I think he’s getting better. I think in “Dolores Claiborne” and “Bag of Bones” he showed he’s starting to understand women a lot more.
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So explain Glen Bateman?
And if there’s one thing King has no patience for, it’s rednecks (see “Cujo”). Stu Redman is an introspective redneck, whereas his friend Norm Bruett is just a jerk. And Fran Goldsmith’s uber-patrician mother is completely evil.
True, pld…maybe it was just the Stand. He does describe all his evil characters as being cunningly stupid, so he seems to value intelligence…
He doesn’t seem to have any patience with religious fanatics, though. Like you mentioned Frannie’s mother, or Johnny Smith’s mother in Dead Zone. Or of course, Mrs. White, Carrie’s mother. Or the religious fanatica in Needful Things. Most of his books do seem to have a strong basis around Christianity but that is a whole other topic…
Rilch- I do wish he wouldn’t go into such detail about his female characters looks. It also really kills me when the male character goes all out of his way to be chivalrous and whatnot towards the female one. God forbid anything should happen to the o-so perfect female, let the guy take the beating. Like in Christine. I never even got what those two saw in Leigh, btw- Dennis describes her as perfect-looking…that’s just so boring.
And yes, that “self-realization” thing of Frannie disturbed me- much more so than that whole journal thing w/ Harold. This bothered me throughout the whole novel. Basically its one reason why I have a love-hate relationship with The Stand.
I did read Bag of Bones and I agree that that is an improvement. I hope he can make female characters that are on par w/ the male chars he’s created in the past…
I have a love-hate relationship too, a mental block if you will. Bear with me, because as I said, I’ve read so many books I forget a lot of the details, but here goes…The character who is deaf and mute (Nick I think) - when he is in the abandoned drug store and comes across a girl and fucks her. Man, that blew the book for me! I get reallly attached to the characters I encounter, and I liked Nick - sounds silly, but I guess I fell in love with him a little (same with Jack from “The Talisman”). So when Nick did that, it struck me as totally out of character with his goodness and personality and I didn’t want to finish reading. I did of course, but that just killed me on the book.
But then again, that’s what is wonderful about King’s characters - they are entirely real. That’s what keeps me coming back. Like the part in “Hearts of Atlantis” when the little boy remembers the kiss with Carol for the rest of his life - that’s something real. And in “Rita Hayworth…”, Red’s character breaks my heart because he is so real in his flaws, so unapolagetic about his mistakes. And I always see a bit of myself in King’s characters as well. The main characters are basically good (Jack in the Talisman comes to mind) who struggle but make the right choice in the end - however insignificant Nick’s little side fuck was, it ruined his character for me.
Ah, Nacho, it doesn’t sound weird. I fall in love with characters too…except that the ones I like are the screwed up ones.
I know how you feel though. I really hated that girl, Julie I think her name was?- the one that Nick has sex with. I didn’t see why Nick would want to stoop so low. She was way out of his league.
I do like the realistic parts of his characters. They’re flawed; that’s why they’re so easy to identify with. When you read a book and the “good” character is so noble and has had such a clean life, you start to resent him/her. With SK, most of his characters are real.
Yeah, but how often does a deaf-mute guy get some? He didn’t describe the act; presumably that means that it wasn’t earth-shattering. I do hope that Nick used a condom, though; I mean, they were in a drugstore!
I’m glad people agree with me about Frannie’s journal. Any one of us could do better than she did!
I wonder if I’m the only one who doesn’t accept everything at face value. To me, Nick didn’t just fuck some girl, it was an important part of his character development (He’s not perfect, he is just a man). Also, I thought Julie was symbolic (Well, I think ALL the characters are symbolic), but this was King’s way of saying, “Look, Nick tangoed a bit with the dark side, but he is still supposed to save us all.”
I don’t know, maybe I read too much into it.
Dark Tower Series drool Im gonna have to say… Wizard and Glass was my favorite so far. I admit, Rhea gave me my share of nightmares… but I was just so happy to see a good meat of the book dedicated to Roland in his young Gunslinger years in regards to Cuthbert, Alain and Susan. Cant -wait- for the next one.
Bag of Bones was also a really good book. The thing with his wife being under the bed… “Give me back my dustcatcher!” chills Dug it.
Least favorites were probably Geralds Game and Needful Things.
Nick having sex with Julie wasn’t so bad, actually. I really didn’t care that much; it was just that I didn’t like her. No, it was the “gratuitious female description” that really got to me…really got irritating at times.
I agree. Not only that, but the book makes clear that Nick was desperate for companionship apart from Tom Cullen. He had seen nobody but Tom and dead/dying people for a week, and he could barely converse with Tom, who didn’t even know his name. Plus, he was a guy in his young 20s with a pretty girl coming on to him like gangbusters. The flesh and spirit were both more than willing.
My favorite was definitely Pet Sematary. The only one that truly scared me. I also liked The Shining and IT (until the end, like someone said earlier). Several were better than I expected, like Christine and Cujo.
The only one I didn’t like that I finished all the way was Carrie.
Someone else who doesn’t hate Pet Sem! 
So is this thread dead? :mad: Come, people, I urge to help me revive it!
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I think Bloom’s being a snob. I think it’s insulting that he assumes King drives people away from “good” literature. Plenty o’ smart, well-read people read King. And --gasp–we might also read other stuff that Bloom WOULD approve of. I’m sure Bloom wouldn’t find many of the books on my nightstand fit to wipe his ass with–but I’d also bet I’ve read a significant portion of the books on his ‘What every American should read’ list.
There is nothing wrong with some escapist fiction–and I’m no literary critic, but I think one could argue King’s work is more than escapist. I think he has some real gifts; you can’t appreciate his books without appreciating his turn of phrase, his dialogue, etc. If the average American dumbass (presumably the type Bloom is thinking of) spends some time thinking about those things, GOOD. It’s a little bit of an intellectual workout. A lot of King’s work also requires that the reader dip lierally into one’s imagination.
That’s also intellectual stimulation.
I think SK writes really well…you want to read his next sentence, and you wanna finish the novel/short story/whatever, right…? Anyone who can do that can’t be a total hack.
This Bloom fellow. What books does he think every American should read? Does he have a separate list for Canadians and Europeans? 
Come on, this is a good thread! ::bump::
Hi Zoggie.
I’ll post, but only if someone else posts after me so I don’t feel like a total fool.
I’ve only read three of King’s books: Carrie, Desperation and The Regulators
The Regulators was the absolute worst piece of crap that I have ever attempted to read. Awful, awful, awful. I couldn’t even finish it, it was so bad.
I thought Desperation was bad, I really liked the beginning but when he started getting into the whole body-snatcher thing, it just went downhill. I think it could have been really good if he went in a different direction with it. Maybe more realistic, something that could actually happen, it would have been much scarier.
There, that’s my attempt at reviving this thread.
Well did you like Carrie?
There are better books out there by him, i’m sure…I only started Desperation but didn’t think he put that much effort into it. And Regulators is supposed to be basically the same book…so there you have it.
Read Pet Sematary, the Shining, Cujo, The Stand, Christine, It, and/or the Dead Zone. All, as many as you like, or none. Don’t lose faith in the guy!
And do you not feel like a total fool now?
Pepperlandgirl, you are amazing! I enjoyed your essays very much. Zoggie, how can we get this thread to be listed on Threadspotting? I liked pet sematary a lot myself; I think it is the kind of story that lovecraft would have written if he writing today. even the movie was OK. As for whoever said that the four guys go out to be heroes, notice that 3 of them died?! They needed to keep the women safe or the colony of OK people would die out, you know. and it was not Harold’s education that made him evil; it was his lack of insight into himself. agaian and again he had the opportunity to redeem himself, and he throws it away, deliberately choosing to do evil. one of my few quibbles with the TV version is that the castin was off, especially harold. nadine was right, stu was right, glen was perfect, but frannie, harold, ad flagg were not right. I think christopher Walkn wouldhave been the best choice for flagg.
On king and women; I think he does the best he can. dolores claiborne is prb. his best female char., along wih annie wilkes. worst may be the dumb bitch from gerald’s game.
I fogot if I orignally said how much i dislike cujo.
The most disgusting story by king has GOT to be dedication. anyone read this? UGH! it puts survivor type and cat from hell in the shade.
I will defend tommyknockers as a good book. my dad, who is kind of an intellectual snob, stayed up all night to finish this. why did the movie have to go all pear-shaped? same thing with needful things, which is a fav. book. to the guy who gave away all the tower books, what did’nt you like?
has anyone here read The road virus goes North? i’ve just finished it and would like to discuss…
what do you guys think is the best book ON king/ I recommend art of darkeness, even though it is sadly out of date.
– He took you to The Dead Zone ,gave you Misery, then he made you Thinner. Now Stephen King presents his most terrifying novel: AUDIT.
I’ve seen the movies for Pet Sematary, The Shining and Cujo, and I think they spoiled the books for me.
I think Carrie could have been better, but I did like it.
I liked books that creep you out, like… hmm. I don’t know, I like creepy things that make you think instead of icky, scary, gorey things. Any suggestions?
Blushes
Thank you. I try.