The Works of Stephen King

[Smilla]

Exxxcellent. "The Reaper's Image" is one of my all time favorite King pieces. Elegant, concise, and comes together quite nicely. "N" is a great story, but I'm not sure how it'll translate to the screen. It feels so...quiet compared to the others in that bunch.

[Shalamar]

He was only 18 when he wrote "The Reaper's Image". Wow.

[glitterbug]

I've just started reading "Full Dark, No Stars" and I'm struggling to get into it a bit. I always struggle to get into King's novels at first, but at least there's 80% of the story to go once I've got into it. I love his short stories, but these are quite long. Oh dear, I'm sounding a bit like Pickle!

Anyway, I'm not into the first story at all (the one with the rats) but hopefully I will enjoy one or more of the others. I'm going to re-read "The Stand" when I've finished this - this thread has whetted my appetite (although I may still skip the military bits at the beginning

[sugarhigh]

I just finished reading 11/22/63 and it didn't live up to expectations. Maybe I just didn't get the thesis of it because when I put it down all I could think was that nothing happened.

And it pissed me off that even after seeing all the racism and bigotry, Jake was perfectly willing to live in the 60s, until his girlfriend got hurt and he needed 21st century medical help.

[Baby Fish Mouth]

Apr 3, 2012 20:15:13 GMT -4 sugarhigh said:

I just finished reading 11/22/63 and it didn't live up to expectations. Maybe I just didn't get the thesis of it because when I put it down all I could think was that nothing happened.

And it pissed me off that even after seeing all the racism and bigotry, Jake was perfectly willing to live in the 60s, until his girlfriend got hurt and he needed 21st century medical help.

Well, it's not like the 60s were ALL bad. Every era has its downside, but Jake had the advantage of being a straight white male so the bigotry didn't really affect him personally. He clearly enjoyed living in a small town during a simpler time. He formed close friendships with the townspeople, plus he was in love. That’s a pretty powerful incentive to stay anywhere.

The “lesson” I took away from the novel was that you can’t mess with the time-space continuum, especially a huge event like the JFK assassination, without risking some very serious and often unexpected consequences.

[Deleted]

Apr 4, 2012 13:04:03 GMT -4 Baby Fish Mouth said:

The “lesson” I took away from the novel was that you can’t mess with the time-space continuum, especially a huge event like the JFK assassination, without risking some very serious and often unexpected consequences.

This. Also he wound up sacrificing his own happiness for the good of society as a whole. The message I got is that the individual cannot always be out for themselves, that occasionally we have to be more concerned about the world outside ourselves.

And of course there's good old "it is better to have loved and lost than to never have loved at all." Jake doesn't get to live a long life with Sadie, but I got the impression he feels he's a better man for having the time with her that he did.

[sugarhigh]

Vulture rated SK's 62 books. The fact that Lisey's Story placed so high makes the list invalid for me but it was interesting to see another person's perspective.

[Deleted]

I liked Lisey's Story, and I generally don't like his supernatural stuff all that much. Sure it's not his best work but I don't think it was as awful as some people think.

[Shalamar]

Very cool link. Thanks, sugarhigh! (Man, I own all of those books except for the latest, Wind Through the Keyhole.

[scarlet]

Oh, interesting list! I don't agree with placing Lisey's Story so high (I thought both 11/22/63 and Under The Dome were superior, for sure--along with several other books), but the rest of the Top Ten I can definitely get behind. It's actually making me want to go back and reread a few of the older ones, like The Dead Zone, which I first read as a teenager over 20 years ago.