stephen king c/d?

Totally agree on the power of the original intro. The changed intro doesn't work nearly as well for me.

Still one of my favorite books, still prefer the o.g. original.

Bump-de-bump-de-bump!

I mean, it's amazing how much I love many of his books, considering some of his huge drawbacks discussed above: the staple, one-dimensional characterizations, the racism, the overwriting, the lack of plausible endings... he sure can write a page-turner in spite of all that.

He excels at creepy set-pieces, which is one reason why his short stories are so much more effective.

Even his worst work contains some horrifyingly memorable imagery (the transformation of the townspeople in The Tommyknockers... brrr)

To what extent does he sell 'in spite of' vs 'because of' tho

to some extent

hth

Definitely the characterisation is a selling point: his stock types are "colourful" and he has enough insight to flesh them out and make them seem real. Unless they are non-white, or female. Alien clowns otoh

Let's not forget the bonus ending to The Stand special edition, which I've seen attacked as racist more than once.

I'm not remembering that; will investigate.

Tommyknockers was pretty much where I got off the boat with King, chronologically. I didn't hate it, but also felt I'd read too much similar stuff by him before. Can barely recall it now, but I do remember it having some effective bits.

So if my favorites are Stand/It/Shining, roughly in that order (and a huge soft spot for Christine) is there anything 1990 onwards I should check out?

Dan, I did this poll last year.

a highly selective stephen king poll

The results/participation aren't overwhelming, but there was some good discussion.

The Kennedy one xp

Duma Key is surprisingly good - fkn scary at times

11/22/63 is his best in a long while, imo

I don't think anyone can read Dolores Claiborne or Lisey's Story and continue complaining that King can't write women, really. He's certainly gotten a lot better at it over the year's, at least to the extent that I'm in a position to judge. Actual female readers may have a different opinion.

The recent short story in Full Dark, No Stars in which (SPOILERS) the main character accidentally discovers that her husband is a BTK-style serial killer is one of the best female characters he's ever written IMO.

There was another King thread, or this one ages ago, where 11/22/63 came up repeatedly. It's on my to-do list.

SO, um .. should I just abandon reading this long Stand if I've never read either edition? And just read the original?

King's magical negro stuff is embarrassing. His rednecks are racist stuff predictable and pat, though as I mentioned, I'm a hair into the uncut Stand and there has been at least one regular old person (in NYC?) who drops the n-word, too.

Basically, he's like the wordiest, most ambitious, most imaginative, most epic-minded lazy writer ever. Bundle of contradictions, ironic par for the course for a guys whose best works are either a) short stories/novellas or b) his book on how to write.

I think the opening novella to Full Dark, No Stars is one of the best things he's ever written period.

There was another King thread, or this one ages ago, where 11/22/63 came up repeatedly. It's on my to-do list.

As mentioned upthread, about 400 pages too long, too. Could have been a short story.

Let's not forget the bonus ending to The Stand special edition, which I've seen attacked as racist more than once.

That little 2 page coda is a 2 ton pile of shit. Made me so damn mad.

I've read both versions of The Stand (his overlong books are fine by me as long as I'm captivated by them) and I definitely prefer the original.

Debate/fite!

Really all of Full Dark, No Stars is great in the same way that the other novella collections (Four Past Midnight, Different Seasons) are.

I think I've only ever read the original. The updates sound horrifying enough that I would remember them.

I haven't read Full Dark yet, I keep meaning to.

Huh, I'm not sure the original version of The Stand has been released electronically. What the hell, George Lucas?

whose best works are either a) short stories/novellas or b) his book on how to write.

would argue in c) his non-fiction book on horror history

otm

Danse Macabre? is that the one? I dug that

Yeah; the 2 chapters on horror movies are a really great overview of the state of the art c. 1981.

oh yeah Danse Macabre was amazing

the alternate death scene from 'Salem's Lot, brrr

How are Everything's Eventual and Just After Sunset? I've only read his early collections of shorts.

Holy shit. I'm not even going to call this a spoiler, because this is fucking stupid and any writer should know better, especially a writer who had ample opportunity to leave this out, but, well ...

The expanded edition follows this with a brief coda called "The Circle Closes", which leaves a darker impression and fits in with King’s ongoing "wheel of ka" theme. An amnesia-stricken Flagg wakes up on a beach somewhere in the South Pacific, having somehow escaped the atomic blast in Vegas by using his dark magic. There he begins recruiting adherents among a preliterate, dark-skinned people, who worship him as a deity.

Fuck this book, just going to listen to this:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DUPbQi78WHI

sofatruck, Just After Sunset is superb.

loved danse macabre. the "horror/terror/revulsion" breakdown still helps organize my thoughts about the genre. also made me feel inadequate about my page rate.

i use that breakdown ALL THE TIME when explaining how horror works to peeps that dont watch 11 horror flicks a week like me.

also i really dug 11/22/63 and highly recommend it. lots of nice nods to his little universe w/o getting obnoxious, only real criticism was that the ending (like often/always) was lame.

ohhhh, THAT coda to The Stand! So stupid I had completely purged it from my memory. Yet another reason the origial was just fine as was.

omg I had no idea he did that coda

that's insane

srsly anyone ITT who hasn't read the original Stand -- go, now, READ IT IMMEDIATELY

purge this terrible revisionism from your brainholes

^^^^^

like, there's parts of the original that are still kinda bad and cringey...but at least it's somewhat innocent and of its time rather than being updated with even WORSE moments by someone you'd expect to know better

actually strike that

I don't expect him to know better :)

SK was on a legitimate hot-streak with Just After Sunset, Under the Dome, Full Dark No Stars, and 11/22/63. But Joyland ain't no great shakes and Doc Sleep, well.

I just bought Joyland from the supermarket cause of this thread

He doesn't have the reservoir (or rails of coke) to sustain a good long streak like the old days

That's seriously awesome that you bought Joyland from a supermarket! How it should be bought. It's not bad, it's just the essence of inessential.

it was £3.85

it's kinda sweet the belief that king has in these corny images: taking your "girl" to the "fair" in your "ride"

listening to "rock n roll" on the "radio"

Those are many of the reasons Christine works so well for me; he's totally into that corn.

the coda to the extended version of The Stand never bothered me for some reason, partially I think because Flagg was leaving a situation where he was being revered as a god so the colonial dickishness was somewhat undercut for me

and also, the biblical plague had to have been global, right? and you don't know how much time has elapsed. idk I'm making excuses for him but it never struck me as being that bad either, at least compared to some of the other shit he's got away with

Does the short vers of the stand include the rmde wtf sequence where a bunch of naked black military guys are executing dozens of ppl on tv? That seems like the epitome of the better-left-out.