Stephen King's Books - Rate?

[Shredder]

I know there are many Stephen King fanboi's in here, but I haven't yet come across the topic on Stephen King's novellas. Perhaps you could give me the links to others forums or threads here where this had been discussed extensively? I made up the list below, after doing a careful research, perhaps I've missed including better books - If so, please let me know what short story ought to be there in the list. I basically wanted to weed out the not so good novellas and only include the ones that are worth reading.

List: Select few

* Apt Pupil
* Dolan's Caddilac
* The Body
* The Long Walk
* Rage
* Autospy Room 4
* Rita Hayworth and the Shawsank Redemption
* The Mist
* Survivor Type
* The Raft
* The Jaunt
* L.T's Theory of Pets
* The Langoliers
* They got one hell of the band
* N.
* Stationary Bike
* The cat from hell
* A very Tight place
* The last rung on the ladder
* The man in the black suit
* Riding the bullet
* In the deathroom
* I Am The Doorway
* Others (specify the title)

Can you rate them on 1-10 scale?

If you haven't read them all, perhaps you could rate the ones you have read?

I'm planning to read most of them this year. So your input would really help.

Also,I'd collect the ratings and add them all to the excel file. In the end I will post the average scores, should be interesting. :-)

Meanwhile I will post this same question in other stephen king forums as well, just to collect the ratings. Iblist doesn't have that many reviews.

Thanks!

[Kandice]

* Apt Pupil 9 But, very disturbing.
* Dolan's Caddilac 7 I just wasn't that thrilled
* The Body 10 Perfect look at the end of innocence circa 50's, or whenever
* The Long Walk 10 My favorite dystopian story, ever!
* Rage 9 Obviously very topical. Who would have known?
* Autospy Room 4 7 Snakes, gross!
* Rita Hayworth and the Shawsank Redemption 10 Perfect hope inspiring story.
* The Mist 7 I was unhappy with the ending.
* Survivor Type 10 Disturbing, but very, very entertaining!
* The Raft 7 Not one of my favorites.
* The Jaunt 10 Like a throwback to 30's and 40's sci-fi.
* L.T's Theory of Pets I read this, but don't really remember, so it obviously didn't make much of an impression.
* The Langoliers 9 Terrific group dynamics. Loved Toomey's descent into wherever he went!
* They got one hell of the band 8 Cool idea.
* N. Again, don't really remember, so not fair to rate.
* Stationary Bike 7 Neat idea, but not as entertaining as some.
* The cat from hell 8 Reminds me of Twilight Zone.
* A very Tight place 8 We have all used one, and can relate in some way to being trapped.
* The last rung on the ladder 8 So deeply emotional.
* The man in the black suit 7 Just okay.
* Riding the bullet 8 This made me feel so sad. I usually skip over it because of the emotions it brings.
* In the deathroom Don't remember
* I Am The Doorway 6 A little too out there for me.

[Shredder]

What an interesting review, Thanks for the detailed description. I haven't come across anyone who has read that many short stories, so there, keep it up! :)

[Kandice]

Oh, I have read everything he has published, as quick as I can! There's just a few that were only in magazines I was unaware of. I always feel incredibly cheated if I find out there's something I have missed, then it's off to E-Bay for me!!!! (King Nerd, I guess!)

[Becky]

I consider there to be a difference between novellas and short stories.

"The Mist" is a novella, "Survivor Type" is a short story. Anyway, on to my ratings...


* Apt Pupil (7)
* Dolan's Caddillac (6)
* The Body (9)
* The Long Walk (own but haven't read yet)
* Rage (own but haven't read yet)
* Autospy Room 4 (own but haven't read yet)
* Rita Hayworth and the Shawshank Redemption (10)
* The Mist (10)
* Survivor Type (10)
* The Raft (8)
* The Jaunt (7)
* L.T's Theory of Pets (own but haven't read yet)
* The Langoliers (6)
* You Know They Got A Hell Of A Band (6)
* N. (7)
* Stationary Bike (6)
* The Cat From Hell (7)
* A very Tight place (6)
* The last rung on the ladder (7)
* The Man in the Black Suit (own but haven't read yet)
* Riding the bullet (own but haven't read yet)
* In The Deathroom (own but haven't read yet)
* I Am The Doorway (8)
- 1408 (own but haven't read yet)
- Battleground (8)
- The Breathing Method (8)
- Children of the Corn (9)
- Crouch End (own but haven't read yet)
- All That You Love Will Be Carried Away (own but haven't read yet)
- The Death of Jack Hamilton (own but haven't read yet)
- The Little Sisters of Eluria (own but haven't read yet)
- Everything's Eventual (own but haven't read yet)
- The Road Virus Heads North (own but haven't read yet)
- Lunch At the Gotham Cafe (own but haven't read yet)
- That Feeling, You Can Only Say What It Is In French (own but haven't read yet)
- Luckey Quarter (own but haven't read yet)
- The Boogeyman (6)
- Chattery Teeth (6)
- The Fifth Quarter (6)
- The Gingerbread Girl (8)
- Gramma (8)
- Graveyard Shift (8)
- Gray Matter (9)
- Here There by Tygers (5)
- Home Delivery (own but haven't read yet)
- I Know What You Need (7)
- It Grows On you (own but haven't read yet)
- Jerusalem's Lot (9)
- The Lawnmower Man (8)
- The Ledge (9)
- The Man Who Loved Flowers (6)
- The Man Who Would Not Shake Hands (6)
- The Mangler (7)
- The Monkey (7)
- Mrs. Todd's Shortcut (7)
- The Night Flier (7)
- Night Surf (8)
- Nona (8)
- One for the road (7)
- Quitters, Inc. (8)
- Paranoid, A Chant (8)
- Sometimes They Come Back (8)
- Sorry, Right Number (6)
- Strawberry Spring (7)
- The Library Policeman (7)
- The Sun Dog (8)
- Trucks (8)
- Uncle Otto's Truck (7)
- The Wedding Gig (4)
- Willa (9)
- The Woman in the Room (7)
- Word Processor of the Gods (8)

Here's a Wiki page showing King's short stories and novellas; everything except for his longer novels. Click Here There are some missing, but it's a good place to start!

[Kandice]

Becky you have to read the Long Walk. I really, really like it. Both of my sons have read it a few times. They are completely fascinated with it, even in our reality t.v. age!

[Becky]

I have it, I just haven't gotten around to reading it yet! I have The Bachman Books in one hardcover edition, which includes "Rage", "The Long Walk", "Roadwork" and "The Running Man".

They are all relatively short, so maybe I could fit them in between other books. I just have too much on my reading schedule! Today I even started keeping a "bathroom book" of fantasy short stories, so I'm technically reading two books right now. (I need a clone to help me read everything I want to!)

[Angie, Constant Reader]

I am going to have to look back into the books, or look the title up in wikipedia. I can't always remember what a story was about by looking at just the title.

[Becky]

The link I posted before has most of the titles in one place Angie.

[Angie, Constant Reader]

Oh I missed that link first time around, thanks Becky!

[Becky]

No problem!

[Shredder]

Thanks, Becky. Another good long list :-)

That's very helpful. Yes, I've mixed up novellas and short stories. This has been pointed out to me by someone else in other forum.

[Jack]

A good list which I'd like to rate, when I have time, but one omission which jumps out is my personal favourite from Skeleton Crew, The Ballad Of The Flexible Bullet. It touches on King's own personal demons of writers and their creations and trouble with alcohol. If the main character Reg had gotten a job as caretaker of a hotel...

[Angie, Constant Reader]

I also really liked Everthing's Eventual.

[Dj]

- Apt Pupil 8 -
- The Body 9 -
- The Long Walk 1. Yes 1/10. This is in my opinion the worst SK novella. I'm amazed how much praise it's received on these forums. To each his own. -
- Rage 4. The first half was awesome, but the latter half fell short I think. -
- Autospy Room Four 9, wonderful short story, sticks in your mind. -
- Rita Hayworth and the Shawsank Redemption 9 -
- The Mist 9 -
- Survivor Type 10 supurb. -
- The Raft 9 -
- The Jaunt 10 supurb. -
- The Langoliers 3 -
- The man in the black suit 7 -
- I Am The Doorway 10 my favorite of his short stories. -
ADDED
- 1408 9 -
- Roadwork 10 -
I realize my tastes differ with the majority. There's my honest take on them. Mind you those stories from The Bachman Books are packaged seperately as novels, yet are short enough to be considered novellas. The Mist was also packaged seperately when the movie came out. I don't believe it's quite fair to weigh ratings of 200pg stories alongside ones as short as 20pg.

[Steve]

It would behoove this thread to make an extensive list of the novellas before making a rating, methinks (which I don't have time to do right now...)

[Angie, Constant Reader]

I am too lazy to list mine out! SAD! Swaminathan... I would just read them all maybe in order of them being published.

[Kathy]

There are so many that I haven't read yet.......but here goes:

* Apt Pupil DEFINITE 10!!!!!
* The Body 8
* The Long Walk 10
* Rage 9
* Rita Hayworth and the Shawsank Redemption 9
* The Mist 10
* The Raft 8
* The Jaunt 10
* N. 9
* Stationary Bike 8
* The cat from hell 7

[Shredder]

Thanks for the ratings. Btw, Kathy, you forgot to put the number in for 'Survivor' type :)

[Kathy]

Swaminathan wrote: "Thanks for the ratings. Btw, Kathy, you forgot to put the number in for 'Survivor' type :) "

Oops. Thanks, Swaminathan. Thats because I haven't read that one yet. How bad am I???? :(

[Kandice]

"You are what you eat!!!!"
I can never hear that without a little gag in my throat!

[Becky]

Kandice wrote: ""You are what you eat!!!!"
I can never hear that without a little gag in my throat!"

LOL.