::packrat::

[Sabine]

Have you read Stephen King''s Gunslinger series????

I saw your comment about it in the books you re-read thread! I''m a HUGE Stephen King fan, read all his books, and the Gunslinger series was probably my all-time favorite read. I cried a bit when I finished it because I was so sad. I''ve tried for ages to find anyone else whose read it that I can talk to about it, but no one has! I even tried to make my dh read it, but he didn''t make it past the 3rd book...

 

[packrat]

Ohhh they are some of my FAVORITE books!!! Jeez-I was hooked on the first sentence! The 1st 3 are probably my favorites of the series-I''m guessing b/c I''ve read them so many times. I loved the references to his other books. I should maybe snag them from my mom again-the last ones, mom brought them in to me all at once, so I''ve only read them just that one time. Mom TOLD me I wasn''t going to like the ending and boy I did NOT. I have nightmares of things repeating and never ending-SK knows how to push my buttons hehe!

I cried when Jake fell..and something happened to Oy that made me cry, but I can''t remember.

JD likes SK a lot, but has never read these for some reason..otherwise, the only other person I know who reads him is my mom!

In Everythings Eventual he has a short story about Roland and I enjoyed the heck out of it!

 

[Sabine]

I think I cried at the part about Oy too, although I don''t remember it that well.

I totally got confused when he wrote HIMSELF into the book as a character, but loved that by the end.

My least favorite was actually the 3rd book, and I think my favorite may have been the 4th (that was the one with Susan Delgado and all the background, right? I''m totally going to reread these after I reread LOTR!).

It was crazy, I was actually sad when I finished the series because I MISSED hearing about the characters! It took me a while to read the series because I was just checking them out of the library, so I often had to wait in between. I also loved all the references to his other books.

So what are your other favorite SK books? I''ve read them all...and I love his writing even if I don''t love some of his stories if that makes sense. I actually think his more recent books like Cell and Lisey''s Story are better than his older stuff. I think I may have to go back and reread a lot of his books, I actually started reading him when I was in 6th grade if you can believe it...one summer I read my way through the whole young adult horror section and then asked the librarian for suggestions, and she brought me Carrie, and I was hooked!

 

[packrat]

OMG-I was in 6th grade too!! Carrie and Pet Sematary were the first ones I read-and I had to bring a note home from school for mom to sign allowing me to have them at school b/c one of the teacher''s didn''t like it.

Let''s see..The Stand and Eyes of the Dragon are my favorites..I like all the ones he did as Bachman-Blaze made me cry at the end. ..ha, I had to go pull up a list of the books b/c good lord it''s hard to remember them all! When I read Lisey''s Story, JD was working overnights and I had some issues at night every time I''d get up I''d have to put my head down when I passed a mirror b/c I was scared there might be something there. Cell..boy I dig a good zombie story and really enjoyed that one. Would like to see a movie b/c there''s just not enough zombie movies haha!

Some of the short stories in Night Shift and Skeleton Crew give me the willies and are why I can''t abide an open closet door, even in the daylight.

I just finished Duma Key about a month or 2 ago and thought it was excellent. I''m in the middle of Under the Dome right now and it''s really good.

In the list, I notice there''s a couple I''ve not read-Cycle of the Werewolf and The Colorado Kid..and I think he''s got stories in other author collections I''ve not read.

Ohh I almost forgot Misery! I turned right around and read that one a second time, (and several times in the years since) I liked it so much!

A few years ago I started picking an author I liked and reading/rereading their books b/c I knew I''d missed some. It was fun, and after looking thru the list of all his short stories, I think I''d like to do all his again since I''ve missed some, and some, it''s just hard to remember them!

Ack-I swear I could talk forever about SK and his books!!!

What are some of your other favorites? What do you think of the movie versions?

 

[lyra]

I''ve read them all too. But as King and I are of similar vintage, I read them as they were published.

I think my favourite SK book of all time was The Stand, which I used to re-read almost yearly for a while. I also adored Salem''s Lot. Hated all the movies, but watched them anyway. I got the latest one for Christmas, what is it called? Under the Dome? I haven''t started it yet.

 

[packrat]

bwhahaha similar vintage..I like that!

I liked the movie version of The Shining, even tho SK didn''t..Jack Nicholson creeped the snot out of me-I was such a wuss (was? hell, still am) one night after mom and I watched it, I was in bed and needed to go to the bathroom..so I laid there and hollered for mom (my door was closed) and when she opened the door, I''m like, hey thanks, I was too scared to get up by myself. Aaaaand I was like..23. Nice.

I''ve only seen about 5 minutes of Misery, and I watched enough of The Stand to think about taking a road trip out to Maine to talk to SK and figure out why he didn''t put a stop to that horrific pile of poop. I didn''t like the casting AT ALL, and it completely ruined it for me, so I can''t watch it. I know the actors won''t look exactly like everyone pictures them but c''mon. I didn''t like the woman who played the daughter in Delores Claiborne so I never watched the whole movie. Stand by Me, Apt Pupil and Shawshank I enjoyed, tho I liked the books a lot more. Still, I think those are the only movies I''ve seen that I could bear to watch w/out feeling like I was chewing on tinfoil. Well, plus, I SO had a crush on River Phoenix and Wil Wheaton!

 

[Sabine]

I haven''t liked a lot of the movies, except maybe the Green Mile and Shawshank Redemption. Oh, and Dolores Claiborn. I did like the Shining, but I actually saw that movie before I read the book. I remember seeing It and thinking it made a pretty terrifying book (at least to middle-school aged me) quite funny...for some reason I don''t think his strict horror, or more out there concepts, relate well to film.

I haven''t read Under the Dome yet, but now that I know about it, I''m ordering it! Yay! I really liked Duma Key too, I was vaguely recalling it when I was writing my previous post but couldn''t remember the name of it.

My mom actually sent me a copy of the Colorado Kid that she found at a dollar store, and it wasn''t too bad...

Ohh, another favorite...Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon! Heck, I even really enjoyed his nonfiction "On Writing".

I''m also a big fan of his short stories...some of the best short writing that I think exists actually. I think the most truly terrifying was Rage (I think that''s what it''s called) about a high school shooting. I remember either reading or seeing in an interview with him that he actually regretted writing that one because it was too real.

 

[Sabine]

Ohhh...and I totally remember in the 80''s seeing really late night commercials for a book of the month club type thing of his books. I had trouble sleeping when I was little and would often fall asleep on the couch watching home shopping, and I think this is when I saw the commercials. They presented his books as SOOOO scary, and I actually still remember the commercial for Rose Madder. Then, years later, when I actually read it, it was nothing like I expected it would be!

 

[ChinaCat]

I love SK!!! Can''t believe I haven''t read the Gunslinger series yet- my DH loved them. Feel like I''m kinda saving them, you know? But maybe I will start them now.

Funny thing, I too started reading them way young- maybe 5th or 6th grade. I distinctly remember going to the beach for a week and all I did was read Pet Cemetary, Carrie, Firestarter, Cujo, all in one go.

My FAVORITE is The Talisman- though it''s co-written with Peter Straub. I''ve re-read it tons.

I also loved The Dark Half.

His book on writing is one of my all time favorites.

I''m reading The Dome right now, and also After Sunset, one of his recent short story collections.

In his book on writing, he talks about how he has absolutely no memory of writing Cujo. He was a huge drug addict for awhile, and can''t remember writing a lot of his early stuff.

 

[packrat]

China, go ahead and start the Gunslinger series rather than save them-they''re so good!

I''m not quite 3/4 done w/Under the Dome..it''s good but frustrating in a way b/c there''s a guy and his minions who are just terrible. I have to put it down at times b/c I get so fricken irritated. I know it''s a book but jeez sometimes it''s like knowing a train wreck is coming and you can''t stop it.

Anybody ever see Kingdom Hospital or Golden Years? I googled them and see on Amazon there''s a bunch of his books on dvd now?? Like Desperation and part of Nightmares & Dreamscapes..I''m unsure what to make of this.

I''ve not read Storm of the Century either, and see that one is also a movie? I''m so far behind in the SK goings on!