The Stephen King discussion thread

Discussion in 'Books' started by Uppa 90, Feb 4, 2010.

  1. Uppa 90

    Uppa 90 Member

    Jan 16, 2004
    K.C. MO
    Club:
    Kansas City Wizards
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    United States
    I figure the guy has a large enough body of work that he deserves his own discussion... he has written some modern classics that are starting to get real academic attention as to their cultural and literary significance.

    That and I just finished his most recent book and would love to discuss it as well...

    if people are going to discuss endings make sure that you have a [R] put somewhere prior to the discussion...

    [​IMG]

    Under the Dome - (2009)

    I was surprised with how quickly I went through this nearly 1100 page bohemoth of a book... the last 150 really flew by for me, i think i knocked them out in one sitting...

    The character development was fun to see, and eventually characters would be doing what I predicted they would, based on the development from previous chapters - an indication of good writing...

    One of my favorite things about King's style is his ability to toss a whole bunch of possible threads as to where the story might lead, only to have them not matter in the end...

    The pace of the story seems frantic... nearly always having a climax at the end of each chapter, or cliffhanging a piece and then whipping the reader around to the same event from the other side of town... it gives a complete picture of the situation, and shows the depth of how the town handles it...

    [R] -- i want to discuss the ending


    I have talked to some others about how King kills off his bad guys in the end of stories... many times it seems so uneventful or mild in method in contrast to the character's horrible trail of evil that came before... I am thinking of certain bad guys from the Dark Tower series, specifically... And I would argue that sometimes these deaths ellicit a response from us as the readers that may be truly what King was going for, us as readers to show our savage side by saying, "That damn Big Jim Rennie should've been ripped to pieces slowly in front of the whole town" or whatever... But the realism of a character NOT dying like that is more likely, and our response becomes a greater horror to add to the story in a sense... In Under the Dome, Rennie's demise is poetic, as his demons manifest themselves to him, causing him to attempt escape from the wreck he created, ultimately kill him off... alone...

    The ultimate switch of the hero at the end, from Barbie to Julia, was a nice change of pace too, throwing the reader for a loop as to who the real hero may have been the whole time... not that Barbie could just be called an Antihero, reluctant as he was...

    Unlike Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, the aliens that were at the crux of this story didn't seem like a cop-out... this seemed more reasonable and acceptable... maybe because it was so vague... it was the abstract description that kept me interested in thinking about the ending because it was something i hope King explores in other stories to give us more details...
     
  2. Barbara

    Barbara BigSoccer Supporter

    Apr 29, 2000
    Club:
    DC United
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    I didn't read the OP because I haven't read the new book yet. I was going to buy it a few months ago but I sprained something picking it up in the bookstore. I'm going to have to wait for paperback because it's just too damn heavy in hardback.

    I've been reading Stephen King since the mid-70's. I still remember standing in K & B Drugstore in New Orleans looking at - and eventually buying - Salem's Lot. And I've read almost every book since, though I've skipped a few.

    I need to read the last book in the Dark Tower series but I'm too worried about what might happen to Oy, who is one of my favorite literary characters ever.
     
  3. Area 51

    Area 51 Member+

    Sep 5, 2009
    Club:
    Manchester United FC
    Would you reccomend Under the Dome?

    The last King book I read was CELL, which I thoroughly enjoyed.
     
  4. G-boot

    G-boot Member

    Manchester United
    Nov 6, 2004
    Club:
    Manchester United FC
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    My question to King fans is this . . . do you find the personality or the voice of his fiction to be corny? I really would like your opinions on that.

    My take is that he does sound corny, but readers like this since he is openly showing his faults. Or that King is not trying too hard, or just having fun pretending along.

    I noticed that Dan Brown has a corny sound/tone to him, and I'm wondering if fans notice this/like it.

    Corny as in a guilty pleasure.
     
  5. malby

    malby Member+

    Liverpool FC
    Republic of Ireland
    May 11, 2004
    Rep of Ireland
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    Drogheda United
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    Definitely!!

    Not really a big fan of Kings. I really liked the Dead Zone. I also read Cell and thought it brilliant!!

    I think I'll give the Stand a go next.

    Under the dome was briliant.
     
  6. G-boot

    G-boot Member

    Manchester United
    Nov 6, 2004
    Club:
    Manchester United FC
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    United States
    I liked Dreamcatcher and The Shining. I loved Needful Things but the ending was awful.
     
  7. frasermc

    frasermc Take your flunky and dangle

    Celtic
    Scotland
    Jul 28, 2006
    Newcastle-Upon-Tyne
    Club:
    Celtic FC
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    Scotland
    I thoroughly enjoyed Under the Dome. It's a behemoth of a book but it's so well crafted that reading it is a pleasure and the pages and chapters fly by.

    King always does a terrific job of fleshing out a small town and the people that inhabit it. After finishing Under the Dome I feel like revisiting Salems Lot.
     
  8. G-boot

    G-boot Member

    Manchester United
    Nov 6, 2004
    Club:
    Manchester United FC
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    Was King writing the Dome before the Simpsons Movie?
     
  9. malby

    malby Member+

    Liverpool FC
    Republic of Ireland
    May 11, 2004
    Rep of Ireland
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    Drogheda United
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    LOL!!

    I thought this as well and he says in an authors note that he started writing it in the 70's but gave up.
     
  10. Felixx219

    Felixx219 BigSoccer Supporter

    Nov 8, 2004
    Kansas City, MO
    Club:
    Kansas City Wizards
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    United States
    I use to read more of his books when I was younger. But, the most recent one that I have read was Duma Key and thought it was the worst book I have read by him. It was just bad.

    The Dark Tower series is one of the best things I have ever read though. It is by far my favorite series of books.
     
  11. malby

    malby Member+

    Liverpool FC
    Republic of Ireland
    May 11, 2004
    Rep of Ireland
    Club:
    Drogheda United
    Nat'l Team:
    Ireland Republic
    Like I said I'm in no way a fan but I read Cell and got Duma Key as soon as it came out based on my enjoyment of Cell. Duma Key is terrible!!

    Dome makes up for it big time.
     
  12. 1RSL_Fan

    1RSL_Fan New Member

    Jun 6, 2010
    SLC
    Club:
    Real Salt Lake
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    I'm reading a book of his called 'The Shining' it's the first book I've read that he's written. Anyone else read this, did you like it?
     
  13. Barbara

    Barbara BigSoccer Supporter

    Apr 29, 2000
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    DC United
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    Oh, hell yeah. It scared the crap out of me.
     
  14. Area 51

    Area 51 Member+

    Sep 5, 2009
    Club:
    Manchester United FC
    Just purchased the behemouth Under the Dome for my 9 1/2 hour plane ride to Germany....should be long enough:D

    That is to say, if I somehow manage to keep my carry on under 8kg with it included:eek:
     
  15. The Biscuitman

    The Biscuitman Member+

    Jul 4, 2007
    Club:
    Reading FC
    Picked up 'Under The Dome' yesterday, 100 pages in and I am very much gripped.
     
  16. FormerGermanGuy

    Mar 1, 2001
    Indianapolis
    Club:
    Fulham FC
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    I was the same way but for some reason I just lost interest shortly before page 500. All the characters sounded like rehashes from other books. Even a lot of the character's phrasing and internal monologue sounded like I'd read them before. The events were getting predictable and for the first time in my life I put a Stephen King book down and didn't finish it. It's still sitting on my bookshelf with the bookmark in it.

    On Stephen King in general, I think he's one of the greatest ever and I've absolutely loved everything else he's ever put out. It is still my favorite of his works, and Roland my favorite character.
     
  17. Boogie_Down

    Boogie_Down Member+

    Jul 7, 2010
    Club:
    Arsenal FC
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    I've been told that The Stand is an amazing book. Haven't read it but it's a massive volume. It's on my to do list.
     
  18. G-boot

    G-boot Member

    Manchester United
    Nov 6, 2004
    Club:
    Manchester United FC
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    I don't get horror fans.

    I've read quite a few of King books, and I can't think of one moment when I was scared. This is not bragging.

    Scary movies never get me to play along. I'm too aware of the fictional tricks, more so than any other genre. I don't see the actor apart from their real life fame.

    I have tried to enjoy this category the way others have.

    All I can say is that nightmares aren't enjoyable. However, I understand the need to experience fear from a safe distance.
     
  19. The Biscuitman

    The Biscuitman Member+

    Jul 4, 2007
    Club:
    Reading FC
    600 pages into my first Stephen King book now and loving it.
     
  20. Uppa 90

    Uppa 90 Member

    Jan 16, 2004
    K.C. MO
    Club:
    Kansas City Wizards
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    I don't know if any book has "scared" me per se, either... however, I get concerned about the impact that the events in the story have on a character or the world of the story... so it isn't a matter of feeling scared as though you are fearing for your life, but rather the situation is so terrifying for the characters that they have no rational way of explaning the events happening to them...

    I'm not a psychologist by any means, but I would say that there are two possible reasons for a lack of feeling like this that i could immediately think of:

    1. Lack of immersion - you are not able to allow yourself to become emotionally involved with the characters, or the writing itself has not given you the opportunity to become involved (usually means it's low quality writing)...

    2. Defense mechanism takeover - you have some sort of issue from your past that keeps you from recognizing a fictional situation that may raise tension and a defense mechanism establishes itself in your imagination and blocks an emotional attachment...

    A good book will cause me to relate somehow to the situation built up in a story, whether it be a good set of characters or a lifestyle of a group, or a set of ideals... Then I will feel a personal feeling of loss or fear for the attachment during the conflict, which in a horror story, may last the entire rest of the book.

    Stephen King's Dark Tower, The Stand, and many others built up a myriad of characters that readers encounter and become familiar with (though not all of them would be the type we would become friends with - and that is good because it makes it realistic)... then he makes the reader feel uncomfortable with the approaching doom for each... In a Stephen King novel, no character is safe, and death can happen quite rapidly and without cause or justification... and therein lies the horror...
     
  21. G-boot

    G-boot Member

    Manchester United
    Nov 6, 2004
    Club:
    Manchester United FC
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Yes, number 1 and 2 could be right. I'm a writer so it's like a magic man knowing the other magic man's tricks.

    I can immerse myself if I identify with the character, but, since so many are heroes in extraordinary situations, I don't.

    Most people who scare easy with fiction, care less about actual horrific events. Something I've noticed.
     
  22. SpencerNY

    SpencerNY Member+

    Dec 1, 2001
    Up in the skyway


    After reading "Under the Dome" I can say I'm discouraged from reading any of King's future
    endeavors. The whole George W. hatred and mocking of Christianity are so thinly veiled and on a level that I hadn't experienced in King's writing before. I may very well agree with King on some of the his viewpoints, but again, I read his novels as a means of escape, not to have stuff drilled into my head that I might hear come out of the mouths of Keith Olberman or Rachel Maddow.

    He could of knocked off about 500 pages and you'd never have known the difference.
     
  23. Uppa 90

    Uppa 90 Member

    Jan 16, 2004
    K.C. MO
    Club:
    Kansas City Wizards
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    I am 1/3 through 11/22/63, which came out a month ago... Interesting read so far, though there are some places that i have wondered about his writing, if it was up to speed or not...

    It is surely not in the horror category at the moment... just interesting fiction right now...
     
  24. eric_appleby

    eric_appleby Member+

    Jun 11, 1999
    Down East
    Club:
    New England Revolution
    Nat'l Team:
    United States

    It's probably his best work.

    But then I stopped reading him after Cujo and the one about the possessed car.
     
  25. Dills

    Dills Moderator
    Staff Member

    Philadelphia Union
    United States
    Jun 6, 2006
    Southampton|PA
    Club:
    Philadelphia Union
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Christine ... love me that one.
     

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