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Punkin Spunkin posted:I'm enjoying 11/22/1963, says I'm 63% through and it hasn't really been dragging but honestly both King and the main character come off as such lame rear end dorks for: A) I mean maybe if you’ve never had a Mexican coke with cane sugar instead of corn syrup, it’d be pretty good? I dunno, going to a soda jerk sounds like a good time to me. But yes, the 2007 35 year old who’s like: ‘my alcoholic wife and I love to do dances from the 50’s, for fun’ was a little suspect. But I think a lot of the characters fondness for the past was that he builds a life there. I’d be down to live in the past with my hot, clumsy time/space soulmate, too . B) Yeah, honestly I found the the ‘past-political’ aspects of this book to be as the evil ghost car was in Christine: an interesting contrivance that the author uses to tell an entertaining story. It’s a wacky setting, not commentary in and of itself. Which I guess could be interpreted as nostalgic. It does touch on racism and sexism (it’d be weird if it didn’t), but it didn’t offend my sensibilities that this book is emphatically not about social commentary in the 60’s. And King side-steps any judgements of Kennedy, or America in general, with the ending, imo. In short, the main character directs high school plays, he’s a dork. Broadlybrowsing fucked around with this message at 07:44 on Dec 15, 2022 |
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Dec 15, 2022 07:35
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Oh yeah I just finished today and it does at least address some of my qualms and criticisms with how it ultimately resolves. Like saving JFK definitely not resulting in a better timeline, though I wonder how much of that is King finally accepting realistic outcomes and rejecting Kennedy nostalgia and how much of it is just like "you hosed too much with the timeline." I appreciated the Card Men being benevolent actors trying to stop the wild insanity of the main character. I didn't expect it to be soooo long but it didn't really drag for me, enjoyed it other than some awkward political/racial/sexual King stuff I'm already used to from books like The Stand and his short stories. Pretty entertaining, definitely a pageturner. I started the James Franco miniseries but I was shocked at how much they rush the beginning. Did not expect the book to be so heavily about It. It's practically a sequel. Given how much he related the book depository to the presence of Pennywise for a second I was like drat did this clown monster decide that JFK needs to die?? I thiiiink my favorite non-novela/short story of his might be Misery followed by the first half of The Stand but I still need to read a lot of his longer length work. Punkin Spunkin fucked around with this message at 07:55 on Dec 15, 2022 |
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Dec 15, 2022 07:52
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Punkin Spunkin posted:Oh yeah I just finished today and it does at least address some of my qualms and criticisms with how it ultimately resolves. Yeah, it was kind of a cop out, but it worked for me. I think someone else posted an alternate ending where Sadie gets married, has a political career, the main character finds out via Facebook or something The as written ending was great, it was surprisingly sweet for a King book.
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Dec 15, 2022 08:11
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deoju posted:Just finished Salem's Lot. I liked it, but didn't love it. The vampires can do some kind of intangibility trick that lets them pass through/around physical objects that aren't holy or otherwise binding (like the entryway of a house that they haven't been invited to enter). So one of them locked it and then misted through the door, most likely.
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Dec 15, 2022 13:48
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I think a lot of the, "things were better back then" is more metaphorical in that for King, as well as a number of people his age, the assassination of Kennedy shattered their childhood belief that everything would work out alright. I could be off about that, King did witness a friend get hit by a train but that was just some neighborhood kid and not the President of the United States. I don't think he was a big Kennedy guy as a kid because his parents were Republicans and he even voted for Nixon in '68, under the desperate belief that Nixon would end the Vietnam War as promised. Just the fact that one of the most powerful men in the world could just get his head blown off after 1,000 days in office not only showed that anything can happen but also left people focusing on what could have been because of what follows. From interviews I feel like King was more upset by Vietnam and the establishment's response to the chaos of the 60's, which radicalized him from being just another small town Maine Republican to a left of center person. I feel it's more of an introspection on nostalgia and how returning to that or trying to redo the past is not only insane but also destructive. It's just told through the lens of Jake so it's awkward and doesn't translate as well. It's interesting because they have Easter eggs in 11/22/63 to IT in the novel, because the events of the first part of IT take place before 11/22/63, but they don't have those in the miniseries even though the current IT adaptation at that time begins in 1960. IT Chapter One came out the following year too and it begins in 1988 so maybe that influenced it as well. There's a lot of Easter eggs in the miniseries though, mainly to the film adaptations of King's works. I do appreciate that in the miniseries Randall Flagg can be seen on a bike in Dallas when Jake is running through the street, trying to stop Oswald in time. I'm pretty sure it's also Jamey Sheridan as Flagg.
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Dec 15, 2022 16:12
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Yeah I mean, King grew up believing that The Baby Boomers Were the Salvation only to find out they sucked (this is the thesis of Hearts in Atlantis). I don't think that he has accepted (I don't think he can accept, as he's old, rich, and out of touch, much as I like the guy) that Millennials have gone gone through the same cycle of potential --> crushing world events --> loss of dreams and hopes that Boomers did (and that gen z is about to go through it themselves). I feel like 11/22/63 is him saying that generational loss is irreversible, which, no poo poo.
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Dec 15, 2022 20:43
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RocknRollaAyatollah posted:I feel it's more of an introspection on nostalgia and how returning to that or trying to redo the past is not only insane but also destructive. It's just told through the lens of Jake so it's awkward and doesn't translate as well. It is hard for me to see sometimes tho how much of it is "trying to redo the past is insane and impossible, also it'll make the universe fall apart" and how much of it is "your nostalgia was a delusion, JFK wasn't saving anybody" and to be fair there's sooome bits of both I guess (for example he mentions that civil rights is slowed with JFK in instead of Johnson). Punkin Spunkin fucked around with this message at 23:12 on Dec 15, 2022 |
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Dec 15, 2022 23:10
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I think with Al Using the time door to buy cheap meat being mentioned as messing up the fabric of time, that was meant to be the main thing, with the JFK stuff more fun alt history writing than anything else
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Dec 16, 2022 15:06
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bobjr posted:I think with Al Using the time door to buy cheap meat being mentioned as messing up the fabric of time, that was meant to be the main thing, with the JFK stuff more fun alt history writing than anything else I forgot that part! Think it's time for a re-read...and this time I'll skip the sweetheart love story bits.
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Dec 16, 2022 18:18
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I liked the Jolie and Sadie stuff tbh until she like just abruptly decides to accept his complete secrecy...I know I know, absence makes the heart grow fonder and she's a lady from the 50s but it really seemed like her basic bare minimum line (tell me anything about yourself, i have no idea who the gently caress you are and what you do) and then this central conflict of a good chunk of the story just becomes like "no nvm actually now he CAN have love and be a secret time agent as well"
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Dec 16, 2022 18:24
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Having finally finished The Stand I must say the end of Flaggs side was a bit of a letdown. Already felt the lack of an epic showdown coming as the remaining pages kept shrinking while the plot was crawling forward Now I need to think about which one’s next, Revival, The Dead Zone, IT or Firestarter. After The Stand my gut says go for a quick/short one first.
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Dec 18, 2022 13:35
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LochNessMonster posted:Having finally finished The Stand I must say the end of Flaggs side was a bit of a letdown. Already felt the lack of an epic showdown coming as the remaining pages kept shrinking while the plot was crawling forward Dead Zone or Firestarter would be a solid choice for a quick one, and I'd recommend Dead Zone.
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Dec 18, 2022 18:40
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Leave posted:Dead Zone or Firestarter would be a solid choice for a quick one, and I'd recommend Dead Zone. Seconding this based in OP's list. IT is looooonnnggg and Revival, while good, seems like one you'd pick up after reading a few you didn't like and are looking for a return to form. It's not as impactful or as visceral as some of King's work, although it's very good. Dead Zone is the best one on that list IMO. If you want a quick read you can knock over the holidays, Joyland might work; or one of the novella or short story collections.
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Dec 18, 2022 19:05
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Appreciate the recs. The ones I mentioned are the ones I already have laying around. Already read Joyland, which happens to be one of my favorite short(er) stories. I was leaning to Revival as it’s the shortest of the 4, but The Dead Zone doesn’t have that many more pages I think. Maybe I can finish both during the holiday season.
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Dec 18, 2022 23:32
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Dead Zone is really loving good but post Trump it feels somehow both too on-the-nose and naïve.
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Dec 19, 2022 01:39
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LochNessMonster posted:Having finally finished The Stand I must say the end of Flaggs side was a bit of a letdown. Already felt the lack of an epic showdown coming as the remaining pages kept shrinking while the plot was crawling forward good followups, those are four of his best endings imo
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Dec 19, 2022 02:51
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Decided to go with Revival first and finished it just before new year. Started out a bit slow but it was difficult to put the book down once the story started picking up. The carny part gave me the Joyland vibe which was nice. It even got a 1 line reference somewhere. Picked up The Dead Zone on Jan 1st as per thread rec. about a quarter in now and can’t say it dissapoints so far. I’ve gotten a few new books (The Talisman, The Shinin, Fairy Tale and Insomnia) for the holidays so I’m set for a whole year of reading King.
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Jan 8, 2023 19:42
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Another adaptation dropping soon, long time coming for this one: https://twitter.com/20thcentury/status/1619808638180405250?s=19
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Jan 30, 2023 02:51
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I could have sworn this was done, several years ago. Was there maybe a segment in an anthology movie based on this story, or am I totally misremembering?
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Jan 30, 2023 03:25
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You’re thinking of: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rcg6qT2zyQM
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Jan 30, 2023 04:40
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MrMojok posted:I could have sworn this was done, several years ago. Was there maybe a segment in an anthology movie based on this story, or am I totally misremembering? not sure but i just remembered how bad the Needful things movie is, they basicaly make the ending something out of sorkin movie.
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Jan 30, 2023 22:01
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MrMojok posted:I could have sworn this was done, several years ago. Was there maybe a segment in an anthology movie based on this story, or am I totally misremembering? I felt the same way but, after thinking about it, I believe it's because it seems so similar to so many other movies. I got "monster in the closet" vibes that reminded me of Cujo right away (the book not the movie) and the first films that popped in my head from that trailer were The Babadook and Poltergeist. Trailer seemed like a hodgepodge of about 10 different movies I've already seen.
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Jan 31, 2023 00:59
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I don't know if it is true or if it is just made up to hype the movie, but the story is that The Boogeyman was going to be a Hulu release and then test audiences liked it so much they decided to make it a wide release.
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Feb 1, 2023 20:43
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Listening to the Kingcast podcast the last few days What's everyone's general problem with Rose Madder? I read a good long time ago and then did a re-read after I heard it was among King's least regarded efforts, especially here, and I thought it held up really well. Did the same thing with Gerald's Game, which I also quite liked (twice) and really dug the Netflix film. I think Rose would make for a good adaptation in the right hands and one of the things the podcast touched on is how much it would resonate NOW; what with corrupt cops, what we know about Me Too and all sorts of things that speak to the modern sense of everall desperation among the powerless, particularly with abused women, and the corruption of the people in power who are supposedly there to protect them. The supernatural elements could be toned down - and should for a movie I think - but I thought RM was quite the page turner.
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Feb 4, 2023 21:31
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Finished The Dead Zone last night. Compelling story telling and allround great read. Takes a while before you realize how the story lines are connected and at the end you can cleary see an early inspiration for 11/22/63
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Feb 5, 2023 08:35
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BiggerBoat posted:Listening to the Kingcast podcast the last few days One of my problems is with how Rose gets to decide what her husband is allowed to remember, and the narrative sort of presents that as fine because it's for his own good, even though she's doing it in large part because she's afraid he'll leave her. And she doesn't even know if the process will poison him or not iirc.
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Feb 5, 2023 09:34
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I haven't read this book J.J. Abrams is making a movie out of Stephen King hitman novel Billy Summers https://www.avclub.com/j-j-abrams-is-making-a-movie-out-of-stephen-king-hitma-1850074765 I read a rumor somewhere else that they're trying to get Leo Dicaprio.
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Feb 5, 2023 13:11
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That’s one I’ve wanted to read, just for the novelty of reading a Stephen King crime novel. For those that have read it, is it any good?
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Feb 6, 2023 03:17
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Finally decided to read Pet Sematary. It was good! Not as good as Shining or Salems Lot but I don’t think I’m gonna get that experience out of King again. Also watched the movie after, which I’m realizing now they did a pretty good job with! I like how the book gives more personality to the evil/haunted area, which he does soooo well with the other books I mentioned, but I get how hard it is to do that with a movie. Also anything using traditional monsters like the loving Wendigo is awesome. All in all, neato. I’m gonna take a break from King and finally get into Blackwater by Michael McDowell. Elementals ruled and I’m ready to get back into the same author.
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Feb 7, 2023 05:43
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MrMojok posted:That’s one I’ve wanted to read, just for the novelty of reading a Stephen King crime novel. I just finished it actually and mostly enjoyed it. Imo it kinda loses steam in the last 10ish percent of the book but it’s Kings typical knack for adding some flavor and intrigue to otherwise tired story concepts. … but an enormous CW for some pretty awful depictions of sexual assault that I could see turning a lot of people off
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Feb 8, 2023 13:51
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Since someone mentioned them in this page: Anyone else noticed a massive decline in quality for the kingcast after they were acquired by fangoria? I find myself mostly skipping their episodes whenever it is "b tier celebrity promoting bad horror movie and have less than a passing knowledge of king." Like, I know they have to make money and all, but it has been mostly just very bad episodes.
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Feb 8, 2023 20:39
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What the actual gently caress is Apr Pupil Specially after Shawhsank This is the worst (best) thing King has written. I’ve been reading mostly chronologically since last year and drat if this wasn’t more horrifying than any of the monsters
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Feb 10, 2023 21:35
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BiggerBoat posted:Listening to the Kingcast podcast the last few days It could be part of a collection of magical paintings. The Road Virus, 1408, Duma Key, more I'm forgetting.
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Feb 10, 2023 22:28
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Mr. Nemo posted:What the actual gently caress is Apr Pupil
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Feb 10, 2023 23:57
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BaldDwarfOnPCP posted:It could be part of a collection of magical paintings. The Road Virus, 1408, Duma Key, more I'm forgetting. I was OK with it. King, as usual, had written himself into a corner where he felt like magic was the only solution but in the case of Rose Madder, I viewed it more as a metaphor and a symbolic description of Rose's and her abuser's deteriorating mental state where The Painting was kind of her sanctuary and a place where she had power and the bull was a symbol of the cop's total metamorphosis and degeneration into a complete, brainless monster. To me, it read more as a fever dream more than a literal Magic Painting Hardly an original or deep take, I know, but it worked for me.
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Feb 11, 2023 00:19
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Rose Madder is one of my favorite King books; Desperation is my absolute favorite. Apparently, this is weird.
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Feb 11, 2023 00:25
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I recently finished the Talisman and it was kind of boring. Too long.
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Feb 11, 2023 00:49
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BiggerBoat posted:I was OK with it. King, as usual, had written himself into a corner where he felt like magic was the only solution but in the case of Rose Madder, I viewed it more as a metaphor and a symbolic description of Rose's and her abuser's deteriorating mental state where The Painting was kind of her sanctuary and a place where she had power and the bull was a symbol of the cop's total metamorphosis and degeneration into a complete, brainless monster. It's been ages but I would agree with that reading.
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Feb 11, 2023 01:12
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Breadallelogram posted:I recently finished the Talisman and it was kind of boring. Too long. I enjoyed the beginning and of course Wolf and the Sunshine home. I found it dragged out at the boarding school, and Richard is just an unlikeable character. But the good parts are so good. Wolf!
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Feb 11, 2023 20:45
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About 100 pages into The Shining and the alcoholic abusive behaviour of Jack is disturbing me more than any other book I’ve read. To a level where it’s difficult to read even. I love his dark stories, but this hits different for some reason.
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Feb 11, 2023 21:35
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