King's worst novel?

[MonteGss]

I had to check to make sure people weren't arguing before I got up the gumption to post here, hehe!

At any rate... Cujo, because it dragged, and the ending really made me feel like I'd wasted the effort reading it.

And The Tommyknockers. It jumped around far too much, and the second half of the book was kind of a disconnected, jumbled mess. Which was sad, because the first half of it was actually good! And I had a lot of affection for Gard.

Really, I think a book is especially disappointing when there are things you love about it, but it just doesn't pan out the way you want, or the execution just wasn't what it should have been. So as always, King has excellent ideas. They just don't always turn out on the page. Not to mention that this is all personal opinion anyway.

I agree with The Tommyknockers. I read it one time and never had any interest in revisiting the story since.

Cujo, meh.

[Kronz]

I usually like even King's least popular works quite a bit, but it took extreme dedication for me to get through Tommyknockers. It's shockingly dull to me, a huge sci-fi and horror fan, also shocking that it follows so many extremely strong works. Also, I did not love Gerald's Game at all, but at least it was well focused. The Cycle of the Werewolf also irritated me but I don't think it should be counted as a novel anyway.

[MonteGss]

I know Gerald's Game isn't too popular here either but I liked it.
I don't think Bag of Bones could be called popular either but I thought it was pretty cool.

[thebumblerinblack]

I know Gerald's Game isn't too popular here either but I liked it.
I don't think Bag of Bones could be called popular either but I thought it was pretty cool.

I loved Gerald's Game, I thought it was one of his sickest stories, and thats a large part of what I like about his books, the sickness.

[mae]

And of course all this discussion is moot since our 2nd Annual Constant Reader Awards will actually determine the real worst novel

For my part, though, and I think I've said this in the past, I can't name any King work his "worst". Some are better and some are worse, but I have not come across anything by King, including the many short stories, that I could say "Man that shit sucked."

[MonteGss]

Yes, surely the most definitive answer to the question.

[pathoftheturtle]

I don't care a damn about aliens or UFOs, but The Tommyknockers is a great human story. There are characters - something which Bag of Bones of Lisey's Story both desperately lack - and their stories deeply touched me; the novel is truly polyphonic, and that is King's most forte forte, as far as I am concerned. A lot of things, situations, little dramas, side stories included there deeply impressed me, and when we were voting the best minor character, I nominated Everett Hillman (that whole story, with the two boys and grandfather, is, to my mind, one of the best King's achievements ever).

I think you're right about The Tommyknockers, (and that's not to mention Jim Gardener) but you're just plain wrong about Bag of Bones. Development is differently handled, (it's not so polyphonic) but there certainly are great characters.

Lisey's Story had some weak points, but if you're forbearing, I think it has qualities not such a far cry from The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon. (And some of the weird trappings in LS, I kinda liked.)

This is a very long thread, but I'll be reading more of it, in time.

For the record, among of my own least favorite SK novels are
Insomnia
Cell
Dreamcatcher
The Regulators
Rose Madder
The Dark Half

...I can't name any King work his "worst". Some are better and some are worse, but I have not come across anything by King, including the many short stories, that I could say "Man that shit sucked."

Sorry, but, well, I was nodding right along with you until you mentioned short stories...
That's a different discussion though, I'd think.

[mae]

For the record, among of my own least favorite SK novels are
Insomnia
Cell
Dreamcatcher
The Regulators
Rose Madder
The Dark Half

Insomnia and Rose Madder are two of my personal Top 10.

[dubrosa22]

Gerald's Game I thought was really good - something quite different in his oeuvre - kind of akin to Cujo I thought.

Tommyknockers for me was both great and awful. I could easily love a 350 page version but couldn't possibly sit through the 700+ page version again.

The worst however for me would have to be The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon I'm not sure why. I just can't finish that little sucker not matter how many times I try... maybe it rejects me more than I reject it?!

[Brice]

And of course all this discussion is moot since our 2nd Annual Constant Reader Awards will actually determine the real worst novel

Of course it is only accurate if it reflects MY opinions. Otherwise I'll juggle your numbers to make it look rigged.

For my part, though, and I think I've said this in the past, I can't name any King work his "worst". Some are better and some are worse, but I have not come across anything by King, including the many short stories, that I could say "Man that shit sucked."

I feel the same. I haven't met a king story I didn't love. It's sort of like when you have kids some you love more, but you (possibly begrudgingly) love them all equally

Spoiler:

except you know those you love less

.

[BROWNINGS CHILDE]

If King had not written The Regulators, I would be inclined to agree with you Brice. However, he DID write The Regulators, and therefore, there IS a worst SK novel.

[divemaster]

If King had not written The Regulators, I would be inclined to agree with you Brice. However, he DID write The Regulators, and therefore, there IS a worst SK novel.

Boy, ain't that the truth.

[Mrs. Underwood]

Tommyknockers for me was both great and awful. I could easily love a 350 page version but couldn't possibly sit through the 700+ page version again.

The worst however for me would have to be The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon I'm not sure why. I just can't finish that little sucker not matter how many times I try... maybe it rejects me more than I reject it?!

I think you just pointed out a surefire way to make Tommyknockers about a hundred times better: make it more condensed. Couldn't agree more.

And I thought The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon was a little weak, too. I think... for my part... it was because I have a lot of trouble suspending disbelief for a girl who's that obsessed with baseball. I know there are girls who love sports, but I was never one of them, and the ones I knew who had a favorite sport or team, it was usually basketball and occasionally football. Never baseball. King makes a lot of his young characters lovers of baseball, and in the generation I grew up in, that was probably the least popular sport of all time. I knew kids who were more into Nascar, for crying out loud. So yeah, the baseball stuff always brings me out of the story somehow. Pet peeve.

[pathoftheturtle]

For the record, among of my own least favorite SK novels are
Insomnia
Cell
Dreamcatcher
The Regulators
Rose Madder
The Dark Half

Insomnia and Rose Madder are two of my personal Top 10.

I expected someone to say that about Insomnia, but Rose Madder I'm bit more surprised to hear.

Gerald's Game-- ...

...something quite different in his oeuvre ...

Well, yes.

...kind of akin to Cujo I thought. ...

Well, maybe.

... really good ...

Well, no.

...The worst however for me would have to be The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon ...

I don't know what to say... I think it's great.

...

For my part, though, and I think I've said this in the past, I can't name any King work his "worst". Some are better and some are worse, but I have not come across anything by King, including the many short stories, that I could say "Man that shit sucked."

I feel the same. I haven't met a king story I didn't love. It's sort of like when you have kids some you love more, but you (possibly begrudgingly) love them all equally

Spoiler:

except you know those you love less

.

So, that's... like a duty to dishonesty?

Tommyknockers for me was both great and awful. ...

I think you just pointed out a surefire way to make Tommyknockers about a hundred times better: make it more condensed. Couldn't agree more. [

I strongly agree with "both great and awful," but I really think that the great bits are in the various vignettes that would be irrelevant to a plot, if the plot were a relevant one. What's awful is inherent to the concept... therefore, I expect that merely condensing wouldn't help, would probably only reduce the good.

[Ageless Stranger]

IT
It's on my shelf, halfway read & I can't make myself pick it back up. It's my least favorite so far, although I still have many King novels left to read.

[thebumblerinblack]

You gotta give It another chance, Stranger. Please, for the love of all things Stephen!! If anything, just read it to see how different it is from the movie.

[Ageless Stranger]

You gotta give It another chance, Stranger. Please, for the love of all things Stephen!! If anything, just read it to see how different it is from the movie.

I'm sure I'll finish it sometime. It's the only book on my bookshelf I haven't finished. Mashed, with gravy.

[BROWNINGS CHILDE]

IT
It's on my shelf, halfway read & I can't make myself pick it back up. It's my least favorite so far, although I still have many King novels left to read.

[Jean]

IT
It's on my shelf, halfway read & I can't make myself pick it back up. It's my least favorite so far, although I still have many King novels left to read.

[BROWNINGS CHILDE]

IT
It's on my shelf, halfway read & I can't make myself pick it back up. It's my least favorite so far, although I still have many King novels left to read.

[Jean]

No, really... It has always competed with The Stand in my heart, and has often won... I can't imagine any novel that would be better.

[BROWNINGS CHILDE]

It is not only my favorite SK novel, it may be my favorite novel.....period.

[Jean]

yes, it's definitely among my top 5, and may be top 1 of those written in English

[Ageless Stranger]

IT
It's on my shelf, halfway read & I can't make myself pick it back up. It's my least favorite so far, although I still have many King novels left to read.

No, really... It has always competed with The Stand in my heart, and has often won... I can't imagine any novel that would be better.

It is not only my favorite SK novel, it may be my favorite novel.....period.

yes, it's definitely among my top 5, and may be top 1 of those written in English

So I'm picking up a vibe that says you guys can't believe I don't like IT. I promise that I will finish it so I can objectively review it. But there is absolutely no freaking way, even if it turns completely around immediately, that I'll ever say it compares with The Stand. Say sorry.

[BROWNINGS CHILDE]

For me, although It is an amazingly scary horror story, what endears it to me is a sense of nostalgia, deja vu even, that pervades the entire story. Stephen King immerses the reader in the childhood experience so effectively that you almost feel like you knew the characters from your own childhood. The character development in this novel surpasses that of any SK novel (with the possible exception of the Ka-tet), and is on par with any other novel I have ever read. I have never cared so much for a group of literary characters (again with the possible exception of the Ka-tet), by the end of a novel. The comparison to the Ka-tet is not a fair one, as we have 3-4 times the volume of pages in which those characters are developed in the DT series. Each of the characters are distinct, and they stay perfectly true to their nature throughout the entire work. There evolution into adults is perfect. It is truly a masterpiece.