Rolling Stone published a readers poll:
http://www.rollingstone.com/culture/lists/readers-poll-the-10-best-stephen-king-books-20141105
10. Dark Tower Book IV (never read DT series)
9. Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption (not really a book---but different seasons is pretty solid anyway)
8. The Dead Zone. (yeah, would probably rate it higher)
7. The Green Mile (yeah, pretty good)
6. 11/22/63 (Agree. Also best placing of his post accident novels)
5 Misery. (Great, but movie was even better)
4. Salem's Lot (really? Salem's Lot?)
3. The Shinning (Excellent)
2. It (Yes, like it, surprised by its high placing though)
1. The Stand (Stephen King's epic masterpiece)
Probably can debate the order, but with the exception of Salem's Lot and including Different Seasons instead of Rita Hayworth, I'd argue those probably are his best 10 books)
I've only read The Shining and the scene with the fire hoses scared the Bejesus out of me.
The only Stephen King book I've bought (and one of only three I've read) is "The Stand"; I'm not surprised it's top given it can even appeal to non-Stephen King readers.
His On Writing. Probably the best writing memoir I've ever read.
Quote from: CountDeMoney on November 05, 2014, 06:50:56 PM
His On Writing. Probably the best writing memoir I've ever read.
Yes....I did like that.
Quote from: CountDeMoney on November 05, 2014, 06:50:56 PM
His On Writing. Probably the best writing memoir I've ever read.
That's what I was going to suggest.
I read the first half of the stand and it wad pretty good but then it dropped the end of civilization mega plague plot and started being all about magic black ladies and the devil and...yeah. It lost the plot and i couldnt read on
I've read The Stand & The Dark Tower which were ok, Christine which was pretty dull, and some collaboration(with some guy named Taub or something like that maybe?) that was ok. Overall, I enjoyed reading Koontz more.
Quote from: Peter Wiggin on November 05, 2014, 08:10:04 PM
Overall, I enjoyed reading Koontz more.
Heh, my mother is a Koontz fan.
The only King books I've read were Salem's Lot (back when I was 14 or so), Misery (which I thought was done very well), and The Stand.
Personally, when it comes to horror-suspense, I prefer Clive Barker by far over anyone else.
Quote from: Tyr on November 05, 2014, 07:27:29 PM
I read the first half of the stand and it wad pretty good but then it dropped the end of civilization mega plague plot and started being all about magic black ladies and the devil and...yeah. It lost the plot and i couldnt read on
Apparently, there are different editions of the book that contain various amounts of the magic and mysticism. I read the first paperback edition (I think) and while there was some magic/mysticism there, overall it was a fairly small if important part of the story. It gets ramped up considerably in later editions.
I didn't realize this until a few years ago when I was visiting my brother and we happened to watch the TV mini-series. There was a lot of stuff in it about which I kept saying "That wasn't in the book" and my brother insisted was in the book. We looked into it and realized that he had read a much later edition. Apparently King went back in re-wrote parts of it or added new material to tie the Randall Flagg character into some of his other works. Actually, in the edition I read the main magic-using character was never even named as Randall Flagg IIRC.
Quote from: CountDeMoney on November 05, 2014, 08:12:24 PM
Quote from: Peter Wiggin on November 05, 2014, 08:10:04 PM
Overall, I enjoyed reading Koontz more.
Heh, my mother is a Koontz fan.
The only King books I've read were Salem's Lot (back when I was 14 or so), Misery (which I thought was done very well), and The Stand.
Personally, when it comes to horror-suspense, I prefer Clive Barker by far over anyone else.
Books with S&M demons, yeah I could see that.
Dean Koontz was the best when he was in his prime, before everything became Goddidit (much like the end of The Stand, except that it was every book). The Watchers was simply excellent. Clive Barker is good in short doses; he jumps the shark in his longer works.
I like the "hominess" of King - his characters' everyday lives are more believable than most. I didn't care for It, by and large. Too contrived, and the kiddie sex was a turnoff. I'd have to say Dead Zone was my favorite, because you never knew if the protagonist's powers were real, or he was imagining the whole thing.
Quote from: dps on November 05, 2014, 08:57:02 PM
Quote from: Tyr on November 05, 2014, 07:27:29 PM
I read the first half of the stand and it wad pretty good but then it dropped the end of civilization mega plague plot and started being all about magic black ladies and the devil and...yeah. It lost the plot and i couldnt read on
Apparently, there are different editions of the book that contain various amounts of the magic and mysticism. I read the first paperback edition (I think) and while there was some magic/mysticism there, overall it was a fairly small if important part of the story. It gets ramped up considerably in later editions.
I didn't realize this until a few years ago when I was visiting my brother and we happened to watch the TV mini-series. There was a lot of stuff in it about which I kept saying "That wasn't in the book" and my brother insisted was in the book. We looked into it and realized that he had read a much later edition. Apparently King went back in re-wrote parts of it or added new material to tie the Randall Flagg character into some of his other works. Actually, in the edition I read the main magic-using character was never even named as Randall Flagg IIRC.
Nah not quite
Randall Flag, the Walking Dude, was always in the book. There was the original version. Sometime in teh 90s they released a longer version. It wasn't so much that King added stuff, but that the original version was cut down because otherwise it would be too expensive and at the time Stephen King wasn't a bestseller (The Stand was his third novel).
There was a character in the longer version who was only in it a bit in the original. Can't remember the name but ti was the firebug guy.
When I was younger I read a lot about the horror stuff. I loved King and the English King, James Herbert. I read a lot of Clive Barker, he demanded a lot of your time, but in his prime was worth the investments....Imajica and Great and Secret Show are great books. I put them more into fantasy horror than out and out horror. But he kinda got a bit weird later on and I stopped reading him. Never really got into Koontz.
the stand was really great for the first two thirds or so. then it just fell flat.
I read loads of his books when I was in my teens. I think my favourites were Salem's Lot and teh Bachman novellas.
Decided to give him another go a few months ago and downloaded 11/22/63. Jesus, it was terrible. Unbelievably bloated and badly written but with just enough hooks to keep you reading.
I had a phase during my teens when I read his books, though I didn't read many of his "classics."
I've read:
Misery
Dead Zone
The Long Walk
The Running Man
The Eyes of the Dragon
Tommyknockers
The Dark Half
Cycle of the Werewolf
The Stand
Christine
And recently I've read the first three books of the Dark Tower series (stuck on pt. 4).
I recall that of the ones I read I liked Misery, The Stand (which I re-read later, and I also have the miniseries on DVD), Eyes of the Dragon and Dark Half the best.
I also enjoyed the Dark Tower books 1-3, though the long flashback to Roland's youth and his friends made me take a break, because it starts off VERY slow, and the series lost a lot of momentum for me there.
From the OP, cut Salem's Lot and Dark Tower (good only for a couple books, the rest is pretty useless) and add Carrie (quite terrifying, when I was 15) and On Writing, and you'll get my favourites. (Different Seasons, too, instead of Rita Hayworth etc etc)
Of the post-incident books, though, I've read only 11/22/63 and Joyland, and I have to say that this last one is quite a good novel.
There are a ton of excellent short stories from SK, too, but I can't remember the titles of most of them.
L.
Quote from: Syt on November 06, 2014, 03:25:30 AM
The Eyes of the Dragon
It's the one about the gipsy's curse? That one is a good scary novel, too.
About DT series, I've recently read it all, and I share your feelings: it starts off very well, then the "flashback" novel (Wizard and Glass, IIRC) is a complete change of pace and style, it almost becomes a Louis L'Amour book. The following books become a delirium of intertwined fictional and real worlds, lacking focus, it seems SK himself did not know how to tie things up.
My expectations were rather high, and I was disappointed.
L.
Quote from: Pedrito on November 06, 2014, 03:44:42 AM
Quote from: Syt on November 06, 2014, 03:25:30 AM
The Eyes of the Dragon
It's the one about the gipsy's curse? That one is a good scary novel, too.
No, it's more of a fantasy novel. I haven't read it in 20+ years, so not sure how it holds up.
I really only read the Dark Tower series, but it is among my favourite books in general.
Btw, could anyone recommend to me Stephen King's books that are closer to Dark Tower (i.e. dark fantasy/mysticism) than horror?
I'm sure I read quite a bit of King in my early teenage horror phase, but I can only remember Christine. I've seen most of the films though :hmm:
I preferred James Herbert which had rather lurid sex scenes that made me think intercourse was inevitably followed by being eaten alive by rats, for example.
Yeah I read a lot of James Herbert but always preferred King.
Eyes of the Dragon is King's "children's book" (well, young readers, perhaps). I don't remember it much but it was a castle fantasy type thing. Roland Flagg makes a cameo IIRC.
Saw an interview with Clive Barker over at Deviant Art.
Starts off with a review of his work for the uninitiated, so skip down about a third of the way to get the interview. Shows quite a few of paintings as well.
http://techgnotic.deviantart.com/journal/Clive-Barker-Return-of-The-Dark-Master-491709767
Quote from: Gups on November 06, 2014, 03:18:28 AM
Decided to give him another go a few months ago and downloaded 11/22/63. Jesus, it was terrible. Unbelievably bloated and badly written but with just enough hooks to keep you reading.
Sounds suspiciously like an episode of
The New Twilight Zone from the mid-80s.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Profile_in_Silver
Haven't read much King. It and Four Past Midnight. Plus maybe something else I forget.
Havent read too many. Favs Bachman Books, Stand, Salems Lot
I've read a few of King's books, I remember Cujo and Pet Sematary and there were a couple others including The Stand which is probably my favorite. Haven't read his stuff in years though.