Stephen King Fans? Anyone?

[Walter_Langkowski]

i like how he gets into his characters and makes them individual and like real people. they have very realistic personalities

Totally agree. His knack for writing realistic characters is astounding. Definitely one of his strengths.

 

[Astrum]

I've pretty much purchased all of his books up to around 1993 or so. After that they got a bit mild, IMO.

But his earlier work is downright mesmorizing. His string of classic novels rivals anyone elses around. The Stand, If, Pet Cemetary, Salem's Lot, etc. are beyond legendary. The only prob would be that some of them are a bit long (if that is a problem for some).

Easier King reading in length would be his two classic short story books, Night Shift and Skeleton Crew. Great stuff on those.

i agree on the subject of mis more recent works, with the exeption of the latest dark tower and dreamcatcher.

(im used to long books so it doesnt really bother me-i read a frequently, and fast.)

 

[derek]

I've pretty much purchased all of his books up to around 1993 or so. After that they got a bit mild, IMO.

But his earlier work is downright mesmorizing. His string of classic novels rivals anyone elses around. The Stand, If, Pet Cemetary, Salem's Lot, etc. are beyond legendary. The only prob would be that some of them are a bit long (if that is a problem for some).

Easier King reading in length would be his two classic short story books, Night Shift and Skeleton Crew. Great stuff on those.

The problem of length comes down to bad editing. He lets the narrative vapidly wander quite often.

I'll concede that his character development is fairly good, although it's hardly layered. Dreamcatcher, again, probably has some good examples of it. He does tend to stick to rigid structures when he devises a character though, which very much works against him.

 

[Astrum]

yes.

too bad his movies are shit

 

[Tongue_Ring]

Stephen King is my god

 

[Pessimism]

I've read part I of the Gunslinger series, I haven't read anything else..
(please don't stone me )

 

[Astrum]

nah we wont stone you. mabey.

i would highly advise reading osme of his more basic stuff before delving into the dark tower.

 

[Death Animal]

I did read nightmare by King at last month.
Not he´s best but nice vampire story.

 

[speed]

If - for a second - we grant that he is orginal, his prose still remains turgid. That's where my criticisms lie.

I think cliched attempts at writing him off are mainly from the horror-underground fearful that they may indeed enjoy something Joe-Public can pick up and enjoy too.

I quite enjoyed Dreamcatcher, but it needed to be edited WAY better. Everything else I've picked up (many years ago, now) lead me to wandering around the most boring, tiresome narratives, page after page. IMHO, better writers exist in the genre - and I'm not even a horror afficionado.

I think this is a fair and reasonable assesment. I dont care at all for his books or the horror genre, but I have to admit, he sure does have a active and creative imagination.

 

[Walter_Langkowski]

yes.

too bad his movies are shit

Agreed.


Although for standard television, the mini-series of The Stand was fairly watchable.


Oh and another classic would definitely have to be The Tailsman, where King collaborated with Peter Straub. Awesome combo of Horror and Fantasy. The kid's ability to transfer from our reality to the alternate, midevil times world was very well done. Also one of my faves.

 

[Astrum]

yeah, i liked that book also. and about the stand, it wasnt that great, but it was better then the others. not because of good acting, but because they managed to fit a lot of the material in there.

now dreamcatcher was a bad movie