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opus111
Jul 6, 2014

I've been on a recent Stephen King kick, I read 99% of his books written until about 1995 when I was younger, and haven't really thought about him since. However, I wanted something chunky to read a few weeks ago so I picked up The Tommyknockers, and since then I've read like 9 of his books.

One thing that strikes me is that, especially in books like 'salem's lot and IT, there are tons of little phrases and observations that feel like second nature to me - I really took them in and made them part of me when I was a child. In a way he's responsible for a decent amount of how my own internal monologue is styled.

I'm no fan of horror and usually I like stuff thats tightly plotted and crisp, and King is the opposite of this. But I think he's a master story teller - he ramps stuff up so well, and I love his old racist redneck characters. In his interviews he comes off as super progressive and modern, despite being so old now, but his characters are so honest and true to how they should be. He's a really brave writer.

So what are your fav King books?

I LOVE:

IT
The Stand
The Dead Zone (this especially is his masterpiece, as far as I'm concerned)
the Tommyknockers
Salems Lot

Actually I LOVE them all, bar Rose Madder, which I just don't get at all. Oh and Bag of Bones was bad too.

I have under the dome to read next, which I'm looking forward to a lot.

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Hector Beerlioz
Jun 16, 2010

aw, hec

What was the book he doesn't remember writing cause he was on cocaine the whole time

opus111
Jul 6, 2014

Hector Beerlioz posted:


What was the book he doesn't remember writing cause he was on cocaine the whole time

Cujo.

mind the walrus
Sep 22, 2006

Let's cut to a few hot topics:

- The Gangbang in IT
- The quality of his writing after he got clean/hit by the van
- Dark Tower chat

ROFLburger
Jan 12, 2006
the Dark Tower fuckin owns *

















*Wizard and Glass LOL

Flo Cytometer
Apr 20, 2015

by Ralp

opus111 posted:

I've been on a recent Stephen King kick, I read 99% of his books written until about 1995 when I was younger, and haven't really thought about him since.

Pretty much the same. I was reading the Dark Tower series (had just finished Waste Lands), but then got a preview copy of Dolores Claiborne. I gave up on him then and there (after finishing that 50 shades of turd grey).

Fast forward to 200x and I was given a copy of "From a Buick 8" while laid up for several weeks. Talk about a pile of poo poo.

I got a newer paperback (forget the title) for free at a garage sale awhile bck (im a poor), and I haven't bothered to throw it out recycle it yet.

opus111 posted:

So what are your fav King books?

I LOVE:

IT
The Stand

Those two were awesome, and the one about the alien craft under the ground wasn't all that bad. Hell, IT, the Made-for-TV version starring John Ritter was decent.

opus111
Jul 6, 2014

mind the walrus posted:

Let's cut to a few hot topics:

- The Gangbang in IT
- The quality of his writing after he got clean/hit by the van
- Dark Tower chat

The gangbang talk, please take to DnD or the book barn where they care about that.

The one about JFK was really good and written in 2011.

Take Dark tower to Book barn, please. I started this thread here because I think people in GBS are a little less obsessive about things.

Mr. Hand
Apr 28, 2015

by Cowcaster
hey op is your name a reference to lvb's last sonata

opus111
Jul 6, 2014

Flo Cytometer posted:

Pretty much the same. I was reading the Dark Tower series (had just finished Waste Lands), but then got a preview copy of Dolores Claiborne. I gave up on him then and there (after finishing that 50 shades of turd grey).

Fast forward to 200x and I was given a copy of "From a Buick 8" while laid up for several weeks. Talk about a pile of poo poo.

I got a newer paperback (forget the title) for free at a garage sale awhile bck (im a poor), and I haven't bothered to throw it out recycle it yet.


Those two were awesome, and the one about the alien craft under the ground wasn't all that bad. Hell, IT, the Made-for-TV version starring John Ritter was decent.

I ike from a Buick 8 because it describes the indescribable really well.

4outof5
Nov 10, 2003

Leader of the ULT Right.
Grabbing pussy since April 2, 1994

ROFLburger posted:



*Wizard and Glass LOL

this is wrong you are wrong I wish we could have more young roland books.

opus111
Jul 6, 2014

Mr. Hand posted:

hey op is your name a reference to lvb's last sonata

yes, when I play it to my own satisfaction I will finally die. It's the last word in music imo.

Flo Cytometer
Apr 20, 2015

by Ralp
Can anyone help me remember that book by Dean Koontz? I read it in 1991ish. It had a train on the cover. It was pretty good and Queensryche "Silent Lucidity" was awesome background music to it.

TIA.


opus111 posted:

I ike from a Buick 8 because it describes the indescribable really well.

In what way? "It was kind of like a car", "it was kind of like an alien", or "it was kind of like a lovely story"?

ROFLburger
Jan 12, 2006
*packs up dark tower books, leaves*

4outof5
Nov 10, 2003

Leader of the ULT Right.
Grabbing pussy since April 2, 1994

ROFLburger posted:

*packs up dark tower books, leaves*

all stephen king books are dark tower books

Mr. Hand
Apr 28, 2015

by Cowcaster

opus111 posted:

yes, when I play it to my own satisfaction I will finally die. It's the last word in music imo.

:agreed:

4outof5
Nov 10, 2003

Leader of the ULT Right.
Grabbing pussy since April 2, 1994

4outof5 posted:

all stephen king books are dark tower books

actually a biography about stephen king would be a dark tower book

Mooktastical
Jan 8, 2008
The Talisman is his best work. The Running Man was also loving awesome. The Dark Tower ending would have been more effective if he just copy pasted the same middle finger ascii over and over for the last half of the book or so. Sure as poo poo would've saved me a bunch of time.

opus111
Jul 6, 2014

Flo Cytometer posted:

Can anyone help me remember that book by Dean Koontz? I read it in 1991ish. It had a train on the cover. It was pretty good and Queensryche "Silent Lucidity" was awesome background music to it.

TIA.


In what way? "It was kind of like a car", "it was kind of like an alien", or "it was kind of like a lovely story"?

i don't remember any specifics, i actually read it as soon as it came out, which i forgot about (which shows my op isn't entirely true, but it was what i remembered when i wrote it) but i remember defending online at the time saying that exact phrase. something about an alien atmosphere, or a smell or weird shapes in a shed? he also used the phrase 'explosive heat', which is the best thing he's written imo - although i believe its in salems lot, too. anyway. KING.

LuciferMorningstar
Aug 12, 2012

VIDEO GAME MODIFICATION IS TOTALLY THE SAME THING AS A FEMALE'S BODY AND CLONING SAID MODIFICATION IS EXACTLY THE SAME AS RAPE, GUYS!!!!!!!

opus111 posted:

Oh and Bag of Bones was bad too.

Nope.

opus111
Jul 6, 2014


give reasons!

Horseshoe theory
Mar 7, 2005

Stephen King predicted 9/11 with the ending to "The Running Man"... :eyepop:

Flo Cytometer
Apr 20, 2015

by Ralp

opus111 posted:

i don't remember any specifics, i actually read it as soon as it came out, which i forgot about (which shows my op isn't entirely true, but it was what i remembered when i wrote it) but i remember defending online at the time saying that exact phrase. something about an alien atmosphere, or a smell or weird shapes in a shed? he also used the phrase 'explosive heat', which is the best thing he's written imo - although i believe its in salems lot, too. anyway. KING.

Yeah. It was like a choose your own adventure book, only you turned the page every loving time despite giving up a few chapters through.

Wasn't there some killer dog or something that got sucked into the car and some other strange poo poo with the protagonist with cancer or something else? I can't remember, but I also don't want to remember. It has poo poo memories attached that were worse than the reason I was laid up for weeks.

Mr. Hand
Apr 28, 2015

by Cowcaster
He churns out too much material for his own good, and you obviously have to be talented to able to do that but at the same time one wishes that he'd take, say, four or five years between novels rather than churning them out on an annual basis (sometimes more than that.)

Vastarien
Dec 20, 2012

Where I live is nightmare, thus a certain nonchalance.



Buglord
I just started reading King's novels recently. I'd rank the ones that I've read so far as:

Pet Sematary
The Dead Zone
Misery
The Shining
'Salem's Lot


Cujo (ugh)

Starting IT next, and it's going to take me loving forever to finish.

Fog Tripper
Mar 3, 2008

by Smythe
The Shining
Salems Lot
Long Walk


In that order. the rest of you are wrong

LuciferMorningstar
Aug 12, 2012

VIDEO GAME MODIFICATION IS TOTALLY THE SAME THING AS A FEMALE'S BODY AND CLONING SAID MODIFICATION IS EXACTLY THE SAME AS RAPE, GUYS!!!!!!!

opus111 posted:

give reasons!

The horror/supernatural aspect of it was pretty bad, but the rest of it was good since, as you point out, "his characters are so honest and true to how they should be." The rest of the story is strong enough to stand on its own, despite the crappy horror/supernatural stuff.

Wicker Man
Sep 5, 2007

Just like Columbus...


Clapping Larry
We were all Harold at some point or another.

opus111
Jul 6, 2014

Vastarien posted:

I just started reading King's novels recently. I'd rank the ones that I've read so far as:

Pet Sematary
The Dead Zone
Misery
The Shining
'Salem's Lot


Cujo (ugh)

Starting IT next, and it's going to take me loving forever to finish.

Pet Cemetery is amazing, its really nasty. lol my mum wouldn't let me read that as a kid but she bought me IT with no qualms.

Misery is superb as well, good call. It feels like he actually plotted that one out (although I'm sure he didn't).

Mooktastical
Jan 8, 2008
M-O-O-N spells lazy writing.

Wicker Man
Sep 5, 2007

Just like Columbus...


Clapping Larry
I love Pet Semetary but I always get the "WHAT HAPPENED NEXT?!?!?" blue balls from the ending.

The movie that was supposed to be a sequel stated his daughter suffered some kind of psychic flash that made her go crazy and chop up her grandparents that the main guy from the first one hated.

Mooktastical
Jan 8, 2008
Thinner's ending was pretty good.

Stick Figure Mafia
Dec 11, 2004

the scary shrek mobile from the shining sequel

cthulusnewzulubbq
Jan 26, 2009

I saw something
NASTY
in the woodshed.

Vastarien posted:

I just started reading King's novels recently. I'd rank the ones that I've read so far as:

Pet Sematary
The Dead Zone
Misery
The Shining
'Salem's Lot


Cujo (ugh)

Starting IT next, and it's going to take me loving forever to finish.

Pet Semetary is the only thing I've ever read that actually captures the true horror of animate dead.

But the short story collections are the best. It Grows On You and Home Delivery are brilliant.

Mr. Hand
Apr 28, 2015

by Cowcaster

opus111 posted:


Misery is superb as well, good call. It feels like he actually plotted that one out (although I'm sure he didn't).

That's my least favorite quality about his books. He makes up for it in other ways though and sometimes even falls into a good plot.

Anyway I listened to 11/22/63 on audiobook and it was a good experience.

Wicker Man
Sep 5, 2007

Just like Columbus...


Clapping Larry
TommyKnockers was drat good for that freaky "Invasion of the body snatchers" kind of sci fi horror. Plus I loved the relationship the main 'couple' being a couple of adult drunks who hang out and just talk poo poo and think up stuff...and how everyone and everything falls apart a little at a time.

Mooktastical
Jan 8, 2008

cthulusnewzulubbq posted:

Pet Semetary is the only thing I've ever read that actually captures the true horror of animate dead.

But the short story collections are the best. It Grows On You and Home Delivery are brilliant.

This is a good post.

The Jaunt scared the everliving poo poo out of me as a kid, and that almost never happened. I feel like (in his novels especially) King is great at making long expository sections readable and interesting, but he doesn't start thinking about the ending until he has no other choice. This problem is basically nonexistant in his short stories.

Dolan's Cadillac, another good one. Also, Roadwork.

Wicker Man
Sep 5, 2007

Just like Columbus...


Clapping Larry

Mooktastical posted:

This is a good post.

The Jaunt scared the everliving poo poo out of me as a kid, and that almost never happened. I feel like (in his novels especially) King is great at making long expository sections readable and interesting, but he doesn't start thinking about the ending until he has no other choice. This problem is basically nonexistant in his short stories.

Dolan's Cadillac, another good one.

That's true, I'd say that's one of his greatest strengths as a writer; the ability to make exposition entertaining.

naem
May 29, 2011

He's v good and original even the the point a lot of his work is a bit formulaic, it's just a really good formula and there are always surprises and I feel like he really understands murrdering

cthulusnewzulubbq
Jan 26, 2009

I saw something
NASTY
in the woodshed.

Mooktastical posted:

This is a good post.

The Jaunt scared the everliving poo poo out of me as a kid, and that almost never happened. I feel like (in his novels especially) King is great at making long expository sections readable and interesting, but he doesn't start thinking about the ending until he has no other choice. This problem is basically nonexistant in his short stories.

Dolan's Cadillac, another good one. Also, Roadwork.

My only gripe is that he's done about four different versions of Word Processor of the Gods under different names.

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opus111
Jul 6, 2014

Wicker Man posted:

TommyKnockers was drat good for that freaky "Invasion of the body snatchers" kind of sci fi horror. Plus I loved the relationship the main 'couple' being a couple of adult drunks who hang out and just talk poo poo and think up stuff...and how everyone and everything falls apart a little at a time.

yeah its a really adult relationship in that they're both aware that they like each other a lot but they'd end up destroying each other so they just creep around each other's edges and they know is just very sad and ultimately completely unsatisfying - but they know disney love with other people is beyond them so they just do it anyway.

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