Stephen King

jackdaw

Hey ..
can people recommend his best books ..

I read

IT (excellent.. so well structured and amazing character development)
Needfull Things (v good)
The Stand (v v good)
Misery (OK)
Salems Lot (good)
Geralds Game (not great)


How about
THE SHINING
PET SEMETERY
CUJO
CHRISTINE
FOUR PAST MIDNIGHT
THE GREEN MILE
THE DARK HALF
??

I'm a bit skeptical of his more modern ones ,

or the Dark Tower Series ? -- thats fantasy yes ?

TerrorFirmer

Skeleton Crew is by far my favorite, though it's a collection of short stories -with one lengthy one, 'The Mist' - rather then a novel, but it's truly excellent. Other favorites would be The Shining, Cell and Christine. I hated the Dark Tower books, tried on more then one occasion but just not for me.

jackdaw

TerrorFirmer wrote: »

Skeleton Crew is by far my favorite, though it's a collection of short stories -with one lengthy one, 'The Mist' - rather then a novel, but it's truly excellent. Other favorites would be The Shining, Cell and Christine. I hated the Dark Tower books, tried on more then one occasion but just not for me.

THE MIST is a novel in itself now ... or is it Skelton crew just marketted as "the Mist " because of the film ?

like Shawshank ..

TerrorFirmer

jackdaw wrote: »

THE MIST is a novel in itself now ... or is it Skelton crew just marketted as "the Mist " because of the film ?

like Shawshank ..

It was always part of Skeleton Crew...they must have released it stand-alone after the movie or something. Can't say I've seen it.

John

I loved the Dark Tower but definitely read The Shining as it's awesome. The Green Mile is great too but if you've seen the film I think that's better.

Gonzovision

I have to say I enjoyed "The Dark Half" and also " Desperation" and its counterpart " The Regulators". It has been a few years since I've read them but they give me fond memories.

sxt

Theres 4 good disturbing,rough ,rugged and raw stories in "the backman books" including the "long walk" which is an excellent must read imo and the "running man" (alot different and much better then the film) .I think most of them were written when he was in college or soon after .Happy nightmares

For me,."Firestarter" "desperation" "bag of bones" " the shining" would be my other
favs behind "it" and "the stand" of course:) .I have to read "pet cemetary" ,sounds spooky!

HalloweenJack

I've only ever read The Shining and Misery. I've meant to read more.

The Shining is one of my favourite books. It's simply brilliant.

Mr. Presentable

sxt wrote: »

Theres 4 good disturbing,rough ,rugged and raw stories in "the backman books" including the "long walk" which is an excellent must read imo and the "running man" (alot different and much better then the film) .I think most of them were written when he was in college or soon after .Happy nightmares

Also "Firestarter" "desperation" "bag of bones" " the shining" would prob be my favourites behind "it" and "the stand" of course:)

Long walk. I forgot about that one. Good stuff!

Thinner was another good one.

adox

nipplenuts wrote: »

Long walk. I forgot about that one. Good stuff!

Thinner was another good one.

Thinner is a fantastic read.

Different Seasons is a great one for non horror. Four stories,three really good ones - The Body(Stand By Me), Rita Hayworth And Te Shawshank Redemption(The Shawshank Redemption) and Apt Pupil(Also filmed as the same title. I think the last one was The Breathing Method.


Also The Dead Zone is a fantastic page turner.

grumpytrousers

I liked Dolores Claiborne quite a lot. I think that in a way, despite his name for being a horror writer, King is at his best when writing about the scarily mundane - the internal fears rather than the physical fear of a dead child a-comin' to getcha or a clown beckoning you into the sewer.

I've not read many of short stories (Night Shift, if memory serves and enjoyed it!); bear in mind that the more successful movies which have his name attached thereto were 'ordinary'....Shawshank, Stand By Me and Apt Pupil (all from the same collection of novellas)

luckat

Carrie is good - his first book. Dolores Claiborne is funny. Almost anything he writes is excellent; he has a good book on writing called On Writing.

His son's a writer too - Joe Hill, who wrote Heart-Shaped Box.

pwd

jackdaw wrote: »

Hey ..
can people recommend his best books ..

I read

IT (excellent.. so well structured and amazing character development)
Needfull Things (v good)
The Stand (v v good)
Misery (OK)
Salems Lot (good)
Geralds Game (not great)


How about
THE SHINING
PET SEMETERY
CUJO
CHRISTINE
FOUR PAST MIDNIGHT
THE GREEN MILE
THE DARK HALF
??

I'm a bit skeptical of his more modern ones ,

or the Dark Tower Series ? -- thats fantasy yes ?

The stand is superb. Somewhat reminiscent of a Philip K Dick book that was published before it though.
Needful things is very good too.

I thought the shining and cujo was ok and the dark half was good. Cujo contains very few supernatural elements.

other books mentioned here: I thought the long walk was dire myself. Thinner was excellent though. Different Seasons and Delores Claiborne were excellent. The Dark Tower books were ok but wore thin afer a while. The regulators was very good.

TerrorFirmer

I can't believe I forgot the Long Walk - absolutely superb, definitely amongst my favorites too. Would make an excellent film if done right.

luckat

He writes a column for Entertainment Weekly, by the way, which is online.

The_Minister

CUJO - Good
FOUR PAST MIDNIGHT - enjoyable
THE GREEN MILE - Worth it (i thought it was great, others thought it was meh)
THE DARK HALF - Loved it

Honey-ec

I'd recommend any of his short story collections - off the top of my head they are:

Four Past Midnight
Different Seasons
Skeleton Crew
Nightmares & Dreamscapes
Everything's Eventual
Hearts in Atlantis

I would also highly recommend Christine, Bag of Bones, The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon, Thinner, Cell, Lisey's Story, Duma Key, Pet Sematary (sic)... in fact, there's very little he's written that I wouldn't recommend!

gogo

Honey-ec wrote: »

I'd recommend any of his short story collections - off the top of my head they are:Four Past MidnightDifferent SeasonsSkeleton CrewNightmares & DreamscapesEverything's EventualHearts in Atlantis*I would also highly recommend Christine, Bag of Bones, The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon, Thinner, Cell, Lisey's Story, Duma Key, Pet Sematary (sic)... in fact, there's very little he's written that I wouldn't recommend!

Lisey's Story, Duma Quay - seriously?long time fan of King but couldn't get into these at all, are they really any good?, short on reading material at the moment, are they worth going back to?

kaziki

Hi,

I'm a huge Stephen King fan - if you want to read one of his older books that I think is a good psychological thriller, then get a hold of Rose Madder. It's my second favourite read of his after The Stand, and the only one that's not been made into a movie and I really don't know why, as he really gets into the two main characters heads in this book brilliantly.

It's the story of an abused wife who runs away after 14 years of marriage and her hubby goes about tracking her down. Trouble is that he's a cop, and so he knows how to track people - and he's a really mean, bad cop too. It's a very good psychological thriller.

Cheers
Kaziki

ixoy

I'd recommend reading 'The Dark Tower' at some point but only after you've read a large number of his other works to fully appreciate it. Feel free to say thank ya

Honey-ec

gogo wrote: »

Lisey's Story, Duma Quay - seriously?long time fan of King but couldn't get into these at all, are they really any good?, short on reading material at the moment, are they worth going back to?

I would have to say yes. Lisey's Story is the more inaccessible of the two, but I just re-read it and I have to say, I enjoyed it even more the second time round. Persevere, it will reward you!

Duma Key was rather reminiscent of Bag of Bones - if you enjoyed that, then definitely give DK a go.

beans

"Night Shift" is another excellent collection of his short stories.

Honey-ec

beans wrote: »

"Night Shift" is another excellent collection of his short stories.

Thank you! I knew there was one more and it was wrecking my head while I was writing that post. I was far too lazy to actually just go upstairs to my bookshelf and check, though...

oponodon

Buy: The Bachman books, you get The Running Man (brilliant, really exciting), The Long Walk (amazing aswell)and Roadwork (i still havent finished it yet, but i will) all in one volume.


Also, have any of you read The tommyknockers? Loads of people seem to hate it, but i loved it, the plot itself was good, but the story was a small bit muddled. I stuck with it because it seemed to promise good things to come. I was not dissapointed. The end was amazing, really "edge of your seat" stuff. I would highly recomend it, it got me through my junior cert anyway....

And not to get off topic, did you find the last 150 pages of IT sorta rushed? some of it didnt make sense. If IT was a huge cosmic macro enity thing, bigger than the universe, why did it just reside in derry? what about the other ones, that were mentioned when they were talking about how the ritual of chud was performed? Stuff like that was bugging me all through the end of the book. And what was with that sex scene? You read about these characters for 1000 pages, and you really get to like them, and then your image of them is destroyed when they do a really perverse and disgusting (did i mention COMPLETELY ****ING UNNECESSARY?!?) thing. My God, how that pissed me off.


The sad thing is i really enjoyed that book up to the end....

Oscholar

Off the top of my head, the books i'd recommend are:

It
The Stand
The Dark Tower Series (a must read!)
Pet Sematary
Needful Things

Some of his other novels, like Cell, Rose Madder and Insomnia are great too, if not up to the standard of his classic works. I'm reading Duma Key at the moment and it's pretty good.

Out of all of his books, i'd recommend everyone read 'On Writing'. It's not just for those with an interest in writing as there's a lot of personal memories in there that are amazing to read!

John

Oscholar wrote: »

Some of his other novels, like Cell, Rose Madder and Insomnia are great too, if not up to the standard of his classic works. I'm reading Duma Key at the moment and it's pretty good.

A lot of people seem to knock Insomnia but I think it's excellent (enough to re-read it, not something I do often with King, apart from The Dark Tower). Cell I liked but the ending seemed rushed which spoiled it.

Out of all of his books, i'd recommend everyone read 'On Writing'. It's not just for those with an interest in writing as there's a lot of personal memories in there that are amazing to read!

I've yet to pick this up. *adds to list*

Oscholar

John wrote: »

A lot of people seem to knock Insomnia but I think it's excellent (enough to re-read it, not something I do often with King, apart from The Dark Tower). Cell I liked but the ending seemed rushed which spoiled it.

'On Writing'

I've yet to pick this up. *adds to list*

Yeah, Insomnia is a great read! One of the best of King's later works. Some of his newer novels do get knocked a lot but they're there's some great books in there. The ending of Cell was a bit rushed alright!

You should definitely pick up 'On Writing'. It's excellent. And have a look at The Talisman and Black House, his collaboration with Peter Straub, if you haven't read them yet. Good Stuff!

ixoy

I liked 'Insomnia' because of its tie-ins with 'The Dark Tower' series - it's an important companion book, do ya ken.

The_Minister

Oscholar wrote: »

Out of all of his books, i'd recommend everyone read 'On Writing'. It's not just for those with an interest in writing as there's a lot of personal memories in there that are amazing to read!

+100. One of the few books that I will alwasys say is worth reading.

I don't understand everyone's love for it, but I have to agree Needful Things is great. I just finished it yesterday.

John

Oscholar wrote: »

And have a look at The Talisman and Black House, his collaboration with Peter Straub, if you haven't read them yet. Good Stuff!

Way ahead of you, both are excellent.

ncmc

THE SHINING - VV Good
PET SEMETERY - VV Good (one of his scariest IMO)
CUJO - Good
CHRISTINE - Haven't read
FOUR PAST MIDNIGHT - Good
THE GREEN MILE - VV Good
THE DARK HALF - VV Good

I agree some of his newer stuff is poor, I enjoyed Cell, but felt the climax was majorly rushed. I really enjoyed Duma Key, but it is very reminiscent of Bag of Bones, you kinda feel he is running out of ideas. Def give Blaze a miss, it is terrible, it is so obvious that it was meant to be a short story and then fleshed out in to a full novel, I felt really cheated by him after reading it!

Eoin

ncmc wrote: »

THE SHINING - VV Good
PET SEMETERY - VV Good (one of his scariest IMO)
CUJO - Good
CHRISTINE - Haven't read
FOUR PAST MIDNIGHT - Good
THE GREEN MILE - VV Good
THE DARK HALF - VV Good

I agree some of his newer stuff is poor, I enjoyed Cell, but felt the climax was majorly rushed. I really enjoyed Duma Key, but it is very reminiscent of Bag of Bones, you kinda feel he is running out of ideas. Def give Blaze a miss, it is terrible, it is so obvious that it was meant to be a short story and then fleshed out in to a full novel, I felt really cheated by him after reading it!

Blaze was a short story that he made into a full length book - it was padded out something terrible. I think Cell was nearly a return to form, but as you say; rushed ending. Also, it was pretty much just "The Stand lite".

Agree with you on your choices there - the Dark Half seems to be forgotten by a lot of people, but it's a pretty good one. Christine isn't bad either.

I re-read Salem's lot a while ago, and I really didn't think it was great in retrospect.

Another favourite of mine is The Dead Zone, which was also a TV series quite recently.

jackdaw

oponodon wrote: »

Buy: The Bachman books, you get The Running Man (brilliant, really exciting), The Long Walk (amazing aswell)and Roadwork (i still havent finished it yet, but i will) all in one volume.


Also, have any of you read The tommyknockers? Loads of people seem to hate it, but i loved it, the plot itself was good, but the story was a small bit muddled. I stuck with it because it seemed to promise good things to come. I was not dissapointed. The end was amazing, really "edge of your seat" stuff. I would highly recomend it, it got me through my junior cert anyway....

And not to get off topic, did you find the last 150 pages of IT sorta rushed? some of it didnt make sense. If IT was a huge cosmic macro enity thing, bigger than the universe, why did it just reside in derry? what about the other ones, that were mentioned when they were talking about how the ritual of chud was performed? Stuff like that was bugging me all through the end of the book. And what was with that sex scene? You read about these characters for 1000 pages, and you really get to like them, and then your image of them is destroyed when they do a really perverse and disgusting (did i mention COMPLETELY ****ING UNNECESSARY?!?) thing. My God, how that pissed me off.


The sad thing is i really enjoyed that book up to the end....

Yes I agree on both things .. I did read the TommyKnockers a few years ago
..excellent .. and IT was fantastic untill the end ..


you can almost picture SK sitting there ... "jesus this thing is 1000 pages allready .. **** have to think of an ending .. ah i know

a Spider!!!

DapperGent

I've read a couple of his books, the obvious ones, and meant to read more. I bought Dreamcatcher though and it was quite literally and no exaggeration the worst book I have ever read and the only one I've ever put in the bin after finishing. I would usually give books I disliked to charity bookshops but this was so terrible I decided it had to be destroyed.

It's really put me off ever reading another of his books.

roversania22

I have read misery ( which i enjoyed throughout) and 'Cell' which is probably my favourite King Book. Although it leaves alot of loose ends.

JeanH

I'm not sure if it's been mentioned yet but Hearts in Atlantis was beautifully written I thought. I didn't think it was a particularly good story. I remember loving the first part very much but then it went all science fiction-like which isn't my cup of tea. I just happened to like King's style rather than content! Read it just for the beautifully phrased sentences.

You have read "IT" already but again, that's so beautifully written.

sxt

roversania22 wrote: »

I have read misery ( which i enjoyed throughout) and 'Cell' which is probably my favourite King Book. Although it leaves alot of loose ends.

I really enjoyed "cell" up until the ending.The book really grabs you from the start,and that shocking sad thing that happened to that girl really grabs you by the cuffs.Ending though..

roversania22

sxt wrote: »

I really enjoyed "cell" up until the ending.The book really grabs you from the start,and that shocking sad thing that happened to that girl really grabs you by the cuffs.Ending though..

Ya, the ending leaves alot of loose ends. I'd like to think that there maybe a second one in the making. Doubtful though

jackdaw

Said King on the story of IT

This book is surely a hit

But an ending I fear

Is costing me dear

So **** it, I'll kill it, that's it

Ann22

Salem's Lot-I think this was his best, led to a really scary 70s tv series.King has a life size model of Barlow's character from it in his house:eek:
Misery-great, deadly film too, loyal to the book
Gerald's Game-really enjoyed it-what a situation to find yourself in!!!!:eek:
Pet semetary-very good book but couldn't stop crying the whole way through it.:(Won't read it again.
The Stand-very good
The Green Mile-very good, heartbreaking
Insomnia-very good, noticed references to 'Pet Semetary' when Gage Creed's accident is mentioned.
Bag of Bones-ok, noticed references to 'Insomnia' when the main character meets Ralph Roberts from said book in a cafe.
Duma Key-just ok
Lisey's story-lost interest in it halfway through.
Cell-quite good,very Dean Koontz style of story
Desperation-enjoyable enough
The Tommyknockers-very good
The Shining-very good, bathroom bit and fire hydrant bit were scary
The Dark Half-quite good, again Dean Koontz type of story
From A Buick 8-just ok
I've read his short stories too, can't remember many to rate them.

ncmc

Since I first posted in this thread, I have been re-reading some of the older Stephen King books (on PDF in work, hehe!). It made me realise what an amazing author he was when he was at his best. Have re-read Cujo, Pet Semetary and Needful Things and am currently reading Salem's Lot for the first time, they truly are staggeringly good books. Pet Semetary has to be one of the scariest, creepiest books ever written! I still have to say that Needful Things is my favourite SK book, it is such an unusual subject and I think the premise of how far we will go for posessions we really desire is relevent to everyone. A must read if you haven't read it yet!

jackdaw

ncmc wrote: »

Since I first posted in this thread, I have been re-reading some of the older Stephen King books (on PDF in work, hehe!). It made me realise what an amazing author he was when he was at his best. Have re-read Cujo, Pet Semetary and Needful Things and am currently reading Salem's Lot for the first time, they truly are staggeringly good books. Pet Semetary has to be one of the scariest, creepiest books ever written! I still have to say that Needful Things is my favourite SK book, it is such an unusual subject and I think the premise of how far we will go for posessions we really desire is relevent to everyone. A must read if you haven't read it yet!

Wow !!! what job have you got with that much free time !!!



What about THE DARK TOWER series ?

I'm hearing that there are some aspects in it that relate with IT ?

Nerin

jackdaw wrote: »

Wow !!! what job have you got with that much free time !!!



What about THE DARK TOWER series ?

I'm hearing that there are some aspects in it that relate with IT ?

i've read him say that the dark tower is his personal series he HAD to write,and that alot of his other stories tie into it-such as the mist. Haven't read the dark tower (read one of the short stories though,the vampire one,very good),was given the 1st prequel graphic novel,and it is fairly interesting.

ncmc

jackdaw wrote: »

Wow !!! what job have you got with that much free time !!!



What about THE DARK TOWER series ?

I'm hearing that there are some aspects in it that relate with IT ?

Can't tell you what job I have in case you're my boss in disguise.;)

Am going to try The Dark Tower series next, I believe they are a real 'love em or hate em' book.

jackdaw

ncmc wrote: »

Can't tell you what job I have in case you're my boss in disguise.;)

Am going to try The Dark Tower series next, I believe they are a real 'love em or hate em' book.

I must try them too ...

After i finish IT for the 3rd time .. I will give PET SEMETARY a go ..then Dark Tower ... how many books in the series ?

DaveyGem

sxt wrote: »

Theres 4 good disturbing,rough ,rugged and raw stories in "the backman books" including the "long walk" which is an excellent must read imo and the "running man" (alot different and much better then the film) .I think most of them were written when he was in college or soon after .Happy nightmares

+1
Good call

Nerin

jackdaw wrote: »

I must try them too ...

After i finish IT for the 3rd time .. I will give PET SEMETARY a go ..then Dark Tower ... how many books in the series ?

short stories aside-i think theres about five.

ixoy

Nerin wrote: »

short stories aside-i think theres about five.

Nope - 7. They vary in length from under 200 pages to the 800 page mark.

Honey-ec

Nerin wrote: »

i've read him say that the dark tower is his personal series he HAD to write,and that alot of his other stories tie into it-such as the mist. Haven't read the dark tower (read one of the short stories though,the vampire one,very good),was given the 1st prequel graphic novel,and it is fairly interesting.

I don't recall The Mist having any DT tie-ins at all. However, there are references to it all over his work alright. The strongest links, though, are found in Insomnia. Other works I would recommend people to read before the DT series are:

Black House (which itself is related to the Talisman)
The Stand
Hearts in Atlantis (title story)
Salem's Lot
Everything's Eventual (title story)
Everything's Eventual - Little Sisters of Eluria

There are other, more obscure references in other books, but they're really the main ones. For anyone who's thinking of reading the DT series (and I highly recommend it), below is the order in which the books should be read:

1 - The Gunslinger
2 - The Drawing of the Three
3 - The Wastelands
4 - Wizard and Glass
5 - Wolves of the Calla
6 - Song of Susannah
7 - The Dark Tower

Heckler

Love most everything he has written. Currently reading Duma Key and after a fitful start am loving it. Got drawn into the Dark Tower series years back and loved it but since I got to the last book I stopped half way through and can't seem to finish it. Been on my bedside locker for 3 years. I don't know is it that I don't want to say goodbye to Roland et al or did the superego of King injecting himself into his books just ruin it for me. I suspect the latter unfortunately.

That said King is supreme. Personal favs, Salems lot, the Talisman, Cujo, the bachman books, Skeleton crew. Feck it, most everything. Owned Liseys Storey for years but still haven't read it.

Nearly missed Geralds Game. Brilliant.

What I love about King is the tie-ins in all (well, not all) his novels whether it be a Dark Tower reference or just that a sheriff in one book turns up in another.

Caros

I would consider myself one of King's constant readers and number one fans. Started with Christine what has to be 20 years ago now. loved them all mostly but I would think The Stand, Tommyknockers and Desperate game would be all time faves. I don't like film adaptations of his books though, as they are rarely true to my vision of the book.

Heckler wrote: »

Got drawn into the Dark Tower series years back and loved it but since I got to the last book I stopped half way through and can't seem to finish it. Been on my bedside locker for 3 years. I don't know is it that I don't want to say goodbye to Roland et al or did the superego of King injecting himself into his books just ruin it for me. I suspect the latter unfortunately.

I left the last chapter of the last Dark Tower book unread for a week, couldn't face the ending and when I did read it I felt such disappointment that after all Roland had gone thru, it was all ahead of him again.