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/lit/ - Literature

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5999688 No.5999688 [Reply] [Original]

Can someone please tell Mr.King how to end books?
What the fuck, the novel was really interesting but the end was complete bullshit once more.

>> No.5999763

>Reading a King novel

When will they learn? I gave up The Stand 700 pages in.

>> No.5999815

>>5999763
But The Stand is my favorite King-book

>> No.5999903

>>5999688
I think this more of a recent trend.

For example: Under the Dome

The first three quarters of that book were a chore, because each character was either 1) the perfect main character, 2) A complete sadist, or 3) Consistently made retarded choices that were out of character just to stall the narrative

And then the final quarter shitted up the book worse than it already was by turning it into a completely different book and resolving nothing in a significant way.

BUT, if you take a step back, you realize that Under The Dome is just a retarded mash up of The Tommyknockers and the Stand, which were excellent novels.

tl;dr classic King is still good, recent King blows, but I didn't read the one about JFK everyone jizzed over.

>> No.5999914

>>5999688
What'd I'd rather discuss is how King focuses more on characters than the actual story.

Like, he just like to tell anecdotes about the characters and build them up way more than telling a story.

>> No.5999916

>>5999903
The Tommyknockers was not an excellent novel by any stretch of the imagination.

>> No.5999925

>>5999688
I actually liked the ending of Revival. By King standards, he knocked it out of the park

>> No.5999958

>>5999916
I'll admit it was a weaker novel, not on par with the Stand, Salem's Lot, It, or Needful Things, but it....
um....y'see, that entire chapter about inbred ancesters...the fact the aliens were never expanded upon...um...shit you're right.
But still, compared to under the Dome Tommyknockers was excellent.

>> No.6000087

>>5999763
oh, well if you could only read seven hundred pages it doesn't sound so bad

>> No.6000317

>>5999903
Shich character are you talking about when you say they made choices that were out of character?

I agree with the rest, l just can't come up with anyone for this one.

>> No.6000326

It was shit because it does not mesh with Stephen King's mythos.

Where's the Turtle or the Ka, or the other vaguely good forces that exist in his stories?

>> No.6000335

>>5999958
Tommyknockers and Under the Dome tie for his worst book on my list.

>> No.6000341

>>6000326
Not every King story is related to the Dark Tower.
A handy thing on Signet paperbacks is that there will be a little rose in a keyhole on the back cover if the book has ties to the series.

>> No.6000348

>>6000317
>The sheriff's wife has all the documents of the mayor's misdeeds, knows he a violent and dangerous man
>Confronts him alone in his home without telling anyone where she is going

>That one bitch sobers up and goes to the town meeting with a gun out of the blue

>The doctor did something pants on head retarded too, but it escapes me

It's been 3 years since I read it, there may be more.

Also, what was the benefit of the inclusion of that cow kid part at all at the end?

>> No.6000354

>>6000341
It doesn't stop him from making tower references, i.e. bands named after gunslingers and roses

>> No.6000363

>>6000348
Don't forget the First Selectman going turning into a methhead guerilla

>> No.6000385

>>6000363
I actually get him becoming a methhead. He was vulnerable and had low self esteem, the drug addiction made sense.

The guerrilla part was dumb though.

>> No.6000394

>>6000354
Well that's something.
Anyway wasn't the book supposed to be a complete departure from his thriller/fantasy stuff? It's reasonable that he wouldn't put in the same supernatural elements and the lack thereof isn't really a convincing reason why the book was "shit."

>> No.6000519

>>6000394
>story based on the works of Lovecraft and Chambers
>departure from thriller/fantasy

Perhaps the lack of connection to the tower saga is a subjective criticism, but it's not the only problem I have with the book.

Why were we dragged through every band the protagonist played? I had to look up half the shit he talked about because, unlike King, i don't have a hard-on for 60s-70s bands.

I don't think King wrote the antagonist ( sorry, "fifth business") very well. I identified more with his desire to see his family than the Morton's shitty drug problems.

He shit on minor characters by killing him in ways that did not advance the narrative (was there any fucking reason for the black woman to die?).

Instead of getting descriptions of the strange afterlife that awaits us, we get one page of "lol big ants and teh old ones".

He can write good cosmic horror fiction. I fucking loved Buick 8 and N., but this one was just flawed from the get-go.

>> No.6000524

>>6000519
That's a pretty helpful criticism, now I know I don't need to read it.
I thought Buick 8 was pretty bad; N. was great though.

>> No.6000867

I can't believe I wasted so much time on The Dark Tower. The Gunslinger was great until that dumb magic ending and then the next three books, the only ones I read, were drug fuelled nonsense but they all had a point where it felt like he'd reached a checkpoint or something and had to wrap everything up as quick as possible. Really bad.

>> No.6000975

The Stand is his best novel, prove me wrong

>> No.6001061

>>6000975
The Stand is not The Dead Zone, which is his best novel.

>> No.6001211

>>6000975
I believe 'Salem's Lot proves you wrong much better than I could.

>> No.6001327

Can we all agree that Different Seasons is King's best work?

>> No.6001334

>>6000975
>>6001061
>>6001211
>>6001327

None of these are Christine

>> No.6001356

I felt Revival was something of a return to form for King. If he'd toned back on the Lovecraft slightly and paid attention to the age-old maxim of 'Less is more' it would have been a stellar effort.

Also 'The Stand' is like 5/10.

>> No.6001440

>>6001356
The Stand is 6/10 and you know it.

>> No.6001594

If you are older than 18 you probably shouldn't be reading Stephen King still

>> No.6001656

>>6001334

Christine was utter shit, how can you like it?

>> No.6001665

>>6001594
I don't see why not. Stephen King has no true literary merit, but I feel like reading his books is like watching a simple movie. If you truly love reading, you wouldn't care that it wasn't "advanced" as long as you enjoyed yourself reading it.

>> No.6001680

>>6001665

If you truly loved reading you wouldn't defile it by enjoying it.

>> No.6001686

>>6001665
>reading for enjoyment

>> No.6004270

>>6001061

This. (Or IT.)

>> No.6004274

>>5999688
>Can someone please tell Mr.King how to end books?

First, someone's gotta teach Ste'nking how to write.

>> No.6005745

>>6001686
>reading fiction for anything but enjoyment

>> No.6005767

>>6001334
All I'm hearing is Misery and Roadwork trump all of those pieces of Cujo-shit.

>> No.6005772

>>6004270
>12 year olds having an orgy
No thanks.

>> No.6005778

>>6001680
>holding reading to be sacred
Did you read Ulysses out of the fucking womb or something?

>> No.6005787
File: 209 KB, 1243x1224, boy scouts - that should be enough to make you think dirty thoughts and yes, it is just as bad as you think.jpg [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
6005787

>>6005772
Never read It (own it, though), but couldn't he have taken some other route in having them establish an emotional connection with each other instead of an orgy?

If I want to read about 12 year olds fucking, I'll read pic related, thank you very much.

>> No.6005800

>>5999688
>Can someone please tell Mr.King how to end books?
how about instead we tell the public to stop reading Stephen King?

>> No.6005805

>>6005787
>movie theater lad
Wasn't that a guy from /tv/?

>> No.6005810

>>6005800
While you're at it, tell the public to stop buying bottled water.

>> No.6005825

>>6005805
Not a clue, wasn't there when this was capped.

>> No.6005829

>>6005805
>/tv/
Don't you mean /TV/?

>> No.6005833

>>6005800
Shut up Bloom. Go give a lecture on the importance of Cervantes' farts or something.

>> No.6005845

In his book on writing, he says he never knows how a book is going to end when he starts it, which obviously doesn't make for the most well-constructed payoff conclusions.

>> No.6005857

>>6005845
I never understood this. He said he tried to plan out a book (with Insomnia and Rose Madder) and he dislikes them. Why? When you plan out a book you don't necessarily adhere to every last note you made.

Even so, you're really writing out in short points as you're going - not following a formula "A then B then C then D - nicht change allowed!". It would save him so many disappointing endings.