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04 August 2004 @ 04:27 pm

I'm now too spacy to focus on writing. And I was going to ask a question, but I can't remember what it is. So I'll ask another. I stopped reading Stephen King a while back when I stopped keeping up with the horror genre; now I'm reading his book on the craft of writing, and I want to read a novel of his that I haven't read before--something after, say, It. Something genre, not one of his non-horror departures. Does anyone have recommendations?

Also, get this: I have a neighbor with a smoke alarm whose battery is failing. It's not someone who's gone on vacation and left their window open, because I usually only hear it at night, when they're presumably home. Just imagine--I mean, seriously. Somewhere nearby is a person who is residing in the same room with an intermittently beeping smoke alarm and doing nothing about it. HOW IS THIS POSSIBLE? I don't understand this crazy world we live in, but thank god it has kittens.

21 comments | Leave a comment

21 comments —

( 21 comments — Leave a comment )

laurashapiro on August 4th, 2004 04:28 pm (UTC)

Not being a huge King fan, I don't know when it falls in his authorial timeline, but have you read Misery? I quite liked it.

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eliade on August 4th, 2004 04:31 pm (UTC)

Oh, yes I have, but thank you. :>) I only just guessed at the place I left off in the timeline, actually, but I feel vaguely as if it's somewhere halfway.

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gem225 on August 4th, 2004 04:32 pm (UTC)

The only Stephen King novels that I can recommend are The Dead Zone and The Stand (NOT the unedited version, god, no *shudder*), but I haven't read his stuff since, um, right after college when I tore through the Troy, NY public library, desperate for books and not caring for more than that they got me to read past the first page. Hey, I was young and desperate and poor. *g*

Thank god the world has kittens.

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destina on August 4th, 2004 04:34 pm (UTC)

I recommend Bag of Bones. I found the book...well, I think King's style, his craft, has evolved quite a bit. I loved his early novels, and then I dropped out on reading his books somewhere around Dolores Claiborne, and horrible books after that, because for a while he was writing crap. But Bag of Bones is...different. It's about writing, and loss, and romance, and...I liked it very much.

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codyne on August 4th, 2004 04:35 pm (UTC)

I don't generally like King, but I liked Dreamcatcher. I felt it was more in the line of standard horror than his usual stuff, although with a nearly-Clive-Barker-ish level of sploodge.

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wesleysgirl on August 4th, 2004 04:40 pm (UTC)

I haven't read Dreamcatcher, but I did see the "film" they made from it and it was astonishingly horrible. On the other hand, several of his books (that I liked) were made into astonishingly horrible movies, so it's possible I'd like the book.

I mostly prefer his early stuff. "The Shining," "The Stand," "It," "Eyes of the Dragon" (not genre though,) "Firestarter," and "Christine" are probably my favorites.

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logovo on August 4th, 2004 04:58 pm (UTC)

*Raises hand*

I stopped reading King and came back to read Dreamcatcher. I enjoyed it, it was pretty much in keeping with the King stuff I liked.

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zoniduck on August 4th, 2004 05:00 pm (UTC)

I'd agree completely with this assessment. I saw a quote from SK once, possibly in Danse Macabre, where he said that if he can't scare you the traditional way, he'll go for the gross-out every time. It think the bathroom scene in the cabin proves this. *g*

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obsessedmuch on August 4th, 2004 04:50 pm (UTC)

Just venturing to rec "The Dark Tower" series. Books 1-6 are out, book 7 is due out this fall.

I am a huge King fan and of all his work, this to me is the best of what he has to offer.

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zoniduck on August 4th, 2004 04:57 pm (UTC)

Personally, I loved, really loved, Insomnia. It doesn't get a lot of mention when people talk about SK, but I think it's one of his best stories, and it made me bawl like a baby at the end. And I'll second the rec of Bag of Bones. It's a fabulous ghost story, but it's got a lot more than that going for it. I also enjoyed Hearts in Atlantis, though it took me a long time to get around to reading it. It's five short stories, but they're all interconnected, and together they make for a great read.

And I can't talk about SK novels without mentioning the Dark Tower series. I've seen the series described as his masterwork, and I'd say that's absolutely correct. The first part, The Gunslinger can be a bit of a tough slog in places, but it's the doorway to an incredible story. If you read nothing else that anyone recs here, read this series. It's *that* good.

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miggy on August 4th, 2004 05:55 pm (UTC)

I picked up Insomnia at the beginning of what would ultimately prove to be an 88 hour trip of pure hell, in which I got less than 5 hours of sleep.

I should have taken the title as a sign. So: good book, but I must warn you that I think it's cursed.

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behindblue_eyes on August 4th, 2004 10:16 pm (UTC)

The Gunslinger can be a bit of a tough slog in places

I enjoyed the first edition of The Gunslinger just for that reason. Some things don't make sense, and there are obviously errors on the author's part, but I think it added to the general decay of Roland's world. And this is the only book in which we're not seeing Midworld through the veil of the New Yorkers - basically an untainted view of a messed up man. The narration is crazy and mixed up, just like the title character. The rewrite just added annoying colloquialisms that muck up the flow of the writing.

But I'd most definitely agree that it's one of the best contemporary fiction series on the market. Good stuff.

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zoniduck on August 4th, 2004 10:20 pm (UTC)

Hey there, you. Thanks again for this icon. *g*

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behindblue_eyes on August 4th, 2004 10:23 pm (UTC)

Hey there, back. ;)

And no worries, glad you approve.

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(Anonymous) on August 5th, 2004 04:48 am (UTC)

Go with Insomnia - one of his best without the total disgusto factor that comes into play in many of his books.

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twistedchick on August 4th, 2004 05:46 pm (UTC)

The only Stephen King that I've read and liked in years was a short story -- 'The Ballad of the Flexible Bullet'. It's in one of his collections. I'm sorry I can't be more precise.

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valerie_z on August 4th, 2004 06:05 pm (UTC)

I have a neighbor with a smoke alarm whose battery is failing.

When we first looked at our house in April, they had a beeping smoke alarm too. The closing was delayed until July, and in July when we moved in, it was still beeping. I have no idea how they lived four months with a really loud beep every two minutes.

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robling_t on August 4th, 2004 08:23 pm (UTC)

Ehh, that's not a smoke-alarm horror story -- this is a smoke-alarm horror story...

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beowulf1 on August 4th, 2004 09:03 pm (UTC)

He mentions The Green Mile in the book you're reading on his writing process. I thought it was a terrific read. Bag of Bones is typical SK. My favorite is The Stand - somehow I always manage to be reading it smack dab in the middle of flu season. Now that I think about it, maybe that's what keeps me from getting sick. Hmmmmmmm.....

Vicodin good.

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behindblue_eyes on August 4th, 2004 10:21 pm (UTC)

I agree that The Dark Tower Series is worth a read, although it's not your traditional horror story. I'd also recommend The Dark Half, though I'm not sure if it came before or after It. It's the story of a mediocre writer's alter ego, and what happens when he tries to banish his demons by admitting to the pseudonym. It's all very meta and based loosely around King's alcoholism and his invention of Richard Bachman, but beyond that it's a fairly entertaining read. Not sure how far it falls into the horror category either, though...

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goosegirl9 on August 5th, 2004 11:40 am (UTC)

I love Stephen King, but I haven't been reading as much of his new stuff. I'd recommend "Bag of Bones", and "The Green Mile". I also bought and enjoyed his book on writing, "Everything's Eventual". "Bag of Bones" ... was to me very disturbing (but a great work, in the truest sense of the word), possibly because it included a very bad rape. I loathe and fear violence towards women and children. It is not a comfortable or "entertaining" book. "The Green Mile" is a rousing good story. It was published in installments (sort of like live journal stories), so you were always waiting breathlessly for the next chapter.

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