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Stephen King

Discussion in 'Books' started by Jewhunter69, Feb 20, 2017.

  1. Jewhunter69

    Jewhunter69 I'm feeling edgy.

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    I really like his books. My favorite is probably Blaze. The gist of it is that a guy, with the help of his hallucination, kidnap someone and the police go after him. It takes the perspective of the villain and even though I haven't read it in the better part of 8 years it's still stuck with me with King's use of imagery and suspense. What's your favorite Stephen King book and why? Got any recommendations?
     
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  2. Luna

    Luna Well-Known Member

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    "The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon" is one of my favorite novels, it's a mix of Jack London-esque survival fiction and psychological horror with ambiguous supernatural elements.
     
  3. bustopher_jones

    bustopher_jones Found at all the best clubs.

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    Often, half the fun of reading Stephen King is mentally editing and paring his books down into much better books. As much as I like the man, it is a shame he never found his Gordon Lish.

    I have a particular fondness for the short story "Uncle Otto's Truck," which I read as a little kid, recognized exactly which wrecked and abandoned truck must've served as its inspiration, and felt like I had met some sort of celebrity or important public figure.
     
  4. Strewth

    Strewth The Macho King

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    I always really liked his short stories.
    Skeleton Crew and Nightmares & Dreamscapes were two collections in particular that I read and re-read during my teenage years. Some were better than others, but because of their abridged length they never felt like they were stretching the limits of a concept or idea.

    Generally my favourites of his novels are the more standard horror fare: Salem's Lot, Carrie, etc. I also would recommend The Dark Half and (as Luna has already mentioned) The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon.
     
  5. Hellblazer

    Hellblazer Autism on the rocks Staff Member Administrator Moderator

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    I love most of his stuff, but the short stories really stand out. I don't think he has a bad collection, and "N" is one of my favorite horror shorts of all time, while "Battleground" might be the most fun.

    As far as the longer stuff goes, you can't go wrong with the classics. For ones that aren't completely absorbed into public consciousness, The Dark Half is probably my favorite, and I like the whole Dark Tower series a great deal.

    For bad King works, The Tommyknockers is absolute crap, and the Desperation/The Regulators two-novel experiment didn't really work for me at all and just produced two subpar books.
     
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  6. Corgi

    Corgi Friendly Forum Fiend Staff Member Moderator

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    I quite enjoy King's works, especially the Dark Tower series. The Stand, The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon, Dreamcatcher, and Salem's Lot are others I enjoyed a lot. His short stories really are a great read too, though. Full Dark, No Stars and Everything's Eventual are rather enjoyable and I've read and re-read them a number of times.

    The only one of King's works that I haven't been able to handle is IT due to my clown phobia. I've tried though, but I just get too spooked. :oops:
     
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  7. Mouseberger

    Mouseberger Ground Lolcow on White Bread

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    I've never read a Stephen King book and the only one of them I've seen adapted into a movie was The Langoliers.
     
  8. southernfriedweirdo

    southernfriedweirdo Finger-lickin' good

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    That's from a collection called Four Past Midnight, the movie Secret Window was adapted from that also.
    As for my personal favorite: The Regulators, about neighbors in an Ohio neighborhood that have to deal with a reality-warping demon taking inspiration from an autistic boy's favorite cartoon and movie.
     
  9. Erika

    Erika RL incel hunter

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    Something I like about King is his varied approach, I like him don't get me wrong but he's not great at anything. His horror is weird and often eh. Let's be real a killer dog and killer car... ok what ever. The Shining is an ok book, not bad. But the movie is amazing. Dark Tower, I liked a lot . Movies eh. I also went possibly too light because he's a "horror" writer.

    Now the Stand is dope, I love it, I think the film is great. It's just good. I don't think there's much room for argument. It's good. That's all even if not your cup of tea, it's respected.

    Now what I really enjoyed was Mr. Mercedes, it wasn't great some times I like who dun it's or murder mysteries. I figured it out pretty fast but I enjoyed seeing it from King. I dunno maybe I'm a softy in this regard but I like seeing people take a different medium. Like I'd love to hear Sanata, on the drums.

    Also regardless if you like or dislike Stephan molymeme/nux him hitting IT was really crazy. I haven't seen the film remake unrelated to that but yea... shit's weird.
     
  10. Uncle Frank

    Uncle Frank Occasionally slips through the cracks

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    I've noticed a common theme in King's books is the story of some ordinary guy (sometimes a writer) getting spooked by supernatural forces in small-town America.
     
    Last edited: Nov 19, 2017
  11. Hellblazer

    Hellblazer Autism on the rocks Staff Member Administrator Moderator

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    It's convenience. Small town means small population so you can delve into individual characters more without overwhelming the reader. Writer/Artist protagonists are useful because they don't have 8-5 jobs that will fire them for not showing up because they were investigating at the old mill.
     
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  12. One Too Many

    One Too Many Sexual Orientation: Heavy Metal

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    That's- actually kinda smart, but why does it always have to be Maine?
     
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  13. Hellblazer

    Hellblazer Autism on the rocks Staff Member Administrator Moderator

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    It's where he's from, and his places like Derry and Castle Rock are nods to Lovecraft's made-up towns in Massachusetts. It makes the background easy because you already know the area and culture and can focus on the story, and makes it easy to cross-pollinate references.
     
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  14. bustopher_jones

    bustopher_jones Found at all the best clubs.

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    I'll add that Stephen King lowkey references actual local businesses in his fiction to prompt tourists their way at a scale that is manageable. He is profoundly civic-minded.
     
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  15. Harrison Gentleman

    Harrison Gentleman Old-School Gentleman

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    The Stand is awesome.