Couldn’t get through The Stand? I couldn’t put it down. It was the second book of his I read (the first being the book of short stories with The Mist in it. The Mist was my first King story! How could anyone not be hooked?) I’m due for a re-reading of The Stand, actually. I’ve slowed down in all my reading lately, though. I’m in the middle of his latest book of short stories.
As to Carrie, I never realized how shallowly drawn her character was. It was spooky, and fun, and sort of typical of high school life. It was a good read! I’ve never seen the remake of the movie. Sissy Spacek was very good in the movie.
I felt sorry for Carrie, even if she was ugly and stinky and weird. Her Mom made her that way! It reminds me of an incident in 6th grade. There was a girl that everone picked on, as well as a boy. We teased her (and him) trying to get them to kiss, singing K-I-S-S-I-N-G and stuff. There was this one “cool” boy, who was always pretending to try to kiss her. One day in the lunchroom she must have snapped, because she stabbed him in the hand with a fork! His hand was palm down, and she stuck her fork in him… he was done. Seriously, nobody messed with her after that, she was crazy! She was driven to it, however.
Sort of like Carrie.
ETA: I’d join the book club!
Sure. But I’ve never been in a book club. The Yahoo group I’m in has very broad discussions, along the lines of “I liked it” or “I didn’t like the ending.” I’m pretty sure we can come up with something better.
Rebo, there was a scene like that in season four of The Wire – a stinky girl had enough and slashed a girl’s face. I’ll bet that happens more often than we like to think.
I’ll be happy to discuss Under the Dome with y’all, or any of King’s other stuff. I expect I’ll get my mitts on Under The Dome on the day it comes out (no Annie Wilkes waiting for the paperback), and stay up as late as necessary to read it all in one go…
A strange thing to me about King is that he’s one of my least favorite writers of horror or the supernatural. I liked Salem’s Lot, Pet Semetery was possibly the scariest book I’ve ever read (of the fictional and “not involving the Holocaust or other actual horrors” variety) but pretty much all of the supernatural horror books of his I’ve read written since those I either couldn’t finish or, as with The Stand and several short stories, I did finish and had an “is that all?” feeling. I agree with what I’ve heard people say several times, which is that he’s a great writer who can’t end a story to save his life. (I think “The Library Policeman” was his stupidest, in which the villain is
a shapeshifting soul sucking time traveler who becomes a wart at the end.)
That said, he’s one of my favorite writers when he writes in the non-supernatural genre. The books/stories/works that were filmed as Stand By Me, Dolores Claiborne, Shawshank Redemption, Apt Pupil, and other works, including his non-fiction works Danse Macabre and On Writing, are all high on my list of favorites, and most of them mention the supernatural at most only in passing (I think Dolores mentions ‘Jerusalem’s Lot’ at some point, but that’s about it).
Anyone else share this assessment?
And an aside: at some point, many years ago, I read something that I could have sworn was written by King called something like “horrors of the classroom”. It included “the thing that would not shut up” (punish and isolate them, they keep talking) and “the thing that would not bathe” (throw it against a wall and he sticks). I’ve never been able to find these, which leads me to believe King must not be the writer. Is anybody familiar with this piece? (Googling “thing that wouldn’t bathe” and other combos just brings up where I’ve searched for them before.)
Sampiro, for the most part he hasn’t scared me at all. I get pretty involved, but I don’t feel, “Oh my GOD, holy shit” because he’s not really super suspenseful. I feel like he tells me I’m supposed to be scared/creeped out, but I’m not. Well, exception–Pet Sematary did skeeve me pretty good. And I loved the story of Cujo the first time I read it–the whole being in a car at the mercy of the big bad wolf. (Did not like the whole serial killer inhabiting the rabid dog’s mind, found that a bit…silly.)
But yeah, when I think of really suspenseful or scary, I think of someone like Ira Levin. Who King said was basically the Switch watchmaker of suspense.
I think I know what you’re talking about. I can’t find it in his bibliography, but it’s a short essay he wrote for a school magazine. Maybe it was in Scholastic? I think I have it around here somewhere. I can see the cover in my head but not the name of the magazine.
I agree his characters are great, but the action they react to dissipates it a bit when it’s not believable or it’s not satisfying. I suppose that’s why I like Dolores Claiborne or his other works better- the crises seem more true and thus the character’s reactions are as well.
Sampiro, I found it. I was too lazy to look through the closet, but it’s in Spignesi’s book (The Lost Work of Stephen King). The title is High School Horrors. It was printed in Sourcebook and reprinted in a Castle Rock newsletter.
Chapters:
The Thing That Wouldn’t Shut Up
The Classroom of the Living Dead
The Smell from Hell
The Incredible Osculating Creature
The Horror of the Unknown Noises
The Monster That Wouldn’t Turn Off Its Radio
Speaking of Dolores Claiborne, I loved the style of that book. Dolores speaking in a monologue is such a cool way to tell that particular story. It comes out slowly, and you can hear the Maine accent so well. It’s one of my favorite stories. I like the movie, but it’s not the same feel as the book.
I know what you mean about the reality-based stories. They are a trifle more enjoyable.
My Dad, who is so completely NOT into anything not based in reality, bemoans the fact that he doesn’t have more “regular” stories. He loves the movie Dolores Claiborne.
That’s fair. I find that King is far more effective at the short story length than at novel length.
I’ve noted before that King is absolutely superb at depicting growing up in lower class '50s rural America. While it may be a somewhat limited genre, he owns it completely.
I agree completely with that. I’m going to commit Southern Gothic blasphemy by saying that his better short stories are on par with and in many ways better than Flannery O’Connor’s best, and his best are certainly leaps and bounds better than her worst. I think a part of it is that he’s no less dark but he has a better sense of humor (O’Connor’s humor, perhaps due to her health problems, was often bitter) and he doesn’t stir in religion (which could add a nice tang when she used it for seasoning but at times she was too heavy handed).
Also there’s a certain je ne sais quoi in writing about characters who are impoverished- I can often tell when reading a book about lower class people whether the author’s ever been lower class. O’Connor wrote about poor whites and poor blacks a lot and they were not just comedy relief, but they also didn’t quite ring true. I credit it to the fact that while her family wasn’t rich exactly (the old southern thing of "lots of land and livestock and property, not a lot of cash), the fact she was a somewhat spoiled only child and that her mother was a good farm and money manager always kept her from going without; she knew that if she was broke she could call home for a check. King didn’t have that- he actually was sending money to his mother when he moved out, and he was penniless with kids he couldn’t afford diapers and formula for, and his memory of being broke embues his socioeconomically lower-class characters. (Those who are or have been on that rung, for example, know that a major part of why it sucks isn’t even the material aspects but the way you’re treated by the haves, and the irritation as you find yourself learning little tricks you never wanted to know in ‘money management’ and your ethics becoming a bit more nubile than you’d like but of necessity.)
Sorry for the digression, but point is most of his shorter works are better than his longer works and if he had the common decency to live as writer in residence at Podunksville College instead of earning hundreds of millions of dollars I honestly think he’d be a lot more respected by critics and literary snobs. (That was a bit sarcastic in case you’re wondering: I’m totally in the “show me the money” camp.)
Could I trouble one of you good folks to remind me how Carrie ends- in the book, I mean. I have a weird, vague recollection of a bunch of technical stuff with footnotes (???)and it seems to me the end was quite boring. Was Sue destined to a life of nightmares like she was in the movie (now that was a great ending!)?
If I remember right, the book ended with Sue getting her period, the implication being that maybe she’ll also develop kinetic ability, be another Carrie (or something).
Another example of King’s bad endings, or non-endings, IMHO.
Seriously, nobody messed with her after that, she was crazy! She was driven to it, however.