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Joined: Tue September 24, 2013 5:56 pm Posts: 47141 Location: In the oatmeal aisle wearing a Shellac shirt
There's a teaser trailer that indicated the show will include lots of popular characters who don't actually have a Castle Rock connection in their respective books:
Joined: Tue September 24, 2013 5:56 pm Posts: 47141 Location: In the oatmeal aisle wearing a Shellac shirt
bada wrote:
tragabigzanda wrote:
bada wrote:
I was thinking about reading IT next.
Have you never?
Never.
I've kinda jumped around his bibliography randomly without any sort of plan of attack.
'Salem's Lot The Shining The Stand Night Shift Dark Tower Pet Sematary Cycle of the Werewolf The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon Under the Dome Doctor Sleep
Those are definitely some of his better ones. It is a definitely one of his stronger books, though I have some problems with all the 1980s stuff. I did a ranking of all the King books I've read a while back, and have tweaked it here a little bit:
Unfuckwithable 'Salem's Lot The Shining Hearts In Atlantis 11/22/63 The Dead Zone Misery Pet Semetary (though I subjectively hate this one -- it's just too dark -- it is a terrific work)
Really strong The Eyes of the Dragon It Full Dark, No Stars Everything's Eventual Skeleton Crew Just After Sunset The Regulators Desperation Bag of Bones Joyland The Long Walk Dolores Clairborne The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon From a Buick 8
Pretty Good Insomnia The Green Mile Revival Cycle of the Werewolf Duma Key Different Seasons Nightmares & Dreamscapes The Gunslinger (I've avoided the rest of the DT trilogy until I've read all his other books, so this could sit much higher once I can view it in the proper context).
Decent but flawed Needful Things Lisey's Story Dr. Sleep Night Shift
Really bad Thinner The Dark Half Gerald's Game Carrie Cell
I've been holding off reading it because of Joey. I don't want to bother reading 1100 pages if it sucks at the end. I'm torn.
I don't mind rocky or bad endings if the journey is good. The problem I have with IT is that the journey isn't worth the terrible ending. There are great scenes in IT. But it's bloated and drunken and not as scary as it should be. King has written so many better books. Just watch the old TV mini-series. It's actually better than the book. You get the gist and you save yourself the truly uncomfortable (not in a good way) and absurd ending.
Bad endings are fine if they follow great journeys. Look elsewhere.
Joined: Tue September 24, 2013 5:56 pm Posts: 47141 Location: In the oatmeal aisle wearing a Shellac shirt
Joey makes some good points, but I think he's overstating his case. It definitely is "drunken" -- it's sort of a mess. I actually like the ending a lot, except for one major aspect. My feeling on the 1950s stuff vs the 1980s stuff is that the former is consistently great, while the latter ranges from very scary to very trashy and silly. But I think that the book is ultimately far superior to the TV movie.
It's kind of like Avocado, actually -- some of It is his very best work, but then parts are just awful.
There you go, bada. We've each stated our case. I guess you'll have to just decide for yourself. If you read it, I hope you enjoy it. It's not a terrible reading experience. There are great scenes. But I found it lacking and uninspired at the end of the day. If you haven't read 'Salem's Lot or The Stand or Lisey's Story or 11/22/63 or The Dark Tower series or Four Past Midnight or Different Seasons or The Shining or Dolores Claiborne or even Under the Dome, then I'd say get through all of those first. They are far, far more rewarding and interesting.
But plenty of people really like IT and think it's one of his best. This may be one you can't take on faith and have to experience for yourself to see where you stand.
There you go, bada. We've each stated our case. I guess you'll have to just decide for yourself. If you read it, I hope you enjoy it. It's not a terrible reading experience. There are great scenes. But I found it lacking and uninspired at the end of the day. If you haven't read 'Salem's Lot or The Stand or Lisey's Story or 11/22/63 or The Dark Tower series or Four Past Midnight or Different Seasons or The Shining or Dolores Claiborne or even Under the Dome, then I'd say get through all of those first. They are far, far more rewarding and interesting.
But plenty of people really like IT and think it's one of his best. This may be one you can't take on faith and have to experience for yourself to see where you stand.
Joined: Tue September 24, 2013 5:56 pm Posts: 47141 Location: In the oatmeal aisle wearing a Shellac shirt
bada wrote:
durdencommatyler wrote:
There you go, bada. We've each stated our case. I guess you'll have to just decide for yourself. If you read it, I hope you enjoy it. It's not a terrible reading experience. There are great scenes. But I found it lacking and uninspired at the end of the day. If you haven't read 'Salem's Lot or The Stand or Lisey's Story or 11/22/63 or The Dark Tower series or Four Past Midnight or Different Seasons or The Shining or Dolores Claiborne or even Under the Dome, then I'd say get through all of those first. They are far, far more rewarding and interesting.
But plenty of people really like IT and think it's one of his best. This may be one you can't take on faith and have to experience for yourself to see where you stand.
I'm no closer to making a decision.
Most of the books that Joey said are better than It are, in fact, better than It.
Late to the party but I think that It is King's masterpiece in the same way Exile is the Stones. A sprawling, Beautiful mess. After IT , I'd go with Salem's Lot, The Stand and The Shining.
I think you can't go wrong with anything from the last nearly ten years. Consistently good stuff but with a much stronger supernatural bent to it than is earlier horror writing.
_________________ Think I’m going to try being kind to everyone a chance.
I don't think King as yet to (nor will he probably ever) top 'Salem's Lot. That's a goddamn fantastic book. Like, maybe one of my all time favorites in any genre.
Joined: Tue September 24, 2013 5:56 pm Posts: 47141 Location: In the oatmeal aisle wearing a Shellac shirt
durdencommatyler wrote:
I don't think King as yet to (nor will he probably ever) top 'Salem's Lot. That's a goddamn fantastic book. Like, maybe one of my all time favorites in any genre.
Agreed. There's an elemental quality to it. If it were the only book he ever wrote, he would still sit comfortably in the same discussions as a Lovecraft, Poe, etc.
I don't think King as yet to (nor will he probably ever) top 'Salem's Lot. That's a goddamn fantastic book. Like, maybe one of my all time favorites in any genre.
Agreed. There's an elemental quality to it. If it were the only book he ever wrote, he would still sit comfortably in the same discussions as a Lovecraft, Poe, etc.
Joined: Sat January 05, 2013 1:57 pm Posts: 32495 Location: Where everybody knows your name
durdencommatyler wrote:
tragabigzanda wrote:
durdencommatyler wrote:
I don't think King as yet to (nor will he probably ever) top 'Salem's Lot. That's a goddamn fantastic book. Like, maybe one of my all time favorites in any genre.
Agreed. There's an elemental quality to it. If it were the only book he ever wrote, he would still sit comfortably in the same discussions as a Lovecraft, Poe, etc.
Absolutely. Well said.
The only book to absolutely scare the shit out of me.
_________________ Let me tell you, Homer Simpson is cock of nothing! - C. Montgomery Burns
I don't think King as yet to (nor will he probably ever) top 'Salem's Lot. That's a goddamn fantastic book. Like, maybe one of my all time favorites in any genre.
Agreed. There's an elemental quality to it. If it were the only book he ever wrote, he would still sit comfortably in the same discussions as a Lovecraft, Poe, etc.
Absolutely. Well said.
The only book to absolutely scare the shit out of me.
Joined: Tue January 01, 2013 6:03 pm Posts: 9359 Location: Washington State
The Mr. Mercedes trilogy is a wild ride. I liked the first one a lot (amazing characters, but then he's always been good at that). The second one was also enjoyable and I liked the way he changed the story up, keeping it grounded. And that's where the third one lost me. I loved how - not to use the word too much, but it fits - grounded the stories were and then he does that. It's not a bad story, it just fits oddly into the narrative.
The Mr. Mercedes trilogy is a wild ride. I liked the first one a lot (amazing characters, but then he's always been good at that). The second one was also enjoyable and I liked the way he changed the story up, keeping it grounded. And that's where the third one lost me. I loved how - not to use the word too much, but it fits - grounded the stories were and then he does that. It's not a bad story, it just fits oddly into the narrative.
The third one was my least favorite of the trilogy. But I had no problem with how it progressed and changed and... shifted. I actually thought that was really cool and fairly ballsy. It worked for me.
Finders Keepers was probably my favorite of the three.
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