Thread: Stephen King.

I am reading "The Tommyknockers" right now. I love Stephen King. Who else like his books? If so what is your favorite book? (NO MOVIES!!!)
Mine are,
The Mist
The Tommyknockers
It
Carrie
and many others.

I am not a big fan of all of Kings books. The only ones I have been able to read are those in The Dark Tower series. Love them.

I read The Myst at a very young age and it left quite a mark on me. I've also read The Dreamcatcher, and loved it, although the plot was a little hard to understand sometimes. The handicapped kid is secretly a powerful alien? The aliens need water to spread their infection but they don't infect an ocean and/or the roots of a river up in the mountains? I thought the movie rocked, but I don't think they painted what a psychopath that Kurtz character was very well. In the book he was more believable than the movie, and they even had Morgan Freeman. Morgan Freeman is just too friendly to play a psycho.

I have not read Deamcatcher..how is it?

It's been a while since I read it, but I remember really enjoying it. Lots of great, believable human drama, as well as some scary ideas. I won't spoil any of it, but definitely worth a read.

ok.

Well there's a bit of a cameo from Pennywise the clown in Dreamcatcher. The characters are all exceptional, especially Beaver and it's one of the better alien stories but still a bit cliche. I saw a lot of the movie Apocalypse Now in it, especially in Kurtz, and the bit in the helicopter. 8/10

The Dark Tower is brilliant, I've read up to Wizard and Glass (Book 4) and it's all good there. King is probably the best character creator. 8/10

Desperation is pretty good. You'd think his supernatural stuff would start to wane but it doesn't. He created a fantastic villain, a group of people who don't get on particularly well at all, but you wouldn't take a single one of them out of the book. . .I'd give it 8/10

It. 10/10, that is all.

From a Buick 8. . .5/10

Everything's Eventual. Great little collection of short stories, love it. 8/10

Rose Madder. An abusive husband, a very likable heroine (more or less a heroine) and it's basically her getting away from him, meeting a new guy who loves her and just moving on, but her hubby is a psychopath. 7/10

Hearts in Atlantis. I haven't read it but my friends keep recommending it.

Gerald's Game. Not my kind of thing but some people swear by it.

The Dark Half. His alter ego is quite crazy in this (can't remember his name) Those bits are cool but, overall the book is a bit of a bummer, in my opinion. 6/10

Misery. Great characters, lovely setting and deeply macabre and disturbing plot. Highly recommended from me. 9/10

The Shining. Sadly, I saw the movie first and preferred it to the book once I sat down and read it. 7/10

I'm a third through The Stand, and it's good so far. Good characters but, I'm not sure where the story is going.

I've read most of his books, and I would have to say my favorites are, The Talisman, Desperation, Nightmares and Dreamscapes, The Dark Tower series, Carrie, IT, and Needful Things.

Without a doubt: The Shining. Stories about creepy houses, creepy buildings, really get to me. I love that.

I think I have read all of his books, save The dark Tower series, not my bag. I can't really claim a favorite, but I must say that From A Buick 8 was bad, Dreamcatcher(was that the name?) was also bad and the last one, about the guy that got crushed by the crane could not hold my attention. Although, I thought Cell was just as exceptional as all of his other works that I did not mention here. Do your self a favor and read his non-fiction book, On Writing. Excellent.

I want to read his non-fiction book...I have not read it yet. Many people have told me that it was a good read. I will look for it, thanks.

On Writing is a pretty good read, and I would read it again. It has some good advice, and some motivational speech to it as well.

I have read almost all of Stephen King's books. He was a gateway author for me. Way back in the 1980s, when I went through a period where I wasn't reading, I started reading again when I read the Shining. The only ones I haven't read so far is Under the Dome, Blockade Billy, and that one about the Red Sox. I find that he's hit and miss--some of his books I loved, and some I thought were horrible, and still others I thought started out good but had bad endings.

Some of his best include: Misery, IT, Salem's Lot, the Stand, the Shining, the Dead Zone, most of the Dark Tower series (though I really didn't care for part IV), Bag of Bones.
Some of his worst: the Colorado Kid, the Regulators, Duma Key, From a Buick 8, Cujo
Good beginning/bad ending includes Cell, Thinner

Regarding "On Writing," I found his advice helpful except that, unlike Stephen King, I need to plot. He advises against plotting or outlining. I tried to follow his advice and wrote myself into a thousand dead ends. I was making up characters on the fly and then killing the characters off because I hated them, I was writing people traveling to places having no idea why they were going there... and I wrote 100 pages of garbage before, following the advice of another writing book, I quit and wrote a detailed outline and a plot. Then my book came together. Not plotting works for some writers. It doesn't work for all writers.

Charlie

Regarding "On Writing," I found his advice helpful except that, unlike Stephen King, I need to plot. He advises against plotting or outlining. I tried to follow his advice and wrote myself into a thousand dead ends. I was making up characters on the fly and then killing the characters off because I hated them, I was writing people traveling to places having no idea why they were going there... and I wrote 100 pages of garbage before, following the advice of another writing book, I quit and wrote a detailed outline and a plot. Then my book came together. Not plotting works for some writers. It doesn't work for all writers.

Charlie

I never have an outline or a plot, it just comes out as I am writing. Most people think that I think about what I write about, not always. Like the one story I am writing now, most of the story line just came as I was writing, I didn't think of anything.

Well, ok with names and little things tlike that, yeah. But the main plot, it just came out of thin air

Originally Posted by Fox80

Without a doubt: The Shining. Stories about creepy houses, creepy buildings, really get to me. I love that.

The Shining is great!! Movie was bad, if you ask me.