What do you think his best book(s) are?

[Horrim Carabal]

[Avatar]

Man, I loved The Langoliers.

All the stuff you didn't like was movies...just do what I do and avoid SK movies. They tend to be awful.

The Dark Tower...You can't read King and not read it. Roland is the awesomest character in fantasy. Book 6 is terrible. Book 7 grew on me. There are terribly disappointing moments, but the whole grew on me.

It's a fine line though...one probably either hates the ending (and a couple of the final story elements) with a passion, or understands it's necessity (and the intent behind (most of) those potentially loathsome elements).

--A
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[TheFallen]

[Horrim Carabal]

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[Rabs]

I like just about everything he's written. My favorite novel is 'Salems Lot. In my opinion he surpassed Dracula with this masterpiece.
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[Horrim Carabal]

[Avatar]

I did like Salem's lot. Dunno about Barlow being better...different yes, but Dracula was pretty good, especially if you take the time into account. Now its become almost a cliche, but back then it wasn't.

--A
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It's easy to judge. It's more difficult to understand.

[sgt.null]

still read the Mist every couple of years.

Salem's Lot was my first and remains a favorite.
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And death i think is no parenthesis”
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[Avatar]

Yeah, I love The Mist. I like quite a few stories outta Skeleton Crew...Also got a couple I hate though.

--A
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It's easy to judge. It's more difficult to understand.

[sgt.null]

the Mist movie was really well done. even improved the ending.

would like to see another go for a movie adaptation of Salem's Lot.
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life's not a paragraph
And death i think is no parenthesis”
― E.E. Cummings

[Rawedge Rim]

Tough one: but I'll say in order; The Shining, Salem's Lot, The Stand, It.
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[Zarathustra]

This was my ranked list in the DT thread. Almost all are DT related. I haven't read a lot of his early stuff, like The Shining, Pet Sematary, Christine, Carrie, etc.

1. Insomnia
2. It
3. DT5: The Wolves of the Calla
4. DT2: The Drawing of Three
5. DT4: Wizard and Glass
6. DT3: The Wastelands
7. Bag of Bones
8. Salem's Lot
9. DT6: Song of Susannah
10. Gerald's Game
11. Desperation
12. Dreamcatcher
13. Needful Things
14. The Stand
15. Hearts in Atlantis
16. DT1: The Gunslinger

I forgot to rank DT7: The Dark Tower when I finished. It would be near the bottom.
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Meaning is created internally by each individual in each specific life: any attempt at *meaning* which relies on some kind of external superstructure (God, Satan, the Creator, the Worm, whatever) for its substance misses the point (I mean the point of my story). -SRD

Remain faithful to the earth, my brothers, with the power of your virtue. Let your gift-giving love and your knowledge serve the meaning of the earth ... Do not let them fly away from earthly things and beat with their wings against eternal walls. Alas, there has always been so much virtue that has flown away. Lead back to the earth the virtue that flew away, as I do-back to the body, back to life, that it may give the earth a meaning, a human meaning. -Nietzsche

[Cail]

I do love me some Insomnia. And I enjoyed the hell out of Dreamcatcher. But I hated Gerald's Game (though I haven't read it since it came out).
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"Men and women range themselves into three classes or orders of intelligence; you can tell the lowest class by their habit of always talking about persons; the next by the fact that their habit is always to converse about things; the highest by their preference for the discussion of ideas." - Charles Stewart
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[Zarathustra]

[Avatar]

DT 6 is way too high up the list. That was one of my least favourites.

Bag of Bones too.

--A
_________________
It's easy to judge. It's more difficult to understand.

[Zarathustra]

Isn't DT6 where they meet King? I thought that was a pivotal moment in the series, lots of fun to read. I also liked the faster pace and shorter length. It really felt like we were finally rushing toward the end.

Bag of Bones was one of the earlier books I read in my preparation for DT. It might move down if I'd reread it now. However, I felt it had the right pace, length, characters, and ending to make it a good book. I also liked how it spanned generations. Its historical aspect gave it a depth and mystery that made everything in it feel vital.

Aside from It, I think King has gotten much better with age. His 90s books have better construction and--dare I say it?--sophistication than his 70s-80s work, which were so often a single idea beaten to death.
_________________
Meaning is created internally by each individual in each specific life: any attempt at *meaning* which relies on some kind of external superstructure (God, Satan, the Creator, the Worm, whatever) for its substance misses the point (I mean the point of my story). -SRD

Remain faithful to the earth, my brothers, with the power of your virtue. Let your gift-giving love and your knowledge serve the meaning of the earth ... Do not let them fly away from earthly things and beat with their wings against eternal walls. Alas, there has always been so much virtue that has flown away. Lead back to the earth the virtue that flew away, as I do-back to the body, back to life, that it may give the earth a meaning, a human meaning. -Nietzsche

[Horrim Carabal]

The last few DT books.... *sigh*

Gerald's Game is not bad. The single most horrifying, depraved, and sadistic maniac in any King book is in there. Raymond Andrew Joubert.

Eyes of the Dragon was my first King book, and IMO it still stands up. Plus Flagg is in there!

It is my fave.

Waste Lands is my fave DT book.

Insomnia is my fave Crimson King book...compare the "Kingfish" in Insomnia to the poor bedraggled old man in DT7. How the mighty have fallen.

Pet Sematary is his most disturbing, actually "scary" book. Everyone likes The Shining because the main character slowly goes insane, but to me me Jack Torrance has a huge "I'm going insane!" sign over his head for much of the book. The main character in Pet Sematary goes equally insane (maybe more so) but it's so insidious that you don't realize he is hopelessly mad until late in the book and then you turn back chapters trying to find the place where he went batshit crazy and you missed it.

Tommyknockers is King's best "I was high" book.

Dead Zone and The Dark Half are the most underrated King books. The Shining and Bag of Bones are the most overrated.

Lisey's Story is the King book I waited the longest to read...almost 10 years from its appearance til when I read it. It was good.

Black House and DT7 are the most disappointing King books for me. Because I loved The Talisman, Black House being a steaming pile hurt more. By DT7 I knew I was going to hate it.

Salem's Lot is the King book that needed to be expanded the most. It's too short. Cycle of the Werewolf is second.

Under The Dome is the King book that needed to be shortened the most. Much too long.

11/22/63 is the best King book of his late period. Joyland and Revival were also good. Doctor Sleep too.

Mr. Mercedes, Finders Keepers, and Last Watch were...blah. Why did King waste time writing these?

I have more observations on books like Duma Key, Dolores Claiborne, Desperation, and Rose Madder, if anyone is interested.

[Zarathustra]

I'm interested in Rose Madder and Desperation thoughts! I even have a thread for the former, if you're interested in mine.

I never read the Shining or Pet Sematary, because I'd already seen the movies. I know, the books are better. I'll get around to them. Salem's Lot is the perfect length. A book that leaves you wanting more is a good thing. Much better than a book you force yourself to finish.

I can't believe Black House is worse than Talisman, because I couldn't finish Talisman, it was so bad.
_________________
Meaning is created internally by each individual in each specific life: any attempt at *meaning* which relies on some kind of external superstructure (God, Satan, the Creator, the Worm, whatever) for its substance misses the point (I mean the point of my story). -SRD

Remain faithful to the earth, my brothers, with the power of your virtue. Let your gift-giving love and your knowledge serve the meaning of the earth ... Do not let them fly away from earthly things and beat with their wings against eternal walls. Alas, there has always been so much virtue that has flown away. Lead back to the earth the virtue that flew away, as I do-back to the body, back to life, that it may give the earth a meaning, a human meaning. -Nietzsche

[Horrim Carabal]