Stephen King

[byron lomax]

See, the only King books I've read are the first two Dark Towers, On Writing and From a Buick 8. I've seen complaints about the lack of explanation in the latter before, and I don't get it. I mean, it's the entire point of the book. The boy is dealing with his father's death, not understanding why it had to happen. And there's this crazy car that his dad used to be obsessed with figuring out the mystery of, but there is no explanation. Sometimes things just happen where we never find out the why. If the book had explained where the car came from or why it did what it did, then the book would be just another horror story about a creepy car. I like that King actually tackled the theme of the unexplanable experiences of human life. Maybe it's not as good as some of his other books...I can't really speak to that.

Yeah, I can appreciate that. The story is told from the point of view of a bunch of people who looked after the buick and experienced weird things as a result - for one of them to find out what it all meant would have seemed forced and unnecessary. King has said in interviews in the past that he doesn't like explaining things too much, and any explanation he could come up with for what was going on in Buick 8 would fall flat. But I would loved to have seen the mysterious "driver" come back at some point in the story.

[sidious618]

Yeah the driver image was certainly cool. I rather enjoyed that book because of its lack of resolution. Made the whole thing creepier.

[Turd Ferguson]

Favorites:

The Dark Tower 1-4
The Stand
The Shining
'Salem's Lot
Cell
The Talisman
Skeleton Key
Four Past Midnight
Everything's Eventual

Least Favorites:

The Dark Tower 5-7
From a Buick 8
Dreamcatcher
Black House

I've really not been a big fan of King's work since his accident. I used to love his books, but now they're just not fun at all. After loving the first four Dark Towers, the last three feel like they were rushed with plots pulled directly from his anus, just to finish it already. I even put down Duma Key and Lisey's Story just because they were boring as hell (and this is from a guy who actually enjoyed Bag of Bones).

[Middle Earther]

I was almost ready to give up on Stephen King until I read Duma Key - then I kept thinking; "He's back, baby!" His earlier works, especially Salem's Lot were incredible reads. I never got into the Dark Tower - I read the first one and haven't gone back to the series. My all time favorite was the first book I read: Salem's Lot.

[Starbreaker]

oh yeah... I forgot Cell [B-] and Rage [C].

[McCoy]

I'm one of those kids who grew up on the old Universal horror flicks. Watching them all alone at one in the morning in the basement, then running a lightswitch brigade on the way to bed. You know the drill: run ahead to turn on the light, run back to turn off the light in the room you just left, run ahead again to turn on the next light, and so on until you get to your bedroom, where you judge the distance to the bed, turn off the light, and make a leap for it. Then pull the covers over your head and listen for the werewolf. I loved being scared.

But I watched so much of it that I got desensitized. By the time I was a teenager I didn't think anything would ever scare me again. I'd read The Stand. It was brilliant but not particularly scary.

Then I started reading Night Shift, an early collection of his short stories. And I came to a story called The Bogeyman. As the story went on I kept glancing sideways at my closet door and getting more and more freaked out. By the time the story ended I was absolutely thrilled. I couldn't believe someone had actually succeeded in scaring the shit out of me again after all these years.

I was so excited I had to share it with someone. The only other person in the house was my sister, who was watching TV in the basement. I ran down there. The door at the bottom of the stairs was closed. I reached for the knob, and at that exact same time she must have been heading up because when I opened the door there was this shadowy figure silhouetted in the opening.

I finally learned the meaning of the phrase "climbed the wall". I swear I jumped a couple of feet off the floor.

Good times.

[sidious618]

That's a great story, McCoy.

[label]

Huge King fan for the most part. He has his moments that aren't so great but has so many more that are.

Favorites:
Dark Tower series (yes, the last 3 are definitely hit and miss in places, but overall, it's a work of art)
The Stand. (The absolute best single novel I've ever read of his.....)
It
Desperation
Tailsmen/Dark House
Needful Things
Salem's Lot

Actually, I like pretty much everything he's done to one degree or another......

[Rob Hal]

For those of you who like Stephen King, you should read his book "On Writing". He gives a lot of insight into some of the books he's written, and it is just a fantastic and short guide for anyone who wants to give a shot at writing themselves.

[Ood Sigma]

I've read pretty much every fiction he's put out.

Favorites:
The Dark Tower (all of 'em, though volumes 3 and 7 stand out)
The Green Mile
The Talisman


Dislikes:
Salem's Lot
Gerald's Game
Dolores Claiborne

[McCoy]

sidious618 wrote:

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That's a great story, McCoy.

As you can see, the entire experience made quite an impression on me. I'll probably still remember it into my Alzheimer's.

[theenglish]

byron lomax wrote:

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Yeah, I can appreciate that. The story is told from the point of view of a bunch of people who looked after the buick and experienced weird things as a result - for one of them to find out what it all meant would have seemed forced and unnecessary. King has said in interviews in the past that he doesn't like explaining things too much, and any explanation he could come up with for what was going on in Buick 8 would fall flat. But I would loved to have seen the mysterious "driver" come back at some point in the story.

In the context of reading Buick 8 as a stand alone novel, there is not much explanation, but if you link it to The Dark Tower and treat the Buick as a connection to Roland's world (I like to think it opens up into that horrible, monstrous valley they ride over when they are trapped in Blane the Mono) then it makes more sense.

I read King when I was younger and then avoided him throughout the late eighties and nineties but I recently read Buick 8 and the Dark Tower series and really enjoyed them, so I think I will go back to some of the works I have missed over the years.