What are you currently reading?

[divemaster]

I cared about the characters in The Stand more than in any book before or since. Especially Nick and Tom. Also Stu.

Maybe "caring about" the villains is not quite the right term, but I thought they were written very well. Maybe Flagg came across stronger to me, b/c I read The Stand well before he showed up in other books, and it was my first introduction to this badass. And I thought Harold was written very, very well. King just nailed the "disaffected teen." The current-day counterpart is the lonely teen that joins ISIS. Whenever the news story wonders how a teen from (good family; non-religious background; etc.) can fall as far as to join ISIS, I immediately think of Harold Lauder.

[Twoguysdarktower]

Reading Ariel by King-fav Lawrence Block. I'm about 1/3 of the way in and it is unlike any of his other books that I can recall.

[Theli]

Just getting to the last bit of Swan Song. It was a good read... not a big fav of mine but it's good. Pretty excited to start Wool next! Has some good reviews!

I haven't started Swan's Song yet. I think I'll need to invest a lot of time into that one. I have read Wool though and I loved it. The opening story blew me away.

Oh good! Pumped to hear that about Wool! Swan is good.. don't get me wrong. I just wanted to feel for the characters more like I did in say.... the Stand.

I actually just read The Stand (1990 edition) for the first time recently and that was one of my complaints, that I just didn't care for the characters, at least not the main ones... I liked Tom, Flagg and Trashy more than any of the main protagonists.

I felt the same way. The Stand was one of the books I tried early on in my King reading with the '90 version. I finished about 2/3 over months and just could not complete it. I would just lose interest and I didn't really care about the characters. I think I am going to try the original version this time and see how it is.

I'll probably tackle the original copy someday, I have the feeling I would have enjoyed it more than the "Uncut" version, but not right away.

Dave: I agree about Harold. The villains in general in The Stand seemed more fleshed out than the heroes. I did like Nick as well, and his relationship with Tom was quite touching.

Off topic: But do you know who may be the best at writing believable characters? John Steinbeck. I read Of Mice and Men in high school, but hadn't touched his work since. However he's my girlfriend's favourite author and I read a couple more of his works recently, Cannery Row and Sweet Thursday, as well as some shorts, and damn I've rarely (if ever before) been moved to tears when reading a book, but he can do it.

I'm currently reading Joe Abercrombie's The Last Argument of Kings and quite enjoying it. Dark, gory, but also funny. I'm also making my way through The Moonstone by Wilkie Collins, it's a slow go, but it is fun. I've been reading it on and off out loud with my girlfriend for a few months.

[Mattrick]

The characters I connected most with in The Stand were Nick, Lloyd, Harold, and Larry. Lloyd was my favourite character in the book.

[WeDealInLead]

About to tackle The Best of Nancy Kress. I love those best-of murder weapons by Subterranean. Seriously, you could kill someone with those 600-pagers.

[St. Troy]

The Battle Of Life by Charles Dickens
...and forgot to mention before that: The Cricket On The Hearth by Charles Dickens

[Theli]

Reading some Dickens is on my list for 2017 reading goals.

[St. Troy]

The Haunted Man by Charles Dickens

[webstar1000]

Was going to start Moth but got the Fireman for Xmas... and for some reason... I grabbed that first. Hope I like it!

[Heather19]

I really liked The Fireman, enjoy!

Doing a re-read of The Shining. And just started listening to the audiobook of Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel.

[St. Troy]

Doing a re-read of The Shining.

For me, rereads of The Shining are interesting in that, although some drama is always lost due to familiarity (the obvious and unavoidable nature of the reread; not a criticism of SK), the bits about Jack and the pressures on him (especially Al forbidding him to write about The Overlook) always hit me hard.

[Theli]

Doing a re-read of The Shining.

For me, rereads of The Shining are interesting in that, although some drama is always lost due to familiarity (the obvious and unavoidable nature of the reread; not a criticism of SK), the bits about Jack and the pressures on him (especially Al forbidding him to write about The Overlook) always hit me hard.

I think this comment brings up an interesting discussion on re-reading books. It's not a practice I normally partake in, mostly because I feel I have far too many books that still have yet to be read once and I am woefully slow reader. However what I find interesting about your comment is that while the story does not change, and in some way the impact thereof may be reduced, the situations, the settings and even the characters, essentially the feeling of the book, will have a varying impact at different times in life. A good example from my experience would be reading the Harry Potter novels as they were released when I was in junior high and high school. I could directly relate to the character experiences at the time, and because of that they worked at a more emotional level as well as a relatable form of escapism. If I were to read them now, I may have some nostalgia, for the books themselves, and may be even my high school years, but I wouldn't be able to relate as much. I am no longer a pre-pubescent/pubescent teen and I am not in high school with high school anxieties.

Likewise having read certain other novels that have a more adult approach and theme in high school, while I may have an appreciation for the horror and action and other aspects, it's hard to fully understand the characters and situations unless you have been in them or similar situations yourself. For the sake of argument let's say The Shining, I liked the book a lot in high school, or shortly thereafter (and I haven't re-read it now so I am talking out my ass here a bit), I couldn't really relate to supporting a family, raising a son and the true importance of holding down an everyday full time job.

So with that said, what in your experience re-reading The Shining makes it so those aspects of the book make it so it hits you hard each time?

[St. Troy]

...what in your experience re-reading The Shining makes it so those aspects of the book make it so it hits you hard each time?

My guess is that it boils down to these things:

- At the time of the most recent (2012) re-read, I was a father (this may have been the first read of The Shining for which that was true)

- Jack finds himself needled by others who have the power to hurt him (Al, George, Wendy), and while he's responsible for his alcoholism and is guilty of his own bad behavior, I understand the burn that comes from being repeatedly subjected to dickhead behavior, which leads us to...

- I kinda/sorta have had an Al-like figure of resentment in my life (although I've never gone through anything near as serious as Jack's specific problems and never been pushed around quite this way), who, by virtue of being a relative (he's always been there...), will never really go away, but only fade into the background - he'll always be there, and I'll always know he's there...

[Heather19]

Interesting. I've only re-read a handful of books. I have a book club coming up this month on the Shining, so I wanted to read it again since it's been a number of years since I last read it, and I know I've forgotten some of the finer details. I don't have a photographic memory. Yes, I remember the basic storyline and outcome. But at least I can get enjoyment again from all the finer little details and nuances of the story. I think I've read it twice before, but I have to stay I'm really enjoying it again. Not too far in yet, I'm just at the part where he finds the wasp nest.

[Girlystevedave]

This whole discussion makes me want to go back and reread The Shining to see if resonates differently with me this time around. I really enjoyed it the first time (and credit it for being one of the few books that scared me), but wonder if it would feel different this time around since I now know what it feels like to be the parent of an 8 year old boy.

[sentinel]

Just finished William Forstchen's novel The Final Day, the third book after One Second After, and One Year Later.
Way too real, scary, could happen tomorrow. Leaves you very unsettled when you look at our current worldwide
political unrest.

[St. Troy]

I probably re-read too much, but my current (by which I mean stretching back about 5 years and stretching forward about 5 more) re-reads have a method to the repetition:

I've been re-reading early SK because it has been/had been a very long time since reading any of them, and wanted to do so chronologically (for any connections, to see his progress, and to satisfy my own fussiness). This re-read process started with Carrie almost 5 years ago; most recently, I read It last October, then took a break to read a few "real haunting"-type books (as Halloween was upon us), then re-read Straub's Floating Dragon (in order to write up its many similarities to It while It was still fresh in my mind), then switched over to Dickens' Christmas books (because the season was upon us), the last of which (The Haunted Man) I'm finishing now, after which I'll return to SK for two more (The Eyes Of The Dragon and DT2) before walking away from him for a while (I'd originally planned to stop after It, but wanted to reach a second DT book prior to the movie's release, and must stop there as it will take me just too long to get to DT3, given that I insist on reading SK's intervening releases first). (FYI, from Carrie to It, I certainly took many breaks to read many other things; it was not continuous).

After DT2, I don't plan to do any re-reads for the rest of 2017 other than Osborne's Philosophy For Beginners, which I'm only re-reading as a kind of appetizer for Russell's History Of Western Philosophy, which I'll read (for the first time) immediately after (and I have the delicious Folio Society edition - try not to be jealous).

I'd like to re-read Lord Of The Rings and Harry Potter every few years; I find them dependably entertaining and refreshing.

I will also need to re-read much Clive Barker, as it's been too long, and he has too many things I haven't read at all (I need to get into a Barker groove sometime soon, by which I mean hopefully before/during 2019).

I re-read The Chronicles Of Narnia last year because A) I wanted to discuss them with my daughter, who'd recently read them, and B) I'd forgotten just about all of it in the 20+ years since my last read.

Every few years, I like to re-read John Coyne's Hobgoblin; it is a basic horror novel, but for some reason it really works for me.

Then there is Hofstadter's Godel, Escher, Bach, which I should revisit every few years, but haven't touched since 2013 (maybe next year).

...and that's probably all there is to know!

[divemaster]

I have the opposite problem. I re-read novels many times over, while letting my "books I really need to read" stack get higher and higher. For example, I've read the Dark Tower series twice in full, and books III and IV a couple of extra times. (And am contemplating reading the entire series again). I've read every King novel and collection at least twice. For about 15 years in a row, I read The Stand annually, and am feeling the urge for a re-read.

I read Memoirs of a Geisha for the first time several years ago and loved it so much, I think I read it twice more within 18 months.

I keep telling myself to pick up some of the popular recommendations in this thread (Harry Potter Series; the Game of Thrones books; Wayward Pines; Joe Hill, and so much more), but more times than not, I go back for re-reads.

It really does bother me.

[Theli]

This whole discussion makes me want to go back and reread The Shining to see if resonates differently with me this time around. I really enjoyed it the first time (and credit it for being one of the few books that scared me), but wonder if it would feel different this time around since I now know what it feels like to be the parent of an 8 year old boy.

Is that feeling homicidal?

[Theli]

I have the opposite problem. I re-read novels many times over, while letting my "books I really need to read" stack get higher and higher. For example, I've read the Dark Tower series twice in full, and books III and IV a couple of extra times. (And am contemplating reading the entire series again). I've read every King novel and collection at least twice. For about 15 years in a row, I read The Stand annually, and am feeling the urge for a re-read.

I read Memoirs of a Geisha for the first time several years ago and loved it so much, I think I read it twice more within 18 months.

I keep telling myself to pick up some of the popular recommendations in this thread (Harry Potter Series; the Game of Thrones books; Wayward Pines; Joe Hill, and so much more), but more times than not, I go back for re-reads.

It really does bother me.

For some reason this makes me think of a character from Wilkie Collin's The Moonstone; Gabriel Betteredge, who religiously re-reads Robinson Crusoe (most often with a good pipe and glass of brandy), and believes the answer to all of life's problems can be found within its pages.

[Girlystevedave]

This whole discussion makes me want to go back and reread The Shining to see if resonates differently with me this time around. I really enjoyed it the first time (and credit it for being one of the few books that scared me), but wonder if it would feel different this time around since I now know what it feels like to be the parent of an 8 year old boy.

Is that feeling homicidal?

I think that comes at 12 or 13, right?

[Mattrick]

It happened to me at 10. Then again, I blame the movie Scream.

[divemaster]

For some reason this makes me think of a character from Wilkie Collin's The Moonstone; Gabriel Betteredge, who religiously re-reads Robinson Crusoe (most often with a good pipe and glass of brandy), and believes the answer to all of life's problems can be found within its pages.

Nah, that's Starship Troopers (Another book I've re-read a few times).

[Brian861]

Although I didn't read The Shining until my early twenties, I identified with Danny more than anyone else in the story. He was my age or close to when the book was published so reconnecting with him in Doctor Sleep was an awesome experience for me.

[Mattrick]

Books I've re-read the most: Catcher In The Rye - 4 times, Candide - 4 times, Notes From Underground - 4 times, The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon - 3 times, The Scarlet Letter - 3 times, The Dark Tower 1-7 - 3 times.

I was underwhelmed when I read The Shining. I was such a huge fan of the movie and I guess, maybe it's just because I knew that story first, I prefer it over King's novel, which is pretty cut and dry and doesn't leave much to ponder. I was expecting it to be a lot creepier too. The creepiest thing in the novel for me was the cement hole.