Books, Movies, Music & Entertainment - The Colorado Kid by stephen king

I'm reading it right now, it's really good.

It really shows King's range and story telling skills. He's really underrated by critics and snobby types - believe me, I know. But he's a great writer, even though his popularity has caused some to dislike him and dismiss him.

If your new to King, try the Stand, or if that's too long, try his Bachman books like the Long Walk, Rage or Salem's Lot.

Read the Dark Tower series too.

He's really underrated by critics and snobby types - believe me, I know. But he's a great writer, even though his popularity has caused some to dislike him and dismiss him.Most definitely. A lot of people just can't fathom anything having mass appeal as being capable of being quality. While that is GENERALLY a good rule of thumb, there are glaring instances where this doesn't hold water; The Beatles, Nirvana, Harry Potter, etc. Sometimes good and popular are not mutually exclusive.

I think even his critics are now beginning to come to terms with the fact that they have to deal with King's hugeness. In the Eighties, it was easy to dismiss the guy as being a passing fad, like fondue pots, but now a lot of literary snobs are having to wrap their head around the fact that he is at best the 20th century's Mark Twain, at least it's Edgar Allen Poe. I personally think he's a great storyteller, his choice of genre is just underappreciated and much maligned by snobs.

I like King, and I like all that he has done to popularize Horror/Supernatural literature. I think without him, Weird Tales and EC Comics would be all but forgotten. This new tribute to pulp novels is another example of his "keeping it real." I'm just happy someone has kept the flame alive. :)

what really blows me away about king is that some of the material in the
bachman books was written when he was in junior high school.
Geez, when I was in junior high school I was lucky if I could thrash out
a 2 page paper.
I really liked Danse Macabre, it gives very good insights into Kings work,
and his thoughts on horror.
Another of my favourites is "The Body" from Different Seasons (later made
into the movie Stand by Me).

The only thing I'm dissapointed in lately is his mixing up of stories,
i.e. the "low men" showing up in the dark tower series, it almost seems
that he has run out of new ideas.

Marty

Wasn't like 3/4 of the books he wrote written like 10-20 years ago but finally able to get published after he pushed the right buttons with authors and got a few major books published?

I still think "The Shining" is one of the scariest books written. Any King fans like Clive Barker too? Barker has some imagination!!!

I've read The Colorado Kid. While of the standard King narrative quality, I found the ending lacking (No spoilers, so I'll stop now).

Marty, I see King's introduction of other characters in to the DT series, Low Men, Salem's Lot, being the most noticable and yet other much more subtler intergrations from other stories support the premis introduced in The Gunslinger, and further supported through out the stories wherein all worlds are connected through Roland and the Tower world. All the members of the Ka-tet came to his world from different times (Drawing Of The Three) and some have fluxed freely between the worlds. If it can happen to them, why not others?

The crossover of the Low Men isn't limited to between DT & Hearts in Atlantis... take a look in Desperation or The Regulators :)

Yes, Watchman. Clive Barker is fantastic! A wonderful way of drawing you into the fabric of the story! The 'Weaveworld' series is just so believably sureal.

Stacy,

I have no problem with the ka-tet aspect of it, nor do I see the integration
of characters to be a problem in the gunslinger series. I especially like Father
Callahan from Salems Lot showing up in the Wolves of the Calla.
I just think that he is stretching the whole thing a bit thin, as you said
Regulators, Desperations, and Hearts in Atlantis.

I think one of Kings greatest talents is making things believable, i.e. he takes
a situation that any one of us could be in and then twists it. His descriptive
abilities bouy this amazingly well, he puts you there and then suspends disbelief.
I would have to say that one of my favourites is his description of
entering the various rooms in The Shining absolutely creeps me out.

with the exception of stand by me I am almost always dissapointed
in the translation of his writing to screen. (just had to throw that in
to stir things a bit)

marty

I agree wholeheartedly with the book to film adaptations. Stand by Me was fairly faithful. Of the rest, my favorite adaptation is and I believe always will be The Stand. A great book done well on film.

If you take a look inside the front of the TPB edition of DT VI there is as in most books a bibliography of the authors works. this one has a little extra... all of the DT related books are in Bold font. Even more amazing is that The Talisman and Black House (Peter Straub colaborations) have ties to the world of the Dark Tower. To create this cross environment from story to story while borrowing from the worlds of other authors (L Frank's OZ in Wizard and The Glass), which I felt a very lame move at the time, now appears a srtoke of creative genius.

What really pissed me off was the eBook thing he had going a few years back. King promised to complete it if the honorary pay through was there, which it was, yet bailed after thei fifth or so installment with no explanation. Dude lost major esteem in my book.

While I agree with kistoph's basis to his post. I disagree with putting King into that category. I don't find king great or scarey. I have been, overall, not inclusive of some of his works, largely disapointed with most of his stories. (again not in in ALL cases, there are definately a handful of kings works which are great, but overall...he is to the point of spewing out books)

To popularize and to be GREAT at it, can be mutually exclusive as well. I love horror and love gore, but have always found King weak. He creates, on par with the harry potter series. (koff is gonna kill me) I don't like potter, I give the series credit for re-popularizing or "mainstreaming" subject/material which myself and many of my friends have always enjoyed, but, in the same context made much weaker in actual content.

Being popular and being GREAT imo, are two different things. He himself said, to paraphrase, "If I ever get to the point where I am creating mediocraty (sp) then I will quit"...I think he needs to re-look at some of the work he has done.

While I agree with kistoph's basis to his post. I disagree with putting King into that category. I don't find king great or scarey. I have been, overall, not inclusive of some of his works, largely disapointed with most of his stories. (again not in in ALL cases, there are definately a handful of kings works which are great, but overall...he is to the point of spewing out books)

To popularize and to be GREAT at it, can be mutually exclusive as well. I love horror and love gore, but have always found King weak. He creates, on par with the harry potter series. (koff is gonna kill me) I don't like potter, I give the series credit for re-popularizing or "mainstreaming" subject/material which myself and many of my friends have always enjoyed, but, in the same context made much weaker in actual content.

Being popular and being GREAT imo, are two different things. He himself said, to paraphrase, "If I ever get to the point where I am creating mediocraty (sp) then I will quit"...I think he needs to re-look at some of the work he has done.


It's interesting how many people confuse terror with horror. King is a marginal horror writer and sorely lacking as a gore writer. When I think horror I'm led to imagine the Elder Gods of Lovecraf, gore calls to imagery the works of George Romero's Night of the Living Dead and the ensuing spin offs and Joe Spinell's Maniac. Where when leaving the cinema you check your hair and clothes for splatters of blood and brain matter.

King however is a master at terror. Hands down. Reading Cujo, you could smell that St Bernard's breath coming from the pages. In Needful Things you could feel every blast, smell the explosions and feel debris rain down upon you as the church steple shot skyward. Reading at Tommyknockers you are led to become the poor woman out on a walk thru the woods. You trip, you fall & skin your knee. you become consumed by the very same energy that's consuming her. These are all the marks that create terror. Terror is the anticipation of a dreadful event. Horror is the actuilization of that dreadful event and gore is what you see after the dust settles from that dreadful event. The ability for a writer to draw you in as an integral part of the story as King does is what defines a master, which he dose with regularity.

I guess I just don't enjoy terror's then. I don't find they induce a sense of anything in me. I just don't feel the greatness when I read his works.

Would you place thrillers and terrors in the same genre. I don't enjoy those either. Generally books/movies that attempt to leave me perplexed do a very poor job. 90% of the time I figure out what is going on which just ruins it. Saw, for example, was an example of a movie that gave me gore and in the end flipped the script to really leave my jaw dropped.

I guess I just don't enjoy terror's then. I don't find they induce a sense of anything in me. I just don't feel the greatness when I read his works.

Would you place thrillers and terrors in the same genre. I don't enjoy those either. Generally books/movies that attempt to leave me perplexed do a very poor job. 90% of the time I figure out what is going on which just ruins it. Saw, for example, was an example of a movie that gave me gore and in the end flipped the script to really leave my jaw dropped.


One of those Chocolate & Vanilla things I guess.

I don't think there's a blanket answer. The thriller can cover so many sub-genres. Political, espionage, high drama, etc. Just too broad based to ovelay with terror. Maybe overlapping circles in a Ven diagram :)

Saw... what can I say? Wow, mystery, horror, terror, gore and suspense all rolled into one. Not since 'The Sixth Sense' has there been a better suprise ending. It was never one of those things that led you to question just what the hell was going on, but more of an... Oh, by the way. Boom, gottcha!

5 years ago, I read the 4 dark tower books, and just 2 weeks ago I found out he had finished the series, so I bought and have already finished the wolves of calla. Later today I'll go get the other 2. I have tried reading some of his other stuff, but it really bores me. I had a very hard time reading the storm of the century, as it seemed an aweful lot like people talking endlessly. And then there was the Tommyknockers and Carrey, both of which moved so slowly I couldn't stand it. Keeping in mind how much I dislike some of his work, does anybody have any suggestions for other Stephen King books that I would like?

The Stand is my personal favorite If you're up for some good kink, Gerald's Game is excellent

It's funny, King is one of those love him or hate him authors

The Stand, imho, is the greatest work king created. But considering that, it is maybe his LONGEST work.

But it is his most frightening representation of a post apocalyptic world. It contains maybe his best created, most frightening villain, The Infamous Randall Flagg.

It is also quick paced and absorbing, so once you get into, you don't even notice its length. It goes by pretty quick, if you got a lot of time to read.

The characters are very memorable, the sadistic harold, the dog that follows them around, and of course, everyone's favorite, the TRASHCAN MAN!

And it concludes with a shocking, totally awesome, and inevitable ending.

Read it, you'll love every page of it.

The Stand, imho, is the greatest work king created. But considering that, it is maybe his LONGEST work.

But it is his most frightening representation of a post apocalyptic world. It contains maybe his best created, most frightening villain, The Infamous Randall Flagg. . . .

The characters are very memorable, the sadistic harold, the dog that follows them around, and of course, everyone's favorite, the TRASHCAN MAN!

. . .

This reminds me of why I like Stephen King. I like his books because I like the way he builds characters. His characters become very authentic to me and I do get attached to some of them. When Nick was killed in the stand I was shocked, and more than a little pissed off. The kid in the Shining I really felt for. King seems to have a real knack (at least for me) of creating average Joe characters that I can imagine meeting or wanting to meet, or imagine myself being and then these people (like me and you) are put in some of the most outrageous, scary or horrifying situations and you watch how they get through things--would you do it the way they do? . . .

And as for Harold, I knew guy like him, cowboy boots, overweight, ammo-belts and all, and I was nerdy like him. Harold fascinated me because he was doomed by his stituation, upbringing, age and experience, but he seemed to know it all along and he finally took responsibility for his choice. He thought about things and decided to take the route he chose and he didn't blame anyone else for his choice. Falling into a bad way of life and just sliding down into darkness is one thing, but to realize what is happening and that you might be a different person should you choose to do so and then conciously picking the opposite is certainly different!

I find that there are subtleties withing sublteties within
kings writing.
Take Harold for an example.
First we get a glimpse of the horror of being unpopular in school, of
being ostracized, of acne. These are all real situations real horror shows.
Then there is the horror of knowing our choices and knowing what
ther result of our choice.
I agree that King takes "normal" people and puts them in abnormal circumstances
i.e. finding a half buried flying saucer, or becoming so obsessed with some
thought that you literally lose your mind during the story.
I agree that Randall Flagg (aka the walking dude) is one of
Kings better creations.
I think that one of my all time favourite King books was
the firestarter something about it just hooked me.

Oh well, gonna go find The fire starter to reread.

captain trips.

The Green Mile was a great book.

Yes, I forgot what an excllent screen adaptation it was as well.

Mr. Jingles was cool!

Keeping in mind how much I dislike some of his work, does anybody have any suggestions for other Stephen King books that I would like?


I just finished "Cell (http://www.engadget.com/2006/01/24/to-reach-hell-press-stephen-kings-cell-hits-soon/)" which was fast paced, and thoroughly enjoyable, except the idea of Cagers suddenly becoming homicidal maniacs (more so than usual) by "the pulse" on their cellphones, has made me glance in my rearview more often!

BTW, to all, how come there isn't a Stephen King thread?
I think I'll start one...

While I agree with kistoph's basis to his post. I disagree with putting King into that category. I don't find king great or scarey. I have been, overall, not inclusive of some of his works, largely disapointed with most of his stories. (again not in in ALL cases, there are definately a handful of kings works which are great, but overall...he is to the point of spewing out books)

To popularize and to be GREAT at it, can be mutually exclusive as well. I love horror and love gore, but have always found King weak. He creates, on par with the harry potter series. (koff is gonna kill me) I don't like potter, I give the series credit for re-popularizing or "mainstreaming" subject/material which myself and many of my friends have always enjoyed, but, in the same context made much weaker in actual content.

Being popular and being GREAT imo, are two different things. He himself said, to paraphrase, "If I ever get to the point where I am creating mediocraty (sp) then I will quit"...I think he needs to re-look at some of the work he has done.

You're a dead man... DEAD! Do not take the name of Harry Potter in vain! Fool!

:D

I think King is one of the best authors of horror out there. I read Night Shift when I was a teen and I could not sleep with the lights out for months. It scared the crap out of me- literally. That was probably his finest collection of short stories he's ever written.

Koffee

I read Night Shift when I was a teen and I could not sleep with the lights out for months. It scared the crap out of me- literally.

Koffee



:p --This is exactly what happened to me when I read "The Shining" upon recommendation from my sister! This was the first King anything that I had ever read and since then I have read everything by him I can get my hands on (though they don't scare me so much anymore!).

Yeah. That's definitely how I feel about King now. I think his best books came earlier.

Koffee

:p --This is exactly what happened to me when I read "The Shining" upon recommendation from my sister! This was the first King anything that I had ever read and since then I have read everything by him I can get my hands on (though they don't scare me so much anymore!).


Did you read "Cell"?

Everytime I read one of his books I just never seem to finish it or just lose interest...
I read half of Dreamcatcher and a quater of From a Buick 8.

But cool ill go to Bordered and check out the Stand:)

Did you read "Cell"?

Yes, of COURSE I read Cell--I am a member of the Stephen King Bookclub!--whoo hoo ;) . Just passed it on to my sister (the one who started me on his books as I mentioned above).

I read a review of Cell in, oh, I think it was the L.A.Times; the reviewer sounded somewhat dissappointed at the way the novel ran. I liked the book just fine. I feel there are two different reasons to read King: First, he can tell a story; gruesome or not, scary or not, the man can tell a story. Second, he can give characters life. I go into a king novel looking for story and characters, and have always found the two, especially in his more involving novels. --and his little touches: In Cell I remember particularly the gay guy worried about his cat whe he decided to go off with the people and the main character's attachment to his son at the end of the book. Good stuff.

I should have my bro send me all of his steven king books
Course I'd never take the time to read them.
used to be a time where a day wouldn't go by where i wouldn't read a book
Now ill be lucky if i read a page a month