Stephen King: Revival

Art Andrews

Art Andrews

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Seriously, is there a better modern writer than Stephen King? Not for me! I have been reading his work for more than 25 years now and while he has certainly had a few misses along the way, there is NO one I would rather read! His latest book, Revival, was released on audiobook today (the only way I "read" anymore) and is being praised as "classic Stephen King." Can't wait to get into it and see what he has for us.

Who else is a fan and what is your favorite story from him?

Mine are:

Survivor Type from Skeleton Crew
Battleground from Night Shift
The Gunslinger (first book).
 
My dad's hooked on the Dark Tower series and read most of the main books, this year I got him one of the official guides that way he can see how far it spreads. I'm actually re-reading The Stand right now, it's the only book of his I own. I never really got into his stuff and only got into the Stand because it's post apocalyptic.
 
Big fan. Yes, he's had a few stinkers, especially after the van almost killed him, but he has been back for a few years.

I always wanted to make a film version of Battleground. I love the ending.

My favorites novels are:
The Shining
11/22/63
It
 
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The Dark Tower is practically my religion. I've loved 95% of his output, but The Dark Tower is wrapped up in my childhood reading life the same way Star Wars is wrapped up in my childhood action figure life. Which is to say, it looms pretty friggin large, since reading has always been my drug of choice.
 
I'm 36 and i have never seen my dad read a book as fast as he did the dark tower. It used to take him a year to finish a paperback but he burned through these and another author back to back. I think part of it is with him getting older it helps him focus but it's still an amazing change. Meanwhile my mom and i can burn through a book in a day or less lol. I may get into more of King's stuff, problem is all our used book stores are gone and i feel silly buying a book online for a penny and 3.99 to ship lol
 
Christine
It
Night Shift

Stephen King is probably the only fiction I read anymore, and the only fiction I have read with any consistency in my life. I did sort of "drop out" during what I consider his weak period in the 1990s and early 2000s when it seemed all of his books were about battered women or alcoholic (or otherwise injured or deranged) authors or otherwise didn't grab me (Gerald's Game, Rose Madder, Lisey's Story, Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon, Dark Half, Bag of Bones, etc.)

But I think he is much more than a horror writer - there is a real humanity to his work and he is like an old friend. And as I get older and recognize that there will come a day where there will be no more Stephen King books to look forward to, I am starting to go back and read those books I skipped over to give them a chance as well. Will pick up Revival after I finish Bag of Bones and Joyland.

M
 
It started with The Shining(read it when it came out) and was hooked! I then read everything previous to it and everything since. Hands down my favorite author, with Dean Koontz being a close second. Here are my favs:

1. The Stand. His best work in my opinion.
2. The Shining.
3. It.
4. The Mist.
5. The Body.

Too many more to mention, King Rocks!

Robert
 
I find King an easy read for me, his books just seem to flow. I Loved Insomnia. Another favorite of mine is Dean Koontz, he's got that vintage X-Files "Bleah" as you get a cold chill down your spine factor.
 
Yeah, Dark Tower is pretty amazing. I never read it until a few years ago, and I was stoked when he released The Wind Through the Keyhole. After spending a while on other books, and then reading the first paragraph.. the first PARAGRAPH... of TWTTK, and I found myself instantly whisked away to Mid-World again. It has a style all its own, and even with the years in between, King lost none of it when he went back to it again.

I'm more partial to his older stuff in general.. The Shining, Salem's Lot, Pet Sematary, etc. I'm also HUGE into his short stories (I have all of the collections), it's hard to pick a favorite from them.

Like Oneiros, I'm also a Koontz fan. Again, mostly the older stuff that I read years ago (I bought them all again now, of course). Watchers, Lightning, Phantoms, Midnight are all favorites. I also want to see him finish up the Moonlight Bay series.
 
I love Stephen King! Although I haven't read near as many of his books as I'd like, and I still haven't started on The Dark Tower series :facepalm

Some of my favorites are:

1. It
2. The Stand
3. The Mist
4. Dreamcatcher
5. The Shining
 
I've read many of King's short stories and novellas, and a couple of his books. I actually read Christine going into high school (it pretty much was the first grown up novel I read, and it prepared me for the hell that was High School), and read The Colorado Kid, which I liked because you didn't get a resolution to it. Amongst the novellas, I've read Dolan's Cadillac and The Mist (in fact my mom suggested it me because she felt I could do it as a film someday. Looks like Darabont beat me to it). In fact, I read Dolan's Cadillac back to back with Edgar Allan Poe's The Cask of Amontillado (because I had heard about how Poe's story influenced King's story, and I wanted to see the similarities myself). I've been meaning to getting around and reading another King tale, but I've got a few of his novels and short story collections and haven't decided on which to read yet.
 
Jedi2016 said:
Yeah, Dark Tower is pretty amazing. I never read it until a few years ago, and I was stoked when he released The Wind Through the Keyhole. After spending a while on other books, and then reading the first paragraph.. the first PARAGRAPH... of TWTTK, and I found myself instantly whisked away to Mid-World again. It has a style all its own, and even with the years in between, King lost none of it when he went back to it again.

I'm more partial to his older stuff in general.. The Shining, Salem's Lot, Pet Sematary, etc. I'm also HUGE into his short stories (I have all of the collections), it's hard to pick a favorite from them.

Like Oneiros, I'm also a Koontz fan. Again, mostly the older stuff that I read years ago (I bought them all again now, of course). Watchers, Lightning, Phantoms, Midnight are all favorites. I also want to see him finish up the Moonlight Bay series.
Click to expand...

I was so nervous when "Keyhole" was announced. I had that sinking "gonna ruin it all with a sequel" feeling. I needn't have worried. Like you I was immediately back in Mid-World. The next day I was through the book and happy as a man coming home from a long journey. (A few months after that I got a tattoo from the book :D I have three Dart Tower tats, in fact. Like I said, I really love the series!)

Those looking to break into King, I'd start with Night Shift, Skeleton Crew, and Different Seasons. Short stories are an easy way to get a feel for his style, and although I've enjoyed all his short story/novella collections (Four Past Midnight; Full Dark, No Stars, etc), I don't think he ever topped those three classics.
 
The first King book I read was Dead Zone so that will always hold a special spot in my heart. King is by far my favorite author. Koontz is hit and miss for me and I've enjoyed Dan Brown's books. I've been very busy lately so while I'm working, audiobooks has been a big treat for me. I'm currently going through the Dark Tower series on audiobooks and it's a really fun ride.

The Stand
11/22/63
and all of his short story collections.
 
As some of you may know, Joe Hill – the author of the book "Horns" on which the current Daniel Radcliffe movie is based – is Stephen King's son. I actually shied away from reading Joe Hill's work based on that fact figuring that he was probably somewhat sub par and it would be a disappointment to me after reading his father's books.

Well, I was wrong. I strongly recommend to anyone in this thread that they read NOS4A2. It is a truly terrific novel - reminiscent, in a way, of older Stephen King works, but also pretty original in its own right. Easily the best horror/fantasy fiction I have read in the past year or two. It grabbed me a lot more than most of the recent Stephen King books I have read – and this is speaking from someone who really enjoyed 11/22/63.

How to summarize? It's hard for me to put it into words in a way that will do it justice. So here is a brief summary from Amazon:

"Victoria McQueen has a secret gift for finding things: a misplaced bracelet, a missing photograph, answers to unanswerable questions. On her Raleigh Tuff Burner bike, she makes her way to a rickety covered bridge that, within moments, takes her wherever she needs to go, whether it’s across Massachusetts or across the country.

Charles Talent Manx has a way with children. He likes to take them for rides in his 1938 Rolls-Royce Wraith with the NOS4A2 vanity plate. With his old car, he can slip right out of the everyday world, and onto the hidden roads that transport them to an astonishing – and terrifying – playground of amusements he calls “Christmasland.”

Then, one day, Vic goes looking for trouble—and finds Manx. That was a lifetime ago. Now Vic, the only kid to ever escape Manx’s unmitigated evil, is all grown up and desperate to forget. But Charlie Manx never stopped thinking about Victoria McQueen. He’s on the road again and he’s picked up a new passenger: Vic’s own son."

M
 
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mkstewartesq said:
As some of you may know, Joe Hill – the author of the book "Horns" on which the current Daniel Radcliffe movie is based – is Stephen King's son. I actually shied away from reading Joe Hill's work based on that fact figuring that he was probably somewhat sub par and it would be a disappointment to me after reading his father's books.

Well, I was wrong. I strongly recommend to anyone in this thread that they read NOS4A2. It is a truly terrific novel - reminiscent, in a way, of older Stephen King works, but also pretty original in its own right. Easily the best horror/fantasy fiction I have read in the past year or two. It grabbed me a lot more than most of the recent Stephen King books I have read – and this is speaking from someone who really enjoyed 11/22/63.
Click to expand...

Never knew this! Will definitely give him a try!
 
So, I just finished Revival... and I am not sure what to think exactly. As always, King's writing about "real life" is absolutely fantastic and his way of capturing the human condition is second to none. However, as he has aged I find more and more of his stories mimicking what I can only assume is his life and view of it and he writes more about the process of aging than he does about weaving a suspenseful story. This reminded me a bit of Joyland, but with a bit more of a payoff at the end. I didn't care for Joyland at all as it just seemed like nothing happened in that story. With this book, nothing happens for about 9/10 of the story and then the last 1/10th is crammed with King style horror. There is a very interesting answer presented to the question of what happens to us after death that I haven't seen answered in quite the same way elsewhere, although this part of the story GREATLY reminded me of another story I stumbled upon; 14 by Peter Cline (seriously, you have probably never heard of this one, but you should check it out!).... but we had to go through a lot of "not much" to get to that ending. I almost feel like the ending could have been a great King short without all the "Here is the story of a man growing old" that made of the vast majority of the book. The end was great but I am not quite sure if the juice was worth the squeeze.
 
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