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That's what I was trying to say, albeit ineptly. King isn't either of those guys, but he's better than Tom Clancey or James Patterson. King has written a few books that I would consider genuinely good -- it's not all just cultural detritus.
HE'S NO DAN BROWN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I loved Jane Eyre.
Yeah these are largely odd picks for like, the worst book someone ever read. Steinbeck "unreadable?" He's the most readable dude ever!
I get that you're a caveman and all, but you've only ever read 1 book?
Yeah, that was pretty bad.
Not shtick. Cliff's notes were my friend when I was assigned reading in school (except that one time we had to read in class). I get bored/distracted too easily, or fall asleep. Just don't enjoy it at all.
I feel very sad for you.Not shtick. Cliff's notes were my friend when I was assigned reading in school (except that one time we had to read in class). I get bored/distracted too easily, or fall asleep. Just don't enjoy it at all.
I've had 2 bosses (including my current one) who basically required I read "The Phoenix Project". I'm out.
For the record my opinion of Steinbeck was set at 15 - at that time I cared about girls, soccer, and school. Definitely in that order. Agree on Rand, BTW. She's a blowhard.
Not The Red Badge of Courage or Johnny Tremaine? Woof.
You're just gonna luuuuvvvvv Emily Dickinson. Loathing is not a strong enough word.
Rage was one of the best pieces of fiction I’ve ever read. Yes, it should be banned, but it’s incredible how insanely close he gets into the mind of a school shooter before such horrendous acts happen as a commonplace.I about crapped myself about a month ago when i came across a hardcover of The Bachman books at our small town library for $1. Someone must have recently donated it.When Stephen King passes, the ensuing debates about his legacy as a writer are going to be fascinating. There's no doubt that he's written a lot of mediocre books and more than his fair share of dreck. But if you pick from the upper tier, you can assemble of body of work that any author not named Hemingway or Nabakov would be proud of.I can’t stand king. He is the anti Orwell. He’ll turn “the room was dark”, into 12 pages.Whoa. This is my favorite book of all-time. Have happily read all 1093 pages multiple times.
I'm racking my brain for an answer, but I truly believe every book I didn't enjoy I just stopped reading. Even recalling back to college or high school where teachers required certain books to be read, I can't remember one being really awful I hate it by the end. Maybe The Odyssey if I had to pick one but, frankly, that's because I disliked my teacher and she focused on that book for a large part of the semester.
I like books (though law school killed any desire that I have to read for "fun").
For example, I would argue that It and The Stand are legitimate all-time classics that are likely to still be read 50 years from now. Probably ditto for The Shining and Salems Lot.
Or, consider the Bachman Books. These are four novellas written under an assumed name, but look at how much cultural significance is packed into a volume that most people barely even remember:
Did The Tommyknockers suck? Yep. Does King know how to write an ending? Nope. Is the median King novel essentially an airplane book? I think so. Should Stephen King be kept far, far away from movie sets? Definitely. But there are some real gems there.
- The Long Walk. This story has absolutely no mindshare among the general public, and it is almost never mentioned when discussing King's work, but pretty much ever male our age knows this story and has opinions about it.
- The Running Man. The movie was great, cheesy, 1980s fun. But everybody who has read the novella remembers the click-clack of the typewriters, the envelopes, the black Irish, the airplane, etc. The book barely even resembles the movie, and while the movie is good, the book is an order of magnitude better.
- Roadwork. Okay, not every short novel is memorable.
- The fourth story (Rage) is no longer available for sale anywhere, but you can make a strong argument that it had more impact on American culture than any work of fiction written by any author in the second half of the 20th century.
I agree with your post about 90%. Where i seem to differ from the masses is I have no love for his longer works or series. They have brilliant parts, but as a whole I think all of It, The Stand, and Dark Tower are bloated and meandering. Imo he is at his best in that 300-400 page range, or his short stories. Different Seasons needs a mention here too.
Ugh, you’re giving me PTSD. The same teacher assigned us Emily Dickinson afterwards. I couldn’t do it.
Because I could not stop for Death, He kindly stopped for me.
No it shouldn't. And it hasn't. King simply let it fall out of print. I assume he felt somehow partially responsible for subsequent school shootings, which is ridiculous, but he feels what he feels. If he thought no longer making new copies available would somehow eliminate or even reduce gun violence, he was sadly mistaken.
Ah, that’s right, that was a myth.
Why? I'm fine with it.I feel very sad for you.Not shtick. Cliff's notes were my friend when I was assigned reading in school (except that one time we had to read in class). I get bored/distracted too easily, or fall asleep. Just don't enjoy it at all.
I've had 2 bosses (including my current one) who basically required I read "The Phoenix Project". I'm out.
It's the only book I ever read start to finish. I didn't hate the book, I hated reading it.
Damn, I didn't know it was going for that much $. I will need to look again when I get home, but that looks exactly like what I just got for $1 at the library. The one I got actually looks less roughed up than that.
Dang, now I’ve got The Yellow Rose of Texas stuck in my head. Apparently, the cadence Dickinson wrote all of her poems in matches up with that tune almost perfectly.
Glad you did. For me it was god awful.I loved Jane Eyre.
You can get it cheaper on eBay.
For those of you thinking of Infinite Jest based on the time investment/value equation, I can see the argument if it didn't resonate with you or you were frustrated by the lack of closure. I personally loved it, and could continue reading it just for the prose without it having any point at all.
Cheaper than $1??
That equation wouldn't apply to me because I wouldn't read something I hated past a few hundred pages. Then it is bail out time.
When I was a more avid reader, I always felt like I was doing the author a disservice by not finishing their work. Like I wasn't giving them a fair shake or something. That led to me finishing a bunch of books that I didn't care much for.
For me most is the time commitment. I finish most movies because it's a couple hours. I am not the fastest reader so by the time I am getting to pages 250+ I have sunk in multiple hours. I feel I've given it a fair shake at that point and I've got other things to read and watch. TV shows I am so gun shy of due to shows falling off a cliff 1/2 way through their run time and I am stuck in 20+ hours into it. With a rare exception like The Expanse, I don't even bother trying with shows now.
ironic i had to hit the button to take you off ignore to read this post.
The short novel seems to be the sole territory of young adult fiction these days and it's rare to find a non-fiction book that's less than 400 pages.
Unless they were required reading, even recognizing many of these books makes you an avid reader, imo.
Not shtick. Cliff's notes were my friend when I was assigned reading in school (except that one time we had to read in class). I get bored/distracted too easily, or fall asleep. Just don't enjoy it at all.
maybe 1 a month? i've been a reader all my life, largely non-fiction, but not reading at the incredible pace of some other people i know.
