Other than a short story or two, I haven't read any King. I have been tempted to start with either It or the Dark Tower for quite some time; but probably It because that's essentially self-contained, even though it's my understanding that most Stephen King stories take place within the same universe(multiverse?). Would it be accurate to say that the Dark Tower is at the center of the multiverse?
The TV movie isn't that highly regarded, but I think it would be hard to film and I really actually love the novella even if others do not. I reread it every so often.
I started reading it back in the military but there were only four books out at the time iirc. I stopped reading during the beginning of Wizard and the glass to let King Catch up, and the time sort of got away from me.
I recommend Needful Things and Salems Lot off the cuff. Those were my first two
Needful Things? Lol, that's a book where the payoffs dont match the laborious page count. Plus, it seems more interesting if you actually know something about Castle Rock. Like, read The Dark Half and The Body so that some of the characters actually mean something in NT.
Why you must be human, how weirdly exotic and excitingly perverse! Personally though that book was a delightful breeze for me to get through.(yeah maybe I liked it a bit too much, but looking for a horror story with a solid fae type antagoinist it delivers in spades. the Lovecraft connection was just icing Leland Gaunt and Randall Flagg arethe best antagonists in fiction because they're real. They're whole living entities that just happen to be observed by outsiders in the worlds they inhabit, just because theyre in the right place and at the right time to do so) It was nice coming into Castle Rock in the after effects of some other things. In media res if you like. Because everyone has to come to a series at some point. Maybe I didnt want to jump in with Cujo, or the dead zone, maybe I wanted to jump in right where I did. Where I got to come into Castle Rock with my little store. And leave once it became clear that no one left there could take a little joke despite getting everything they wished for a fair price. The Characters meant exactly what I wanted to mean for my first read through. It payed off for me for exactly the right price. Met all my needs and left me quite sated and satisfied. For a time anyway, There's been good eating in the Stand so far. Lots to leave a man smiling if he knows where he's walking. Jules might prefer to start elsewhere else than I chose though..
Is Book One shorter than It?
The TV movie is a source of constant in-jokes between my sister and I. It's not good, but it's given both of us a lot of laughs.
The first book is the shortest of the 7 I think, and is very short. It's basically a collection short stories that were compiled. (231 pages?) That's short even for a normal Stephen King book.
As long as it is enjoyable, lol. I think it is one of things that works really well in novella format (like some of King's stuff) but is hard to treat seriously in a visual format unless you're working with a more surreal/suggestive director.
231 pages is quite short, so maybe I'll give that a spin.
We also did this with the Children of Corn movie with Linda Hamilton. I'm guessing that's another one of those stories that work better on the page.
The story is cool and fun. The movie, more of a laugh lol.
www.snopes.com
