Stephen King

[Lindsey Klaus]

i have seen all the films but i havent read any book of him ..i think that i will start ti read his book .. which one do you recommend me?

Carrie is usually a good place to start. It was his first one. A little outdated, as it came out decades ago, but still really good. If you don't mind the length, It and The Talisman (wo-written with Peter Straub) are also excellent. Others would be The Dark Tower series and The Shining. Check out the descriptions and see which one interests you the most, they're all written really well.

[flaming_quills]

I've heard a lot about Stephen King but somehow I've never picked up a single book by him. I'm definitely going to check out some of the recommendations posted here.

[gah1223]

We've been talking a lot about It and I just want to highlight that, for the summer, it is the perfect coming-of-age story. Often, people call it a "horror" book, rather than the action/adventure story it really is. Horror, rather than a genre attribute, becomes a way for these children to overcome their own problems in their lives, thus propelling the adventure narrative. A must-read for any lover of a good adventure, It will compel you to think about your own childhood, and all its ups and downs.

[Lindsey Klaus]

We've been talking a lot about It and I just want to highlight that, for the summer, it is the perfect coming-of-age story. Often, people call it a "horror" book, rather than the action/adventure story it really is. Horror, rather than a genre attribute, becomes a way for these children to overcome their own problems in their lives, thus propelling the adventure narrative. A must-read for any lover of a good adventure, It will compel you to think about your own childhood, and all its ups and downs.

I completely agree with this. I think, as a society (at least in the US), we tend to idealize childhood and even puberty. It was a time of innocence and discovery. While that's definitely true, I think as we grow up we forget a lot of the darker sides of maturing and growing. I like that Stephen King has never shied away from the more tense, uncomfortable, and dark parts of that experience. While I don't always agree with his execution, Stephen King depicts childhood and growing up a lot more realistically in his horror novels than most actual coming-of-age stories. I mean, he also dramatizes quite a bit (as with most other coming-of-age stories), but that adds entertainment value and I feel very rarely that it's overly outside the scope of what a lot of teens, preteens, and younger people go through (you know, outside of the supernatural what-haves-you). Stephen King tends to remind us that childhood had a lot of crappy things, too. It wasn't just playing games, having less responsibility, and hanging out with your friends.

[amjohnson13mommy]

I have read The Shining 3 times (about once every ten years). But I read It while sitting in the hospital with my mom who was in day surgery when I was 15 and every time something was said over the intercom I jumped! And that says a lot since I am a horror movie fan.

[bespectacledpetal]

I have read all his books. My favorite was Salem's Lot

[Nym182]

The Dark Tower series is definitely one of my favorite book series in general. As for Stephen King specifically, I love the Stand and IT! And anytime I see connections in one book to another one of his books, I get super excited!

[NetMassimo]

I finished reading It a couple of days ago. I read it for the first time when the first Italian edition was published, in 1987, but after that I always had other books to read and its length discouraged me from reading it again. In the end this led me to relate even more to the protagonists in their return to Derry after so many years with their memories slowly returning. It wasn't an easy journey because it's a novel that gets under your skin with so many emotions that sometimes are tough but I'm happy I met the Losers again.

Occasionally I found Stephen King's novels overlong, which harmed the intensity I can feel in his best works but the way he uses different genres to tell fantastic stories - including some parts that can be disturbing - with memorable characters is amazing.

[casdill]

I personally never could get into his books. I tried so many times but just couldn't do it. At one point I'd collected nearly every popular title turned film, but couldn't do it. In high school I read The Shining to within 200 pages of being finished but just could not suffer through it anymore. I'm one of those that shares the opinion his stuff is overly long without substance or scare. His stories *do* make decent films though, I've always thought he should stick to screenwriting. One of his episodes of The X-Files is one of my favorites, so I am definitely a fan of his storytelling in visual media.|

Something I've also heard a few times is that you either like King or you like Koontz. My fiance got me to read a Koontz book last year, I'm still working on it, but it's much easier to read and follow that King in my opinion. It doesn't have the creepy vibe I want in a really good horror novel, but, I don't want to fall asleep while reading it lol.

[Dragonsend]

He's easily one of my favorite authors. I absolutely love The Talisman that he wrote with Peter Straub - it makes me cry every time I read it. There's also classics like On Writing and Carrie.

The first full Stephen King book I read was Misery. I was 13, on a reading binge, and needed to see what the big deal was. I'd also seen the creepy movie and wanted to see how different it was (Kathy Bates still gives me chills, years later). I've been a fan ever since (which is ironic, considering what Misery is about...). My sister raves about him, too. I would've never gotten into Stephen King if she hadn't read me parts of It growing up, so my curiosity was already peaked.

Does anyone else remember the first Stephen King book they read?

The SHINING, TERRIFYING!!!

[Karen Crumley]

My favorites are Cujo and The Shinning.

[Lindsey Klaus]

He's easily one of my favorite authors. I absolutely love The Talisman that he wrote with Peter Straub - it makes me cry every time I read it. There's also classics like On Writing and Carrie.

The first full Stephen King book I read was Misery. I was 13, on a reading binge, and needed to see what the big deal was. I'd also seen the creepy movie and wanted to see how different it was (Kathy Bates still gives me chills, years later). I've been a fan ever since (which is ironic, considering what Misery is about...). My sister raves about him, too. I would've never gotten into Stephen King if she hadn't read me parts of It growing up, so my curiosity was already peaked.

Does anyone else remember the first Stephen King book they read?

The SHINING, TERRIFYING!!!

That's a good one! Very different from the movie!

[gabzgrl89]

One of the books I've read by Steven King was "Bag of Bones" it's a horror/supernatural thriller. More psychologically unsettling than scary. It's a really good book! The movie made really is a good portrayal of the book. I would definitely recommend it. I have "Dreamcatcher" on the book shelf, but have not read it yet. Also, "Talisman." I have the book "Sleeping Beauties" however it's a large novel and a dense read. It's good, just more involved than other books of his. "Sleeping Beauties" is well written and beautifully articulated. There are so many good Stephen King books.

[Anna1512]

I liked the most "The green mile". It's amazing how King makes you feel attachment to many characters;even if they have committed orrible crimes you can't avoid to feel compassion. I like that the plot is less surreal than other King's books. It is a book that made me think a lot about death penalty

[Jade1692]

I'm sure someone has mentioned this already, but I really enjoyed Pet Sematary, mostly for it's realism and the desperate desire to cheat death and the madness grieving can cause. It was brilliant, though it was one of the first King books I read and I was rather surprised at the demon-spider creature Pennywise turned out to be. Needful Things was probably my favourite for sheer terror and how an innocent thing like childhood items could cause a town to turn against itself. I read 'Salem's Lot, but I was so young I don't remember much of it at all, besides I had to sleep with a nightlight on for a while . The only King book that I know I didn't enjoy much was The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon, but I'm not a huge fan of baseball and the novel seemed to move slowly. Rose Madder was an interesting concept.