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/lit/ - Literature

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11427634 No.11427634 [Reply] [Original]

/lit/ seems divided on the Stephen King question, so what are some books by King one should read, and what are some books by King one should avoid?

>> No.11427646

>>11427634

Read the earlier famous ones like Carrie, The Shining, and Salem's Lot. They aren't great literature but they aren't trying to be and rarely fall into the cheap pseudo-literature trappings of his later work. They may be objectively worse written, but there's a coke fueled energy to them that makes them more entertaining.

>> No.11427650

Read Graveyard Shift and Skeleton Crew

>> No.11427669

>>11427646
>They may be objectively worse written
I've never ever heard anyone say his latest work has better writing than his cocaine era work. In fact, I've seen people argue his writing got significantly worse once he got off the cocaine and his editors stopped doing their damn jobs.

>> No.11427689

The Gunslinger was fun.

>> No.11427706

>>11427634
Just read his 70s-80s work. Grab whichever novels/novellas/short story collections interest you the most. If you really need a push in the right direction then I'll recommend starting off with: Misery, The Shining, and Night Shift.

>> No.11427710

>>11427669

I meant writing as in terms of prose, sentence-by-sentence. You're right that when it comes to pacing and plotting his later stuff is 100 times worse.

>> No.11427741

The Stand is god tier. Rest is lukewarm and entertaining to read but not really necessary.

>> No.11427756

>>11427634
he looks like an inflated version of beckett lol

>> No.11427914

>>11427634
As other said, his earlier work is the best. I'd add that his earlier short stories are great: Night Shift and Skeleton Crew are the first two collections. Add Different Seasons and The Bachman Books for his best novellas, and you're done.

>> No.11428040

>>11427634
Currently reading The Green Mile. I just got to the part where the mouse dies. Holy shit the feels are hard on this one

The only other SK book I've read was Cell and it was total garbage

>> No.11428056

>>11427634
None. Literally none. He writes pulp trash. Whoever the boomer you're trying to impress by reading Stephen King is, punch him as hard as humanly possible in the throat

>> No.11428078

It
On Writing
The Long Walk
Green Mile
Rita Hayworth and the Shawshank Redemption
The Shining
The Gunslinger
Hearts in Atlantis
Misery

Avoid:
Christine
Dreamcatcher
Cell

Almost nobody writes about childhood better then Stephen King.

>> No.11428091

Stephen king is literally that boomer meme incarnated in literary form

>> No.11428102

My favorite story of his is the long walk and its yet to be made into a movie even though its ripe for casting every young boy in hollywood so we can watch them get shot in the face with a shotgun for walking too slow

>> No.11428112

>>11428102
Carbines not shotguns.

>> No.11428136

>>11427634
There are none you should read. However, if you want mindless pulp fiction, then King is probably the best option.

>> No.11428153

Read the Bachman Books, the short story collections (especially Skeleton Crew and Nightmares and Dreamscapes), The Stand, On Writing, and The Green Mile

You can avoid most of the rest, as it's varying degrees of forgettable.

>> No.11428488

>>11428078
Listen to this Anon, in particular those books to avoid. They're just bad.

Maybe read 11/22/63 too. I've read it last summer and it was a good light reading to bring to the beach.

>> No.11428489

>>11427634
Thinner is the best. You can say otherwise, it's ok, you're wrong.

>> No.11428491

>>11428078
>The Long Walk
this, i read the entire thing in a day, really enjoyable

>> No.11428577

Once again lit confirms the absolute shit taste omnipresent on this board by not even mentioning The Body in the first 20 posts.
Nsert retarded wojak of your coice.

>> No.11428603

>reading Stephan King
>entire time thinking "this is boomer...this is hippie voice...this is forced folksy idiom...this is 1960s negro jive talkin' Maine liberal blackface...this is forced vulgarity...this is forced swearing...this is the breathing soul of the democrat party...this is white collar painted blue...this perpetual adolescent comic books and bubble gum and rock and roll...this is trash genre fiction rehash...trash beyond trash"
>had to put the book down because I raged and have heart condition

>> No.11428623

>>11428603
You have just perfectly articulated what I've always felt about him.

>> No.11428628

>>11427634
The Stand is excellent and you should read it. Skeleton Key and Night Crew are two short story collections of his that I've read and they both have some really good stories in them so I'd say pick them up as well. From there it's up to you.

>> No.11428749

Read Apt Pupil

>> No.11428769

>>11427634
Avoid all of them. He is fucking dogshit.

>> No.11428836

>>11427634
his short stories are good. The Stand had probably the worst ending of any book i have ever read. i was so pissed i read all 1000+ pages only for it to come to that absolutely retarded, lazy conclusion. havent read anything by him since.

>> No.11429034

>>11428078
>The gunslinger

Just the series itself? Some recommendations I've seen, seem to recommend the extended universe - which adds up to like 8k pages.

>> No.11429892

For me, he was the only author my 8th grade teacher had on her shelves that appealed to my edgy side, so I read everything she had of him, then went to the library for more. The ones I remember liking then (not sure how they hold up now):

Novels:
The Tommyknockers
Bag of Bones
The Dark Half
Cell (fuck you I liked it)
The Shining
Pet Sematary
Needful Things
Carrie
It

Collections/Stories:
Night Shift
Skeleton Crew
Four After Midnight
Everything's Eventual
Can't remember name...something about Ur. It's a newer one where the MC gets a Kindle that has access to alternate universes' media (books, magazines, newspapers)

Avoid/Mixed Feelings:
Cujo (not bad neccessarily, just wasn't satisfying or meaningful to me)
Thinner