Book Talk discussion
This topic is about
Stephen King
The Best & Worst of Stephen King
message 51:
by
Char
(new)
Aug 18, 2012 07:29AM
The cover of the book is a license plate.
reply
|
flag
Kealan wrote: "Yeah, FULL DARK was phenomenal."I'm almost finished with it, and it's easily one of my favorites of his. What's funny is I'm also reading THE ROAD, and decided I needed something to fall back on because the McCarthy book is so bleak and depressing. I don't think FULL DARK, NO STARS was the best choice :)
Kealan wrote: "HEART-SHAPED BOX was decent, his collection 20TH CENTURY GHOSTS was exceptional."I agree on both counts. HORNS is great, too. It left me feeling like he's about one or two more regular length and one epic novel away from convincing the world he'll pick up where his dad will one day (unfortunately) leave off.
not sure i should even write this here but here go's,my father has been the fiction editor for XXFAMOUS LITERARY MAGAZINEXX for over 30 years,as well as one of the senior editors for the magazine, i dont mention this often, especially to writers, as it tends to change who i am to them. anyway, the XXFAMOUS LITERARY MAGAZINEXX recently published a short story by King and naturally my father was his editor , i asked my father about his correspondence with King and i just got his response today. wanted to share it with you all so here it is.
~ ok i had to omit the name of the magazine
" About King: we were corresponding about my editing of his story in (xxxxxxx), from which I had removed most of the motherfuckers, shits, and a few other choice words. I'd expected a cry of outrage, but found King very accepting of the excisions. He insisted on one "fucking" in the last line of the story, and I said fine. He'd written some uncomplimentary things about (xxxxxxx) and fiction in his intro to Best American Short Stories 2010, and repeated them in a short piece written for the Sunday Times Book Review, so I was prepared for all-out war. I was pleasantly surprised, as he was congenial. even friendly, in his emails. We'd never published him before, and may never again. We'll see. "
i remember back in the early 80's my father handed me the manuscript to MRS TODDS SHORTCUT by King, which he rejected , that story ended up in REDBOOK and later was collected in SKELETON CREW, the manuscript ended up in my brothers collection.
my dads awesome, i used to bartend the magazines christmas party every year while the offices were still local. but both my father and the magazine have moved far away. wont do any good to try through me, and im waaaay behind on my own reading pile tyvm. but i do accept bribes, heh heh
Just downloaded that one. Hope it's better than A Face In The Crowd. I really liked Throttle, his last short story written with Joe, so hopefully this is better.
THROTTLE was great. Wish it'd been a full length.
Kealan wrote: "To where does one send the check, Sir Hans?"oh dont send me money, just a personally signed first edition of everything you publish from this point on, my name mentioned in all the forewards of said books, and dinner at the CAPITOL GRILL on Newberry st, Boston, your treat!
-and i get to call you at all hours whenever i read something scary
Just let me know the date and time of the dinner so I can hang outside and spy. : )
Kealan, before you go, leave us a photo to put on the milk cartons......
Which end would you prefer to be plastered across?
Wow, everyone really hates Insomnia.... Guess what was going to be one of the *few* things on the list of stuff I've enjoyed by Stephen King.... Stephen King never has been and never will be one of my favorite authors though he does enough good work with the occasional short story for me to still have respect for him. I have a hard time reading a story, no matter how "good" the plot is, if the words it is told with fall flat. As King himself has admitted to having a lead tongue, I doubt he'll take offense.Fav:
The Mist (Novela)
The Raft (short story)
The Moving Finger (short story)
The Long Walk
The Dark Tower Series
Insomnia
The only one I've flat out *hated* (haven't attempted Dreamcatcher) was
The Tommyknockers.
Trust me, intellectual output and coke don't mix.Unless you're trying for a Darwin Award......
Stevenson's wife got him to burn the first version of Jekyll and Hyde because of the content, y'know.And I seriously doubt he was snorting as much as KIng, who said, and I quote "...wrote with Q-Tips jammed in my nostrils to keep from bleeding all over the keys..."
And they left out Poe, the posterchild for drug addled drivel....
Exactly what is a Hunter S. Thompson, anyway?
LOL, so did I Kealan! No matter how many drugs the guy was on, I always found his writing entertaining and his wit razor sharp.
That said, that guy was CRAZY and his lawyer friend, even MORE crazy!
Jon, I discovered him via a long, long relationship with Rolling Stone magazine. He was one of the reasons I subscribed many years ago.I don't know if you're serious or if you're joking but,
HST used to write for RS and wrote a number of books-including one about the Hell's Angels that almost cost him his life.
I'm serious.I've never read Rolling Stone.
I'll check him out.
The movie adaptation of FEAR AND LOATHING IN LAS VEGAS is a good intro to Hunter Thompson.
That got Johnny Depp in it?Not gonna happen.
I didn’t particularly like that movie, reminded me of a bad trip in High School. The book is suppose to be much better...
We didn't go on trips in high school....
Kealan wrote: "That one shows up a lot on "hate" lists. Even King admitted he was coked out of his mind when he wrote it, a situation that I'm sure has worked well for some, but apparently not in this case."Kealan wrote: "That one shows up a lot on "hate" lists. Even King admitted he was coked out of his mind when he wrote it, a situation that I'm sure has worked well for some, but apparently not in this case."
Kealan wrote: "That one shows up a lot on "hate" lists. Even King admitted he was coked out of his mind when he wrote it, a situation that I'm sure has worked well for some, but apparently not in this case."
I think I'm one of the few that really liked Tommyknockers. Thought it was a very entertaining, wild ride.
Charlene wrote: "HA!"It's true.
We had race riots.
Luckily we had no race riots. Punkers versus rockers was as hardcore as it got.
Guess I should chime in on the topic, since I am posting unrelated bs. My favorite King novels are The Stand, The Shining, 'Salems Lot, It, 11/22/63 and Duma Key.
Cycle of the Werewolf, Tommyknockers and Dolores Claiborne were kind of flat for me.
I did like Dreamcatcher as well - maybe not his best work, although the frickin Shit Weasels were classic!
I agree, Kealan. I really thought it was a great book. I don't think it is on a lot of SK "best of" lists, but it at least deserves a nod.
I liked Duma Key, but it's somewhere in the middle of the pack.
Bill wrote: "Guess I should chime in on the topic, since I am posting unrelated bs. My favorite King novels are The Stand, The Shining, 'Salems Lot, It, 11/22/63 and Duma Key.
Cycle of the Werewolf, Tommykn..."k
Bill, have you read The Talisman? That was a good one.
Good one, Charlene. I forgot about The Talisman and you are right it was very good. I really like most SK books and most of his Bachman books too. Really the ones that really were kind of "blah" were the 3 I mentioned above. I also forgot how much I liked Needful Things and Full Dark, No Stars.
I liked Needful Things as well. And I thought Full Dark was excellent.
TOP 5 (no order)The Shining
IT
Lisey's Story
Needful Things
The Stand
BOTTOM 5 (no order)
Gerald's Game
Dreamcatcher
From A Buick 8
Rose Madder
The Tommyknockers
I'm always surprised at the hate for GERALD'S GAME. It's certainly not his best, but the premise is pretty awesome.
Kealan wrote: "Duma Key gets overlooked a lot, and it shouldn't."I agree. One of my favorites.
I totally agree on Rose Madder. No need to add them at all.
Wow, I am really surprised at the rare few mentions of "The Stand" tied with "The Shining" for my two favorites and the hatred for Tommyknockers-I really enjoyed that book, although I was much, much younger. Seems silly to re-read it to see if I still like it, but you have me contemplating it :)
So, how many books did you read instead?
I re-read Tommyknockers a couple of years ago, Cathy. I noticed a lot of ill feelings towards it from others I knew. I remembered it being pretty good when I first read it as a teenager. I still liked it the second time around. It was a bit overwrought at times, some of the narrative was a bit rambling, but the classic King elements were all on point throughout. Tommyknockers doesn't deserve all the bashing it gets.
I think it deserves all the bashing it gets, PLUS some. : )
I read Tommyknockers in h.s. and found it boring. I don't think I'll ever reread it. I rarely reread anything anyway--just too many good books I haven't gotten to yet.
Kealan wrote: "I still haven't read THE STAND."I do not understand that decision....what turns you off from The Stand?
Glen wrote: "I read Tommyknockers in h.s. and found it boring. I don't think I'll ever reread it. I rarely reread anything anyway--just too many good books I haven't gotten to yet."I did try to reread it.....only because I needed to read something and the alternative was a Koontz novel.
I may be narking futz, but I ain't no masochist.
That really should be the other way around, Kealan.THE STAND miniseries sucked the flavor out of the urinal cakes......
I agree with Jon-miniseries sucked- the book is very much worth the read!
Favorite King.10. From a Buick 8
9. Pet Sematary
8. Christine
7. Salem's Lot
6. The Drawing of the Three
5. Lisey's Story
4. It
3. Cujo
2. The Stand (1978)
1. The Shining
Least Favorite
5. Hearts in Atlantis--too disjointed
4. Wizard and Glass--unreliable narrator and unimportant backstory--telling it was one of Roland's "mistakes."
3. Rose Madder--Even King admits he tried too hard on this one.
2. Black House--the first 100 pages sinks it (thanks, Peter!)
1. The Stand (1990)--sloppy and unneccesary expansion of a masterpiece
Even though I've watched SK mature as a writer, I still perfer the unbridled, almost chaotic, passion that manisfested itself in his early works. Sometimes that passion got in the way of a good story (The Dead Zone and, almost, Christine), but that's what makes up the mjoprity of my favorite selections.
Really? I much prefer the expanded Stand to the original. The very beginning explains so much more than the original, I thought it was better even if it was just for that one reason. :)
