What are you reading

[Balor/SS1535]

and am beginning Misery by Stephen King.

This book scared the ever living shit out of me when I read it at 12 or so. I think  my favourite Stephen King book.

I like it a lot so far (so far it seems to be one of his better novels), though I think my perspective on the book has been altered a bit by the second season of Castle Rock.

Holy shit Lizzy Caplan really fucking stunk up that role. That accent will haunt me beyond the grave (and not in the good way!!). Terrible!!

No way, I thought she was great in the role!  It's been a long time since I have seen the movie version of Misery, but I really need to watch it again.

Now reading: 'Salem's Lot by Stephen King

[holy ghost]

]No way, I thought she was great in the role!  It's been a long time since I have seen the movie version of Misery, but I really need to watch it again.

Now reading: 'Salem's Lot by Stephen King

To each their own my friend! I don't think she's a particularly great actress at the best of times but I felt like the accent was way off and she was overacting at the best of times. I don't love the plot/mashup of the series to behind with so I'm biased - I also rarely appreciate Stephen King on the big screen. More often than not the movies are more miss than hit due to the fact that his books mostly rely on the inner monologue to drive the book and this is always hard to recreate on the big screen.....

[Balor/SS1535]

]No way, I thought she was great in the role!  It's been a long time since I have seen the movie version of Misery, but I really need to watch it again.

Now reading: 'Salem's Lot by Stephen King

To each their own my friend! I don't think she's a particularly great actress at the best of times but I felt like the accent was way off and she was overacting at the best of times. I don't love the plot/mashup of the series to behind with so I'm biased - I also rarely appreciate Stephen King on the big screen. More often than not the movies are more miss than hit due to the fact that his books mostly rely on the inner monologue to drive the book and this is always hard to recreate on the big screen.....

I think that the majority of movies based on Stephen King's books are just not that great, and that the exceptions (The Shining, Stand By Me) are good thanks to either the skill of the filmmaker or a willingness to make the movie really long.  I think that in addition to the emphasis on the internal dialogue in the books, the reason that the movies are rarely good is because King's ideas are often really close to being absurd - it is really easy to leave them sounding funny (like the Pet Semetary movies did).

[holy ghost]

Totally agree - look at Different Seasons. The Shawshank Redemption was a great film, Apt Pupil was a GREAT King story (really one of his best IMO) but that movie adaptation was awful.

[AnonMessAgeSage]

I see 'The Stand' as almost a prophecy of sorts, in all seriousness.

[Balor/SS1535]

Totally agree - look at Different Seasons. The Shawshank Redemption was a great film, Apt Pupil was a GREAT King story (really one of his best IMO) but that movie adaptation was awful.

I think that King's best stories have always been his realistic (or at least non-supernatural) stories.  Until I read Misery, Apt Pupil was my favorite of his works as well (never saw the movie though, but the trailer certainly did not look great).

And to continue on the realistic King trend, I am going to read Roadwork next.  I hadn't heard of that one until about a month ago, but it sounds interesting enough.

[Balor/SS1535]

I see 'The Stand' as almost a prophecy of sorts, in all seriousness.

In what way?  That a disease will be the ultimate death of humanity, that people will fracture into tribes of good and bad?

[AnonMessAgeSage]

I see 'The Stand' as almost a prophecy of sorts, in all seriousness.

In what way?  That a disease will be the ultimate death of humanity, that people will fracture into tribes of good and bad?

Yeah, it's just honestly superb writing.
Perhaps I'm wrong, but I sometimes feel that creative writers may have insight into the collective unconsciousness of events.

Maybe the events of The Stand won't occur at all, but if there were a next form of a global disease that wiped out most people, I definitely see people creating new societies.

Honestly, I'm just obsessed with some of the characters in that story. Right up there with H.P. Lovecraft.

[holy ghost]

Totally agree - look at Different Seasons. The Shawshank Redemption was a great film, Apt Pupil was a GREAT King story (really one of his best IMO) but that movie adaptation was awful.

I think that King's best stories have always been his realistic (or at least non-supernatural) stories.  Until I read Misery, Apt Pupil was my favorite of his works as well (never saw the movie though, but the trailer certainly did not look great).

And to continue on the realistic King trend, I am going to read Roadwork next.  I hadn't heard of that one until about a month ago, but it sounds interesting enough.

Have never read Roadwork either - please let me know what you think!

I agree on the supernatural take. Look at The Long Walk, Different Seasons, The Stand & Misery as some of his best. Even "subtle" spooky shit like The Dead Zone or Carrie play out better than others.

I also really like a lot of his short fiction - Night Shift is a great collection. I'd rank "I Know What You Need" and especially "Quitters, Inc" are among his best.

I will say the only King book I was unable to finish was The Talisman. Two guys should not be allowed to write a book together.

My basement flooded about a decade ago and I lost a lot of books that were in storage right when we bought out house, I've spent the last few years scouring used bookstores to rebuild my collection. Been a very fun game as vintage King has some of the best graphic design and the new editions just look so lousy!

[theworldisawarfilm]

Was away for most of July and finally got around to reading Tom O'Neil's book Chaos on the Manson murders and involvement of US intelligence. Was not able to put it down. Highest recommendations if these sorts of things interest you. Also happily tore through a collection of early PKD stories (Minority Report and others.)

[Balor/SS1535]

Totally agree - look at Different Seasons. The Shawshank Redemption was a great film, Apt Pupil was a GREAT King story (really one of his best IMO) but that movie adaptation was awful.

I think that King's best stories have always been his realistic (or at least non-supernatural) stories.  Until I read Misery, Apt Pupil was my favorite of his works as well (never saw the movie though, but the trailer certainly did not look great).

And to continue on the realistic King trend, I am going to read Roadwork next.  I hadn't heard of that one until about a month ago, but it sounds interesting enough.

Have never read Roadwork either - please let me know what you think!

I agree on the supernatural take. Look at The Long Walk, Different Seasons, The Stand & Misery as some of his best. Even "subtle" spooky shit like The Dead Zone or Carrie play out better than others.

I also really like a lot of his short fiction - Night Shift is a great collection. I'd rank "I Know What You Need" and especially "Quitters, Inc" are among his best.

I will say the only King book I was unable to finish was The Talisman. Two guys should not be allowed to write a book together.

My basement flooded about a decade ago and I lost a lot of books that were in storage right when we bought out house, I've spent the last few years scouring used bookstores to rebuild my collection. Been a very fun game as vintage King has some of the best graphic design and the new editions just look so lousy!

Night Shift was a great one, and I remember really liking Skeleton Crew as well (though it has been a while since I read both). 

I think the quality of the new editions really depend on the publisher - the Scribner editions have some really nice simple/clean cover designs.

I will let you know how Roadwork is!

[holy ghost]

Was away for most of July and finally got around to reading Tom O'Neil's book Chaos on the Manson murders and involvement of US intelligence. Was not able to put it down. Highest recommendations if these sorts of things interest you. Also happily tore through a collection of early PKD stories (Minority Report and others.)

Hell yeah Chaos was so great - read it last year and looooooved it!!

[Atrophist]

Just finished Ottessa Moshfegh's McGlue. It's a novella from 2014, first thing she's published. I've loved the black-heartedness and bitchiness of her later work. This one was a bit meh though, an alcoholic sailor in during the 19th Century may or may not have stabbed his gay lover to death during a blackout. Very well written, but totally predictable. Try Her Eileen instead if you're interested.

[host body]

Currently re-reading Gibsons Bridge trilogy and it's as good as I remember it being. It pretty much nails the cultural zeitgeist we live in now, the controlled chaos internet has brought to our lives. I also like how Gibson isn't that interested in describing how everything he's made up works, he's not trying to write hard SF where the often convoluted scientific concepts are on the forefront and the prose comes second. On the Bridge trilogy he's all about world building and setting a mood. What's important is how advanced technology affects the average person, you and me, and in my opinion he nails it. I can really relate to the main characters, living on the fringes of a high tech society, both benefiting from the technical advances and suffering from the inequality they bring. Brilliant stuff, highly recommended and I'd say the best science fiction of the 90s.

There's really only 3 scifi writers I find worth reading nowadays: Gibson, Dick and Ballard.

[FreakAnimalFinland]

Gibson, Dick and Ballard.

I consider myself fan of sci-fi. When I start to really think when I have last time read sci-fi, it often turns out that it has been Ballard. Even re-reading. Or just re-reading some dystopian classics, which always seems a bit different than when being read decade(s) earlier.

Been reading tons of books, but mostly in Finnish, which makes it slightly odd to talk about them in international forum.

This year, I have been reading a lot of poetry, essay collections and a bit of fiction by contemporary Finnish female authors. At first this may seem quite odd move to make, but there are actually included some of the absolute best book(s) I have read in years.