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Which Stephen King books are worth reading more than once?

Which Stephen King books are worth more than one read?


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Totenkindly

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The more you swing, the more you strike out. Which ones do you think King hit out of the park?

Not enough slots for all the titles -- so comment on any you think were unfairly skipped.

Full List of Books/Writings here.
 

Quiesce

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Even though I suspect this was meant to be a poll, and may disappear...


"On Writing"
 

Quiesce

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Eh, why (re)read the book when all the good ones are movies?

I am specifically referring to "Running Man".
 

rivercrow

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I chose other: the short story collections.

After a King rip in the late 80s, where I read King books end-to-end for about a month, I decided that his short stories were significantly more imaginative and better written than his novels. The novels are formulaic and redundant; read one, you've read most.

I admit I haven't read any pseudonym King. I'm unlikely to do so at this point, either. I gave up fiction in the mid 90s due to excessive indulgence.
 

Totenkindly

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Eh, why (re)read the book when all the good ones are movies? I am specifically referring to "Running Man".

:sick:

The book was good. By Richard Bachman, of course. :)
 

Quiesce

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:sick:

The book was good. By Richard Bachman, of course. :)

Come on, Jenny, admit that Arnie makes everything better.

I was so upset when I heard "Total Recall II: The Minority Report" was cancelled.
I mean, what good is a Philip K. Dick adaptation without Schwarzenegger?

I heard that years later the property was picked up for an unrelated project starring the Topgun guy. Yuk



I completely agree about the short stories, rivercrow.
Especially "Different Seasons"
 

Totenkindly

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Come on, Jenny, admit that Arnie makes everything better.

*groan* NO!!!

(Although I admit to watching Predator more than once. And the running jokes are cute the first time I hear them...)

I completely agree about the short stories, rivercrow.
Especially "Different Seasons"

Those are novellas -- and Different Seasons is actually an almost "perfect" hit, at least for me. Only The Winter's Tale was a little empty for me, but the other three stories (Rita Hayworth & The Shawshank Redemption, Apt Pupil, and The Body) were among the best things (I think) he has ever written in his life.

(Which is funny, because none of those three have supernatural elements either, really.)
 

Natrushka

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Insomnia - love it.

And as you read along you discover that many of the books overlap into the Gunslinger's universe.

Stephen King is a sick puppy. And I still want to hurt him for TDT: VII
 

JivinJeffJones

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Yeah I'm a big fan of all his short stories. My next favourite would be a toss-up between It and the Stand. It because it is classic horror and The Stand because I love the idea of the world ending and me surviving to pick through the ruins.

Not saying they are his best writing though. He has definitely improved with age.
 

Randomnity

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Insomnia - love it.

And as you read along you discover that many of the books overlap into the Gunslinger's universe.

Stephen King is a sick puppy. And I still want to hurt him for TDT: VII
Seconded.

Also, the Stand is one of my favourite books in general. And I will always fondly remember It as the first book that scared the crap out of me (back in middle school).
 

Totenkindly

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Some titles that have not been discussed:

The Raft (short story): Just one of the most gruesome stories I've ever read (where four teens are trapped on a raft by an inexplicable oil-like creature in the water). I just makes my skin crawl to think about, but I can't stop thinking about it: It's very haunting in the way it's written, with some internalized subjective perspective...

The Last Rung on the Ladder (short story): No supernatural element, just a man recalling his childhood experiences with his sister and their jumping game in the barn. Beautiful, bittersweet, it chokes me up...

The Mangler (short story): Just an all-out crazy "the machine's possessed by the devil!" story but just so well done... and again, the unique gruesome nature of the machine itself...

The Langoliers: Great novella, unique idea. Fast-paced, and the CHARACTERS really carry it along. King is best when he focuses on characterization and doesn't get caught up in silly horror elements. His people are very life-like when he's in top form, people I care about easily. The whole thing here with Nick and him piloting the plane back alone, I still remember that vividly...

The Long Walk (Richard Bachman novel): Psychologically interesting, with people forced into a situation out of their own greed/ambition to walk or die. What is the psychological impact, how do people relate to each other, what tempts them, what drives them? Just fascinating... and again, the bittersweet ending.

The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon: Some of this short novel was cheesy, but the concept was interesting, along with "bear creature" and the subjective fantastical perspective of the girl/narrator.

Pet Sematary: This wasn't his best work, but it was just the perfectly planned plot: The doctor who is terrified of losing patients now and has made a solemn vow to restore life is tempted by the prospect of returning life to the dead, even though in the process he knows deep down he's selling his soul to do so. And, as a parent, the phrase "His cap. Oh God, his cap is full of blood" still haunts me.

--

I remember Firestarter (mostly the relationship between Andy and Charlie, and Andy's love for his daughter) hitting me hard, as did the Dead Zone (just the whole tragic nature of Johnny Smith).

IT was the first epic story that really creeped me out, I read it in less than a week while studying for mid-terms at college. It stuck with me a long time, and spurred on ideas for my own writing. And I'm planning on rereading The Stand again, now that I'm older.

One of the things I did always love about King was that he was self-referential to his own stories and had his own "pocket universe." So you never knew who else might show up or be referred to in another story.
 

The Ü™

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I loved Bag of Bones, The Shining, and Salem's Lot. One King book you didn't mention (I also chose Other) was Rose Madder. I loved that book -- I thought it was rather underrated. Gerald's Game was good, too.

And the only Dark Tower book I've read was The Gunslinger. I don't know why I didn't read the rest, as The Gunslinger was a pretty decent book.

I hated The Tommyknockers and Pet Sematary.

One movie based on a Stephen King book that was actually better than the book was Dreamcatcher.

The Talisman was so difficult to read for me, as the difference between King and Peter Straub's writing styles are so distinct.
 

MacGuffin

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The Stand is a bit overrated, I prefer IT (obviously).

The most recent, Lisey's Story is also very good. Supernatural as anything he's done, but really just an allegory on loss and grief (and writing/creating - he wrote a good little column on just that in the Washington Post last fall if you can find it).
 

Zybd03

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The Stand sucked. It was too slow and ponderous. I would rank it right next to Gone with the Wind at the top of my list of Worst Books I Ever Read or Started. I don't think I finished it. I haven't read another King story since.

The Shining was very good. I was nervous turning every page because I just knew that something crazy could happen at any moment. The tension I felt reading it has never been matched by any other writer.
 

Rajah

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The Stand sucked. It was too slow and ponderous. I would rank it right next to Gone with the Wind at the top of my list of Worst Books I Ever Read or Started.
Cool. I think both are brilliant.


I prefer the first half of The Stand to the second, but overall... King's best.
 

PuddleRiver

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Not my particular genre but I really loved The Stand and The Shining (probably my favorite). Rose Madder is pretty good too. These three are the only Stephen King books I own.
 

wildcat

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The more you swing, the more you strike out. Which ones do you think King hit out of the park?

Not enough slots for all the titles -- so comment on any you think were unfairly skipped.

Full List of Books/Writings here.
He is pathetically long winded. Not his fault though.
The Americans think the maximum is the optimum.

There the editors pay for the number of words.
Not in Europe.

King never learned to cut.
A pity.

He could have been the master King.
 

Totenkindly

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He is pathetically long winded. Not his fault though.
The Americans think the maximum is the optimum.

King never learned to cut.
A pity.

He was good.

You're right. I think his lack of ability to cut is his worst flaw.

His earlier works are cleaner and were probably touched more by editors, before he became famous, and it tightened up his prose/narratives. And a few of the books that have been published in later years should have probably never seen the light of day, but there was money involved.

Which is a shame.
 
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