# Is Christine Stephen King's best book? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [October 26, 2005, 12:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-christine-stephen-kings-best-book/327915 "2005-10-26T00:12:16Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![dalej42](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/67e7ee/32.png) [@dalej42](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dalej42)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2005, 12:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-christine-stephen-kings-best-book/327915/1 "2005-10-26T00:12:16Z")
I haven’t read too much Stephen King. I’ve read _Christine_ several times and really enjoyed it. I read _From a Buick 8_ and I thought it was OK. I have tried to read _The Stand_, but have never been able to finish it. I read \*Different Seasons \*and really only liked The Shawshank Redemption portion. Should I continue with other King books? Or, is \*Christine \*as good as it gets? ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Fight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/90ced4/32.png) [@Cat\_Fight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Fight)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2005, 12:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-christine-stephen-kings-best-book/327915/2 "2005-10-26T00:19:53Z")
Haven’t read him in a while, but I do recall liking _Misery_ and _Carrie_ the most. But really, if you want to read King at his best, pick up a book of his short stories. That’s really where he excels, IMO. ---
**Author:** ![lissener](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lissener/32/6139_2.png) [@lissener](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lissener)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2005, 12:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-christine-stephen-kings-best-book/327915/3 "2005-10-26T00:31:11Z")
King hit his peak with _Carrie_; it’s all downhill from there. ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2005, 12:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-christine-stephen-kings-best-book/327915/4 "2005-10-26T00:34:35Z")
I’d suggest _Rose Madder_ (which I’m re-reading right now), _Bag of Bones_ and _It_. King’s strength is his characters. ---
**Author:** ![sponge\_worthy\_bob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d07c76/32.png) [@sponge\_worthy\_bob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sponge_worthy_bob)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2005, 12:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-christine-stephen-kings-best-book/327915/5 "2005-10-26T00:54:05Z")
I don’t know if I could pick a best. I’ve read probably 90 percent of his books, excluding essays and non-fiction. To echo Cat Fight, he really does excel in short stories. Check out Skeleton Crew and Night Shift for the best of these (though you will find some cheese here and there). Though I really like many of his monster stories, I also think that some of his best work is done in the non-monster arena. The body(stand by me), Shawshank, Dolores Claiborne, Misery, etc. Eyes of the dragon is also a great read. If you plan on reading a few more, and are interested in doing this, try to catch connections. King intertwines characters and plots from what I used to think were totally unrelated stories. One bad character that turns up often is Flagg. He’s a key character in The Stand, Dark Tower series and Eyes of the Dragon. For what it’s worth, I’d say his books are like sunflower seeds. Even though you come across one that leaves a bad taste in your mouth now and then, if you like the genre, they are still pretty damn addicting. ---
**Author:** ![Manduck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/manduck/32/256_2.png) [@Manduck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Manduck)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2005, 12:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-christine-stephen-kings-best-book/327915/6 "2005-10-26T00:55:24Z")
I used to read every Stephen King book that came out, and considered Christine to be his first major clunker. Personally, I liked The Shining the best. ---
**Author:** ![Imasquare](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Imasquare](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Imasquare)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2005, 12:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-christine-stephen-kings-best-book/327915/7 "2005-10-26T00:57:59Z")
Stephen king has written a lot of books, but I my favourites are Pet Semetary, It, and Salem’s Lot. He has also written some of the most enjoyable short stories I have ever read. For these try Four Past Midnight, and Night Shift. ---
**Author:** ![SnakesCatLady](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/4af34b/32.png) [@SnakesCatLady](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SnakesCatLady)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2005, 1:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-christine-stephen-kings-best-book/327915/8 "2005-10-26T01:01:08Z")
**It** is one of his best - that book can still give me cold chills. I’ve read almost all of his books, and the only one I really didn’t like was **Cujo**. ---
**Author:** ![koeeoaddi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/koeeoaddi/32/408_2.png) [@koeeoaddi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/koeeoaddi)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2005, 1:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-christine-stephen-kings-best-book/327915/9 "2005-10-26T01:04:46Z")
_On Writing_ is Stephen King’s best book. Really. It’s funny, fascinating and loads of fun. _The Shining_ is his best novel. YM will most likely V. ---
**Author:** ![Atreyu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5e9695/32.png) [@Atreyu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atreyu)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2005, 1:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-christine-stephen-kings-best-book/327915/10 "2005-10-26T01:10:44Z")
**koeeoaddi** nailed it. The Shining is King’s masterpiece, IMHO. ---
**Author:** ![FisherQueen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/58f4c7/32.png) [@FisherQueen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FisherQueen)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2005, 1:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-christine-stephen-kings-best-book/327915/11 "2005-10-26T01:14:06Z")
I think **The Stand** is a fantastic book, and it’s the one that sprang to mind when I read the title. **It** and **The Shining** are both very, very good. ---
**Author:** ![Poysyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f4b2a3/32.png) [@Poysyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Poysyn)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2005, 1:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-christine-stephen-kings-best-book/327915/12 "2005-10-26T01:23:32Z")
My favorite is The Talisman ---
**Author:** ![Carm6773](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/2bfe46/32.png) [@Carm6773](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Carm6773)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2005, 1:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-christine-stephen-kings-best-book/327915/13 "2005-10-26T01:29:27Z")
My favorite is _The Stand_, followed by _It_, and _Insomnia_. I can’t get into his short stories, for some reason. The only collection that held me was _The Bachman Books_. It contained _The Long Walk_, _The Running Man_, _Roadwork_, and the best of them all- _Rage_. You may have to go to a used store to get the version with _Rage_, since it allegedly inspired the Columbine kids (I can see the connection, but the story ended much differently than the events in Littleton, Colorado) and has been pulled. I believe it has been replaced with _Apt Pupil_. ---
**Author:** ![Dung\_Beetle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dung_beetle/32/7945_2.png) [@Dung\_Beetle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dung_Beetle)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2005, 2:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-christine-stephen-kings-best-book/327915/14 "2005-10-26T02:08:22Z")
> [@Manduck](#): > > I used to read every Stephen King book that came out, and considered Christine to be his first major clunker. Personally, I liked The Shining the best. Ditto. Misery is also very good. In looking over this thread, I don’t see a lot of consensus as to what the best stuff is…but can we all agree that Desperation, The Regulators, and Dreamcatcher are the worst? Better you should use them for toilet paper than reading material, and I say that as a King fan. ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2005, 2:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-christine-stephen-kings-best-book/327915/15 "2005-10-26T02:24:38Z")
I enjoyed _Christine_ as a native of Pittsburgh-I liked all the little details. (Didn’t he describe Dennis’s grandfather as having a Pittsburgh accent, IIRC). I would also encourage reading his short stories-they’ve got a wonderful Lovecraftian feel to them. ---
**Author:** ![Frostillicus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Frostillicus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frostillicus)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2005, 2:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-christine-stephen-kings-best-book/327915/16 "2005-10-26T02:32:53Z")
> [@FisherQueen](#): > > I think **The Stand** is a fantastic book, and it’s the one that sprang to mind when I read the title. I concur. I read it in college and was totally blown away by it. ---
**Author:** ![PapSett](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ecc23a/32.png) [@PapSett](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PapSett)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2005, 2:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-christine-stephen-kings-best-book/327915/17 "2005-10-26T02:40:45Z")
My favorite Stephen King is Gerald’s Game… for some reason that book creeped the hell out of me. His newer stuff leaves me cold. Insomnia sucked donkey. So did Desperation and Dreamcatcher. I couldn’t make myself finish Tommyknockers. Needful Things was horrid drivvel. What happened, Stephen??? ---
**Author:** ![supervenusfreak](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/45deac/32.png) [@supervenusfreak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/supervenusfreak)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2005, 2:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-christine-stephen-kings-best-book/327915/18 "2005-10-26T02:49:56Z")
I would definitely go with **IT** , **The Shining** , **The Bachman Books** , **The Stand** , the nonfiction ones, and his short story collections. His essays on pop culture in EW are pretty damn good too. I used to be one of the fans of the fans that rushed out and bought his new one as soon as I could. Lately though I wait and see. I liked his work better when it was filled with suburban angst. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2005, 3:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-christine-stephen-kings-best-book/327915/19 "2005-10-26T03:00:02Z")
I would go back to the beginning, starting with **'Salem’s Lot** , then read til you hate him, which will happen right around **Tommyknockers**. **Carrie, Firestarter, The Stand, The Shining** are all good reads, as are **Misery** and a few others. My favorite by far was the short story **The Body** , which absolutely brilliantly captures 11-year old kids and teen hoods. ---
**Author:** ![AHunter3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ahunter3/32/368_2.png) [@AHunter3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AHunter3)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2005, 3:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-christine-stephen-kings-best-book/327915/20 "2005-10-26T03:02:45Z")
Another vote for _The Shining_ as the best of King. I liked _Christine_ better than many of the critics, who really panned it pretty bad, IIRC. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-christine-stephen-kings-best-book/327915.md?page=2)