https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DKQxpZFXUAU7OHj.jpg
― mookieproof, Thursday, 21 September 2017 17:06 (six years ago) link
That photo is more terrifying than his collected works
― Moodles, Thursday, 21 September 2017 17:08 (six years ago) link
why, are you scared of dams
― na (NA), Thursday, 21 September 2017 17:11 (six years ago) link
70 today
― ice cream social justice (Dr Morbius), Thursday, 21 September 2017 17:24 (six years ago) link
the one good thing about that coiffure on SK is that it conceals his weird face shape
― harbinger of failure (Jon not Jon), Thursday, 21 September 2017 18:00 (six years ago) link
Is that extra zero a Maine Campus typo or some kind of clairvoyance?
― Brad C., Thursday, 21 September 2017 18:26 (six years ago) link
perhaps they are sprirtually gifted.
― how's life, Thursday, 21 September 2017 18:45 (six years ago) link
two imminent Netflix adaptations
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=twbGU2CqqQU
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3E_fT0aTsjI
― Number None, Sunday, 24 September 2017 18:22 (six years ago) link
gerald's game is a mike flanagan joint so it should be at least decent
― a serious and fascinating fartist (Simon H.), Sunday, 24 September 2017 19:46 (six years ago) link
but geralds game itself is bad so idk
― Squeaky Fromage (VegemiteGrrl), Sunday, 24 September 2017 20:06 (six years ago) link
Any recommendations for authors whose books go down as easy as Stephen King's? He's been my go-to guy whenever I'm looking to turn my brain off for a while, but his books repeat themselves so much I can't justify reading too many more of them. Would love to get that fix somewhere else.
― Evan R, Monday, 25 September 2017 17:07 (six years ago) link
if you haven't read him, I'd say Elmore Leonard -- quick reads, extremely entertaining, likable characters, excellent villains.
― nomar, Monday, 25 September 2017 17:09 (six years ago) link
Any genre goes? or still horror?
xp yeah Elmore Leonard is a great example
― flappy bird, Monday, 25 September 2017 17:13 (six years ago) link
Any genre, so long as its a page turner. I like the horror/suspense elements in King's books but honestly it's the world building that draws me in. He just makes them all so leisurely. They're like hang-out books really
― Evan R, Monday, 25 September 2017 17:14 (six years ago) link
i was going to say the parker books by richard stark
― na (NA), Monday, 25 September 2017 17:15 (six years ago) link
which are much shorter than stephen king books but there are like 20 of them
― na (NA), Monday, 25 September 2017 17:16 (six years ago) link
I want to say Michael Crichton hits a similar 'quick & entertaining & requiring minimal effort' sweet spot but I haven't read his stuff in decades.
― Gewgaws for Meemaw (Old Lunch), Monday, 25 September 2017 17:16 (six years ago) link
Jim Butcher's Dresden Files series fits this description as well.
― Marcus Hiles Remains Steadfast About Planting Trees.jpg (DJP), Monday, 25 September 2017 17:17 (six years ago) link
Yeah no coincidence that Crichton, King and Grisham were the ones I read in middle school. They're all pretty unchallenging.
Those Jim Butcher books look like something I'd be way too embarrassed to read at an airport, unfortunately
― Evan R, Monday, 25 September 2017 17:31 (six years ago) link
That seems silly to me in a post-Harry Potter world.
― Marcus Hiles Remains Steadfast About Planting Trees.jpg (DJP), Monday, 25 September 2017 17:36 (six years ago) link
(but then, I can't think of a single book I've read that I was embarrassed to be seen reading so maybe that's just me)
yeah I'm not above admitting I'm self conscious about that stuff. But I'm not a Harry Potter or really a fantasy fan either so that might be part of it
― Evan R, Monday, 25 September 2017 17:38 (six years ago) link
i'd add Jonathan Franzen. obviously not horror/crime/mystery/thriller, but he's imo an excellent world-builder and Freedom is a serious page turner, and a really beautiful book. Not challenging. Another lesser realist writer who's p good is Jonathan Dee - I'm reading his most recent one, The Locals, which is p good, & worth reading if only for the first 50 pages set in Manhattan on 9/12/01.
― flappy bird, Monday, 25 September 2017 17:39 (six years ago) link
I recently read Lawrence Block's Getting Off and felt like I had to cover up the cover on the train. xp
https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/51IZpv51wIL._SY346_.jpg
― "Celebration" encourages the listener to celebrate good times. (Dan Peterson), Monday, 25 September 2017 17:40 (six years ago) link
Elmore Leonard and Richard Stark OTM, but (Stark's real name) Donald Westlake even better if you're looking for hang-out-iness. Try a couple of the books about Dortmunder.
― shackling the masses with plastic-wrapped snack picks (sic), Monday, 25 September 2017 17:40 (six years ago) link
ohhh forgot about Franzen. I've had a copy of The Corrections sitting on my shelf for years so maybe I'll finally queue that one up once I finish King's JFK assassination time travel one
― Evan R, Monday, 25 September 2017 17:49 (six years ago) link
loved crichton as a lad, and even started a thread on him, but gotta give credit where it's due, he is not half the writer king is. crichton's stuff definitely goes down easy but mostly that's because the overall situations he comes up with are interesting, and the sentences are very basic, like chapter-books-for-kids level. he really relies on you filling in for yourself what a dinosaur looks like and how scary it would be if one was attacking you. king has a much stronger sense of prose, character, pacing, suspense, atmosphere, mise-en-scene... not to say he doesn't have numerous faults and annoying tics and a real problem with editing as i've stated repeatedly but there's just a lot more to his stuff, at least his best stuff.
― Doctor Casino, Monday, 25 September 2017 17:50 (six years ago) link
I'd put The Terminal Man up there with King's stronger efforts.
― Marcus Hiles Remains Steadfast About Planting Trees.jpg (DJP), Monday, 25 September 2017 17:53 (six years ago) link
yeah if i ever bump into that one or the great train robbery at the thrift store, i'd totally reread. i remember both being more substantial than his later stuff.
― Doctor Casino, Monday, 25 September 2017 17:56 (six years ago) link
I also remember Congo the book being much, much more entertaining and darker than "Congo" the movie.
― Marcus Hiles Remains Steadfast About Planting Trees.jpg (DJP), Monday, 25 September 2017 17:58 (six years ago) link
that wouldn't take much! but yeah i remember being generally creeped out by parts of it. i should give that one another spin but i'm always afraid the dark-continent themes will really squick out Adult Casino.
― Doctor Casino, Monday, 25 September 2017 18:01 (six years ago) link
1922 is one of my favorite things SK has written. Doesn't mean the adaptation will be worth a hoot, of course.
― The Thnig, Monday, 25 September 2017 18:04 (six years ago) link
The dinosaur had torn him open. His guts had fallen out.
― Number None, Monday, 25 September 2017 18:08 (six years ago) link
all time HOF for that one obv
― Doctor Casino, Monday, 25 September 2017 18:09 (six years ago) link
re Evan's request for recommendations
Tana French's Dublin Murder Squad is the most addictive series I've read in forever. They're not exactly your brain off material, but by god they're compelling. There's six of them to date
― Number None, Monday, 25 September 2017 18:12 (six years ago) link
Try Don WInslow. His new book The Force is great.
― grawlix (unperson), Monday, 25 September 2017 18:15 (six years ago) link
ooh yeah, Winslow is also a good pick. Looking forward to reading The Force
― Number None, Monday, 25 September 2017 18:16 (six years ago) link
Robert Crais & James Lee BurkeKing’s style to me is very laid-back & unfussy and the stories spool out in a very natural way that rarely takes you out of whatever “world” he’s put you in. These 2 have that same feel & they put a lot of personality into their stories that makes them v enjoyable imo
Richard Russo Maybe a little folksy but the way he builds a whole town of personalities reminds me of King with Castle Rock etc
― Squeaky Fromage (VegemiteGrrl), Monday, 25 September 2017 18:54 (six years ago) link
I always seem to be recommending Lawrence Block - but Lawrence Block! Burglar series - 'light' crime, very elegantly done - or the Scudder series - darker PI stuff.
― Gunpowder Julius (Ward Fowler), Monday, 25 September 2017 19:02 (six years ago) link
King's Derry is modelled, sometimes quite specifically, on real-life Bangor, including the statue of Paul Bunyan which attacks Richie Tozier in It.
The Google street view photo of the statue utilized its standard face-blurring technology.
http://i259.photobucket.com/albums/hh310/yodelagogo/bunyan_2.jpg
― "Celebration" encourages the listener to celebrate good times. (Dan Peterson), Monday, 25 September 2017 21:32 (six years ago) link
oh yeah, someone just recommended Richard Russo's Straight Man - is that any good?
― flappy bird, Monday, 25 September 2017 21:57 (six years ago) link
Don Winslow's earlier stuff is better imo. The Force was pretty hackneyed and familiar I thought.
― calstars, Monday, 25 September 2017 22:41 (six years ago) link
xpost I really liked it!
― Squeaky Fromage (VegemiteGrrl), Monday, 25 September 2017 23:02 (six years ago) link
Straight Man is great, Nobody's Fool is great ...
― Josh in Chicago, Monday, 25 September 2017 23:34 (six years ago) link
sweet, i'll order it... saw it in an airport news stand, almost bought it but i gotta get through some stuff for work first...
― flappy bird, Monday, 25 September 2017 23:49 (six years ago) link
John Sandford for me
― harbinger of failure (Jon not Jon), Wednesday, 27 September 2017 00:36 (six years ago) link
There is a great interview with Crichton's editor Robert Gottlieb, talking about The Andromeda Strain, where he's like "Michael your characters suck, let's just avoid characters altogether."
http://www.sarahweinman.com/confessions/2008/11/the-art-of-edit.html
GOTTLIEB: When Michael wrote THE ANDROMEDA STRAIN he assumed he had to fill out the characters of all those scientists and make them real people, as in a conventional novel. But that wasn't where his interest lay, and so he had only done it at the surface level. Somehow it occurred to me that instead of trying to flesh out the characters further and make the novel more conventional, we ought to strip that stuff out completely and make it a documentary, only a fictional one.
I'd add Richard Price to the list above - Samaritan is a really easy read.
― Chuck_Tatum, Wednesday, 27 September 2017 10:41 (six years ago) link
Price is another excellent choice
― Number None, Wednesday, 27 September 2017 11:10 (six years ago) link
Those Reacher novels by Lee Child have a King-ish feel sometimes, and a King cross-over (in Under the Dome the main character dude says he used to serve in the military with Jack Reacher.)
― President Keyes, Wednesday, 27 September 2017 14:17 (six years ago) link
Heh, I was going to say maybe check out some of the authors that King himself reps for (ie like Richard Stark, or Lee Child), but then I remembered he's pretty much the most generous other author blurb-giver of all time.
― Gunpowder Julius (Ward Fowler), Wednesday, 27 September 2017 15:05 (six years ago) link