Now Reeding or Just Reeded...

Currently...

I see we're back to editing things. Haha.

I am reading the following at the moment:

Eyesore....let me know what you think of The Mist and then if you're so inclinded watch the movie and let me know what you think. That's one of my favorite novellas of all time and I need to read it again. I bet it's ben 15 years.

Whatever people want to say about King, he's a prolific dude and I think he's one of the greatest ever.

When King is on (The Shining) he's unbeatable. When he's off (Cell), it's almost comical. But he is undeniably a great author.

True Spec. When he's "on" it's breathtaking. He's so prolific that he's bound to have some clunkers and in fact does, but even if you take his best 20 works it's mind-numbing how good this man is at telling stories.

scottmitchell74 wrote:

True Spec. When he's "on" it's breathtaking. He's so prolific that he's bound to have some clunkers and in fact does, but even if you take his best 20 works it's mind-numbing how good this man is at telling stories.

You got that right.

My favorite King stories (long or short) not in order besides The Stand

The Stand - #1
It
The Eyes Of The Dragon (I thought it was a great attempt at the genre)
The Body
Cain Rose Up
The Dead Zone
The Long Walk
Rita Hayworth and the Shawshank Redemption
Mrs. Todd's Shortcut
The Mist
Misery
The Running Man
The Shining
Thinner




There must be more, but it's going on 20+ years since reading some of his stories so I'm forgetting what I've read or how they impacted me.

I fell behind on Stephen King's stuff some time ago. I think the last thing of his I read was the DESPERATION/THE REGULATORS combo, which had to be ten years ago now at least. Or maybe it was HEARTS IN ATLANTIS. Whichever it was, it's been a while! I'm hearing that "Cell" isn't very good? Cuz I was looking at a copy of that in a store the other day and from reading the description on the back cover, I love the premise!

What is the premise?

scottmitchell74 wrote:

What is the premise?

Something about a mysterious signal that comes out of everyone's cell phones simultaneously around the world and kills half the world population!

Oh? That's for me!

scottmitchell74 wrote:

Oh? That's for me!

I'll be honest, I made it half way through the book, so maybe it isn't as bad as I think. Surprisingly, I tend to be a tad negative.

scottmitchell74 wrote:

True Spec. When he's "on" it's breathtaking. He's so prolific that he's bound to have some clunkers and in fact does, but even if you take his best 20 works it's mind-numbing how good this man is at telling stories.

The only King book I never made it all the way thru was INSOMNIA. That book was ridiculous. It caused the exact opposite of its title, i.e. it put me to sleep.

Although I can't remember which ones exactly, a few of his were so-so to me but I usually finish what I start (although I'm struggling right now with a Stephen Donaldson book).

I thought The Cell was pretty decent. Not his best, but a good return to form.

Avoid The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon at all costs, though. It was another one that fell flat to me, although there are many who love the book.

The Dark Tower series is King's magnum opus. A few slow moments,
especially as he rushed to finish it after his accident, but overall it
is a stunning achievement. The Wastelands is my favorite volume.

Last Steven King I read was Dreamcatcher and I thought it was a really good read

Quote :

The Dark Tower series is King's magnum opus

I've avoided this for years (decades) as I was in a King back log when I first got into him in the late 80's and then found the idea of getting into such a huge story daunting. ALSO, back then I was more interested in his horror works. Now I think I'd be game.

scottmitchell74 wrote:

Eyesore....let me know what you think of The Mist and then if you're so inclinded watch the movie and let me know what you think. That's one of my favorite novellas of all time and I need to read it again. I bet it's ben 15 years.

Whatever people want to say about King, he's a prolific dude and I think he's one of the greatest ever.

I skipped The Mist, just because it was a novella. When I'm finished with the rest, I'll go back and read it.

As I mentioned elsewhere, I'm not what you'd call a King fan, but after reading Everything's Eventual, and this one, I'm going to say I'm a big fan of his short stories. I think it's because the stories are so short that he can't really indulge, and that's what I think my biggest problem is with him. I think he wanders off and blabs too much. I've read some great books by him, but I've also read some that I just can't get into. And we're talking books that many say are his best.

But his shorts are excellent!

Eyesore wrote:

But his shorts are excellent!

Not to mention his panties. Ba-zing.

the sanctuary by raymond khoury

So I just finished the story "Beachworld." To refresh your memory, it's a sci-fi tale of a ship that crashes on a strange planet that is just dunes of sand, as far as the eye can see. Three people were on the ship. One dies. Of the other two, one begins to go crazy, claiming the sand is alive, he can feel it moving, speaking to him. The other guy tries to salvage as much water as he can, and he pretty much stays in the ship. He's able to get the beacon to work. Sand somehow gets inside when it shouldn't. The other guy stays outside and gets crazier, eventually stripping down to his undies. Then a ship comes to save them.

I recently read a story in Apex Digest called "Grassland." It's was sci-fi tale of a ship that crashes on a strange planet that is just grass, as far as the eye can see. Three people were on the ship. One dies. Of the other two, one begins to go crazy, claiming the grass is alive, he can feel it moving, speaking to him. The other guy tries to salvage as much water as he can, and he pretty much stays in the ship. He's able to get the beacon to work. Grass somehow gets inside when it shouldn't. The other guy stays outside and gets crazier, eventually stripping naked. Then a ship comes to save them.

WTF? And there's much more that is identical! The ending is a bit different, but we're talking about two stories that travel the same road, doing the exact same things, only one turns right at the end, the other turns left. I mean, I know similarities occur in anything, but this is so blatant it pisses me off. And I liked the "Grasslands" story; I thought it was unique. I actually liked it better than "Beachworld," only because the grass was a bit more sinister and I liked the ending better. But you can't get any more blatant in stealing a story outside of copying it word for word. And was written by a published author, with a few well-received novels under his belt.

Eyesore wrote:

So I just finished the story "Beachworld." To refresh
your memory, it's a sci-fi tale of a ship that crashes on a strange
planet that is just dunes of sand, as far as the eye can see. Three
people were on the ship. One dies. Of the other two, one begins to go
crazy, claiming the sand is alive, he can feel it moving, speaking to
him. The other guy tries to salvage as much water as he can, and he
pretty much stays in the ship. He's able to get the beacon to work.
Sand somehow gets inside when it shouldn't. The other guy stays outside
and gets crazier, eventually stripping down to his undies. Then a ship
comes to save them.

I recently read a story in Apex Digest
called "Grassland." It's was sci-fi tale of a ship that crashes on a
strange planet that is just grass, as far as the eye can see. Three
people were on the ship. One dies. Of the other two, one begins to go
crazy, claiming the grass is alive, he can feel it moving, speaking to
him. The other guy tries to salvage as much water as he can, and he
pretty much stays in the ship. He's able to get the beacon to work.
Grass somehow gets inside when it shouldn't. The other guy stays
outside and gets crazier, eventually stripping naked. Then a ship comes
to save them.

WTF? And there's much more that is identical! The
ending is a bit different, but we're talking about two stories that
travel the same road, doing the exact same things, only one turns right
at the end, the other turns left. I mean, I know similarities occur in
anything, but this is so blatant it pisses me off. And I liked the
"Grasslands" story; I thought it was unique. I actually liked it better
than "Beachworld," only because the grass was a bit more sinister and I
liked the ending better. But you can't get any more blatant in stealing
a story outside of copying it word for word. And was written by a
published author, with a few well-received novels under his
belt.

Interesting. Maybe he figured it was so old many people wouldn't
remember it, but I remember that story VERY well. One of King's few
sci-fi stories, but very well done. The ending, where the character
begins to stuff sand into his mouth creeped me out.

Have you read the story about the guy who crashes on an island with a load of dope? Outstanding tale!

Tall Tyrion wrote:

Interesting. Maybe he figured it was so old many people wouldn't
remember it, but I remember that story VERY well. One of King's few
sci-fi stories, but very well done. The ending, where the character
begins to stuff sand into his mouth creeped me out.

Yeah, I don't know what the deal is, but it's very, very similar. The main difference:

Spoiler:

Quote :

Have you read the story about the guy who crashes on an island with a load of dope? Outstanding tale!

Not yet. Is it in Skeleton Crew? I have Dreamscapes &...whatever at home, I plan to read that next. He really does shine on short stories. I'd owned Everything's Eventual since it came out. I'm a sucker for his stuff, but so reluctant to really give it a go. So I buy, but then don't read. I'm sure he's cool with that! Haha. But if I'd not decided to pursue writing seriously I'd not have even bothered with trying his short stories yet. No chance.

[quote="Eyesore"]

Tall Tyrion wrote:

Quote :

Have you read the story about the guy who crashes on an island with a load of dope? Outstanding tale!

Not yet. Is it in Skeleton Crew?

Yes, it is. That had a few immature stories, but some real corkers as
well. Beachworld was one and that other one (title escapes me ATM) is
another. Overall, it's my favorite short story collection from King.
I've read it a half a dozen times at least.

Tall Tyrion wrote:

Yes, it is. That had a few immature stories, but some real corkers as
well. Beachworld was one and that other one (title escapes me ATM) is
another. Overall, it's my favorite short story collection from King.
I've read it a half a dozen times at least.

Mr.s Todd's Shortcut was awesome! It was interesting, then just took a sharp left turn out of nowhere, when Mr.s Todd and Homer went on that shortcut to Bangor. Never saw that coming. Very cool tale.