*wikipedia*

Stephen Edwin King (born September 21, 1947) is an American author best known for his enormously popular horror novels. King was the 2003 recipient of The National Book Foundation's Medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters.

King evinces a thorough knowledge of the horror genre, as shown in his nonfiction book Danse Macabre, which chronicles several decades of notable works in both literature and cinema. He also writes stories outside the horror genre, including the novellas The Body and Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption (adapted as the movies Stand By Me and The Shawshank Redemption, respectively), as well as The Green Mile, The Eyes of the Dragon, and Hearts in Atlantis. In the past, Stephen King has written under the pen names Richard Bachman and (once) John Swithen.

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The Books:

What can I say about him - he's just incredible!  I tend to like his books more than the movies (though they're pretty dang good too.)  My favorites are The Shining, Misery, and Salem's Lot.

Gerald's Game, and Misery are my two favorite books by him.

Gerald's Game, and Misery are my two favorite books by him.


OMG!! Gerald's Game!!! LOVED IT!!!

I am a huge Stephen King fan.  I've read most of his books.  I haven't read Carrie, The Shining, Cujo, and a few other of his earlier novels.  I've seen most of his movies, I'd rather read the book first then see the moive, usually the movies don't live up to my expectations. 

I really enjoyed Pet Sematary, The Regulators, Deperation, It,The Tommyknockers and Cell...it might be easier to list the ones I didn't like!  LOL!!

Yes, many of the movies are not at all good...King will let anyone make a movie of his stuff without much creative input (although The Dark Tower I would bet won't be made into a theatrical series--at least, I hope not)

I have managed to read every bit of written material by King once I hear about it. (what the heck is The New Lieutenant's Rap?). Faves are IT, The Dark Tower series, Bag of Bones and most of the short stories. I happen to be re-reading Different Seasons today.

I have been somewhat disappointed in his more recent works (DT7 notwithstanding). It seems like he's lost something ever since he got hit by that idiot trucker. Specifically, he gets these wonderful conceptual ideas, butseems to be having a devil of a time trying to write good endings for them. Cell is a prime example of this problem.

More later...

I loved when he did "The Green Mile" in installments.  It was great waiting for each book to come out.  The movie was real good too.

I haven't READ too many Stephen King novels but I have seen a bunch of his movies. I have to say that I didn't like Misery at all. And most of his stuff (at least the movies) really had sucky endings. It and the Stand come to mind. The movies really had me on the edge of my seat until the end and it just petered out IMO. But the two that I really loved were The Shawshank Redemption & The Green Mile (which were so totally un-Stephen King like).




Cat

i was a huge stephen king fan when i was a gothy depressed teenager. i thought he kinda jumped the shark in the late 80s although he's had a few good books since then.

I have read all of Stephen Kings's books upto Desperation (1996) then I found it difficult to read and did not finish it. I found Insomnia (1994) rough going to.

I know that his approach to writing is to start typing at the typewriter (or PC) and to waffle on till it all dries up, simply not planning ahead writing out a storyline and planning in advance.


Personal favs:

He needs editing.  His books have gotten to long.  I think he is a master when he keeps it short.

The Shining is the book AND movie I both like.

He needs editing.  His books have gotten to long.  I think he is a master when he keeps it short.
One of his short stories was made into a movie "Stand By Me"

One of his short stories was made into a movie "Stand By Me"


I liked that one.

I liked that one.
That was a good read, which short story was it about someone trapped on a desert island and results to cannibalism?

which short story was it about someone trapped on a desert island and results to cannibalism?


"Survivor Type"--it was either in Night Shift or Skeleton Crew.

One of his short stories was made into a movie "Stand By Me"


CatwomanV, if you enjoy "not Stephen King-like" material, read "The Body" (which inspired "Stand By Me"), and "Rita Hayworth & The Shawshank Redemption" (which inspired, obviously, Shawshank Redemption) as well as Breathing Method--all in Different Seasons. ("Apt Pupil" from that book isn't all that good. Skip it.)

Here is my critical quick list of movie TV adaptations:

*Carrie -- The original 1976 film is worth seeing. but I can't watch it. Too scary for me! TheTV adaptation is not as scary, follows more of the plotline about Carrie and Mrs. White's origins, and bravely keeps the original ending of the novel intact (kind of anticlimactic for those who hadn't read it...)

Incidentally,

I haven't seen LAwnmower Man or Children of the Corn or Maximum Overdrive (inspired by Trucks)...all have King's OK, but none have much to do with the original story. And they are all crappily reviewed anyway, so why bother?

One more--and I probably missed more-- Sometime They Come Back...from Night Shift i think. OK, not a great one. If you happen to catch this during the UHF late night movie, it's alright.

How is Lisey's Story, anyone?  ???

He needs editing.  His books have gotten to long.  I think he is a master when he keeps it short.
I've read that many times about his recent novels.

I'm afraid I can't ever hear of Stephen King now without thinking of a comedy show on T.V in the U.K that was a p*ss take of him and a spoof of his Kingdom Hospital series. It was called 'Garth Marenghi's Dark Place' and it was very, very funny.

How is Lisey's Story, anyone?  ???


Got it for christmas but haven't read it yet - which says something about how Stephen King has lost the plot as far as I'm concerned.  I've read just about everything and seen the movies/TV adaptations, but somewhere along the line the quality dropped off.  Some of his work is masterpiece material - The Shining, Carrie, The Stand for example - but quite a lot of it doesn't translate well into film or television.  I though the movie of Christine was terrible.  The Gunslinger stuff doesn't really do it for me either.  And the novel 'The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon' - what on earth was that about?  Much as I loved Stephen King, I think he's been overtaken by Dean Koontz.  OK, you can throw things at me now....

see what I mean..........

Got it for christmas but haven't read it yet - which says something about how Stephen King has lost the plot as far as I'm concerned.  I've read just about everything and seen the movies/TV adaptations, but somewhere along the line the quality dropped off.  Some of his work is masterpiece material - The Shining, Carrie, The Stand for example - but quite a lot of it doesn't translate well into film or television.  I though the movie of Christine was terrible.  The Gunslinger stuff doesn't really do it for me either.  And the novel 'The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon' - what on earth was that about?  Much as I loved Stephen King, I think he's been overtaken by Dean Koontz.  OK, you can throw things at me now....


The quality dropped when he got hit by that trucker...you can really feel the difference in Dreamcatcher. When it's done right, many of his works do translate well in other media...but I wish he did give just a little more thought about how often he allows it. Christine wasn't horrible, but hasn't aged well since the '80s. I think 'Tom Gordon' was an interesting experiment as a Young Adult novel, but not worth much else. Give The Gunslinger another chance--the last 3 novels are incredible.

The quality dropped when he got hit by that trucker...you can really feel the difference in Dreamcatcher. When it's done right, many of his works do translate well in other media...but I wish he did give just a little more thought about how often he allows it. Christine wasn't horrible, but hasn't aged well since the '80s. I think 'Tom Gordon' was an interesting experiment as a Young Adult novel, but not worth much else. Give The Gunslinger another chance--the last 3 novels are incredible.

Well OK,I'll try - but I have to tell you, I find them really heavy going!

Well OK,I'll try - but I have to tell you, I find them really heavy going!


I don't know if you started with #1, The Gunslinger. Try again starting with #2, The Drawing of the Three, where King really starts the momentum. There's enough info synopsized from #1 that will get you started.

i  find  his books hard to read but i like  his movies  it  with  with the  part  where  the kid gets his arm chewd off  creeps me out  ( mostly because of the  shot withe the clown in the  draining ) 

i  find  his books hard to read but i like  his movies  it  with  with the  part  where  the kid gets his arm chewd off  creeps me out  ( mostly because of the  shot withe the clown in the  draining ) 


Was it me or did that clown look just like Ronald MacDonald?

I've never read one of his books before, but "Dreamcatcher" and "Stand By Me" were just awesome movies! 8)

Was it me or did that clown look just like Ronald MacDonald?
Judge for yourself?

It
http://ia.ec.imdb.com/media/imdb/01/I/62/26/05m.jpg

Ronald MacDonald
http://ruthlessreviews.com/pics5/greatest7.jpg

Judge for yourself?

It
http://ia.ec.imdb.com/media/imdb/01/I/62/26/05m.jpg

Ronald MacDonald
http://ruthlessreviews.com/pics5/greatest7.jpg


Stop it, you're scaring me  :o

Hey guys, I finally got around to reading Lisey's Story while I was in hospital and it's actually pretty good in my opinion.  A bit of a return to form, if you can get past the slightly annoying language - but then again, the language created by Lisey and her husband is kind of the point, so you have to get past it!  There was a part that made me cringe and think 'Eew, I don't like this', but I got over it and I enjoyed the book.  So give it a whirl, guys!

Posted by: pink daisy 
Insert Quote
Hey guys, I finally got around to reading Lisey's Story while I was in hospital 
I'm knee deep in it now, myself. I'm OK with it, even if it reeks a bit too much of Bag of Bones (widow of author haunted by ghosts, instead of widowed author haunted by ghosts ;)).

If you can't stand the cute pet language sprinkled throughout ("smucking", "SOWISA", "Jesus, Mary & JoJo...") then this might not be a King fan's cuppa tea.

I'm getting into it, though. I don't get this business about bools and blood-bools yet (especially Scott's weird actions at the glasshouse). King better have a good explanation or I'll will be ticked off.  :)

I'm getting into it, though. I don't get this business about bools and blood-bools yet (especially Scott's weird actions at the glasshouse). King he better have a good explanation or I'll will be ticked off. 

You will, he does and you won't!  :)

Finished Lisey's Story yesterday. It brought thrills and chills, yes, but something about it really irks me. Not once does SK provide a compelling reason why Lisey should want to stand by the sometimes aloof, sometimes childlike Scott Landon through all the flashbacks. What attracted her to him in the first place, and what keeps her rooted to him, in spite of all his idiosyncracies? And there is so much about Scott that is left in my inquisitive mind, about what brought him from his traumatic childhood to college. Sure, we can only get so much of that from Lisey's POV, but if SK can bring us the early years of Scott from his POV, why not a little bit more information on that end, too?

That childhood stuff, incidentally, was a bit too much for me. It reminded me of the kind of X-Files or Millenium episode that would NEVER have passed Fox's standards & practices division. :o I do not condemn the storyline, but like certain incidents in SK's Pet Sematary, there's just certain lines in fiction that are difficult to cross.

In the end, I see a lot of the novel stemming from SK's real-life, where he had a somewhat hard, fatherless childhood, up through his early years with Tabitha when he took to too much booze and wondered whether he could ever succeed as a writer. I even see it as a tribute--even an apology--from SK to his "Tabby" (who the novel is dedicated to) for putting up with him and his choice of vocation for so many years. At least the ending was much more satisfying than his more recent works.

Finished Lisey's Story yesterday. It brought thrills and chills, yes, but something about it really irks me. Not once does SK provide a compelling reason why Lisey should want to stand by the sometimes aloof, sometimes childlike Scott Landon through all the flashbacks. What attracted her to him in the first place, and what keeps her rooted to him, in spite of all his idiosyncracies? And there is so much about Scott that is left in my inquisitive mind, about what brought him from his traumatic childhood to college. Sure, we can only get so much of that from Lisey's POV, but if SK can bring us the early years of Scott from his POV, why not a little bit more information on that end, too?

That childhood stuff, incidentally, was a bit too much for me. It reminded me of the kind of X-Files or Millenium episode that would NEVER have passed Fox's standards & practices division. :o I do not condemn the storyline, but like certain incidents in SK's Pet Sematary, there's just certain lines in fiction that are difficult to cross.

In the end, I see a lot of the novel stemming from SK's real-life, where he had a somewhat hard, fatherless childhood, up through his early years with Tabitha when he took to too much booze and wondered whether he could ever succeed as a writer. I even see it as a tribute--even an apology--from SK to his "Tabby" (who the novel is dedicated to) for putting up with him and his choice of vocation for so many years. At least the ending was much more satisfying than his more recent works.


I thought it had a lot to do with King's own marriage too - and maybe he doesn't explain why Lisey is so devoted to Scott because he doesn't quite understand why Tabitha has stuck by him all these years.

"Survivor Type"--it was either in Night Shift or Skeleton Crew.


Late answer, but it's "Skeleton Crew". I have that book. His short stories are really good. It also had "The Raft" (which people might know from "Creepshow 2") and "Word Processor of the Gods" (which I know they made into a short movie). The story that scared the crap out of me in that book was "The Mist". Ergh, I couldn't sleep for days after reading that. Bookwise, I haven't read many. "Carrie", "Skeleton Crew", "The Shining", and "Cujo". Moviewise, I loved "Carrie", "The Shining", "Christine", "Pet Sematary", "The Shawshank Redemption", and "It".

The story that scared the crap out of me in that book was "The Mist". Ergh, I couldn't sleep for days after reading that

For extra thrills, try finding "The Mist" in your bookstore's Audiobooks section. It is NOT a narration...it is a radio-style dramatic adaptation of the tale, with mind-boggling sound effects and production presented in "3-D Sound". Seriously, if you listen to it on headphones, it will make you jump out of your seat! :o 8)

I read King a lot back in the early 80s, when I was in high school. My favorites are Salem's Lot, The Stand, Misery, Night Shift, and The Shining. I absolutely loved Danse Macabre, and I want to get his book On Writing, but I don't have the time. His best movies are Shawshank Redemption (my mom called it the Hawkshaw Redemption!) The Shining, Salem's Lot (the original) Carrie, and Stand By Me.

I agree that his books are getting too long. I like reading his columns in Entertainment Weekly.

Getting too long?!  ??? They are shrinking!

There's nothing wrong with writing a long novel...the problem is writing it well without resorting to obvious ideas, getting readers confused, or ending it without a really good resolution. (problems that King has encountered as of late, IMHO)