Stephen King's Reading Corner

[Wolfgang B.]

Intriguingly enough--having read others' comments before posting--my favorite "Bachman Book" of King's is "The Long Walk"; I've read it many, many times & even wrote a thesis on it in college.

You know what's funny? After I finished it I wasn't in love with it. But I felt the strong desire to read it again knowing I would love it the 2nd time. Maybe I approached it the wrong way the first and only time I read it. Next time I know what I'm getting into and will be able to appreciate it more.

However I do think The Long Walk would have made a fantastic short story rather than a whole book.

 

[Smuvers Farm]

"The Stand" (uncut version), of COURSE, is my all-time favorite King novel. I, too, read it at least once a year. However, I do love-love-love "The Dark Tower" series (the film sucked beyond compare). Intriguingly enough--having read others' comments before posting--my favorite "Bachman Book" of King's is "The Long Walk"; I've read it many, many times & even wrote a thesis on it in college.
I am not a fan of King's work post-accident. He changed; major brain trauma will do that to a person, & so can debilitating, chronic pain. The combination of the two has made King an angry, cynical, rather hateful individual. Where previously his work centered on themes of neighbor-helping-neighbor (Americans helping America) to overcome horror(s) of every unimaginable sort, & the reader could generally hold-out hope for at least a partial 'happy' ending, his work after his tragic accident became much much darker & decidedly ANTI-American. It seemed as if King maimed & killed characters simply to satisfy some personal vendetta rather than to push the plot forward. Even his main characters feel angry & disillusioned; they aren't so much protagonists anymore as they seem to be antagonists in King's mis-wired mental universe... And I find it incredibly interesting at how many of you have said that you prefer his older works over his new stuff. That tells me that you have seen/felt the change in him as well, but perhaps haven't been able to put your finger on exactly what bothered you about his more recent writing.
Thoughts?

Carlene

That is very deep and profound. I will have to say, my bookshelf has all of his older stuff.... I believe pre accident. Other than The Dark Tower series, I think I lost all interest in reading King's work. It was painful, to say the least.

About TDT movie, I refused to see it. Once they cast Idris Elba as Roland, I knew the movie was phucked. Add the Texas TRex as TMIB and I knew it was all about big names to make an action movie... not about the storyline. It saddened me.

You know what's funny? After I finished it I wasn't in love with it. But I felt the strong desire to read it again knowing I would love it the 2nd time. Maybe I approached it the wrong way the first and only time I read it. Next time I know what I'm getting into and will be able to appreciate it more.

However I do think The Long Walk would have made a fantastic short story rather than a whole book.

I agree about TLW.... it was a LONG book for something that would've been better as a SHORT story. I think a LOT of his short stories would make good movies, but he keeps letting the most *loved* books be turned into horrific movies.

I'm sorry, But Molly Ringwald as Frannie was a complete misfire..... and I grew up wishing I was Molly Ringwald... so that tells ya something there.

 

[CochinCuddlr]

You know what's funny? After I finished it I wasn't in love with it. But I felt the strong desire to read it again knowing I would love it the 2nd time. Maybe I approached it the wrong way the first and only time I read it. Next time I know what I'm getting into and will be able to appreciate it more.

However I do think The Long Walk would have made a fantastic short story rather than a whole book.

LOLOL!! I didn't love it the first time I read it, either! I was frustrated as HELL with the ending! I think I threw it across the room, actually! It took me a while to recover. Same thing happened with "The Mist." THAT was a TERRIBLE TRAUMA. "Cujo," too! But for some reason, "The Long Walk" really pissed me off. But after reading it again--several more times, in fact--I came to understand more why it ended the way it did, & that it wouldn't have had nearly the impact or the power had it ended any other way.

Carlene

 

[CochinCuddlr]

That is very deep and profound. I will have to say, my bookshelf has all of his older stuff.... I believe pre accident. Other than The Dark Tower series, I think I lost all interest in reading King's work. It was painful, to say the least.

About TDT movie, I refused to see it. Once they cast Idris Elba as Roland, I knew the movie was phucked. Add the Texas TRex as TMIB and I knew it was all about big names to make an action movie... not about the storyline. It saddened me.



I agree about TLW.... it was a LONG book for something that would've been better as a SHORT story. I think a LOT of his short stories would make good movies, but he keeps letting the most *loved* books be turned into horrific movies.

I'm sorry, But Molly Ringwald as Frannie was a complete misfire..... and I grew up wishing I was Molly Ringwald... so that tells ya something there.

I was livid when I heard who was cast for TDT film. None of it "fit" for my mental image of the story. And I was right. Neither actor did justice to their parts; however, Idris played a MUCH better Roland than MM did TMIB. Besides all that, the film once again demonstrated what a complete sell-out King can be. TDT SHOULD HAVE been done like the Tolkien films, with each book a stand-alone movie in its own right. It could've been absolutely incredible. But no... he thumbs-ups a single flick that smashes every single book together like a freaking video jigsaw puzzle that made zero sense to anyone who knows anything about TDT world. It was awful, just heartbreakingly awful.

But honestly, I have never thought "The Long Walk" 'too long.' I mean, it's "The Long Walk," right? LOL! It's supposed to feel endless; you're meant to endure that tedious march with those boys (so I've thought).

My 2cents.

Carlene

 

[Wolfgang B.]

But honestly, I have never thought "The Long Walk" 'too long.' I mean, it's "The Long Walk," right? LOL! It's supposed to feel endless; you're meant to endure that tedious march with those boys (so I've thought)

Looking at it this way you have a point!

My clearly most favorite short story, speaking of short stories, is The Shawshank Redemption. In fact 3/4 of Different Seasons is fantastic. Only one short story in that collection sucks and that would be Apt Pupil. I don't know what King was thinking when he wrote that one... Hated it!

 

[PirateGirl]

I haven't read that one. He started losing me around the time of "Insomnia".

But the old books I read again and again. His Richard Bachman (sp?) books were good too..."Thinner" was great!

I was going to say Insomnia is one of my favorites.
I also enjoyed Firestarter

I feel like some of his books were written to make a quick buck selling at airport news stands, while others are significantly more developed. Not all of his books fit in this, but generally I'd say the longer ones are better and the shorter ones, while they may keep my interest, I'm not as vested in.

 

[CochinCuddlr]

Looking at it this way you have a point!

My clearly most favorite short story, speaking of short stories, is The Shawshank Redemption. In fact 3/4 of Different Seasons is fantastic. Only one short story in that collection sucks and that would be Apt Pupil. I don't know what King was thinking when he wrote that one... Hated it!

Ooooo!! I love “The Shawshank Redemption” too. That movie is one I do enjoy.
“Apt Pupil” was flat-out disturbing on countless levels.
As odd as it sounds, I’ve always loved his short story, “The Mangler.” It’s one of the first stories of his I read as a too-young kid, & I suppose the sheer horror of an inanimate object doing what that laundry machine did made a tremendous impact on my impressionable mind. For me, it’s just like a “classic” horror story. Totally improbable, hilariously silly in the light of day, but terrifying in the dead silence at 3 a.m. when you’re all alone in the dark.

Carlene

 

[PirateGirl]

"The Stand" (uncut version), of COURSE, is my all-time favorite King novel. I, too, read it at least once a year. However, I do love-love-love "The Dark Tower" series (the film sucked beyond compare). Intriguingly enough--having read others' comments before posting--my favorite "Bachman Book" of King's is "The Long Walk"; I've read it many, many times & even wrote a thesis on it in college.
I am not a fan of King's work post-accident. He changed; major brain trauma will do that to a person, & so can debilitating, chronic pain. The combination of the two has made King an angry, cynical, rather hateful individual. Where previously his work centered on themes of neighbor-helping-neighbor (Americans helping America) to overcome horror(s) of every unimaginable sort, & the reader could generally hold-out hope for at least a partial 'happy' ending, his work after his tragic accident became much much darker & decidedly ANTI-American. It seemed as if King maimed & killed characters simply to satisfy some personal vendetta rather than to push the plot forward. Even his main characters feel angry & disillusioned; they aren't so much protagonists anymore as they seem to be antagonists in King's mis-wired mental universe... And I find it incredibly interesting at how many of you have said that you prefer his older works over his new stuff. That tells me that you have seen/felt the change in him as well, but perhaps haven't been able to put your finger on exactly what bothered you about his more recent writing.
Thoughts?

Carlene

That's interesting that you mention the "neighbor helping neighbor" theme. I was just talking about this with my husband last night while watching IT in the spirit of Halloween. I was talking about how King has this way of writing about "incidents" (for lack of a better word) that involve a whole community, not just one character. This makes things scarier because they affect everyone, and also easier to relate to or see yourself in the story, because face it, when you read a book that is predominately about one character and for whatever reason you don't relate to that character or like that character, then you care far less about what happens in the book to said character. When a whole town is involved you can see yourself as part of this community and whatever is happening could happen to you next!

 

[Wolfgang B.]

Ooooo!! I love “The Shawshank Redemption” too. That movie is one I do enjoy.
“Apt Pupil” was flat-out disturbing on countless levels.
As odd as it sounds, I’ve always loved his short story, “The Mangler.” It’s one of the first stories of his I read as a too-young kid, & I suppose the sheer horror of an inanimate object doing what that laundry machine did made a tremendous impact on my impressionable mind. For me, it’s just like a “classic” horror story. Totally improbable, hilariously silly in the light of day, but terrifying in the dead silence at 3 a.m. when you’re all alone in the dark.

Carlene

Yep, The Mangler is a pretty darn good story! In fact all of Nightshift is great!
My favorite stories are The last rung on the Ladder and Qitters. Inc.

 

[CochinCuddlr]

That's interesting that you mention the "neighbor helping neighbor" theme. I was just talking about this with my husband last night while watching IT in the spirit of Halloween. I was talking about how King has this way of writing about "incidents" (for lack of a better word) that involve a whole community, not just one character. This makes things scarier because they affect everyone, and also easier to relate to or see yourself in the story, because face it, when you read a book that is predominately about one character and for whatever reason you don't relate to that character or like that character, then you care far less about what happens in the book to said character. When a whole town is involved you can see yourself as part of this community and whatever is happening could happen to you next!

YES! You get it. King ALWAYS incorporated that American/Christian/ethical ideal of people-raising-up-other-people, whether they’re known or strangers, just because they’re in need. But after his accident that changed. His main characters—and his writing—just got mean. He seems to hate America & no longer believe in the same ideals he used to. It’s almost as if he lost faith in not only humanity, but EVERYTHING. And it is so difficult to read in his work. I can’t read his new stuff. It’s painful to see HIS pain & anger dumped onto the paper that way.

Carlene