Stephen King

[buckskin scout]

I have only read The Gunslinger. Bought the second book of the Series and The Shining. Haven't read them yet, but I changed my mind about Stephen King. Now I like him. Planning on buying "On Writing".

On Writing is an excellent book and so is Danse Macabre.

But I am of the school that vintage King was truly best, that is I recommend nearly everything between Carrie to IT while beyond that is very, very spotty and I can only genuinely recommend a handful of titles.

[buckskin scout]

Can't open from US. ..something about copyright laws. Bummer. .. but I do like the music from the movie too.

That is too bad, I really love this video, taped by a person playing Enya's Boudicea on his guitar with an EBOW. He does an awesome job!

[Guest Nathan DiYorio]

I'm in the US and the video plays fine for me.

[Maureen_jacobs]

Bought Doctor Sleep and couldn't put it down....I believe it dropped late September. I also read 11/22/63. Very nice one as well.

His work is fascinating.

I think he has an interesting mind and wonder what he would have done had he not become a writer.

[buckskin scout]

Bought Doctor Sleep and couldn't put it down....I believe it dropped late September. I also read 11/22/63. Very nice one as well.

His work is fascinating.

I think he has an interesting mind and wonder what he would have done had he not become a writer.

I have just started Doctor Sleep and it is pretty interesting and the antagonists thus far are sorta "meh" in my book. But learned abit more about the surviving Torrances in the aftermath of the Overlook and more about Halloran's history especially his grandmother with the shine and another very dark figure from his past.

[Four Winds]

Its all deus ex machina, a freaking let down. Not my cup of tea.

[Lava_Lady]

Dr. Sleep ~sigh~ What can I say, I also am pretty disappointed.

Initially it was engaging and interesting as Jack is introduced as an adult and we get to catch up with familiar characters but like GoSC said, the antagonists are bizarre and seem a bit lackluster. Like King couldn't think of anything more interesting. Even the name he gives them is pretty lame.

I must say the biggest irritation is the the fact that, once again, he's written about children being victims. Honestly, I'm pretty sick of the premise. It's almost like he's riding the natural horror and revulsion people feel when reading about child killers. He's going to really turn his readers off with this, I know I'm done with it.

This novel starts off with relatively relate-able characters then he turns them, bad guys and good guys, into pseudo superheroes bordering on ridiculous. Even knowing it's a work of fiction, it just doesn't work for me. I can't express just how disappointed I am.... this book doesn't even come close to the creativity of his older books.

I will wait for more detailed reviews before I buy another book from him. In the mean time, I will go back to my favorites like Duma Key, Bag of Bones, Under the Dome, 11-22-63, & his various short stories.

[buckskin scout]

Dr. Sleep ~sigh~ What can I say, I also am pretty disappointed.

Initially it was engaging and interesting as Jack is introduced as an adult and we get to catch up with familiar characters but like GoSC said, the antagonists are bizarre and seem a bit lackluster. Like King couldn't think of anything more interesting. Even the name he gives them is pretty lame.

I must say the biggest irritation is the the fact that, once again, he's written about children being victims. Honestly, I'm pretty sick of the premise. It's almost like he's riding the natural horror and revulsion people feel when reading about child killers. He's going to really turn his readers off with this, I know I'm done with it.

This novel starts off with relatively relate-able characters then he turns them, bad guys and good guys, into pseudo superheroes bordering on ridiculous. Even knowing it's a work of fiction, it just doesn't work for me. I can't express just how disappointed I am.... this book doesn't even come close to the creativity of his older books.

I will wait for more detailed reviews before I buy another book from him. In the mean time, I will go back to my favorites like Duma Key, Bag of Bones, Under the Dome, 11-22-63, & his various short stories.

Yeah, what happened to King's flawed identifiable three dimensional protagonists from his earliest works.

King nearly singlehandedly revitalized horror literature due to the quality of his writing was above the cut-rate hacks turning out terrible and schlocky pulp novels. At the time, for the most part, horror literature's better days were behind it.

[Lava_Lady]

Yeah, what happened to King's flawed identifiable three dimensional protagonists from his earliest works.

King nearly singlehandedly revitalized horror literature due to the quality of his writing was above the cut-rate hacks turning out terrible and schlocky pulp novels. At the time, for the most part, horror literature's better days were behind it.

He certainly did pave the way for a lot of writers and although he was never perfect he was entertaining on a human level. Yes, most of his books started off with regular characters and he does execute deus ex machina in a lot of his endings but they were good reads and some were down right scary!

Mr. Sleep, for some reason just doesn't get to the level of the others. I don't want to get into too much detail of the things I didn't like because of spoilers but I think he needs to tone down some of the "super hero" aspects and maybe start thinking about personalizing some of the antagonists like he did in Duma Key and Bag of Bones.

Just my opinion.

[WhispersInTheAttic]

Dr. Sleep ~sigh~ What can I say, I also am pretty disappointed.

Initially it was engaging and interesting as Jack is introduced as an adult and we get to catch up with familiar characters but like GoSC said, the antagonists are bizarre and seem a bit lackluster. Like King couldn't think of anything more interesting. Even the name he gives them is pretty lame.

I must say the biggest irritation is the the fact that, once again, he's written about children being victims. Honestly, I'm pretty sick of the premise. It's almost like he's riding the natural horror and revulsion people feel when reading about child killers. He's going to really turn his readers off with this, I know I'm done with it.

This novel starts off with relatively relate-able characters then he turns them, bad guys and good guys, into pseudo superheroes bordering on ridiculous. Even knowing it's a work of fiction, it just doesn't work for me. I can't express just how disappointed I am.... this book doesn't even come close to the creativity of his older books.

I will wait for more detailed reviews before I buy another book from him. In the mean time, I will go back to my favorites like Duma Key, Bag of Bones, Under the Dome, 11-22-63, & his various short stories.

Oh wow, it's that bad huh? I was really wanting to buy this too. Good thing I didn't buy it cause it was 25 dollars at books a million. Amazon seems to have gotten a lot of great reviews though. Not sure what to think about this one. His ealier books however were amazing and I was looking forward to reading this one. Hmmm, I'll buy this book once the price goes down I guess. Or hold off on it, can't seem to make up my mind about it, haha! If anyone has other opinions on this book please share cause I'd like to hear them. Stephen King was my favorite author as a kid and I read a lot of his books. However I wouldn't want to buy this if it doesn't deliver well like his other books has did.

[Lava_Lady]

Oh wow, it's that bad huh? I was really wanting to buy this too. Good thing I didn't buy it cause it was 25 dollars at books a million. Amazon seems to have gotten a lot of great reviews though. Not sure what to think about this one. His ealier books however were amazing and I was looking forward to reading this one. Hmmm, I'll buy this book once the price goes down I guess. Or hold off on it, can't seem to make up my mind about it, haha! If anyone has other opinions on this book please share cause I'd like to hear them. Stephen King was my favorite author as a kid and I read a lot of his books. However I wouldn't want to buy this if it doesn't deliver well like his other books has did.

Well, it didn't deliver for me... I don't want to say too much more about it so I don't spoil it for you. You might like it more than I did, I'm just a little burnt out from reading several books that are too similar from his son and him. I still think he could have done a lot better by employing some of the writing methods he used in his older books but a lot of people like this book.

I think you would be better off waiting and not spending $25 on the book though... check ebay for a used copy for waaay less. lol I personally bought this as an audio book, spent about $10 then when I found I didn't like it, was able to exchange it for another book so, I don't feel ripped off at all.

I'd love to hear your opinion when you do read the book. Keep us updated.

[72Angel]

I am a huge SK fan, I don't think I have a read a book by him that I haven't liked, and I've read them all.

I wouldn't call Dr Sleep a sequel per se - its more a 'this is grown up Dannys story, and Danny lived through the horror at the Overlook Hotel'.

Two books I haven't seen mentioned are The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon and Geralds Game - both excellent IMO.

I have re-read all of his books many times, but I do need the first 4 DT books in hardback, as I only have them in paperback - I was late finding them

[Samyann]

I just read NOS4A2. The title is a bit misleading, there are no vampires. But, it is written by Stephen King’s son, Joe Hill. Chip of the ole block. It’s in the same vein as all of King’s work. I wrote a review which is on my site, but there are thousands of reviews. It’s a page turning story that if you like Stephen King, you should like.

[scorpiosonic]

I. Freaking. Love. Stephen. King. A brilliant writer, from his first book to his most recent. I own a good many of his books.

Cosigned.

Needful Things, and Movie too, Max in fine form.

And Pet Cematery, the movie was as scary as the book!

[+susieice]

I actually enjoyed Under The Dome. Sometimes it gets long but the characters are likable and there's opportunity to really get involved into the story. I hope you enjoy it!

I put it back down and read a slew of books in the meantime. Picked it back up about a week ago and read right through it. I really did enjoy it.

[Sufjan]

I actually never liked Stephen King...until I first read The Gunslinger. Only read the first two volumes of the Dark Tower and The Shining, but it's quite entertaining. The Shining wasn't that good though.

[Maureen_jacobs]

I liked Dr. Sleep, however, it was not up to the standards that a writer as seasoned as Stephen King is. I liked how they progressed his story, but it lacked the punch. Perhaps the King of Horror has exhausted his imagination. Perhaps he has reached in to every dark corner of depravity and fear and has run the well dry. Unsure, but this book, while better than most books out there, was not the Stephen King I fell in love with long ago. He is and always will be the most prolific horror writer out there. I just think Dr. Sleep fell asleep.

Edited March 19, 2014 by Maureen_jacobs

[DancingCorpse]

King is an absolute genius with the way he often takes a generic topic within the archetypes of horror then adds his little folksy town touch and creates very real reactions and progressions to the supernatural, it's brilliant how he continuously comes up with stuff. Ofc that ain't his only trick, he has gone outside him comfort zone with The Dark Tower, Misery, Dolores Claiborne, 22/11/63 or whatever, Joyland, Hearts In Atlantis, The Running Man... he has many faces and sides to his work, even in the good old straight horror yarns, myriad avenues of pop culture and era commentary and fantastic character conflict and development run throughout.

As much as I enjoy the sheer fact he's still putting stuff, great stuff, out, I don't agree that his later stuff is as good as his ''prime'' which I believe to be 74-1990. It's damn good but I prefer the gems he mined during that period, perhaps I prefer the darker and more raw treasure chests he span out during his own darkness. So delighted he didn't retire after getting whacked by that idiot driver and having all that rehabilitation after he'd managed to be sober for ten years. He's a literary beast and seems an upstanding and compelling man.