I will never be able to understand why people say LS is well written
I will never be able to understand why people say LS is well written
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!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I might say it's well written, but that doesn't mean I enjoyed it. It's one of my least favorites, and really struggled through it. I'm not sure I could say anything King has written has been poorly written, but I'd have to think about it.
^ I was going to say something similar Heather. I think fans of King will say most/all of his stuff is well-written Bears. Doesn't mean they liked it though.
it makes sense, within reason (I think I personally tend to like everything I find well-written), but I still don't understand how "well written" is applicable to LS. It is pointlessly slow, repetitious, threshing over old straw, watering the fabric down to the point of its disappearing. What irritated me most is that while reading I felt all the time that Sai King didn't do it because he forgot how to write his muscular prose with its fireworks of apparently irrelevant details and tangential subplots, all of which made a mark in our soul and cemented the whole into unforgettable unity - but because he sincerely believed that writing in this new, watered-down, boring way is what "real" prose is about.
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!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
That's an interesting take. So interesting I don't feel I can respond justly to it-- so I'll leave it to others (for the time being).
Watered down is a good way of putting it.
"That which you think, becomes your world" Matheson
Well, King has decent taste when it comes to other writers, but his own talents are not innumerable. In some ways, he's still the boy he was when he began to read and first dreamed of becoming a writer. I think it's fair to say that he made some missteps during that period in his career, the post-accident false-retirement phase. I don't think it's the very worst lull in quality that he ever experienced, actually, but it's pretty palpable when you consider his works in chronological order. The way I see it, though, it's really not exactly correct to call Lisey's Story the one "heartfelt episode on a tv show:" this book is more like a part of a loose trilogy in more mature treatment of themes related to mortality. In Bag of Bones, he basically wrote from the starting point of "What would I go through if I lost my wife?" Lisey's Story reverses and develops such contemplation. This all culminated, then, in Duma Key. It's interesting that some feel this last surpasses the first ultimately, while others (like myself) that Bag of Bones is still better, but we here all seem to agree that the middle piece was lacking compared to either. You could consider it a view of him working over ideas; an exercise that perhaps should not have been published independently. Duma Key restores a number of the authors characteristic motifs alongside the core themes, notably a male friendship, which is of course one of his great strengths as a writer. And I think that it much better presents the painting metaphor which flopped so badly in Rose Madder.
As for the specific question of how well Lisey's Story is composed, I too will leave that for others for the time being -- others who have read the book more recently than I have.
So far out of the SK books I've read, Liseys Story has been the one I've liked the least.
Duma Key is very, very close to being an awful book.
what?!
: faints :
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!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I really liked Duma Key, if you can count Blockade Billy as a novel, it is my pick for the worst, even if you don't count it as a novel, it's still the worst thing I've read by him
As SK is my favorite author and, except for the Dark Tower series, I've read all of his novels at least twice. Although I'm inclined to give SK the benefit of the doubt there are still many stories I didn't/don't care for and won't ever read again. In no particular order:
Lisey's Story
Rose Madder
Insomnia
The Regulators
Desperation
Gerald's Game
Cell
From A Buick 8
Dreamcatcher
The Tommyknockers
The Talisman
The Dark Tower series
Yeah, Duma Key was a welcome return of King back to his old form. One of the best things he has written in the last 15 years. Everything about it is just so good. Plot, story, character, language. Just an all-around great tale.Originally Posted by Jean
But to each his own. I would be interested to know exactly why cowboy_ed did not like it.
Duma Key was great! I loved it... Doctor Sleep was the only King book I fought through...Yeah, Duma Key was a welcome return of King back to his old form. One of the best things he has written in the last 15 years. Everything about it is just so good. Plot, story, character, language. Just an all-around great tale.
But to each his own. I would be interested to know exactly why cowboy_ed did not like it.
HELP ME FIND
Insomnia #459
ANY S/L #459
I'm with you!
Your list seems like the general consensus among SK fans (apart from The Talisman and The Dark Tower series).
A NEW GAME BEGINS
Duma Key is easily one of my top 5. I love everything about it. I too am quite curious as to what you hated about it.
Finally, someone else here who isn't a fan of The Dark Tower series. It's kinda refreshing to know I'm not the only one.
And Ricky, I'm not sure about The Dark Tower series being a favorite among SK fans. If you go outside this site, I think there's more SK fans that haven't even read the series. Maybe I'm wrong though?
Only the gentle are ever really strong.
Yeah, apart from Drawing, I'm very okay about The Dark Tower. Not a huge fan.
I can see that, Heather. It makes sense. For the longest time, I had no interest in reading the series. I thought there's no way I'm going to like it (especially since I'm not a fan of Westerns in book or film form). Once I got past The Gunslinger, though, I loved it, and they're now some of my favorite SK books (aside from Wizard and Glass, which was a chore to get through).
A NEW GAME BEGINS
Same here. I'm not a fan of fantasy or western books at all. I had been a member here for a long time before I finally caved and read them. I thought I was missing something since everyone here was so enthralled with them. I had tried to read The Gunslinger multiple times perviously, but couldn't get into it. So I finally went and listened to the audios since I knew that's the only way I'd read them. Well, out of the whole series the only one I enjoyed was The Waste Lands.
All the SK fans that I know in real life have never read nor have any desire to read The Dark Tower series. I'm curious what the percentage is of his fans that have read it and enjoyed it. I think they're quite different from his other stories.
Only the gentle are ever really strong.
King estimates the number at about 50%.
Author of The Road to the Dark Tower, Stephen King: A Complete Exploration of His Work, Life, and Influences and The Dark Tower Companion. Co-editor with Stephen King of the anthology Flight or Fright.
Liseys is the worst I think by far for me.
I have only read the gunslinger thus far, and am finding drawing somewhat hard to get through.
Desperation is my favorite SK, and one of my all time favorites. It pains me to see it under appreciated.
And I had no idea that not liking The Dark Tower series was a thing. I have gone on to read other series in my life, but none will ever touch the special place in my heart that DT has. It's just so... different.
For me Tommyknockers, Dreamcatcher, and UTD were all confusing and lackluster books. The worst novel may be Dreamcatcher but there are others which could fit the bill.
When I think of SK's 'worst novels', all I can really name are the ones that either didn't keep my interest (meaning I wasn't completely and utterly obsessed with them, which is an odd feeling while reading SK), or ones that I have no desire to re-read after finishing.
A few that come to mind are:
Duma Key
The Regulators - Desperation is my favorite SK book, apart from TDT series. I was so excited to read The Regulators, but was sorely disappointed.
Insomnia
Black House - Again, I was excited to read this since I love The Talisman sooo much. I don't plan to re-read it again.
The Talisman is one of my top 5 SK books. It makes me sad to see how hated it is by a lot of people.
I can’t imagine reading all or even most of the other SK books without having read the DT series. There are soo many little hints and call-outs to the series that you would completely miss.
Hearts are tough, she said, most times hearts don't break, and I'm sure that's right . . . but what about then? What about who we were then? What about hearts in Atlantis?
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