stick the landing
― Number None, Wednesday, 25 May 2022 18:52 (two years ago) link
^^ otm. Oddly enough, I thought the HBO adaptation actually managed to slightly make the landing less terrible.
― a superficial sheeb of intelligence (jon /via/ chi 2.0), Wednesday, 25 May 2022 18:56 (two years ago) link
Gibney is such a fucking horribly written character it’s a real handicap to every story she’s in (as I recall the outsider is ticking along fine until exactly that point) Now to take a big sip of coffee and see what he’s working on next
― gop on ya gingrich (wins), Wednesday, 25 May 2022 19:16 (two years ago) link
Yeah, The Outsider (TV version) ended slightly better than the book, but the book was better in just about every other respect.
Revival is really good.
― but also fuck you (unperson), Wednesday, 25 May 2022 19:37 (two years ago) link
The last several books I read (Sleeping Beauties, Institute, Outsider) were satisfying in their way but very much felt like extruded King product
― Guayaquil (eephus!), Wednesday, 25 May 2022 19:43 (two years ago) link
Revival is my favourite King book since 11/22/63
I consider it one of his best endings, not alone in that but opinion is somewhat polarised
It’s not too long so it’s worth finding out for yourself!
― Duane Barry, Wednesday, 25 May 2022 22:02 (two years ago) link
i have it, so will def give it a go on that recommendation:D
― terminators of endearment (VegemiteGrrl), Wednesday, 25 May 2022 22:14 (two years ago) link
The first in the trio of Hodges Det Ret books (Mr. Mercedes) is very good. The next book is pretty solid! The last book I cannot recommend,
― Legalize Suburban Benches (Raymond Cummings), Wednesday, 25 May 2022 22:16 (two years ago) link
I mean... I will cuz you you told me to, but I have no idea who that is so I'm just picturing a fish on a roller-coaster.— Shawn Nutting (@ZackGavin2) September 8, 2022
the best fans
― You can't spell Fearless without Earle (President Keyes), Thursday, 8 September 2022 15:25 (one year ago) link
i picked up the new one, “Fairy Tale”, from the library this weekend … it’s got me hooked early, loving it so far.
― werewolves of laudanum (VegemiteGrrl), Monday, 5 December 2022 04:19 (one year ago) link
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4zuiVwFNEqc
― papal hotwife (milo z), Monday, 30 January 2023 22:17 (one year ago) link
update: I read Revival and didn’t love it. The dedication to Mary Shelley let me know what the upshot would be from the start, and i got annoyed waiting and waiting for the other shoe to drop like honestly waiting til the last three chapters drove me NUTS i liked the childhood stuff early on though, and the pastor’s “fuck u god” sermon was a+
― werewolves of laudanum (VegemiteGrrl), Friday, 9 June 2023 02:04 (eleven months ago) link
I'm not quite sure what to make of Fairy Tale. I thought the pacing and plot progression were all over the place. But it had some great sequences - the first walk through the abandoned city was fantastic, and the waiting room build-up to the "Fair One" was the most intense, horrifying thing he's written in a long time.
― Duane Barry, Thursday, 15 June 2023 14:19 (eleven months ago) link
perlstein on stephen king as the writer of the great death of democracy novel: https://prospect.org/culture/2024-02-14-cultural-artifact-meets-the-moment/
― 𝔠𝔞𝔢𝔨 (caek), Wednesday, 14 February 2024 16:05 (three months ago) link
Finally read The Gunslinger and… maybe hated it? I know the subsequent volumes are supposed to be much better, but *how* much better exactly? Roland is a a sticking point – he’s kind of a bore
― Chuck_Tatum, Saturday, 18 May 2024 11:09 (two weeks ago) link
It remains patchy as hell throughout imo but you might get on better with book 2 if you like 80s king, it’s a lot of fun & king starts to send up Roland a bit, both in the narrative voice & through the expanded cast of characters. Get ready for some peak sk problematic/tone deaf characterisation tho
― subpost master (wins), Saturday, 18 May 2024 13:09 (two weeks ago) link
Sounds like something a honk mahfah would say...
― peace, man, Saturday, 18 May 2024 13:24 (two weeks ago) link
wins OTM
Book 2 feels like it was written with the vivid memory of addiction (or in the depths of it)
― Marten Broadcloak, mild-mannered GOP congressman (Raymond Cummings), Saturday, 18 May 2024 13:41 (two weeks ago) link
lol peace man
wins otm
theres really not much recommending any of the first three dark tower books based on whether you liked the other two tbh
if you want something to read, fancy a shaggy gunslinger story and are ready for three genres and era of stephen king then forge on imo youll find something in there for you i think
― close encounters of the third knid (darraghmac), Saturday, 18 May 2024 14:31 (two weeks ago) link
That Perlstein essay linked above is really good.
― Instead of create and send out, it pull back and consume (unperson), Saturday, 18 May 2024 14:44 (two weeks ago) link
There is some good action scenes in both Drawing of the Three and the whole Lud part of the Wastelands.
― The Artist formerly known as Earlnash, Saturday, 18 May 2024 16:54 (two weeks ago) link