My Long Walk Through Stephen King's Lot

      Since this book is still fairly new, I’ll do my best to share my thoughts without divulging too much about the story, especially the ending.           My initial feeling upon finishing it is that it’s a perfectly decent novel, but nothing special.  It is crisply written and a fast, easy read, but ultimately this is a fairly thin story that lacks a solid payoff.  I hate to describe it that way, but given its intriguing premise and set-up, it’s hard to see it any other way. The Outsider is not a scary novel.  It's dark and grim, like much of King's work.  It's disturbing, for sure, but not frightening.  I didn't care that it didn't creep me out; that is a quality I always view as a bonus in King's writing, but hardly ever the primary thing I seek.  The trouble for me is that the novel is also neither terribly thrilling nor emotional.  This fact is a bit peculiar, esp...

  The book I’ve primarily been focused on reading over the last few weeks is Stephen King’s newest, The Outsider .   More to come on that soon!   But while doing that, a funny thing happened: I also ended up completing a rather quick re-read of Misery .   When I go to the gym (which is basically now just on weekends), I like to take a paperback with me, for those long slogs on the exercise bike or treadmill.   Sometimes I try to read my psych books to enhance my studies, but isn’t it much more rewarding to read something fun?     At any rate, Misery was the latest book I brought with me, and I burned through it in no time.   I’ve read it once before, as a teenager.   It was a book I’d always intended to revisit at some point, given that it shone in my memory as one of King’s finest novels.   Boy, is it ever!   Misery is compulsively readable, the true definition of a page-turner.   It moves with impressive mom...

Prior to beginning the next Stephen King novel I plan to dive into (which is one I am very excited about), I got the idea to pause and do a quick re-read of 1922 .  I wanted to finally watch the recent Netflix adaptation, which I heard was quite good, and figured it would be fun to get a refresher on the story and then see how the movie version measures up. The novella, one of four excellent stories that comprise Full Dark, No Stars , is one I hold in high regard.  Reading it again definitely affirmed my appreciation for it. 1922 is one of King’s absolute darkest stories.  It is an interesting work; uncompromisingly bleak and disturbing, yet deeply moralistic at its core.  Because it is so stark and grounded in its realism, it serves as an effective cautionary tale. (At least three of the four stories in Full Dark, No Stars are more or less realistic, devoid of much in the way of supernatural elements.  The “haunted” as...

  One of the coolest and most noteworthy things about Stephen King’s writing is just how many great books he’s written.   That statement probably sounds obvious, given his popularity, reputation, and the lengthy span of his professional career.   But what I mean to get at is that King has written a substantial number of great books that don’t spring immediately to mind.   He has produced a fair number of “gems” that are far less discussed or lauded than stuff like Carrie, The Stand, Pet Sematary, The Shining , etc.   A lot of authors have a relatively small number of great books to their names, and that’s nothing to shake a stick at.   But one of the pleasures in exploring King’s literary oeuvre is that you keep finding yourself impressed by books you might not have expected.   I recently had this experience with Duma Key .   This was a first read for me.   My essential, immediate reaction is that it’s a book which holds true to m...

Soon I’ll be posting my thoughts about the King novel I’m currently reading.   I’m just about finished; I have less than a hundred pages to go.   It’s definitely a good one, so I’ll be eager to share my thoughts on it. In the meantime, given that it’s been so long since I posted anything, I figured I’d share my current top ten list of King novels.   I wanted to do this somewhat early on in my blogging journey, thinking it might be neat to see how the list evolves over time as I continue reading King’s books.   This isn’t necessarily a list of my “favorite” King novels, but rather my attempt to identify those I think are his “best.”   This kind of task is notoriously difficult, particularly when you are a fan of the work you’re assessing.  I also realize it's a silly exercise.  But what can I say?  I love lists, and it's fun to make them!  At any rate, after much debate, this is my attempt to highlight the novels I consider to b...

  Before I started this blog, I imagined I would only write about Stephen King’s books.   But King’s work is frequently adapted to the screen—for better or worse—and occasionally the movies are worth examining. Not many of them, mind you, but some; particularly those which are ambitious attempts to tackle some of King’s most well-established and highly revered works.   Something, say, like the recent big-screen adaptation of IT .   I didn’t go see the movie when it was in theaters, which speaks to a curious fact about me at this stage of life.   If I were 15 years younger, I’d have been there in a heartbeat.   But life changes, and the things I like doing often get lost in the shuffle of managing everything I feel I need to do.     This weekend, however, I had a few hours to spare, and I allowed myself to factor in something I’d like to do, and that was most definitely to sit and experience “IT.”   I’ve mentioned the book in p...

It took me longer to get through the second half of Rose Madder than I anticipated.   This is not so much a criticism of the book as it is a reflection of my busy life at the current time.   Lately, I’ve had to put reading on the back burner more than I like to.   My hope is that once my internship is finished in May, I’ll be able to dive back into reading to the extent that I really enjoy.     That said, while my schedule was the primary hindrance, I confess that I did lose a bit of interest in the book as it progressed.   The funny thing is, at least in its broad strokes, the story actually evolved the way I hoped it would.   The supernatural elements of the novel don’t play (quite) as big a part as I suspected they might, and the suspense/thriller aspects essentially drive most of the latter part of the book.   I very much liked the grounded nature of the early sections of the novel, and I was pleased that a lot of that is r...