Yes. Mid-1999 was when he was nearly killed by a car while he was out walking. He put a lot of his own experience from the accident and recovery into Duma Key, and I think it's one of the best things he's ever written.
Has Stephen King run out of ideas
- Thread starter 23skidoo
- Start date
Yes. Mid-1999 was when he was nearly killed by a car while he was out walking. He put a lot of his own experience from the accident and recovery into Duma Key, and I think it's one of the best things he's ever written.
very cool thanks I love his books and movies can't wait for this to come out now. and did I read that right there remaking the stand?
Actually, that link says that David Yates thinks it should be a miniseries and therefore didn't take the job. It's still going to be a feature film.
I'm about a third of the way into 11/22/63 and it's without a doubt the best book I've read this year. The books that King put out in the wake of his accident - Dreamcatcher, From a Buick 8, Lisey's Story - were rather weak. But in the last few years he's come back strong and has produced some of his best work - Duma Key, Under the Dome, and now 11/22/63.
Full Dark, No Stars was great. Hearts in Atlantis and The Green Mile are masterpieces. Under the Dome was a massively addictive page-turner. Duma Key and Lisey's Story both have a lot to recommend them. And, by all accounts, this JFK book is amazing, though I haven't read it yet.
No, Stephen King's career, though it has had ups and downs, is still going very strong. Anyone would envy having a career as long-lasting as his.
No, Stephen King's career, though it has had ups and downs, is still going very strong. Anyone would envy having a career as long-lasting as his.
Haven't read Full Dark, No Stars yet, but Duma Key is one of my favorite King books of all time (and I've been reading him since the early 80s).
I really enjoyed that book. I wouldn't place it in my Top Ten, but I liked the characters in it a lot.
I agree totally. I feel like his work has taken on a real emotional depth in his later writing (and even more so after his accident). His earlier stuff may have been scarier, but his character writing has improved dramatically, and he's gotten a lot better at writing endings, too.
So very, very true.
Yeah, that still gives me the creeps. King's got such a way with picking word combinations (or sound combinations) that just creep you out before you even get a context for them, and the Low Men in Yellow Coats are a perfect illustration of that. (The word "Jimla" in 11/23/63 is another one of those.)
Loved the ending, although it made me sad.
I'm a 'shipper from way back, so I really wanted "George" and Sadie to have their happy ending.
It's also just a wonderful exploration of early 60s America, and the rest of the stories in that one of the Vietnam War era. Why We're In Vietnam also stands out for me.
A lot of his ideas seem to spring from idle daydreaming from causal observations.
You can picture him eating at a noisy truck stop and thinking what if those trucks were really alive? Seeing a big dog barking at a car and thinking what if they couldn't get away from that dog. Or passing a big truck on the freeway which blasts the horn at him and what if that guy actually kept following me. Watching the neighbors lawn getting mowed and ....
I think at its best this works because it's stuff we've either dreamt up ourselves or is just on the edge of our normal lives and so is relatable at a fundamental level but when it doesn't work it can across more insipid than inspired (What if that laundry machine was possessed?).
You can picture him eating at a noisy truck stop and thinking what if those trucks were really alive? Seeing a big dog barking at a car and thinking what if they couldn't get away from that dog. Or passing a big truck on the freeway which blasts the horn at him and what if that guy actually kept following me. Watching the neighbors lawn getting mowed and ....
I think at its best this works because it's stuff we've either dreamt up ourselves or is just on the edge of our normal lives and so is relatable at a fundamental level but when it doesn't work it can across more insipid than inspired (What if that laundry machine was possessed?).
It's a thread about whether Stephen King has run out of ideas or not, as the title suggests.
That was why I liked it. It hit the emotional notes for sure. King may not be the best at overall plot (and his problems with satisfying endings is a testament to this) but I love his character work.
"Lawnmover Man" is still the strangest thing he has ever written, I think..
I read that 25 years ago and I still remember that the guy had grass pubes.
Craig Wasson is great. He narrated half of Full Dark, No Stars.
Yeah, I think he's the best reader of King stuff since Frank Muller (R.I.P 
) Haven't had the time to listen to "Full Dark, No Stars" yet (it's on my wishlist on Audible). Haven't heard "Under the Dome" yet either, but that one is unfortunately region locked on Audible, so I have to find it some other way.
I really like that Wasson really acts out the monologue in "11/22/63"
) Haven't had the time to listen to "Full Dark, No Stars" yet (it's on my wishlist on Audible). Haven't heard "Under the Dome" yet either, but that one is unfortunately region locked on Audible, so I have to find it some other way.I really like that Wasson really acts out the monologue in "11/22/63"
I used to have an hour commute back and forth to work for a while so I listened to a few King books. I'm back to the good ol' reading now, though.
I didn't remember a TZ Kennedy episode. I remember them doing a Lincoln episode though.
Similar threads
