I've generally liked the ending of King novels...now Michael Crighton...there was a guy who didn't know how to end a book

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Chuck Bartowski,

quote:

Originally posted by Chuck Bartowski:
I've generally liked the ending of King novels...know Michael Crighton...there was a guy who didn't know how to end a book

How do they compare with John Wyndham ? Now there was an author who did not know how to finish something. The best examples that spring to mind being: Day of the Triffids, The Kraken Wakes and The Trouble With Lichen. To be fair to him, The Midwich Cuckoos and The Chrysalids came quite close though

Best King books - THE STAND, THE GREEN MILE, FIRESTARTER, MISERY, HEARTS IN ATLANTIS, CUJO, 'SALEM'S LOT, IT, THE GUNSLINGER, THE TALISMAN, 11-22-63

Worst King book ever (I absolutely HATED it!) - LISEY'S STORY

Lousy King books - THE GIRL WHO LOVED TOM GORDON, THE COLORADO KID, SONG OF SUSANNAH, THE DARK TOWER, WOLVES OF THE CALLA, BLAZE, FROM A BUICK 8, BLACK HOUSE

Don't get me wrong, I'm a huge King fan, but sometimes his stuff really hits me the wrong way. But, when he's good - he's GREAT!

All of the above is just my opinion, of course, subject to change without notice.

quote:

Originally posted by chesspieceface:
Exhibit A:

The giant spider at the end of "IT", which had been a very effective book until then. That ending, though, wowzer...

I got IT when it was first published. It was a very big book and it was shaping up to be the best King novel I had read to that point. Then after this great story was set up, the last 80 or so pages brought on the mumbo jumbo of this eternal spider creature, plus the turtle in the sky, or whatever the heck was going on.

When they made the TV mini-series I was hoping they would change the ending, but it stayed faithful to that nonsense wrap up. Just destroyed it for me. Also you forgot about the Storm of the Century, which also had an awful ending without any real explanation of anything.

King is a very good writer, but as with many other writers, its a lot easier to make up impossible situations than it is to get yourself out of them.

quote:

Originally posted by chesspieceface:
Exhibit A:

The giant spider at the end of "IT", which had been a very effective book until then. That ending, though, wowzer...

On the other hand, here are some perfect endings from the master:

Dead Zone
Misery
Christine
The Stand
Carrie
Salem's Lot
The Shining
Rita Hayworth and the Shawshank Redemption
The Green Mile
The Body

And that's just off the top of my head, so he's definitely earned a mulligan or two where the endings are concerned.

I always loved the ending of "The Tommyknockers" where basically, the superintelligent, hyper advanced aliens were crashed on Earth because they basically kicked each other to death.

He is a monument to endless invention where telling stories are concerned.

I was so happy when there was an ending to the Rita Hayworth and the Shawshank Redemption movie! I was the only one in the theatre who yelped like a happy school girl because there was no ending in the book. Red just kept saying he hopes he can get past the border and see Andy again. It is my favorite ending in a Stephen King movie!

quote:

Originally posted by cardaddict:
Best King books - THE STAND, THE GREEN MILE, FIRESTARTER, MISERY, HEARTS IN ATLANTIS, CUJO, 'SALEM'S LOT, IT, THE GUNSLINGER, THE TALISMAN, 11-22-63

Worst King book ever (I absolutely HATED it!) - LISEY'S STORY

Lousy King books - THE GIRL WHO LOVED TOM GORDON, THE COLORADO KID, SONG OF SUSANNAH, THE DARK TOWER, WOLVES OF THE CALLA, BLAZE, FROM A BUICK 8, BLACK HOUSE

Don't get me wrong, I'm a huge King fan, but sometimes his stuff really hits me the wrong way. But, when he's good - he's GREAT!

All of the above is just my opinion, of course, subject to change without notice.

Haha...The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon is one of my favorite books ever.

quote:

Originally posted by Chuck Bartowski:

quote:

Originally posted by cardaddict:
Best King books - THE STAND, THE GREEN MILE, FIRESTARTER, MISERY, HEARTS IN ATLANTIS, CUJO, 'SALEM'S LOT, IT, THE GUNSLINGER, THE TALISMAN, 11-22-63

Worst King book ever (I absolutely HATED it!) - LISEY'S STORY

Lousy King books - THE GIRL WHO LOVED TOM GORDON, THE COLORADO KID, SONG OF SUSANNAH, THE DARK TOWER, WOLVES OF THE CALLA, BLAZE, FROM A BUICK 8, BLACK HOUSE

Don't get me wrong, I'm a huge King fan, but sometimes his stuff really hits me the wrong way. But, when he's good - he's GREAT!

All of the above is just my opinion, of course, subject to change without notice.

Haha...The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon is one of my favorite books ever.

I listed Tom Gordon as one of my faves, too. It is a nice journey from a different perspective. King has written a few books that are from a woman / girl's perspective, and I think has done quite well finding a voice for that. Lisey's Story and Gerald's Game are two fantastic examples.

I have to agree with From a Buick 8 being subpar. I think a car being alive in some way is a one shot deal. King's had a couple. They are okay reads, but definitely not his best.

I personally enjoyed The Stand, but now his writing is so much more polished and has a significantly better understanding of people that I can no longer list it as one of his best. I always have to say it is one of his great early books.

Also, Joe Hill's Horns is awesome. His latest NOS4A2 is very good as well. I kind of loved NOS4A2.

Joe Hill is one of King's sons for those who don't know.

Yeah, it's true that one person can really like a book and another really dislike it. THE STAND is my all time favorite King novel, both versions. I just couldn't get into TGWLTG. For some reason I can't remember, the whole book just rubbed me the wrong way (rubbing the right way feels a lot better). And LISEY'S STORY seems to be extremely disliked by some and extremely liked by others. I almost threw it against the wall many times while reading it, but I didn't want to have to do drywall repairs later, so demurred.

quote:

Originally posted by cardaddict:
Yeah, it's true that one person can really like a book and another really dislike it. THE STAND is my all time favorite King novel, both versions. I just couldn't get into TGWLTG. For some reason I can't remember, the whole book just rubbed me the wrong way (rubbing the right way feels a lot better). And LISEY'S STORY seems to be extremely disliked by some and extremely liked by others. I almost threw it against the wall many times while reading it, but I didn't want to have to do drywall repairs later, so demurred.

What's funny about the Lisey's Story thing is that Stephen King recently said it was his favorite of all of his work. I was surprised by that, and I loved it.

Sorry you did not enjoy it. I have had similar experiences with books. I always felt that way when I tried to read Hemingway. I always hated his stuff, but I always went back trying to tell if I was missing something. I was not...

quote:

Originally posted by cardaddict:
Best King books - ...HEARTS IN ATLANTIS...

Ah, "Hearts in Atlantis", a book with such a big scope they could only do one aspect of the story in the movie. I think it was three novellas. I can't remember if it's in the book exactly this way (I have the sense that it is), but either way, I can still hear Anthony Hopkins as Brautigan saying these words regarding one's first kiss:

"It will be the kiss by which all others in your life will be judged... and found wanting."

Just beautiful!

I'm just in the middle of the brand new "Doctor Sleep", the sequel to "The Shining", and it's a great read so far.

Hooray! Stephen King ended this new one beautifully.

"Doctor Sleep" is a pretty short novel by King standards, but it gets a lot done, covering Danny's life since the events of "The Shining" until September of 2013, when most of the story is set. It gives a healthy taste of the original characters, but introduces plenty of new ones, and in a bold move, is clearly set in our world, with the events in our history driving much of the action. The device allows King to give all manners of shout-outs to modern pop culture (which King adores). The Simpsons, Game of Thrones, LOTR, Sons of Anarchy, Harry Potter, and many more are noted, and the way he name drops them into the story is great fun when you consider this is the sequel to equally iconic "The Shining", a truly classic novel, whose stature grew with the widely enjoyed, but only loosely adapted film version from 1980 by Stanley Kubrick starring Jack Nicholson.

I think King had the idea he'd take his story back, so to speak, from those who know it only as the Kubrick movie with the ABC miniseries version King himself scripted in the 1990s, which far more faithfully followed the narrative and meaning of the original novel. That effort was indeed very well written but hampered by the poor choice of actors who played the boy Danny, especially, but also Dick Hallorann and to a lesser degree Rebecca DeMornay, blonde, sure, but not right for Wendy. All were wrong for their roles, although boy would've been terrible in anything. He was notably awful, and could've ruined Shawshank Redemption if only there'd been a part for him.

Anyway, the master has in a way, with his new novel "Doctor Sleep", now reclaimed the world of the Shining, with a work that builds on the original, but doesn't repeat it, and still deepens the meaning and widens the scope of the original.

I don't wish to impart spoilers of any kind, but I will say that in the three or four scenes when "Doctor Sleep" practices his medicine, the result is some of the most accomplished prose Stephen King has ever composed, demonstrating a masterful mix of words and emotion on par with the genius of comics, Alan Moore, the highest praise I can give. I re-read several of those passages as I came to them, and suspect I will read them again. They are truly moving.

"Doctor Sleep", another feather in the cap of the master, and highly recommended by me. Has all of his recent work been this good? I'm about 5 or 6 books behind, maybe more. I need to catch up!