Stephen King Fans discussion
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What was your first Stephen King book?
Amanda wrote: "Andreia Fernandes wrote: "Amanda wrote: "Andreia Fernandes wrote: "my first King book was THE SHINING!"Wooh! That's a good one to start with. I just finally read it a few years back and it scared..."
I think what freaks out most people is Pennywise the clown. I can empathies with you on Pet Sematary I first read it when my kids were young.
mrbooks wrote: "Sam wrote: "I read a standalone copy of The Mist as a teenager, but only came back to SK's stuff in the past year when I picked Salem's Lot and got addicted. I've read that, Insomnia, The Dead Zone..."They're both on my radar for sure. I've got a bunch of classic sci-fi to go through first though. Lots of Philip K. Dick coming up.
mrbooks wrote: "Amanda wrote: "Andreia Fernandes wrote: "Amanda wrote: "Andreia Fernandes wrote: "my first King book was THE SHINING!"Wooh! That's a good one to start with. I just finally read it a few years bac..."
I think my post was misleading...IT didn't scare the bejeezus out of me, The Shining did. :)
You know, I was pretty underwhelmed when I read IT for the first time a few years ago...
Kandice wrote: "I loved The Vampire Chronicles and the Mayfair witch books, even when they got a bit silly toward the end of each series. I think Rice has such a great, gothic voice! I always feel like I want to live where her books take place. "I started getting out of it when the Mayfair Witches came around, I only wanted the vampires back then! Blackwood Farm and Pandora were the last ones I really enjoyed. I never finished Blood Canticle. I'd like to re-read them as an adult with more patience and see how I like the Mayfair witches now.
And I agree about how she makes you want to live where/when her novels are. I am very frequently grateful to have been born in a time of internet and air conditioning, but when I read about Lestat and Armand beginning of the Théâtre des Vampires I certainly want to be there in that time and see Paris, and Louis and Lestat make me want to see New Orleans as it would have been then.
Wow that would be a rough visit. It was hot humid and basically a cesspit of human depravity. If you want you can fulfill part of it just go down in the middle of the summer and rent a hotel room but one with out air conditioning. Trust me after 24 hrs. you will find another room that's how bad it gets down there. The heat will nearly kill you the humidity is at 100% as you are in a swamp and by the sea the insects that don't bite are far out numbered by those that do and then you have all the snakes. I spent 18 hrs. In New Orleans back in the 90's and that was 20 hrs. to long. I lived in San Antonio at the time and the weather there was just as bad the only difference is I didn't get offered drugs in broad day light in San Antonio.
My first was The Shining around the age of 9, followed closely by Pet Semetary and Carrie. It began an addiction that's lasted 25+ years now.
mrbooks wrote: "Wow that would be a rough visit. It was hot humid and basically a cesspit of human depravity. If you want you can fulfill part of it just go down in the middle of the summer and rent a hotel room b..."Awwww...I'm sorry your experience was so bad! I've been there three vacations now and yes, it was hot as Hades for two of them, but I still loved it. The atmosphere and the food more than made up for the weather. I just think it's so beautiful and old. I live in San Diego and nothing is old here, so it's very, very different.
mrbooks wrote: "a cesspit of human depravity"HAHA! That made me laugh. Wow, you REALLY hated New Orleans.
Let put it this way Nicole I lived in many places and passed through many, many more I have never had a place scare me as much as New Orleans. I don't scare easily but as Molly Weasley would say that place put the collie wobbles up me.
I am huge fan of Anne Rice and also of New Orleans. The place is scary at times so I have learned to get the heck out of the French Quarter before dark. The food is fantastic and I love the architecture and the history. I have not traveled at all to Europe but would love to get there one day, at least to a few places. The history there just amazes me. It would be awesome to see Big Ben, Buckingham Palace, the Louvre, Eiffel Tower, Notre Dame, etc.
mrbooks and ElleEm, thanks for your reviews of New Orleans. I also really love old architecture, so if mrbooks hasn't scared me off altogether, I'll at least make sure to get out of the French Quarter before dark if I visit! =P
Nicole, I don't mean to scare you. If you are on Bourbon Street at night you will be fine as long as you stay with the tourists. But getting to and from Bourbon at night is pretty sketchy. We didn't even rent a car while we were there. They have a trolley and there are always tours that you can book so that you can see a lot of the city.
ElleEm wrote: "Nicole, I don't mean to scare you..."Thanks for the advice :)
We've never rented a car there either. The trolley is very accessible.
Nicole don't let an old man scare you away from seeing those places you want to see. I do upon occasion get carried away It probably isn't as bad as I remember.
my first book I think was "The girl who loved Tom Gordon". It was either that or "Cycle of the werewolf"
mrbooks wrote: "I do upon occasion get carried away It probably isn't as bad as I remember."I'm still laughing at "cesspit of human depravity." Haha!
Sohel wrote: "my first book I think was "The girl who loved Tom Gordon". It was either that or "Cycle of the werewolf""I just read the Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon recently. It's now one of my most favorites! :)
Nicole wrote: "Sohel wrote: "my first book I think was "The girl who loved Tom Gordon". It was either that or "Cycle of the werewolf""I just read the Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon recently. It's now one of my most ..."
Mine too, when I first got the book I had no idea who King was. After reading the book, it blew my mind and I went all crazy to get my hands on other books by King.
Nicole wrote: "mrbooks wrote: "I do upon occasion get carried away It probably isn't as bad as I remember."I'm still laughing at "cesspit of human depravity." Haha!"
You might be interested in a joke thread on goodreads then we come up with all kinds of zingers.
Nicole wrote: "Sohel wrote: "my first book I think was "The girl who loved Tom Gordon". It was either that or "Cycle of the werewolf""I just read the Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon recently. It's now one of my most ..."
Love The Girl Who. We'll probably replay the audio (great read by Anne Hech) on our upcoming trip to the grand canyon, though the desert and the Maine woods are so different. Still, there's a lot of common survival stuff.
The first SK novel I read all the way through was The Tommyknockers. I absolutely loved it! I kicked myself for not reading anything by him before. This was a number of years ago now, just after I graduated high school, and I had had PLENTY of opportunities to read his books before. However, I live in Maine. As a teenager I was sour at being "stuck in Maine" and avoided a lot of things I thought of as "too Maine-ish" yeah I know, stupid of me, but I was just a kid though. As a result, when in the library I completely avoided the "Maine Authors" section. OF COURSE SK was in this section! I picked up the book at my grandmother's house actually because I was bored one day. I read it and never looked back! Today, I collect all of SK's books and am reading them all (mostly) in order. There have only been a few of them I haven't really liked much. The majority are amazing and I can't get enough!
IT! I just finished a few days ago. Now reading Misery..
"It" as well for me. In 1990, I was in 7th grade, had watched the miniseries, and asked for the book for Christmas. I absolutely loved it. Next up was Salem's Lot, which still remains my favorite King novel.
First for me was Carrie, I was hooked from page one and have been a fan ever since.
Angie wrote: "My first Stephen King book was Salem's Lot. And I loved it and was hooked after that. "Mine, too. I think I was in ninth grade. Shortly after that I found a friend in my school, and we used to trade the books back and forth.
Clifton wrote: ""It" as well for me. In 1990, I was in 7th grade, had watched the miniseries, and asked for the book for Christmas. I absolutely loved it. Next up was Salem's Lot, which still remains my favorite K..."Carrie was my first as a teen, then I read It and Salem's Lot... Salem's Lot is still my favorite as well :)
My first King book that I read all the way through was Cujo. I had already seen the movie and several other Stephen King movies, but the books are just on a whole other level.
I'm new to reading Stephen King, so my first one was 11.22.63. I'm doing my best to catch up now though!
Matthewcross87 wrote: "king hated tommy knockers , don't know why its an amazing book"Don't know why either. I know he didn't like Dreamcatcher (and neither do I) but the Tommyknockers is great. I've read it three times.
My first was Insomnia. I read in 'On Writing' that King thought it was terrible; but I loved it. My aunt had a used book stall on the local market and I'd go there every week after and swap out a new King book! It was great. I've loved pretty much everything of his. I found Gunslinger hard to get into, but the rest of the Dark Tower books were AMAZING.
@Matthewcross87 I have no idea why he hates it so much. He really shouldn't since it's what made me a fan!
Carrie. I was 13 and my best friend had it on her bookshelf. I flipped through it while staying overnight, read a page and hardly remember anything else until I finished it the next day. Been hooked ever since.
Carrie an excellent book I have it in hard back and it is old 1st edition, didn't know it at the time that he would be so famous. It still has it's paper sleeve slightly tattered but still intact.
What is about those old first editions? My copy of Firestarter is one with a stained, slightly ripped jacket. The new editions have the same words, the same characters, the same stories, along with the electronic versions. But if it's an SK book I want the oldest copy I can find.
I hear you on that I am currently reading the Stand for the group read and it is a tattered old copy I got in 1982. The one thing I can tell you I love the smell of old books and this one is 35 years old.
My first Stephen King's book was Full dark not stars. At the beggining I wasn't sure about King but once I started I liked it very much cause it was different from all the other mystery books I've read. My second book was Pet Sematary and that's when I definetily fell in love with his writing style and his old books from the '80/'90s
Umm. "İt". I know it's not good choose for starting new writer but 3 years ago i saw this book and sad "waw! I have to read this" then.. Rest of history...
It is a difficult book to start with, there are several reasons 1. it's length plays a big part in it most people don't like book that are over 1000 pages long. 2. The difficulty of the story hopping back and forth over a 27 year period. 3. A lot of people have problems with books that involves children dying and being abused. So yes it is a difficult book to start with but it is well worth the effort to read it.
I remember my parents being big into Stephen King but I never jumped in for some reason. But I was in one of the big supermarkets one time and saw they had little paperback boxsets on sale. Think they had your Danielle Steeles, John Grishams etc... and Stephen King. Each had three books in and as they were cheap I thought, why not! The set had copies of Cujo, The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon and, my first read, Cell. It was quite some time ago now, but I remember it had me after the first few pages. It was carnage from the start, hooked me in and kept going. I vaguely remember the ending was a bit disappointing, but I really enjoyed the journey. I then got through Cujo real quick and loved that too and then read through Tom Gordon. Turns out that little box set had a good mix of Kings styles and now I've read the bulk of his works and am a massive fan.
Luke wrote: "I remember my parents being big into Stephen King but I never jumped in for some reason. But I was in one of the big supermarkets one time and saw they had little paperback boxsets on sale. Think t..."That really is an eclectic sampler of his work! Cell and Cujo grabbed me from page one and held tight until the endings, but I never love The Girl Who... Many here do, though.
Your right it is an eclectic mix to fairly large books and one of what I consider small to average size. I liked Cujo and The Girl who Loved Tom Gordon but was mediocre on the Cell.
Kandice wrote: "Luke wrote: "I remember my parents being big into Stephen King but I never jumped in for some reason. But I was in one of the big supermarkets one time and saw they had little paperback boxsets on ..."Yep - the girl who is one of my favorites, but I loved Cujo and thought Cell was kind of okay. It may deserve another read. But don't the concepts of Cell and Cujo cancel each other out? I mean if Mom had a cell phone in Cujo there wouldn't have been any probelms right? Unless of course...
I am so late to the King Party! I loved the Hodges Trilogy! Mr. Mercedes, Finders Keepers, and End of Watch. I fell in love with each quirky character of the Hodges detective club. And not to mention all the references to Americana and American culture (music, literature, historical events etc.).
Matthewcross87 wrote: "king hated tommy knockers , don't know why its an amazing book"I have read that King hated TOMMYKNOCKERS because he was in the deepest depths of his alcoholism whilst writing it, and barely remembers what he had written. He speaks of being so desperate during this time that he drank rubbing alcohol, mouthwash and vanilla extract to keep the shakes away while trying to meet the deadline for TOMMYKNOCKERS....--Jen from Quebec :0)
It also show how open he was about his afflictions by his choice of one of his main characters being an alcoholic. It takes a brave man to do that to mirror what he is going through by using a character. More or less he is saying this was me.
The shining love my stephen king! Happy Friday my friends!!
Four Past Midnight was mine. I read as when I was 12, and I remember that my dad bought it for me at an airport to give me something to do on an international flight. Great book from what I can remember. I thought it was interesting thought that they took Langoliers and made it into its own book.
Stephen King Fans
Books mentioned in this topic
Nightmares and Dreamscapes (other topics)The Long Walk (other topics)
The Mist (other topics)
The Eyes of the Dragon (other topics)
Christine (other topics)
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Authors mentioned in this topic
Stephen King (other topics)Kurt Vonnegut Jr. (other topics)
Ray Bradbury (other topics)
Hi Sam Try reading the Green Mile and The Talisman I know you will love those as well.