Is Stephen King as great as we think he is?

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Pam966
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Re: Is Stephen King as great as we think he is?

Post by Pam966 »

I have read most of his books and loved them all, most recently was Bag of Bones which was very different than most of his work. It was still paranormal and eerie but not horrifying at all.
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Post by proudbookworm »

I really love all of Stephen King's novels and short stories, even the "bad" ones. However, that is not to say that I don't notice the flaws in his writing. They are just special to me. If someone told me they don't like his books, I wouldn't try to force them to read anymore by him, just suggest some of what I think is his best. If the other person is not interested in trying more by him, then that's their business. Stephen King is just a writer among many other amazing writers. If someone doesn't like his writing, then there are plenty of other books to read that are not by Stephen King.
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Post by MarkMueller »

I love his novels! I have first editions of every one), yet I don't like the movie adaptations. The only exception is "(Rita Hayworth and) The Shawshank Redemption."
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Post by ea_anthony »

Just because this is a book club forum and we try to discuss books and author's, if not this question should be sacrilegious. Stephen King? One of the greatest of all times? Is he as great as we think? Or is he greater than we can ever imagine? I recommend two of his short stories - The Langoliers from 4 past midnight and Willa from Just after Sunset. I rest my case.
Bonus - another short story - The gingerbread girl still from Just after sunset.
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Post by PABS »

Sarah_Khan wrote: 27 Jun 2016, 15:56 I personally think he is overrated. With all due respect to the people that love him :P ...I've read two of his books, The Shining and Doctor Sleep and they were so disappointing that I can't bring myself to try out any of his other books.
I apologize to King fans out there, but I have to agree. I too think he is overrated. Lovecraft was so much better.
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Post by SparklingOne »

I think most of King's detractors measure him unfairly. He has never professed to be the next Charles Dickens for goodness sake. He is a writer with an amazing imagination who has managed to get all this on paper purely for entertainments sake. I have spent many enjoyable hours reading some of his stuff, this doesn't mean I have cared for all of it. I mostly read or re-read some of the older stuff I kind of like the meandering quality of his work this extra descriptiveness both takes you on a ride, and in most cases shows you underneath each story the underbelly of one of our own horrible human traits. He is definitely hard to read for the webpage, text type reader who like their reading in bite size chunks. It's funny readers either get him or they don't, but he has made an empire from readers who do. One thing I never do is detract a writer, I wish I had this skill.
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Post by Taekwondoqueen »

I have read several Stephen King novels and I felt like they just weren’t for me. Like you said, it takes until the middle of the book for the story to really start.
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Post by Jude Austin »

For me, Stephen King is very hit-and-miss. The Stephen King books I like (The Stand, Christine, Misery, The Shining, The Green Mile etc) are among my favorite books. Others (From a Buick 8, Gerald's Game, Dreamcatcher) left me wondering just what was going through his head, and I couldn't get on with his Dark Tower series at all.
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Post by dianaterrado »

I've never read any of his books 😂 I've seen some of the movie adaptations though.
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Post by Letora »

He is a household name at this point. One of the major writers since the dawn of major publishing. I respect him as a writer, he has wonderful advice, but I hate his actual writing. He is repetitive and slow.
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Post by Allybear »

I find his books very difficult to get into. They are very strange and usually have bad endings or unexplained endings and it drives me nuts not having a completion. I read Cell and that book while entertaining I just couldn’t bring myself to read other books of his as I didn’t like the unfinished ending and the overall weirdness of it. I do enjoy some of the tv shows that have been based on his books.
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Post by HanSmith97 »

I have never read a Stephen King book, which makes me a terrible bookworm! What would you suggest to be the first book I read?
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Post by Letora »

HanSmith97 wrote: 07 Dec 2019, 09:01 I have never read a Stephen King book, which makes me a terrible bookworm! What would you suggest to be the first book I read?
Honestly it depends on what type of horror you like. He has such a varied style. Maybe a classic like Firestarter about a supernatural child, or Salem's Lot which is vampires.
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Post by NetMassimo »

HanSmith97 wrote: 07 Dec 2019, 09:01 I have never read a Stephen King book, which makes me a terrible bookworm! What would you suggest to be the first book I read?
Pet Sematary is another Stephen King's novel that's not too long, and can give you an idea of his style because it has both a supernatural and a psychological horror element.
Ciao :)
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Post by slj3988 »

I like his writing style and how he describes the mind. Unfortunately, he repeats himself a lot.
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