I also listened to the audio version of Dr Sleep, and didnt think the narrator was that bad. Granted, Will Patton isnt among the best narrators Ive heard, (Frank Mueller and Jim Dale to name only two) but he certainly wasnt among the worst, either.
I also listened to the audio version of Dr Sleep, and didnt think the narrator was that bad. Granted, Will Patton isnt among the best narrators Ive heard, (Frank Mueller and Jim Dale to name only two) but he certainly wasnt among the worst, either.
if we weren't in the wrong thread, I would ask you how 1% could ruin 99...
Ask not what bears can do for you, but what you can do for bears. (razz)
When one is in agreement with bears one is always correct. (mae)
bears are back!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
1% arsenic
99% pumpkin
All that's left of what we were is what we have become.
Clever. I am not sure it works for books (or films), though. UtD is like a wonderful dinner, one course better than the other... and then you get shortchanged by the waiter. It leaves some bad aftertaste, but does not ruin the dinner.
Ask not what bears can do for you, but what you can do for bears. (razz)
When one is in agreement with bears one is always correct. (mae)
bears are back!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Bears, needs to develop that "sensitive" side for a much beloved character whose "after story" is being told. Plus, SK ties it all up with a ribbon in the end. Can you not empathize with that? IMHO, it was a wonderful book. Not in the same "league/genre" as UTD.
28 in 23 (?)!!!!
63 in '23!!!!!!!!!!
My Collection: https://www.thedarktower.org/palaver...ion-Merlin1958
The Houston Astros cheated Major League Baseball from 2017-18!!!! Is that how we teach our kids to play the game now?????
I think this is a disadvantage for Constant Readers who pick up Dr. Sleep. It seems like it should be the next chapters of the Shining, but it isnt, I dont know that it was intended to be such, but it wasnt.
It was about a character we met before; one whom Constant Readers likely wondered about after finishing The Shining. But, it wasnt a haunted house tale like The Shining was, but a haunted mind tale...two different kinds of reads, IMHO.
Well, in all fairness he did the "Haunted Hotel" story (and some would say the ultimate one to boot) in "The Shining". IMO he did connect the two stories enough to represent "the next chapters" in the story and ultimately wound it all together at the end. Of course, that's just MHO as well.
28 in 23 (?)!!!!
63 in '23!!!!!!!!!!
My Collection: https://www.thedarktower.org/palaver...ion-Merlin1958
The Houston Astros cheated Major League Baseball from 2017-18!!!! Is that how we teach our kids to play the game now?????
I agree...The Shining is an awesome tale, and SK did connect the story of the haunted hotel and the later life of the boy who survived his hotel stay. (any story of Danny's later life would have to include his experiences at the Overlook...its a part of his history and a formative time in his life)
But still, the stories are of two different kinds. One of a haunted place and the other of a haunted mind. To me, this makes Dr. Sleep seem less like a sequel and more like a related novel.
IMHO, of course.
ETA:
I think if Dr Sleep was to be considered a sequel to The Shining, then the story would have centered around that place. The perspective would be from the haunted land where the Overlook stood; perhaps telling us how the demons who survived the furnace explosion called out to other demons who travel in RVs...
Dr. Sleep centers around a man, and more specifically on his travels through life's experiences. Those travels brought him back to the haunted land, but the story was still more about him than where he had to travel.
But it did center around that place. I don't mean to debate, but I am just not getting your thought here. The finale literally took place on the former grounds of the "Overlook". I just don't see how you can say "If it were to be considered a sequel" given all that transpired.
28 in 23 (?)!!!!
63 in '23!!!!!!!!!!
My Collection: https://www.thedarktower.org/palaver...ion-Merlin1958
The Houston Astros cheated Major League Baseball from 2017-18!!!! Is that how we teach our kids to play the game now?????
I reckon my disappointment could make me say a number of inaccurate things; but my disappointment still exists.
All that's left of what we were is what we have become.
One question I have regarding the ending... even though Danny seeing Jack was a happy moment for him, do you think Jack is "doomed" to spend the rest of eternity haunting the Overlook's area? Or will his soul eventually be able to move on?
A hound will die for you, but never lie to you. And he'll look you straight in the face.
My Collection
FWIW I didn't see it as, Jack haunting the Overlook ruins. More like he was "haunting/watching over", Danny. IMHO
If you have ever seen the TV version authorized and produced by King. There is a scene at the very end where Jack and Danny sort of "hug" it out, spiritually of course, after, Danny graduates. I always thought of that scene as very special to Mr. King for some reason. So, when he did something vaguely similar in Dr. Sleep" that same type of arrangement jumped to mind. JMHO
28 in 23 (?)!!!!
63 in '23!!!!!!!!!!
My Collection: https://www.thedarktower.org/palaver...ion-Merlin1958
The Houston Astros cheated Major League Baseball from 2017-18!!!! Is that how we teach our kids to play the game now?????
A hound will die for you, but never lie to you. And he'll look you straight in the face.
My Collection
You're very welcome. Have you viewed the TV version? If not, it is worth a viewing IMHO It's not, of course, a "feature film", but it is, IMHO, what SK envisioned.
Plus, thank the Lord for the "Wendy" casting!!! LOL
28 in 23 (?)!!!!
63 in '23!!!!!!!!!!
My Collection: https://www.thedarktower.org/palaver...ion-Merlin1958
The Houston Astros cheated Major League Baseball from 2017-18!!!! Is that how we teach our kids to play the game now?????
I saw it a long time ago. TBH I didn't really care for it and I'm speaking as someone who disliked Kubrick's film for what it did to King's story.
IMO King made a mistake making it a miniseries -- something as long as The Stand or It warrants one but The Shining is fairly short and could be done justice in a two hour film. Plus the screenplay is a bit blunt at times and cloying...I.E. "kissing kissing" and a reliance on 'boo' scares and whatnot. It was pretty campy. I don't know why but King's pretty hit/miss on his screenplays.
If I were King, I would have had Frank Darabont do it. I think he could do it justice. Given how every critic would be sharpening their knives I would have at least tried to make an A-list project.
A hound will die for you, but never lie to you. And he'll look you straight in the face.
My Collection
I got the same impression of the ending.
28 in 23 (?)!!!!
63 in '23!!!!!!!!!!
My Collection: https://www.thedarktower.org/palaver...ion-Merlin1958
The Houston Astros cheated Major League Baseball from 2017-18!!!! Is that how we teach our kids to play the game now?????
I've finally read Doctor Sleep right through (not due to lack of interest, only deficit of quality time of late to invest myself in the reading)
Personally, I thought this to be one of the better books that Stephen has written since his accident, and, yeah, sure, it's not The Shining - then again, I don't believe it attempts to be so - the "scary stuff" in Doctor Sleep has an entirely different nature, far more subtle and everyday than the more "in your face" events that took place at the Overlook.
There were, for me, a couple of Room 217 moments (where what you have just read sends that atavistic chill up one's spine that raises the fine hairs on the back of the neck) - most particularly the 9/11 foretelling (likely not the best word for it, but it'll do) early on in the book - it only serves to reconfirm that not all monsters exist in the darkness of one's imagination or are buried in the depths of our closet waiting for the right time to pounce.
The True Knot were somewhat (as has been referenced upthread) toothless, then again, a certain degree of vulnerability in an antagonist isn't necessarily a bad thing - Randall Flagg had his in The Stand, as did Rose The Hat in Doctor Sleep - an exaggerated belief in their own indestructibility, which, ultimately, proves to be their undoing.
I liked that the True Knot were not impervious to injury or disease, that they were capable of screwing up, that they were guilty of more than the occasional brain fart when formulating strategy plans, that they were, aside from their need for Steam and the temporary enhancements that breathing it provided them with, ultimately as susceptible to the day to day perils of existing on this planet as the rest of us (in some weird way, it made the final denouement at Top 'O The World / The Overlook fairer in some strange way).
Now the wait begins for Mister Mercedes
We all float down here!
Glad you enjoyed it, Grant!!
What I especially loved is that he went and paid plenty of "Homage" to the original. It was still a different novel, but it really felt like "catching up with an old friend". At least that was MHO. The "True Knot" was an imaginative, if not quite as "scary" a villain, as "The Shining", but really, if he had tried to top those guys you would all have been screaming, no? I truly loved it.
28 in 23 (?)!!!!
63 in '23!!!!!!!!!!
My Collection: https://www.thedarktower.org/palaver...ion-Merlin1958
The Houston Astros cheated Major League Baseball from 2017-18!!!! Is that how we teach our kids to play the game now?????
I was 3/4 through the book before I realized "The True Knot" wasn't a rouge Boy Scout Troop!
All that's left of what we were is what we have become.
I really enjoyed Dr. Sleep. IMHO, the voice was focused and propulsive. Reminiscent of King's earlier works, just a little. Can ya' dig? Power of word and all that jazz.
I felt it was a strong book, indeed. I was quite surprised by how good it was.
It's a good stand alone book, and a good "sequel" without being a sequel.
WANTED:
Dust jacket for The Shining SNL.
Dust jacket for 25th Anniversary edition of IT, signed, numbered, tray-cased copy.
Signed numbered limited edition of Josh Malerman's Goblin, published by Earthling Publications.
Boy, am I so not liking this book so far....but I'm only 100 pages in, so who knows.
I realized that a problem I have is SK's writing style, which over the last few books has struck me as an older man trying very hard to be hip, and it's beginning to read very phony - the character mannerisms, the stilted dialogue, it doesn't seem real. It seems like what somebody thinks could be real, if they were looking at rural "poor" culture through a telescope and because they read a few articles as a way to research.
I think because the narrator in "11/22/63" was closer to SKs age and identity, that book seemed more believable - I don't mean the plot; I don't expect a believable plot. I mean the writing, dialogue and behavior.
well, at last bears are not totally alone in not liking it
Ask not what bears can do for you, but what you can do for bears. (razz)
When one is in agreement with bears one is always correct. (mae)
bears are back!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!