Stephen King's "It":

[Brigid]

Scary! I hadn't read it before. :scared:

I'm reading Stephen King a lot lately because I want to write a novel and he really knows how to construct one, even if I'm not ordinarily a horror fan.

[triguy46]

1. IMHO,

the first 1/3 is just about as scary as it gets. Unfortunately, I found the last 2/3 and the 'catch' stupid.

[Brigid]

2. I'm just getting started.

But Beverly's knock-down, drag-out fight with her abusive hubby alone may make a disappointing climax worthwhile. That was great! :rofl:

[triguy46]

3. Well I won't spoil it with hints about flying monkeys, Sarah Palin's family....

Dick Cheney and Ann Coulter. You will just have to get through it best you can.

[skygazer]

4. Interesting - I thought is was one of his worst

Started off strong - about 100 pages in, I had to put it down because I was sick of it.

And I like King - Bag of Bones goes on my list of favorite novels.

[newcriminal]

9. I hated Bag of Bones

[XemaSab]

5. I'll come out and say

Stephen King sets it up, but he's not sure how to knock it down.

[triguy46]

6. Good point and I think "It" proves it.

[Chan790]

8. That's always been my problem with him...

the end of The Dark Tower made me fling book VII across the room pissed off that I'd wasted 4 months reading all 4000+ pages of that "epic".

Edit: That said, Roland of Gilead is one of my favorite characters in literature...as if my avatar didn't make that obvious.

[krispos42]

22. I haven't read past book five

The first four were great. Especially the audiobooks... the voice talent was simply awesome!


Then I read and listened to #5.


Now I'm scared to finish the series. :-(

[TCJ70]

7. Salem's Lot is the only book...

...that I've had to just put down and stop reading. I got to a point that just creeped me out enough to where I had to stop. I finished it the next day...but man, it was creepy...

[Va Lefty]

21. "Pet Semetary" had the same effect on me

and the way it ended, oh man!! :scared:

[newcriminal]

10. Have you read his book on writing?

[Brigid]

11. No, but I have it.

It's next. :)

[Flaxbee]

12. scared the daylights outta me... but I agree with the first poster..

good for about 1/3, then the rest sort of devolves into something stupid.

But I really had trouble with the first third. Couldn't sleep. Terrified me.

[proteus_lives]

13. Ooooh, one of my favorites!

King is a god.

The first time I read "It" was the first time I read a book that was over a thousand pages.

[ProudToBeBlueInRhody]

14. Liked most of it.....

...but the ending kind of just flatlined out......

[Liberal_in_LA]

15. That's the 'clown' story, right?

[RebelOne]

16. The best of Stephen King's novels is "The Stand."

I have read all of his novels except for his latest. But out of all of them, "The Stand" is his best.

[orleans]

18. i used to love the stand

i read it a few times, and then i started reading the opening (first 150 pages or so) over and over and over -- it became a fun, "comfort" type of reading for bed--for a long time.

after that opening i started reading an anne rice opening...the witching hour.

[Mythsaje]

17. I like "It" and "The Stand" the best of any of his novels...

The one and only real criticism I have of King as a writer is that I don't like the way he front-loads the characterization. I much prefer the technique of letting the reader get to know the character through the way the story is told rather than the multi-page exposition in the first couple of chapters.

Most authors, editors, and teachers will tell you to avoid this sort of thing like the plague.

He's a great example of how one can break the rules and still be successful as hell.

[RadiationTherapy]

19. Aside from being a horror, IT is an amazing piece about nostalgia and growing up.

It is heart wrenching at times the way this novel reminds us that you can't ever go back and no matter how hard you try, some things never fade and others never stop fading.

I love IT.

[MrSlayer]

20. Ah. My favorite King novel.

There is so much choice material in there. Hilarious.