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# oh yeah
that's a brilliant book.

i did stop reading new stephen king novels, years back, around about the time of bag of bones which was simply boring. (though, to be fair, some of his early stuff was also dull as piss. he hit a good spell in the late 70s till the early 90s i think.) i'll still buy his short stories, though. they're as hit and miss as his novels, but there's so many more of them. and he writes stupid things like 'the moving finger', one of the few things to actually inspire me to start writing again.

which reminds me. i should buy the newest collection.
(I helped save b3ta! boris the spider, Fri 12 Mar 2010, 21:38, archived)
# totally agree with the 70's bit
carrie is another one of my favourites, there's a weird simplicity to it that i just adore
(I helped save b3ta! Smash Monkey lowering the tone of the whole internet, Fri 12 Mar 2010, 21:44, archived)
# i never actually really liked carrie
but i only read it once, and i was about 17 at the time. i'll try it again at some point. i actually really like the way he was roughly mid 80s, so about when he was writing the dark half, shawshank/the body, it, four past midnight, the running man and so on. after that except for wizard and glass which i absolutely love i think he never topped the 80s stuff.

pure personal opinion, of course.
(I helped save b3ta! boris the spider, Fri 12 Mar 2010, 21:52, archived)
# very true
i stopped reading after gerald's game.
got a detention at the age of 7 or 8 for taking carrie into school
(I helped save b3ta! Smash Monkey lowering the tone of the whole internet, Fri 12 Mar 2010, 21:56, archived)
# never read gerald's game
insomnia helped end it all for me. there's good things about it, i'll admit, but overall -- well, it's just rubbish, isn't it? you've got one utterly flimsy character, a woman who's meant to be smart and strong and brave but is just a dismal squawking "OH RALPH DON'T BE SO HORRIBLE!" nobody, and a guy who's meant to be strong and brave and true and a hero and the ultimate good guy and he's just an irritating aggressive dickhead stomping around like a little baby.

ugh.

i believe i tried a few more novels after that - and obviously "bag of bones" but i'd say insomnia was the sign it was all going sour.

except the dark tower series, which certainly went... odd... and never quite beat wizard and glass, but it stayed better. until the very end when roland reaches the field outside the tower. when it's just, well, SHIT.

"hearts in atlantis" was fucking brilliant, mind. he can still do good novellas.
(I helped save b3ta! boris the spider, Fri 12 Mar 2010, 22:00, archived)
# didn't read bag of bones
but i did manage to find a couple of the dark castle books in the library, which i did enjoy. i like his short stories, the mist was good enough to make me want to watch the film, although i haven't as yet.
(I helped save b3ta! Smash Monkey lowering the tone of the whole internet, Fri 12 Mar 2010, 22:03, archived)
# I wouldn't read Bag of Bones if I were you
but go through the whole Dark Tower series. It does get a bit weird but books 2, 3, 4 and 5 (and particularly 4) are sterling work. His short stories have always been his best. I need to see the Mist too -- that one was written as a 50s B movie you should watch at a drive-in. If they've kept that kind of feel then it could be really rather entertaining.
(I helped save b3ta! boris the spider, Fri 12 Mar 2010, 22:50, archived)