Stephen King Fans discussion
Sometimes Dead Threads Come Back
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What newer King book should I read?
Cell is great for someone not sure, because it IS quick and easy. Ut's the most reminiscent of "old King" from his newer offerrings. Zombies, too, which I think you like, Rob.
Cell is my least favorite King book ever. I was seriously disappointed with the second half of the book. I like my zombies to be REAL zombies. ;)Anyway, read Duma Key, Rob. It's excellent, and creepy. Better yet, listen to it on audio. Slattery's reading is amazing.
Well, I disagree with Becks, but that's okay. I listened to Cell as well as read it. Awesome job by Scott, the reader.Duma Key is about wealthy man having a disfiguring accident, and loses his wife. He relocates and discovers a talent for painting. Of course, there's a catch with the "talent".
I didn't like the direction the story went, that's all. I loved the beginning... it was very chaotic and vicious and fast. Then it just went downhill from there. I also have Just After Sunset on audio, which is really good.
But, if you want to read Cell, read Cell! I'm not going to tell you NOT to read it, but I think you'd enjoy Duma Key better.
So... read Cell, then whatever you read next will seem that much better by comparison. (Sorry, Steve. Still love you though!)
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Ok. Cell is like listening to Black Sabbath and halfway through the album Yanni starts playing instead. Duma Key is like listening to Mozart with a little Phantom of the Opera creepiness thrown in.
LOL... Seriously though... Duma Key is a slow build. You get to know the characters, and the place, and its character and history. You see strange things happen that may not keep you up at night, unless it happened to you. You FEEL this book.
I personally feel like it is one of King's best.
Read Cell first, then you'll see.
But, Yanni? Gosh Becky, that's so wrong!!!! LMAO
Becky wrote: "Ok. Cell is like listening to Black Sabbath and halfway through the album Yanni starts playing instead. "I enjoyed Cell, though I do agree that the second half was not near as strong as the first and the ending itself wasn't as effective as one could hope. But, man... that quote induced barking laughter!
Kandice wrote: "But, Yanni? Gosh Becky, that's so wrong!!!! LMAO"Wrong, or completely accurate?? ;)
Well, the second half does have a different drive to it, but Yanni? How about Traveling Wilbury's as opposed to Black Sabbath? Not nearly as slow, but definitely mellow:)
Mmm... If that floats your boat, K... I just have higher expectations for my zombies. And these were Yanni-esque. *shrug* ;)
I have never read a zombie book before, so I couldn't really be disapointed in their zombie-ness. I had nothing to compare them to. Well, Night of the Living Dead, but that's not how book zombies are, is it?
I thought Cell was a fun quick read but Duma Key is a great ghost story that's just exceptionally well written, has a lot to say about the healing power of art, in a twisted SK kinda way.
Book zombies, movie zombies... No difference to me. They are supposed to be stupid and relentless walking corpses who are supposed to feast on human flesh, or at least supposed to try to attack and kill humans, preferably with their teeth.All the stuff that happened in the latter half of Cell is very... unzombielike.
Okay. I can understand that, but to me, it was a KING book. Whatever he writes is right:) I wish you had heard it read by Campbell Scott instead of reading it. You may have liked it better. Besides, myabe they were a different kind of zombie!
Yes, that's the problem! I like good old zombies that go around searching for brains! (O_x)
Braaaaaaaaaaiiiinnnnnsssss!
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They're Yanni-Zombies.....
Ha ha! Yes, they kind of do! They end up having a collective conciousness. Kind of...
Sticking w/ the music reference I would compare Cell to Queen’s Bohemian Rhapsody. The song starts off as a typical 70’s rock ballad and then swells into something else completely different w/ an orchestra and foreign languages and a driving tempo. Not what is expected, not the typical music BUT great none the less.As w/ BR if you read Cell and anticipate it to be just like all the other zombie books out there then you will be disappointed. However, if you relax and let King take you by the hand and lead you through his zombie world I think you will find it is different but still good.
To me Duma Key would be more like listening to a great song that builds, has a middle, and a conclusion. More typical but still very good.
I could go along with the Bohemian Rhapsody allusion, except that the beginning of the song is too slow and the end is far too good to be a representation of the ending of Cell, in my opinion. But you're right that BR does have an unexpected quality that mirrors the book. I just liked it in BR and not so much in Cell. :)And to answer your question Rob, they are EVOLVING zombies. *rolls eyes* Zombies don't evolve. They kill. Without thought or plan or reason. Just because that's what they do.
Becky wrote: "And to answer your question Rob, they are EVOLVING zombies. *rolls eyes* Zombies don't evolve. They kill. Without thought or plan or reason. Just because that's what they do. ""Cell" reminded me a lot of Richard Matheson's story "I Am Legend" (as in it made me think that "Cell" was King writing his version of it). I hated "I Am Legend" (the book, I didn't see the movie) but didn't find that gimmick annoying in "Cell". Maybe it's because I like King's writing better.
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Wow. I LOVED I Am Legend. I can see where you would compare them, with the whole "Oh no, everyone's 'dead' but me!" thing, but that's about as far as I would go. I love King's writing and I love Matheson's writing, but I didn't like where King's story went. It just didn't feel realistic to me. I Am Legend is a classic, and feels "appropriate" for when it was written. Cell doesn't feel that way to me.
Rob, Having never read either Cell or Duma Key (although Duma Key is one of the next on the list), I would go with Bag of Bones or Lisey's Story. I'm currently reading Lisey's Story-and I'm finding it hard to put it down (& good sign of a great King book).
Hope you make the right decision ;)
Rob wrote: "So...they're kind of like Land of the Dead zombies? I hated that movie BTW."
Yeah Cell zombies are like Land of The Dead zombies, in the way that they seem to evolve and relearn stuff over time. I tend to classify Cell as an "infected" book rather than a classic zombie book. The zombies are like in 28 Days Later, just slow and shuffling like classic zombies. Does that make any sense?
In the beginning the Zombies in Cell are not slow or shuffling. They're quick and vicious. They become slower as they "evolve." Cell was great, one of my favorites. I thought Duma Key was so slow and boring up until about a third of the way through, then it picked up momentum. Cell is hell breaks loose first, then gets a little slower.
In that time frame...Hearts In Atlantis, without a doubt, is a must read. It's my personal favorite. Other than that, I loved Black House, Bag of Bones, and all of the Dark Tower books. Duma Key was a very good read too. I liked Cell but I love horror movies and such so it fell into a genre I dig and may not be for everyone. Everythings Eventual was a good collection as well.
How can you not like I am Legend??? wow I haven't heard of that yet!! That book was so much better then the movie!! Anyway, I still like you, i will get over it. Okay, and now you guys have convinced me to read "Cell" In which I will read when I am done with The Stand. I was going to read Thinner, but realized I didn't like the book or the movie. Sorry I will have to pass on Thinner, and read Cell, the word zombie got me hooked. :)
Cell!I absolutely adored it. It took me a day to read...I'm a big zombie freak and I love SK, so it was the absolute perfect book for me.
Also, The Dark Tower (not really new, but I think it's been recently updated/expanded/rereleased, yes?) if you want to stay busy for a while. I've read the first five and I've been hooked since the first line of the first book. "The man in black fled across the desert, and the gunslinger followed." I'm currently reading the graphic novel, The Gunslinger Born, and I absolutely adore it. These books are definitely some of my favorite King books ever.
i can be negative towards cell when the worst book followed it, I cant stand liseys story...it feels like something somebody else has written...perhaps his wifeDuma key on the other hand FANTASTIC!
There are some Stephen King that I read so long ago, I can now read them again, with almost the same unknown Thrill. I'm in the process of re-reading The Dead Zone but I get a little side tracked by other books.... I plan on re-reading The Dark Half, Delores Claiborne, 2 name a couple...
Though I still claim that MISERY IS my MOST favorite, I've seen the movie soooo many times, it'll be years before I can read that one again & hopefully get the same Thrill out of it or maybe I'll die before that can happen..... Blah, blah, blah,
I am going to Try & re-read all of his short fiction, you know, Skeleton Crew, Different Seasons...
Blah, blah, blah.
I'm Done :)
Though I still claim that MISERY IS my MOST favorite, I've seen the movie soooo many times, it'll be years before I can read that one again & hopefully get the same Thrill out of it or maybe I'll die before that can happen..... Blah, blah, blah,
I am going to Try & re-read all of his short fiction, you know, Skeleton Crew, Different Seasons...
Blah, blah, blah.
I'm Done :)
Duma Key was my fav out of the most recent ones...
yeah id say again that duma key is the best novel he has done in years apart from dark tower 7
Comment for Rob, Re: CELL... I read the book & I gotta say it was a let down.
FINALLY, someone agrees with me!! Thank you, Always!
I would say Everything's Eventual might be a good step back into King. That's how it worked for me anyway. It has a lot of different types of stories in it, and so you get a taste for what he's up to these days.
Robert wrote: "yeah id say again that duma key is the best novel he has done in years apart from dark tower 7"I can't wait to read DT7. I've read through 5 and am buying 6&7 tomorrow. I'm going to try and wait until I quit my job to start reading them, though. It's gonna take a while for August 1 to get here. :(
Duma Key is leagues above Cell -- But I still think that Lisey's Story is Steve's best "newer" book
Angie wrote: "We should read Cell next month! "
No Cell, It was NOT that Well Done... Please.
I Do have a copy of DUMA KEY staring me in the face every morning but I'm still in denial.
So I vote DUMA KEY
No Cell, It was NOT that Well Done... Please.
I Do have a copy of DUMA KEY staring me in the face every morning but I'm still in denial.
So I vote DUMA KEY
you will not be dissapointed by duma key. Miles better than his last two
I'm with Becky, Always, and Bondama -- I really disliked Cell. I thought it was going to be spectacular, but the second half killed me. I'd say read Duma Key. Definitely very haunting and probably his best ghost story since Bag of Bones, which was also very good.
Thank you Lisa! Its good to know I'm not alone!
:) Glad to help out, Becky. I found the second half very disappointing... very much like the horrible second half of another one of his books... but I don't want to give away spoilers, so I won't give the title. Hopefully you know which one I mean... long book... same essential "cause of the problem" let's say. Blecch. I prefer the more horror-based King.
Hmm... I'm not following you. I can't think of another book with a similar cause... But I don't think that you will give away any spoilers just by giving the title or comparing the books. Go ahead and say it... You know you want to! ;)
Dreamcatcher. Loved the beginning, like Cell, but then HATED the second half. The movie was just as hideous to me.
Duma Key is deeper in nature, but very good.
I absolutely love Bag of Bones and Hearts in Atlantis as well.