# 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:** 16\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![psycat90](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7ea924/32.png) [@psycat90](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/psycat90)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2005, 2:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-christine-stephen-kings-best-book/327915/41 "2005-10-27T02:41:27Z")
> [@fessie](#): > > The Shining > Dead Zone > Different Seasons > Night Shift > The Stand > Carrie > > Apparently MMDV - I stopped enjoying King with **Firestarter** , that one felt forced. Read a few more (Cujo, Pet Sematary, Bachman’s Thinner) and found them wanting. But you aren’t alone. My list is about identical. I’d replace Different Seasons with IT, though. I stopped reading after Pet Sematary. I tried reading The Green Mile series, and liked them well enough but never made it past the 3rd book. I also tried reading the first book in the Dark Tower series a couple of years ago and couldn’t even make through half of it. My son, on the other hand, has read all of his works, so I asked him what his favorite was. His answer was Night Shift overall, with The Stand being his favorite novel and one of his favorite novels by any author. And he said the Dark Tower series and The Shining were high on his list as well. He thought Christine was one of his absolute worst. ---
**Author:** ![fessie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/c37758/32.png) [@fessie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fessie)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2005, 4:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-christine-stephen-kings-best-book/327915/42 "2005-10-27T04:14:22Z")
> [@Cartooniverse](#): > > I’m extremely fond of his short story body of works. > > As far as novels go, yeah. The Shining. I read it as a kid, then re-read it after being married with kids. Wholly different experience. Perhaps it resonates so strongly because the conceit is not that the house is haunted, but that everyone’s mental house might well be haunted and for some folks, the inner becomes the outer with startling speed and with tragic results. That novel more than any other I’ve read of his ( and I’ve read maybe 90% of them ) works that deeply distressing territory so very well. > > What would it take to mentally snap? What would it take to try to murder your wife or child? How well do many people around us mask those urges, fleeting and silent as they may be? What is the fulcrom of sanity ? > > The guy’s got chops. > > Cartooniverse Yep. Great description. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2005, 4:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-christine-stephen-kings-best-book/327915/43 "2005-10-27T04:31:47Z")
I thought “The Dead Zone” was his best. “The Shining” and “The Stand” were just a bit underedited. ---
**Author:** ![norinew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/eb9ed0/32.png) [@norinew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/norinew)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2005, 11:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-christine-stephen-kings-best-book/327915/44 "2005-10-27T11:15:21Z")
> [@psycat90](#): > > I tried reading The Green Mile series, and liked them well enough but never made it past the 3rd book. I waited for it to be available in one volume, and bought that. I don’t know if I would have liked it differently had I read all the individual volumes, but I’m not good at waiting for the next chapter. And by the time all seven were out that I could have bought them all at once, the single volume was out, and cheaper than buying all the mini books. ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2005, 12:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-christine-stephen-kings-best-book/327915/45 "2005-10-27T12:51:18Z")
**On Writing** is the best fiction writer’s autobio/writing primer ever written. I like **Danse Macabre** but it needs a good update. King is good with nonfiction. My favorite fiction of his is **The Stand**. That is an epic. I love it. I also love **Misery** and **Dolan’s Cadillac** , two works of King that feature no supernatural elements whatsoever. King is not known for his nonfiction or non-supernatural stuff, yet he is superb at it. For the supernatural stuff, I like **The Green Mile** the best. I loved **Rose Madder** , but think it would have worked better on a non-supernatural level. I can image a movie of it starring Demi Moore, Bruce Willis and Ashton Kirscher. I also love Tabitha King’s works. She deserves to be better known. ---
**Author:** ![Crotalus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crotalus/32/41_2.png) [@Crotalus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crotalus)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2005, 12:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-christine-stephen-kings-best-book/327915/46 "2005-10-27T12:56:53Z")
My favorite King work is _Rita Hayworth and the Shawshank Redemption_. I guess that is a novella. Among his novels, I like _Carrie_ and _Firestarter_ best. ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2005, 1:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-christine-stephen-kings-best-book/327915/47 "2005-10-27T13:08:20Z")
I forgot about **Rita Hayworth and the Shankshaw Redemption**. Here again is King writing a story that could happen. **The Body** is another one. I guess one of my favorite King’s book is “Different Seasons.” ---
**Author:** ![Poysyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f4b2a3/32.png) [@Poysyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Poysyn)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2005, 2:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-christine-stephen-kings-best-book/327915/48 "2005-10-27T14:27:55Z")
I would like to mention that in **On Writing** Stephen King admits he doesn’t even remember writing **The Tommyknockers** (he was so doped up and drunk, The Shining was in many ways a picture if his struggles with booze and drugs). I also have to vote for - [ul] [li]The Talisman (my fave)[/li]and [li]It[/li][/ul] I also have to put in a good word for **Everything’s Eventual** another short story book, but my favorite short story may be **The Long Walk** It’s in the Bachman Books and is really good in a “could happen” kind of way ---
**Author:** ![scotandrsn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a4c791/32.png) [@scotandrsn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scotandrsn)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2005, 3:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-christine-stephen-kings-best-book/327915/49 "2005-10-27T15:39:04Z")
Here (considered very quickly) is every non-Dark Tower, non-Short Story book I read of his, up and including when I completely gave up on him after Insomnia: The Shining The Long Walk (as Richard Bachman) The Dead Zone Misery Carrie Thinner (RB) Salem’s Lot The Stand (IMO, The Stand reads like four intertwined books, somehow. Two of them are excellent, two of them kind of suck. However, while reading it, you will feel like you are living it. Not recommended for a first-time King reader, as it requires some measure of indulgence.) The Running Man (RB) Dolores Claiborne (Love the way it’s written as though it’s a transcript of Dolores’ interrogation recording, and everyone else is poorly miked.) It Cujo Christine Gerlad’s Game Below here is where he starts to get mediocre for me. The Eyes of the Dragon The Dark Half Rage (RB) Firestarter Roadwork (RB) The Talisman (Actually not too bad once I got past page 20 on about the 7th try.) Needful Things The Tommyknockers And, for the single worst novel I have ever read: Insomnia Stopped reading him at all after that. Stopped buying novels, too, IIRC. Thanks Stephen! I enjoyed the first three Dark Tower Books well enough, although I thought the second was rather weak. Since they are very definitely meant to be an epic, you can’t really consider them separately. The Wizard and the Glass (Dark Tower IV) took so long to come out, however, and so much dreck was released in the meantime, that I gave up on the series. Agree with the above posters who say his short stories are the way to go. Dolan’s Cadillac is excellent, and The Boogeyman still creeps me out. ---
**Author:** ![scotandrsn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a4c791/32.png) [@scotandrsn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scotandrsn)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2005, 3:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-christine-stephen-kings-best-book/327915/50 "2005-10-27T15:40:57Z")
Whoops, forgot Pet Sematary, which i would place just above Cujo. ---
**Author:** ![MacSpon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/34f0e0/32.png) [@MacSpon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MacSpon)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2005, 8:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-christine-stephen-kings-best-book/327915/51 "2005-10-27T20:23:50Z")
Wow, am I the only one who liked **The Tommyknockers**? It sure wasn’t his greatest book, but I enjoyed it. ---
**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 27, 2005, 8:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-christine-stephen-kings-best-book/327915/52 "2005-10-27T20:28:07Z")
I didn’t care for the book, but I liked Gardner. Or at least, found him interesting. ---
**Author:** ![Anaamika](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Anaamika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaamika)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2005, 8:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-christine-stephen-kings-best-book/327915/53 "2005-10-27T20:30:50Z")
> [@Dr. Rieux](#): > > Any of these are better than Christine, IMHO: > > \*The Shining > Salem’s Lot > Dolores Claiborne > Pet Sematary > > The Stand > It\* Ditto, except I took out the Dead Zone, which was sort of blah for me. . Pet Semetary has always been my favorite. Or maybe the Shining. And I liked Cujo a lot, although it wasn’t scary. The end of The Stand sucked. I also liked: The Eyes of the Dragon Firestarter Roadwork Needful Things I’ve read a ton of his stuff, too. No Dark Tower, though. ---
**Author:** ![monstro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba9def/32.png) [@monstro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/monstro)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2005, 9:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-christine-stephen-kings-best-book/327915/54 "2005-10-27T21:28:43Z")
For some reason, I liked _Insomnia_ alright. Hated _Dreamcatcher_ and _Rose Madder_. Didn’t even finish _Rage_. My favorites (in no particular order): The Stand Eyes of the Dragon (I like the fairy tale feel of the story, even though you must suspend all of your disbelief to enjoy it) It Dolores Claiborne (like the allusion to Gerald’s Game, plus it was an awesome movie) I like **Four Past Midnight** (particularly “The Langoliers” and “Sun Dog”). Loved “The Jaunt”, despite the fact that the rest of _Skeleton Crew_ was dull. There are several stories that were ok–even great–but I think they were trumped by the movies based on them. Like _Misery_, _Carrie_, _Stand By Me_, and _The Shawshank Redemption_. ---
**Author:** ![norinew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/eb9ed0/32.png) [@norinew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/norinew)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2005, 9:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-christine-stephen-kings-best-book/327915/55 "2005-10-27T21:50:58Z")
> [@MacSpon](#): > > Wow, am I the only one who liked **The Tommyknockers**? Yes. Yes, you are. ---
**Author:** ![Stuffy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f17d59/32.png) [@Stuffy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stuffy)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2005, 9:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-christine-stephen-kings-best-book/327915/56 "2005-10-27T21:54:17Z")
> [@MacSpon](#): > > Wow, am I the only one who liked **The Tommyknockers**? > > It sure wasn’t his greatest book, but I enjoyed it. Nope it’s one of my favorites, but like another poster said, he blew the ending. To me Tommyknockers was most similar to Needful Things and illustrates what I like about King. The Ship/shopowner is merely a vehicle for the evil thats already present in the characters of both stories. In both stories King finds the ultimate monster and it is us. The failure of Tommyknockers is that halfway through it becomes more of a Alien Invasion type story. The better half of the story is the the people getting smarter but using it for evil deeds. My other favorites: It The Stand The Talisman Misery Shorts Rage Dolan’s Cadillac The Green Mile [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-christine-stephen-kings-best-book/327915.md?page=2)