Stephen King shows his true colors
344645
Stephen King is a troublesome author for me.  Many of his books are just terrible.  However, every now and then he does something good, like The Stand or Misery.  11/22/63 started out as very interesting to me.  I love time travel and he paints a compelling picture of the 50's with the good and bad of that time.  However, he just can't help himself from making it more of a political statment than just a good read.  Fairly early in the book, his main character is in Texas in the late 50's and has found a group called the tea party who are excessively racist. Really?!??!!  I have the book on audio and stuck with the audio book through all but two hours, and could not go on.  If you are a conservative and want to feel insulted, disgusted, incredulous and just plain mad as hell, then go ahead and read this.  Spoiler alert!  The point of the book is time travel to go back and stop the assisination of Kennedy.  In one of his travels back the main character does that with strange butterfly effects on the rest of the world.  One was that those damn Republicans worked against civil rights, George Wallace becomes President and there is pretty much an apocalypse which can be laid at the feet of the right wingers.  It makes me tired.  I think Mr. King has pretty much lost all touch with reality.  He is old enough and smart enough to know that in fact it was the Democrats who worked tirelessly against civil rights legislation. He forgot to mention people like Robert Byrd, the revered Democratic leader and former KKK leader, who personally fillabustered the Civil Rights Act of 1964 for 14 hours.  He also forgot to mention anywhere in the book that it was the Republicans who got the historic civil rights legislation passed in spite of the Democratic opposition. And let's not forget that George Wallace, the extremely racist crazy bigot, was again a Democrat.  It's like Stephen has decided to try to rewrite history as he believes it should have been, with the left as the good guys and the conservatives again the racist angry stupid dangerous people.  His heroine ends up a Community Organizer.  Ah yes, he has set the world right making history conform to his personal politics.  I stopped 2 hours short of finishing the book, and will never ever pick up another Stephen King book.
4060924
This is Stephen King at his best. Great characters with so human flaws, creepy "people" to make you leave the light on at night and not look out the windows, and a gripping story. Besides, after all the gore, the good guys win.
1334336
I finally caught up with "Just After Sunset", Stephen King's 2008 collection of stories, and had as good a time as I always do with King's occasional compilations of his shorter works.  This one has 13 stories, and a generous amount of entertaining, illuminating notes at the end, giving us a glimpse of where the stories came from.  The stories run the gamut: horror, black comedy, character studies, ghost tales, and- as I'm sure won't surprise you- stories that skillfully combine two or more of these areas.  Some tales are more memorable than others, but there's not a clunker in the bunch.

I actually listened to the audiobook version of "Just After Sunset", and it's a top-notch production, delivering memorable readings by skilled narrators such as Jill Eikenberry, Ron McLarty, Mare Winningham, and George Guidall.  Even Stephen King himself reads a story (as well as the closing notes), and he's not bad.  I especially appreciated the fact that there's a short musical interlude between each story, which lets the impact of one story linger for a few seconds before the next one begins.  It's a nice touch that I wish was employed more often in audiobooks of story collections.

If you've never read Stephen King before, this would be a good book to get a representative sample of the kind of work he regularly produces.  As well as the wide range of genres already mentioned, there's also a wide range of moods and styles here, echoing the variety of moods and styles that appear throughout King's vast catalog.  For example, a subtle and lyrical character study about a middle-class girl dealing with the hostility she's feeling from her rich boyfriend's blue-blood parents will shortly be followed by a vulgar, profane tale of a guy locked in a porta-potty by his insane neighbor.  Both stories are quite good, but for very different reasons.

But whether you read or listen to "Just After Sunset", it's safe to say that you'll experience a book that you won't immediately shake off.  Stephen King's books tend to linger for a day or two after you finish them, and this one was no exception, at least in my case.  Experience the haunting characters and situations in "Just After Sunset" and see if you agree.
2340365
For those of us who enjoyed Stephen King's novel, The Shining, we finally get to see the original story unfold in this version starring Steven Weber.
Accompanied by a great cast, Steven Weber is astounding in the role of Jack Torrence. Unlike the Jack Nicholson version of the character, Weber brings a subtle intensity to the story. We don't feel like we are simply watching a horror movie psycho lurch around with an axe in search of someone to bloody up. Instead, we watch as Weber convincingly humanizes the character of Jack Torrence, and deftly conveys all of the conflicts that are brewing inside of him; the struggle with alcoholism, the need to be a good parent, the desire to succeed in life despite a father's harsh criticism, and the battle to remain sane in a hotel full of ghosts. By the end of the story, you find that despite everything, you are rooting for Jack Torrence, hoping he will beat the odds and all of the demons that torment him.
This version of "The Shining" will pull you in and entertain you every step of the way.
1338815
The story is typical King - ordinary people thrust into extraordinary circumstances and how they react. There are the "good" characters, the ones we want to believe we would be like in that situation, and the "bad" characters whose hidden flaws come to the surface when societal rules are removed. It is excellent story-telling, as usual, without some of Stephen King's rather graphically harsh description - a mellowing influence from Owen King? The only reason I did not give it 5 stars is the ending. It was more fizzle than fireworks. But still, the book was worth the hardcover price, something I say about very few authors.
2000387
Finally the master story teller is back in form. The early portion of the book rambles just a bit , but I guess necessarily so , as it sets the scene for everything else that follows. I will try to stay away from anything that would be a spoiler . Dan Torrance is now a grown man troubled by alcoholism and his own history. The first part tells of his attempts to overcome the alcohol  addiction.,then he begins to receive mysterious messages from a young girl with even more of a shine. Eventually they will join forces to battle against a cult of ancient people called the True Knot, who have been kidnapping and torturing children for many years . Stephen King again at his best.
2609461
I loved this book!  Stephen King is a great storyteller. A true artist which surprises me over and over again.
543066
Stephen King did a good thing by writing this book. The charcters and cast
are wonderful, This is one of my all time favorite, what goes on behind the walls of a prision.
435241
I've been reading Stephen King since I was a young teen and thought he had lost his touch but Dr. Sleep and Mr. Mercedes indicate that he is back to his old self again.  SK has a way of drawing the reader into the story and making us feel connected to the characters that I've not found with many, if any, other authors.  Dr. Sleep was a great way to finish Dan Torrance's story that started all those years ago at a remote resort in the mountains and finally comes full circle from New Hampshire back to Sidewinder.  It's worth the time and the "dime" especially if you've read The Shining.  Enjoy!
2538373
For years my mother wouldn't read any Stephen King novels because she was convinced they were all too weird.  However, I did convince her to read this one and she was instantly smitten as a fan by the time she was done.  The only "weird" aspect of this tale is that the hero is clairvoyant.  His powers become hyper charged when he is in a horrendous car crash that leaves him in a coma for four and half years.  When he finally wakes, he discovers that just by touching someone or some object, he can see exactly what happened or will happen to that person.  The story is about all of the events that happen to him when using this new power.

There is also a love story aspect, which is unusual for King.  It's not a major part of the story but it is nicely done what is there.  This was made into a movie starring a young Christopher Walken before he became typecast as villains and mobsters later in his career.  Walken did a great job and "Dead Zone" is as different for him as it was different for King.  Both the novel and the film are excellent and you can't go wrong with either.  I recently saw the film on DVD again and it held up beautifully to when I'd seen it when it first came out decades ago.

Visit my blog with link given on my profile page here or use this phonetically given URL (livingasseniors dot blogspot dot com). Friday's entry will always be weekend entertainment recs from my 5 star Amazon reviews in film, tv, books and music. These are very heavy on buried treasures and hidden gems. My blogspot is published on Monday, Wednesday & Friday.
2180870
I picked up Stephen King's latest novel Joyland from the library the other day. I had to double-check when this came out, as the cover looks like something out of the hardboiled crime genre. I wondered if I was stepping back into his past to pick up something on his backlist. But no... it's current, and it's excellent. King absolutely nails his characters, their settings, and that supernatural twist that he's so good at...

The story is set in a small town in 1973, and follows the life of Devin Jones. He's in college, as well as in a long-distance relationship that seems to be falling apart. For a summer job, he ends up working at the Joyland amusement park, a throwback to times when thrills were easier to come by and the carnival subculture was strong. To him, it becomes more than a job, and the hardcore carnies start to treat him as one of their own. As the summer winds down, he becomes obsessed with a story about a murder that took place on one of the rides before his time. His digging apparently starts getting close to what truly happened that day, and it becomes clear that someone isn't thrilled that a long-buried truth may come to light.

There are a number of things going on in Joyland that make it work on so many levels. King did an outstanding job in capturing the carnie subculture in attitude and language. That was worth the price of admission on its own. But woven throughout the crime drama are wonderful stories of friendship and love that Devin comes to know through a terminally ill child and his mother.

Joyland is a relatively quick paperback read, but I recommend you make sure you don't have any other plans once you start it. The book falls squarely into the "couldn't put it down/read it on one sitting" category.

Disclosure:
Obtained From: Library
Payment: Borrowed
494717
There are few writers that can capture the imagination of their readers as well as Stephen King. Carrie is, as told by Stephen, a rough and raw novel written by a younger writer whose craft is taking form. But if books are judged by the level of visceral tenacity and wild idea-slinging, Carrie ranks highly in the halls of fiction.
The yarn, if one considers a pulp-like horror story as such, lies between deep western boogie myth and an admittedly unpolished slant on the effects of ridicule on the female psyche. It will win very little approval from literature critic circles but it possesses more of the deeper truths than most books would ever have. That speaks of pure boldness, almost as if Stephen King has a bead on the topic like someone having a feud.
His heart and mind knows paranoia and yet he feels at home, or even in the right place, when darkness is involved. We feel for the awkwardness of Carrie, and in a high school setting where that almost always equates to social outcasting, creating a tense, invoking scenario that unfolds and captures.
At first glance, the clunky nature of the ideas does force the reader to perceive them as afterthoughts, not constructed in any sort of coherent logic, but they do provide a glimpse into a writer's workings. The seeming explanations for Carrie's awkwardness in school, with the rigid religious beliefs of her parents being a large part, are not as concrete in the way Thriller novels explain, but mostly vague clouds that form a shape of terror. It is a tribute to Clive Barker or Jack Ketchum's school where terror lies there's always a source of grief.
The grief is in many ways a precursor to the actions of the characters, whether good or bad, and belies the pragmatism of these Stephen King books. The cause and effect of what these characters do are rooted in grief, and sometimes guilt. Some express them in anger-like Carrie herself- and some in repentant resolve, but as in real life, but people never have great vision, or a sense they would get there in the end, spurring a microscopic view of a realist's ideal that life is unexpected and sometimes cruel.
The climax and the ending may have been constructed with more technical aplomb but it really carried on the record that Stephen King already had set in place. The book must end in darkness and despair, but even he had the sensitivity to inject a little hope, or at least a movement of progress to the future, a grim future that our dull reality could well have hidden. A worthy piece of reprieve from terror written by the master of dark stories, has to be remembered even if it lacks literature credibility.
321314
Not what I expected, but a good one as always from Stephen King.
3467042
Stephen King writes in such rich textures, his prose creates a reality in your head that is high definition.  This one is one of his best and although nothing can match his Dark Tower series, this one pays its dues.
109139
Isolation is about a family that is looking for a quiet getaway, but ends up getting trapped in a mansion that hides many secrets, some of which are definitely scary and unwelcome.

As other reviewers have posted here, this is one of those books that you read at night at your own peril. Although the book does not contain any outright gratuitous horror, the hints at evil deeds gone by and threats both real and imagined in the present are more than enough kindling for anyone with an imagination.

As Thrasher points out in the acknowledgments, he is a huge Stephen King fan, and Isolation will surely please fans of The Shining. I enjoyed Isolation, and read it in two sittings, as many sections of it are in the not-put-downable category. It will make you stay up later than you want, and regret it because now you're alone in the dark.
118570
I recommend this to those who understand that Stephen King transcends horror. He knows how to write characters you care about, root for, cry for and those you despise.
He is quite simply a master storyteller, a great escape.
3964009
This is the first Stephen King book I ever read.  And now that I have read it, I am a faithful follower of King and anticipate reading more of his novels, both those he has already written and any he may be yet to write.  The storyline is excellent, not quite as believable (!) as Desperation, and  with a really poor ending, but if you put aside these flaws and simply  read, you will not be disappointed.