Stephen King Fans discussion
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Reading the entire saga
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Jort you need to mark for spoilers if you're discussing plot points of books. Please mark that spoiler for The Stand.
why are you reading in this particular order?
Becky wrote: "Jort you need to mark for spoilers if you're discussing plot points of books. Please mark that spoiler for The Stand."Sorry, my bad. I removed the line.
Andrea wrote: "why are you reading in this particular order?"It might look like it's a bit of a weird order right now. I have read some books before of later King books, so I am filling some gaps (eg I read Blockade Billy but not while I started to read in order). Does that make sense? XD
Jort wrote: "Becky wrote: "Jort you need to mark for spoilers if you're discussing plot points of books. Please mark that spoiler for The Stand."Sorry, my bad. I removed the line."
Thanks!
A lot of people had tried reading everything King had written in a chronological order. There was also a blog in Guardian which did the same, the posts started out being frequent before being a once in a blue moon affair.I personally had the same idea, would read everything by King in order of publication and then get into The Dark Tower. Finished around thirty books including Bachman ones in the correct order but gave up after Gerald's game & Dolores Claiborne. The quality was dropping sharply and most fans predicted the quality drop only got steeper with Insomnia, Rose Madder etc, after that I decided to be a bit more choosy about which ones to read. Finally had started The Dark Tower series and currently on book 3.
Just my opinion but I think Stephen King is the best writer ever and it really doesn't matter what order you read his books in. I'm find little blips of references to other characters in other books that King has written with each one I read. If people prefer to read in chronological order then they should go that way but it's not for me. Just enjoy the books. They're all well worth it.
Jort,I am in the process of reading back through the DT series and wanted this time to read all the associated books as well. Here's my list, in the order I am reading them.
1. Insomnia (for background on the Crimson King)
2. Eyes of the Dragon (for background on the Dark Man/Randall Flagg)
3. The Stand (for background on the Dark Man/Randall Flagg)
4. "The Little Sisters of Eleuria" from Everything's Eventual (for background on Roland)
5. The Dark Tower 1: The Gunslinger
6. The Dark Tower 2: The Drawing of the Three
7. The Dark Tower 3: The Wastelands
8. The Dark Tower 4: Wizard and Glass
9. The Wind Through the Keyhole
10. Salem's Lot (for background on Father Callahan)
11. The Dark Tower 5: Wolves of the Calla
12. The Dark Tower 6: Song of Susannah
13. The Dark Tower 7: The Dark Tower
Here also is the link to the thread I started requesting suggestions so that you can see how others weighed in on my list as well:
https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...
I've started reading 11/22/63 - - my first King book. I'm enjoying it and looking forward to jumping in head first to the rest of it. In getting some good ideas on where to start, but the general consensus seems to be that it doesn't matter too much! I'm looking forward to seeing where this discussion goes too
Ive been rereading them in chronological order too. I'm through Cujo. This will be a multi year project for me because even though I live SK, I can't only read SK without getting burnt out on it. I'm shooting for about 6 during 2016.
Aditya wrote: "A lot of people had tried reading everything King had written in a chronological order. There was also a blog in Guardian which did the same, the posts started out being frequent before being a onc..."Aditya, We will have to agree to disagree big-time on two of your statements: ...." gave up after GERALD'S GAME and DOLORES CLAIBORNE.... the quality dropping sharply .... which only got steeper with .... and ROSE MADDER.
In my opinion, these three books were three of his very BEST as, after MISERY, we're starting to see King's tremendous gift in his creation/ portrayal of strong female characters and how he gets inside their minds is spell-binding, IMO !
Betsy wrote: "Aditya wrote: "A lot of people had tried reading everything King had written in a chronological order. There was also a blog in Guardian which did the same, the posts started out being frequent bef..."Misery was brilliant on so many levels; a treat for both thriller and horror fans as well as a guide for all aspiring authors regarding how to effectively build suspense while being a thinly veiled commentary on the relationship the writer shares with his creation. It even made me chase down a copy of the film.
My comment on Rose Madder was based on pure hearsay, so would be glad if you are right. However as you said have to agree to disagree on Gerald's Game and Dolores Claiborne,as to me they were waste of time. But don't you agree that phase in his career is not looked upon fondly by a lot of his fans?
I started this approach but since I've read so many of his works, I was actually filling in gaps than accomplishing anything.
Hi folksI am currently trying to work through the entire saga in chronological order of publication dates.
I am using the dates on Wikepedia's King Bibliography as a guide line.
Initially, I started the project as way of of following King's growth (and according to some, decline) as a novelist.
I'm currently reading Blaze, which is one of those that messes up the chronological theory as it was written in the 1970s but only published in 2008.
For me, reading the books chronologically has certainly added to my enjoyment of King. There has definitely been a change in what he does and how he does it but I think this is, in part, due to his constant experimentation in writing and publishing.
There have, of course, been a number of books that weren't great but even during his "low" periods, King manages to pull out a whopper that reaffirms my faith in his abilities.
Just as an example: I had to force my way through "The Colorado Kid" but now I find myself happily getting lost in the raw writing of "Blaze."
I also think that, if I wasn't reading chronologically, I might have overlooked gems such as "The Girl who Loved Tom Gordon" or "Bag of Bones".
I found that the break between Dark Tower novels added to my anticipation, and enjoyment, of the tale and I loved the headlong rush to the ending.
I certainly am eager to hear from those who are on a similar journey.
I’ve been doing the same for a while now, Vernon, although I couldn’t help but read the entire Dark Tower series once I hit The Gunslinger, and am up to Dreamcatcher now. I also take a break every couple of books and read other authors. It’s been a great way of hoovering up some of those Kings that had slipped through the net unread. Enjoy the journey, Vernon!
I'm starting this journey next month. I'm looking forward to it as I haven't read all of his books.
I recently started to read the entire King saga in order. I decided to do this to get the most out of my reading of The Dark Tower. I read The Dark Tower 1 and 2 before I started this.
So far I have read:
Carrie
'Salems Lot
The Shining (my favorite)
Rage
The Stand
Firestarter
The Dead Zone
Cujo
Dark Tower: Gunslinger
Dark Tower: Drawing of the Three
On Writing
Blockade Billy
Joyland
Doctor Sleep (tried to read it twice but could not get into it)
Has anybody else done this and completed it? I'm still filling in the gaps at the early novels. Next up is the Night Shift and the Bachman Books (with the exception of Rage).