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This is the third and final round of our 2012 Constant Reader Awards. Please vote for the book you would rather re-read. The winner receives 0.1 points added to its score previously acquired in the first two rounds.
If you haven't yet read either book or both of them, please vote Never read one or both titles. Feel free to discuss your votes in this thread.
I don't want to vote.
I would agree with you...
....except for Rita :)
Quote:
Originally Posted by Jean
Yes. Rita.
And on the other hand, the Number One fan, and the Did he? and all the rest of it. Misery is totally worth King's weight in gold.
No doubt, "Misery" is crazy crazy good.
But Different Seasons.. 4, well... 3 amazing works of art :)
Misery 9.0
Different Seasons 9.1
Quote:
Originally Posted by Jean
Do you score The Breathing Method a little lower than the others, like me? Or is it Apt Pupil that didn't quite measure up?Quote:
Originally Posted by Cook
Breathing method.
Quote:
Originally Posted by harrison ryanDo you score The Breathing Method a little lower than the others, like me? Or is it Apt Pupil that didn't quite measure up?Quote:
Originally Posted by Cook
Good man!
I love all the four of them, maybe Apt Pupil more than the others. The two big ones, doubtless masterpieces, - I am going to say a totally heretical thing now, - bored me at places. They lack the universality of the King I love most; there's something about the two you probably have to be American to thoroughly enjoy. It doesn't have anything to do with the story, or the material it is built of - The Dead Zone, which I adore, is very American novel, and so is, for example, Christine that I am rereading now, relishing every single word - but there King breaks trhough to universality, making it interesting for everyone. This is what I am afraid is also lacking in The Green Mile, Hearts in Atlantis and 11/22/63. Strictly personal opinion, of course. I think it's mainly about the writing.
I definitely see your point, Jean. The novels and novellas you've mentioned as lacking universality seem to concern themselves with very American issues - politics (11/22/63, TDZ), the experience of American prisoners (Green Mile, Shawshank), and coming-of-age in a very American setting colored by personal and cultural nostalgia (Christine, The Body). I'm thinking of the campfire scene as it was translated in the film version Stand By Me--how much of that conversation (with subjects like Disney characters and game shows) would have relevance to someone growing up outside the US or the concentrated sphere of its cultural influence? My guess is it would be understood but not felt on as deep a level. My question to you and other international fans would be (and perhaps this doesn't really belong in this thread): Which King stories work the best on that universal level?
but no, I failed to make myself clear - no wonder, because what I am trying to say something I can't adequately express.
It doesn't matter at all what a story is about. There's nothing farther from my (or any other Russian kid) background than a story of a runaway Negro slave and an illiterate homeless kid who raft down the river - but the story resonates with everyone; the same goes for another story, that of two kids from Alabama who invented a boogeyman in the house next door and whose father fought the prejudice and the imperfections of American judicial system. The same goes for about 90% of King's books. Under the Dome, The Stand - hell, It itself! - are all totally American; my two favorite American films are Mr.Smith Goes to Washington and It's a Wonderful Life - a movie really can't get more American than this.
The thing is, whatever issues are the point in a novel, whatever setting it is set in, whatever events take place - nothing matters if the story is good and well told. The reader (remember, I come from a country that has always been open to all cultures, and whose people consider Dumas and Dickens and Twain totally "ours"), if confronted by something he doesn't know, either takes it for granted, or learns from this very book, or uses his momentary confusion to learn more from a different source - if he loves the book. That's the point - whether the author can make people love the book no matter where they live - or he can't. It worked for me with all King books except The Green Mile, 11/22/63 and Hearts in Atlantis; and it's only now that I am beginning to suspect that the reason I can't vote for DS over Misery is exactly this locality that wasn't overcome, that the author - maybe consciously - didn't go beyond.
So the crux of the issue is not the story's basic elements--the setting, the race and/or gender of the characters--but the author's ability to transcend them to make a "universal" experience. Gotcha.
Perfectly stated! that's precisely what I wanted to say! http://i91.photobucket.com/albums/k2.../0134-bear.gif
... and on that note, I have voted Misery
last chance to vote! the poll is closing!
The poll has closed. The winner with 55.56% of the vote was Different Seasons. It receives 0.1 points in addition to its current FAS (Final Average Score), making it 7.905555556.