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Thread: Stephen King

  1. #31
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    I read the Gunslinger a while back and really didn't like it much. My first time reading Stephen King. It's not that I had an issue with the story itself, but I found something about the vernacular or the way it was written to be really off-putting to me. Yet everywhere I see people praising the whole of the Dark Tower series. Is it just me? Does the writing style change after the first book? I've since given King another shot and read Under the Dome, which was enjoyable and a much easier read (aside from the ending shitting the bed).

  2. #32
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    The Gunslinger was written when King was really young. The writing style and pacing change dramatically with The Drawing of the Three.

  3. #33
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    The Gunslinger to the whole saga is kinda like The Hobbit to LOTR, both in writing and the volume.

  4. #34
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    Quote Originally Posted by Jinsai View Post
    The Gunslinger was written when King was really young. The writing style and pacing change dramatically with The Drawing of the Three.
    I couldn't have said it better myself. It almost seems like parts I & VII were written by different authors, that's how different the styles are. You just have to remember the series has been written over decades

  5. #35
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    I started the Dark Tower series this year and so far, I have to admit these are some of the best books I've ever read. I just finished Wizard and Glass and started The Wind Through the Keyhole. I can't wait to see how the series unfolds!

  6. #36
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    Currently reading Under the Dome. It's fucking massive. And awesome.
    This is his third longest novel, behind The Stand (expanded version) and It.

    Anyone who loved Needful Things (also The Stand, Storm of the Century to a smaller degree) should also love this.

  7. #37
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    I've actually read everything SK has ever written (except for 11/22/63, haven't got my grubby, obsessive paws on it yet.) Under the Dome was amazing and really proves that King's still got it.
    I just finished Full Dark, No Stars, and good god, it WAS dark. i understand the title now. I'd have to say the only king books i didn't absolutely ADORE are Cell and From a Buick 8.
    As far as the Gunslinger, Sebek, everyone is right in their comments. The Dark Tower series (The Gunslinger being the first one, of course,) began when SK was NINETEEN years old. The eighth book came out last year. So yes, the writing style evolves in an incredible way, as does the story.
    The coolest thing to me about the Dark Tower series is that it attempts to tie MOST of king's work together into one uber-tale. Salem's Lot, It, Desperation, The regulators, the Talisman, Black House, Insomnia, The Stand, The Eyes of the Dragon etc etc...all tie in.

    EDIT: Oh yeah, and for you Under the Dome fans who didn't know, check THIS SHIT http://www.underthedome.com/ out! I have a feeling it's gonna be really good, with names like Amblin Television and DreamWorks Television, as well as SK himself reportedly being involved quite a bit (although in what capacity i'm not sure.) The link also has a nifty gadget that you can use to see what your house might look like "under the dome" (via google earth or something.)
    Last edited by elevenism; 04-19-2013 at 08:24 PM.

  8. #38
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    Quote Originally Posted by onthewall2983 View Post
    200-odd pages into 11-22-63 now. I really really wonder if he knows that he's made several nods to both the Back To The Future trilogy and a few to Quantum Leap. Not a complaint, it's a pretty good read thus far. Been awhile since I've read one of his books. I loaned this and Under The Dome from the library, so that'll give me my fill I'm sure.
    Sorry for the double post, but no one else has posted. Maybe i post too damn much...idk, just sick of facebook and missed ETS.
    ANYWAY...
    you must have finished 11/22/63 by now. I finished it today. What'd you think?
    I thought it was good, not great. Part of my beef is that ive lived most of my life in the D and King just didn't capture dallas. For instance, we don't call that area "central texas," it's North Texas. As far as Dallas being evil? i had no problem with that...cities have spirits, and Dallas' spirit is a dark one. I swear to god that dallas has been trying to kill me for years.
    Under the Dome on the other hand...did you read it yet? It is one of the absolute darkest, yet most amazing, tomes into which i have ever inserted my nose. I also loved it cause it captured the current "vibe" of america. Man, that motherfucker gave me nightmares, for real, but i could NOT stop reading it. I think it took me 4 days, and that was working full time and holding down a crazy gf.

  9. #39
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    Yeh, I just wait for the book, but this will definitely be read as soon as Amazon sends it my way.

  11. #41
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    Quote Originally Posted by elevenism View Post
    Sorry for the double post, but no one else has posted. Maybe i post too damn much...idk, just sick of facebook and missed ETS.
    ANYWAY...
    you must have finished 11/22/63 by now. I finished it today. What'd you think?
    I thought it was good, not great. Part of my beef is that ive lived most of my life in the D and King just didn't capture dallas. For instance, we don't call that area "central texas," it's North Texas. As far as Dallas being evil? i had no problem with that...cities have spirits, and Dallas' spirit is a dark one. I swear to god that dallas has been trying to kill me for years.
    Under the Dome on the other hand...did you read it yet? It is one of the absolute darkest, yet most amazing, tomes into which i have ever inserted my nose. I also loved it cause it captured the current "vibe" of america. Man, that motherfucker gave me nightmares, for real, but i could NOT stop reading it. I think it took me 4 days, and that was working full time and holding down a crazy gf.
    I enjoyed 11/22/63 WAY more than Under the Dome, but I'm a sucker for time travel. That book could have been 1000 more pages and I would have gladly kept reading.

  12. #42
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    Quote Originally Posted by Tyson View Post
    I enjoyed 11/22/63 WAY more than Under the Dome, but I'm a sucker for time travel. That book could have been 1000 more pages and I would have gladly kept reading.
    i actually liked the dome better, but i LOVED 11/22/63 in retrospect. i just wish SK had done dallas a little more justice. but i love time travel as well, and the window to the past that king created was pretty awesome. the past he conjured felt more real than any other time travel story i've read or seen.
    I said 11/22/63 was "good, not great." Now i think it IS great...it's funny how a book can grow on you. i still think about it.

    I can't wait for dr sleep, NYRexall. I still don't know how to hyperlink names (even after having been around ETS since the ARG.) I must admit to being somewhat technically challenged...see, what happened was, i got black-out drunk in 2000 and didn't sober up until 2009 or so. I can laugh about it now, but good god it was awful. Anyway, i hope you catch this...i'm always down to talk stephen king.

    Did you guys read the Talisman and its sequel Black House? I thought he did a pretty damn good job on that, so i'm pretty excited about dr sleep.

    Having read all of his books, i must say that my favorites are The Stand, then Under the Dome, then the Dark Tower series (guess im cheating, but it IS one story)

    Edit: Just a thought, i could have stood 1000 more pages of the dome, the stand, AND 11/22/63. I want so badly to meet Stephen King...not for a long conversation...a book signing thing would do...just to shake the hand of the man who has so generously given me a deep, deep window into his semi-twisted, brilliant mind for the last 22 years or so
    Last edited by elevenism; 08-26-2013 at 05:30 AM.

  13. #43
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    After reading 11/22/63 it immediately became my favourite King book. I actually had Under the Dome sitting on my shelf since it had come out, but never got around to it. Then 11/22/63 came out, I blazed through it and then decided to read Dome. I think maybe that's why I didn't enjoy Dome as much. Just didn't compare to 63 for me.

    That said, I read The Stand ages ago, but a couple of years ago I got the uncut version, and it literally has taken me three years, and I still haven't finished it. It's good, but sometimes I just start not caring and stop reading.

    What really annoys me though, is I was back home in the States in November/December 2011 (when 11/22/63 was released), and as I'm browsing Facebook I see people posting pictures of a book signing King did. Turns out there was an open book signing about three hours from me at a Wal-Mart of all places, and I missed it.

    That said, here's a pic of my Stephen King stuff I took back in, I think, late 2010 when I was packing everything to put into storage when I moved. All of it, aside from paperbacks and The Shining are first editions. I've got everything post Dome in first editions too, but obviously not in the picture. Plus, a few later editions of other stuff I picked up here in Oz that I'll eventually replace with legit first editions.


  14. #44
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    I liked it. In standard King fashion he gets to the end and it kinda falls apart. It's really good up until, if I remember right, the last couple of chapters.

  15. #45
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    Yeah. Parts of it felt like I was in a fever dream. I haven't had a book have that effect on me before or since.

  16. #46
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    Your eyes are not deceptive. My wife was with me, and, being Aussie, she had never had a York, so she got those York Pieces abominations. And the HTDA was there, because I was taking pics of my NIN collection before I boxed it up as well.

  17. #47
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    Is that story he did with Joe any good? It's in my ebook "to read" pile, but there's so much in there.

  18. #48
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    Doctor Sleep just turned up on my Kindle.

    BYE INTERNET.

    Edit - 3 hours in, 25%. The prose is modern King with a few throwbacks to the (iheihtieht) old school stuff. There's some nice Shining references thrown in so far, but it's a bit disjointed. Adult Danny is a bit of a douche.

    Last edited by slave2thewage; 09-23-2013 at 09:43 PM.

  19. #49
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    I'm not too far into Doctor Sleep, so I'm not going to jump to any judgments...

    Still, I'd say that as of now, I'm not liking these characters. They seem like the sort of thing Neil Gaiman might puke up if he was bored and completely out of ideas. Also, the attempts to reconnect with Danny feel strained. It's already giving me the kind of uneasy feeling I had when I tried to get through Ira Levin's sequel to Rosemary's Baby.

    Hopefully it picks up.

  20. #50
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    When I started Doctor Sleep, I was pretty much hooked.

  21. #51
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    It was really good, but I thought the climax was rushed and the twist near the end was just "WHAT".

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    Doctor Sleep was very good. Not as good as the Shining, but a worthy successor

  23. #53
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    Quote Originally Posted by slave2thewage View Post
    It was really good, but I thought the climax was rushed and the twist near the end was just "WHAT".
    These were my thoughts while reading Under the Dome, actually.

  24. #54
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    Quote Originally Posted by fillow View Post
    These were my thoughts while reading Under the Dome, actually.
    Ugh, the Under The Dome twist was awful. This wasn't as bad as that, but still annoying. Also, Doctor Sleep has something resembling a climax but it's rushed, whereas UtD pretty much promises one and then it never arrives, in my opinion.
    Last edited by slave2thewage; 10-09-2013 at 11:21 PM.

  25. #55
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    It was very psychological suspense. If you've read his son Joe Hill's latest novel NOS4A2, the tones of the two are very similar.

  26. #56
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    yeah i prefer the uncut edition as well. sure, there's some unnecessary stuff in there, but for the most part, it enhances it for me. then again, i also read the uncut version first before trying the original edition, and i found myself missing the additions.

  27. #57
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    I LOOOOOOVED dr. sleep. but i love everything SK writes. I feel like i know him (not in the scary way where im gonna go to his house.)

    And i loved how Danny is an alcoholic CNA with a supernatural powers.
    I was a CNA for five years, am a sober alcoholic, and have just a touch of supernatural power.

  28. #58
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    i actually wound up putting doctor sleep down... it started strong and i just lost interest after the first hundred pages or so. maybe i just wasn't in the mood and will give it another shot sometime down the line.

  29. #59
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    I actually spent the whole of the release day just reading Doctor Sleep. Oh, how disappointed I was.

  30. #60
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    Quote Originally Posted by slave2thewage View Post
    I actually spent the whole of the release day just reading Doctor Sleep. Oh, how disappointed I was.
    You didn't like Dr. Sleep? i thought it was great! but then, i'm a fanboy. I just fucking adore king's "voice."
    @aggroculture , have you read a King book yet?

    I think i would recommend The Green Mile, or perhaps the Talisman.
    If you like a massive story though, go with the uncut version of The Stand.

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