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The first King novel I read was 'Salem's Lot. It's about vampires.I read it years ago and it scared the daylights out of me. The next one I read was Carrie. I found it to be horribly sad but it's a good book.
My fav has to be The Stand. It's long and worth the time. It is basically the story of good vs evil. The character development is full. His characters are always so clear the the reader feels he/she knows them personally.
Many of King's short stories are wonderful. The one that stays with me is titled The Body and it was made into a movie titled "Stand By Me" with a kickin' cast.
You might want to start with a book of his short stories.
I bolded parts of Ketabcha's post because I would have typed almost exactly the same thing. I finished Salem's Lot around 2 a.m. and then had to sleep with the covers over my head so that I wouldn't be able to hear the vampires tapping at my window. Just wanted to add that The Stand is King's version of the biblical Apocalypse--has a lot of references to the last book of the bible (e.g., "pale horse, pale rider"), but his interpretation makes for a pretty good story!
My fave King short story is "Quitters, Inc."
He also wrote a novella called Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption, which was turned into the movie The Shawshank Redemption. Probably on my top ten list of favorite movies.
By the way, the mini-series of The Stand is good and pretty close to the novel.
Oddly, I once read that while The Stand is usually the No. 1 favorite book of King readers, it was not HIS favorite.
I havn't read a book by him yet but plan on it. Can someone give me an idea of what might be life lessons in his books. Maybe he has insights into human nature or maybe his writings tell how things might be if there would be a breakdown of law and order in this country. Or maybe its just plain entertainment with the horror element being the point. Any opinions are appreciated.
Also try reading his book On Writing. It's part autobiography and partly about writing, written for writers. It was during the writing of that book that he was almost killed after being hit by a truck. He finished the book when he recovered.
I have not read any stephen king books either and always wonder,
"If I was to read one stephen king book, which one should it be"? all you stephen king fans, I would appreciate your help!
One of my favorite Stephen King books is 'Bag of Bones' but for some reason it just doesn't seem to have been as popular as many of his other books. It has the perfect blend of horror (ghost story), romance with a sprinkling of history. So good! I also liked 'Under the Dome' A LOT even though most people I spoke with either love it or hate it. No inbetween.
1.) His early stuff, of which a favorite is hard to choose. 'Salem's Lot, The Shining, The Dead Zone, and The Stand are all classics.
2.) The drunk stuff, when King was writing heavily under the influence more often than not. He still managed to pound out some good work, but there was also a lot of "What was he thinking?" stuff starting to creep in. My favorite from this era is Firestarter, which isn't really a Horror story so much as a Science-Fiction Thriller.
3.) The sober post-King-almost-died era. In this time, King not only got clean, but nearly died in a horrific accident. My favorites from this era are Bag of Bones (one of the best ghost stories I've ever read), Dreamcatcher (a great SF novel that was unfortunately turned into a horrible movie), and The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon, a fantastic Horror story that toes the line between Horror and Psychological Adventure story and never really tips the cards either way.
Good post. I never read about him having a drinking problem, I'm surprised.
I would say "The Stand" is still my favorite, it is the book that affected me the most in an emotional way. As Ketabcha says, it is the characters that ARE the book, I still after all these years know those people so well. I also really enjoyed "The Dead Zone" and "Firestarter" for those qualities.
For just downright scary, "Salem's Lot," "The Shining," and "Pet Sematary" are my favorites, I still get shivers down my spine just typing those titles as certain scenes flit into my mind.
My favorite of his short story collections is "Skeleton Crew," there are so many great stories in there - The Mist is totally creepy.
And without a doubt, the four novellas in "Different Seasons," two of which are mentioned here, are all great stories on their own. Besides "The Body" (turned into the movie "Stand By Me") and "Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption" (turned into the movie "Shawshank Redemption"), there is "Apt Pupil" (turned into the movie by the same name) and "The Breathing Method."
Last but not least, I read "The Green Mile" when it was first published in six separate volumes, one a month I think. Another great book with great characterizations.
LOL, I'm now looking at his bibliography, and realizing how many more books I could recommend, but I'll stop here.
I finished Salem's Lot around 2 a.m. and then had to sleep with the covers over my head so that I wouldn't be able to hear the vampires tapping at my window.
I got shivers just reading this - I see those white faces floating outside my windows at night a lot.
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