Got a Favorite?

[becke_davis]

(Groan) I'll add it to my list. You have no idea how long that list is already!

[Stephanie]

Becke,

It can't be any longer than my list! I know just what you mean- I have a whole shelf which is filled with the books that are waiting to be read. If I pause too long there, the laundry starts piling up, the children run amok and the cupboards end up bare!

Stephanie

[becke_davis]

I'm a writer and I do like getting paychecks, but on cold, rainy days I wish I could just curl up in front of the fire with a good book! Sometimes I look at that stack of books waiting to be read and it makes me get my work done faster (other times I say blow the work, and just grab a book!).

[metheos]

My 1st book was "the stand" got mine from my mother while being home sick w/Mono while a freshman in high school in the early 80's. she swore that there was nothing "behind" this pick either...............

[garfieldlea68]

I read all of his books but my all-time favorite book is " The Stand" uncut version plus a lot more books too

[garfieldlea68]

The Green Mile is Excellent too

[threat2]

Oh, to pick just one favorite is so hard...but I really do have one...IT!!! That novel left me breathless with the author's knowledge of the way children feel, think, and how they communicate with one another. What a work of art! Actually I really loved all of King's old stuff, but I would like to mention Different Seasons. At least two of those novellas were made into wonderful movies! I can remember reading them when I was still a teenager living with my parents! I loved Rita Hayworth and the Shawshank Redemption and also the one about the kid and Nazi officer. Oh, there was another story I read that was so good...it was about a boy who has to run this race and whoever wins, gets some sort of prize. The story stuck with me because it was told from the perspective of the boy who won, obviously, because he was the only survivor of the race. It was very intense. Does anyone remember what that story is called? It was in a collection of stories, perhaps Skeleton Crew, but I can't remember. Theresa

[Stephanie]

Theresa,

I'm pretty sure it's The Long Walk, and the boy with the Nazi was Apt Pupil. There was another short story though, that I can't figure out, and that's the one he wrote about the boys playing baseball. I believe he had been involved in some way when his son played baseball, and felt compelled to write about the experience. It was excellent, felt like an insight into King himself, and baseball playing boys everywhere.

Stephanie

[butterscotchusa]

Favorite? Not sure! I still have PLENTY to read before I make that judgement; King produces like a MACHINE!

However, thus far, from what I have read (very few sadly), SCARIEST: 'Salem's Lot, hands down! Excellent read. . .

butterscotchusa@yahoo.com

[projconn]

You know, lots of people said The Stand and lots of my buddies love it too, but for the life of me I have NO IDEA why. I thought The Stand was much too long and slow. I actually put it down about 850 pages into. If I had to read about one more commitee meeting in the free zone I was gonna lose it.

I loved Salem's Lot, though and to date those are the only 2 that have made it off my shelf.

[skye_4_13]

Like Stephanie (right below your post) said, the kid in the race is "The Long Walk," and the kid and the Nazi is "Apt Pupil." Haven't actually read either of them, myself, not with about a million and one other books lining my walls that I'm still working my way through. (Should be reading them real soon, though, as I've set all the anthologies on my shopping list for gifts for my parents. Since we have a tendency to "borrow" from each others' personal libraries, it should be relatively easy for me to use what I gave to them...provided they're not reading it at that time!)

Long Walk, by the way, is...at least our copy of it...one of the stories in "The Bachman Books," a compilation of the first four novels that King wrote under the name of Richard Bachman. Apt Pupil is in the anthology "Different Seasons," and Skeleton Crew contains the only short story by King I have ever read to date...The Raft. I read this because I was trying to read through ALL of the stories in my textbook for my "Horror, Science Fiction and Fantasy" college class (good class, by the way, at least where I took it, and one of the few textbooks worth keeping...it was just a collection of short stories! Not a "textbook" at all, the way we often think of the word!)
And, of course, that happened to be one of the stories in the "Dark Fantasy" section; the only story in that textbook by King, though, which disappointed me. I've yet to actually read all of the stories in that textbook, but I did manage to finish up the Horror/Dark Fantasy ones. (And me primarily a "High Fantasy"--or as the book would label it, think Tolkien, Piers Anthony, Mercedes Lackey and still others--along with some Science Fiction? And the ONLY section I finished in that book was the horror? Go figure.)

[skye_4_13]

---

projconn wrote:
You know, lots of people said The Stand and lots of my buddies love it too, but for the life of me I have NO IDEA why. I thought The Stand was much too long and slow. I actually put it down about 850 pages into. If I had to read about one more commitee meeting in the free zone I was gonna lose it.

I loved Salem's Lot, though and to date those are the only 2 that have made it off my shelf.

---

And to quote my original post to this thread....

---

skye_4_13 wrote:
What marks "The Stand" is that it is the scariest of his works, in that it has the highest probability of being real.
Most of his other works are highly fantastical; they could happen, but the way science "explains" things, they aren't quite as likely. "The Stand," however, is frighteningly realistic; what makes it frightening is how possible it is, how likely that it could happen, not just one day, but one day soon.

That is our opinion, anyhow.

---

That opinion was originally considered immediately after I read a passage in "On Writing," the paragraph that talks about how depressing it is that most of the population thinks he did his best work twenty years ago, to my mother. She is the one who originally told me this theory on why so many people seem to like "The Stand" the best.

And I, for one, believe that theory.

As to how long the book is, well, not too much I can say on that subject. I've never actually read The Stand, just watched the 6 plus hour movie! But that book is on my list of things to read--immediately before "War and Peace...."
But your decision to put down a long book is just that, your decision. Some people can get enough into the book to forget how long it is, some people can't. And I see nothing wrong with that. I seem to recall, in my Modern Myth class in High School, some idea about the length being why Lord of the Rings was broken into a trilogy. Validation, anyone?
(Even though I haven't read it, I might be agreeing with your opinion about the committee meetings. Who wants to experience a committee meeting first hand, let alone have to hear about it from somebody else's persepective, no matter how good the author?!)

[threat2]

Hi!
I wanted to reply to your post and tell you that "The Long Walk" (to me at least) would fit into the science fiction genre. I guarantee you would love the story!

[Eliza]

The first book of Stephen King's that I read was Pet Semetary. I was in 8th grade and it was before the movie version came out. I was totally hooked. But my favorite was Hearts In Atlantis. I can't believe no one has mentioned that one yet. I am so intrigued that so many people chose The Stand. I've been a huge King fan for 16 years but I somehow have never read that one. I just finnished a book today so I'm going to B&N tomorrow to buy it. I'm finally going to read it, you guys convinced me.

[threat2]

I never read INSOMNIA...I don't think...maybe I just can't remember it. What was it about?
Theresa

[Eliza]

I've read the back of Insomnia numerous times at the book store and just could never decide to buy it and read it. What is it about? I want to be convinced!

[Bailey]

My favorites are "It" and "Pet Semetary". After reading half of Lisey's Story I think it will become my new favorite.

[Alishape]

My favorite was The Tommyknockers. I mean I was hooked and grossed out as soon as Bobbi's period started.

Message Edited by Alishape on 12-12-200604:15 PM

[dulcinea3]

I've only read a fraction of King's work, but my favorite is The Stand. I got so caught up in the characters that I was very disappointed when it ended - I wanted to go on and find out what happened later with Stu and Frannie and the rest! I think that his characterizations are a great strength of King's writing. I read Dreamcatcher, and I found the plot rather disgusting, but I still found myself interested in the characters and what would happen to them. You find yourself really caring for King's characters as if they were real people.

After The Stand, I think my next favorites would be The Shining and Needful Things.

One that I absolutely could not stand and thought was one of the worst books I ever read was Gerald's Game. Even my friend who is a big fan of King agreed that she did not like it. Second least favorite would be Dreamcatcher.

I recently read Cell and enjoyed it.

Someone highly recommended Bag of Bones to me, but I have not read it. Opinions, anyone?

[Stephanie]

What is it about Gerald's Game? That book kept me up until 4 a.m. one terrible night, and then I sat up for the rest of the night, until my husband woke and the sun came up. It was definitely gripping, but it was the most horrific King book I've read- and it put me off his work for quite a while. I could never put my finger on just why it bothered me so much - the vulnerability factor, perhaps? - but it was a different kind of frightening. For those who've read it, what do you think it was about that book?

Stephanie