Stephen King. Where to start?

[Michael]

I just finished the new one about the Kennedy assassination and I thought it was quite good. There were lots of references and parallels to It. Dallas is Derry, etc. SK hates Dallas and the Dallas police. See the Tommyknockers about that.

[Kevin]

Moloch wrote: "I just finished the new one about the Kennedy assassination and I thought it was quite good. There were lots of references and parallels to It. Dallas is Derry, etc. SK hates Dallas and the Dallas ..."

I did not know that, maybe that is why he has it only in about half the novel.

[Brad]

Personally I'd say It is his best work, his creepiest too.

[Tamahome]

I went a little crazy with quotes from his book On Writing:

http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/...

[Michael]

I may have started out with "The Dead Zone" years and years ago.

[Andrea]

I've been a fan of Stephen King's books since high school. My favorite books of his are It, The Stand, Skeleton Crew, and The Dark Tower series. I think that Skeleton Crew would be a good starting point for King's work because it's a short story collection, and I think that short stories are a good way to appreciate an author's different facets.

One thing that several people have mentioned already but I wanted to emphasize - King is often self-referential, so you'll get more of his inside references if you read his books chronologically. Even though I love the Dark Tower series to pieces, I'm going to recommend that you DON'T read that series until you've read a bunch of King's other work. There's a major character in The Dark Tower who originally appeared in one of King's earlier novels (Salem's Lot, I think). And there's another major character that ... how should I put this? A character that you won't really appreciate unless you've become immersed in Stephen King's world.

[Michael]

Andrea wrote: "I've been a fan of Stephen King's books since high school. My favorite books of his are It, The Stand, Skeleton Crew, and The Dark Tower series. I think that Skeleton Crew would be a..."

I recall that the "Also by" page in the front of the last Dark Tower book listed the books that apparently were considered to be directly connected to the Dark Tower, denoted by asterisks.

[running_target]

I read The Stand when it was relatively new and loved it even though I had no interest in King's previous books. Possibly because he was EVERYWHERE at the time.

Read it. The Stand. . .ahem. . .delivers.

[Joshua]

I need to give The Stand a shot. I tried his Dark Tower series years ago and gave up on it. The first book was really good, but I couldn't even finish Drawing of the Three.

[Mohrravvian]

I've read almost all of his books, and I think the Stand is probably his best standalone work. The 4th book of the Dark Tower series, "Wizard and Glass", is one of my favorite books of all time. Yes you get the most out of that series if you read a bunch of other books the way Tom did, but its not required and you won't miss much if you dive into it anyway.

I'd also recommend "It", "The Tommyknockers", "Insomnia", "Pet Semetary", "The Shining", "The Talisman", "Cujo", "Desperation". Really there's only been a couple I wasn't too thrilled with. Good picking and enjoy!

[Leavey]

Joshua wrote: "I need to give The Stand a shot. I tried his Dark Tower series years ago and gave up on it. The first book was really good, but I couldn't even finish Drawing of the Three."

Depending on why you didn't like The Drawing of the Three I wouldn't necessarily recomend The Stand.
Don't get me wrong, it's a very good book, but it is quite long and viewpoints switch a lot and SK indulges in his tendency to ramble quite a bit.

Personaly I enjoyed It, The Talisman and The Long Walk the most.

[Joshua]

Leavey wrote: "Joshua wrote: "I need to give The Stand a shot. I tried his Dark Tower series years ago and gave up on it. The first book was really good, but I couldn't even finish Drawing of the Three."

Dep..."

I can deal with long books, multiple viewpoints and a bit of rambling....I do love epic fantasy after all. lol

Honestly, I disliked the book because of the Odela/Dela (I think that's right) character and the way he handled going back and forth between the secondary world and our world. Eddie was ok, but not great.

I know that's strange since it seems those are reasons why most people love that book.

[Leavey]

Honestly, I disliked the book because of the Odela/Dela (I think that's right) character and the way he handled going back and forth between the secondary world and our world. Eddie was ok, but not great.

I remember being really annoyed by the Detta/Odetta whining, but I enjoyed seeing Rolands reaction to our world so much I muddled through. The rest of the series was great though.

In any case if you're good with the rambling, you're good with The Stand *g*

[Philip]

Audible just released The Stand this week, and audio may be the best way to tackle it. Personally, I enjoy long, epic stories- it prolongs the whole experience of the book.

As Linguana suggested, The Green Mile is also an excellent recommendation. I saw the movie first and the audiobook was still a great experience. It's a strong, character driven story and much more compact than some of King's other books if length is an issue for you.

These two books and Under the Dome are my favorites, and they're all less of the horror genre than some of his other works. I'm not really a fan of horror.

[Natalia's Daddy]

The Stand and his new works are great. Under the Dome and the JFK book are a must.

[Laura]

We have started introducing our teenage son to Stephen King and he started with The Shawshank Redemption. I would recommend some of the short story compilations like Four Past Midnight or Night Shift. The short story books are where most of the stories that were made into movies are found.

Listen to Blood and Smoke King reads it himself and it is great.

[Micah]

Laura wrote: "I would recommend some of the short story compilations like Four Past Midnight or Night ShThe short story books are where most of the stories that were made into movies are found. "

Tales from the night shift was one of the first collections I read. It was great.

[Derrick]

Rob wrote: "I would start with Salem's Lot, then the stand, "

I am in agreement here. Though I read them the other way 'round, I would suggest starting with Salem's. It's fantastic and can be read in a relatively short time.

[Jessica-star]

I'll chime in with Salem's Lot, especially if you're coming off Night Shift. It would be good to try a few of the 70's books after that to get a feel for the evolution and references people have mentioned.

Salem's Lot, The Shining, and The Long Walk would cover a lot of great ground and then you could decide whether or not you wanted to delve deeper.