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| Posted By : Frank - 4/22/2008 12:01 PM | | OK, so I'm finally reading my first piece of Stephen King fiction (I read his On Writing seven years ago) and it's Rage from The Bachman Books, which I heard you can only buy used now because of too many school shootings in America scaring the publisher out of keeping it in print. I'm only on chapter 6 but I have to admit, reluctantly, it's good (so far).
I say reluctantly because I've put off reading any of King's fiction until now. I was always turned off by so many people trying to shove King down my throat, especially people who hadn't read much else. How many people do you know fit the following description:
Thirty or fourty-something, slightly trashy but they don't know it, listening to exactly the same music they did in their teens (and nothing else, they still believe its The Only Music Worth Listening To), and they become aggitated when the radio station they've been listening to all their lives (usually classic rock) plays something new and they don't know their radio can actually pick up other stations (and when confronted by someone with this very suggestion, an uncomfortable silence follows in which they secretly decide they never want to speak to that person again), on their living room wall (above the seventy dollar futon from Walmart, upon which they expect you to be comfortable for the whole night that they invited you over to do a horror movie marathon) is an old poster of their favorite fantasy painting which they've moved with several times and used to be on their bedroom wall at their parents' house (and their ultimate interior decorating goal is to one day have it framed but not even buy a new copy of the print, just frame the same old torn-at-the-edges poster), they have only one book shelf in the entire apartment/house and it's half full of videos/CDs and the only books on it are all by Stephen King (and maybe one odd title by Dean Koontz) and they go on and on about how "you've gotta read his stuff... it's so cool and weird" blah blah blah (then they usually grab one title off the shelf and proceed, to my horror, to explain their version of the plot... AAAAAHHHHH!!!!!!! GET ME OUTOF HERE!!!).
My point is, they wouldn't know if King was any good cuz they haven't read anything else (except The Outsiders in middle school cuz they had to, and anyway they became slightly curious when the quiet weird kid with long hair who sits in the back corner of the class said it was a cool book).
To my dismay, I've known at least half a dozen people just like this in my life and all of them (and several others not at all like them) have tried to get me to read King, going so far as to lend me their precious beat up paperbacks (and saying, "but remember I want this back").
So, because King has always been, in my eyes, the author for people who don't read I've been reluctant to try his fiction, even though I did thoroughly enjoy his On Writing and Nathan on this board (who strikes me as a smart fellow) has suggested The Dark Tower to me in the past. (Or was that Rob who made the suggestion...hmmm...) |
| Posted By : nathan - 4/22/2008 12:11 PM | 
Frank missed you man.
Rage was always one of my favorites. Got voice? Yep. It was also--baring Here There Be Tygers (I think) one of the first things he ever wrote and his first novel period.
If you like Rage (and how prophetic was that piece of 1969/1970 fiction anyway?) then stick to the Bachman books for a bit. Long Walk and Running Man have that same intimate voice, cynical world view and flashes of grotesque poetry. Plus they're dystopian, 15-minutes-into-the-future-SF with the horror having to do more with tone than supernatural threat.
In fact, as you finish one, read another author then come back to me for your next King reading--I'll guide you through his bibliography like a Dutch navigator around the Horn of Africa.  [history geeks get my joke? anyone, anyone?)
VIEW IMAGE
"Writing the wet dreams of teenage boys" - Lindsey Llyod, Tangent Reviews
Tarantino himself has been forward and unapologetic about his influences. In a 1994 interview with Empire magazine, he said, "I steal from every single movie ever made. If people don't like that, then tough tills, don't go and see it, all right? I steal from everything. Great artists steal, they don't do homages." |
| Posted By : Lyn - 4/22/2008 12:41 PM | To "round the Horn" - in metaphorical terms - is to navigate a particularly difficult passage. It comes from the actual harrowing experiences of sailors navigating their way around the perilous waters of Cape Horn, South America (not Africa, which is the Cape of Good Hope, btw) named for the city of Hoorn in the Netherlands. It was discovered and first rounded by Willem Schouten, a Dutchman, on Jan. 29, 1616.
Lyn from ResAliens
Own a copy of Strange Worlds of Lunacy - Galaxy's Silliest Antho today! |
| Posted By : nathan - 4/22/2008 12:59 PM | 
Love it! I was hoping someone would mention the Flying Dutchman thus getting the ironic twist of my promising to navigate anyone through anything--but really--full geek points madam!
VIEW IMAGE
"Writing the wet dreams of teenage boys" - Lindsey Llyod, Tangent Reviews
Tarantino himself has been forward and unapologetic about his influences. In a 1994 interview with Empire magazine, he said, "I steal from every single movie ever made. If people don't like that, then tough tills, don't go and see it, all right? I steal from everything. Great artists steal, they don't do homages." |
| Posted By : Frank - 4/22/2008 1:27 PM | | Wow. I'm duely impressed. (Yes, I'm an amateur history nerd, but my knowledge is slight. Still working on it...) |
| Posted By : Bill Ward - 4/24/2008 12:25 AM | Stop mistaking Lyn for the fairer sex! He's got Kirk on his avatar for crying out loud, a man who sweats testosterone.
Glad to see you back on the forums Frank. King is great, don't let his popularity fool you into thinking otherwise. Starting with the Bachman books is an unusual entre into King, but I think his early, raw stuff -- and especially his shorts and novellas -- are some of his best.
billwardwriter.com |
| Posted By : nathan - 4/24/2008 4:07 PM | I meant mad man.
VIEW IMAGE"Writing the wet dreams of teenage boys" - Lindsey Llyod, Tangent Reviews
Tarantino himself has been forward and unapologetic about his influences. In a 1994 interview with Empire magazine, he said, "I steal from every single movie ever made. If people don't like that, then tough tills, don't go and see it, all right? I steal from everything. Great artists steal, they don't do homages." |
| Posted By : Frank - 4/25/2008 11:52 AM | OK, finished Rage and halfway through The Long Walk.
Rage was very effective. Raw, aggressive, slightly frantic at times, with occasional flashes of brilliance. You get the feeling King achieves exactly what he had set out to do with this piece. A little over the top in places, especially in some of the metaphores used to describe the psychology behind Charlie's actions (he lost me completely in chapter ten, somebody still has to explain that section to me) but on the whole very "tight", as one party-goer in the story says about some book. I like the novella format cuz I can't stand books that are too long for their own good. Gimme a 50,000 worder from the good ole days of spec fic over a contemporary brick anyday, which is why I decided to start my exploration of King with The Bachman Books, instead of one of his many door-stoppers. (Wait a minute, who am I kidding... I started with these cuz a pretty girl lent them to me and she actually wants my opinion--if this gets me laid I'll send a personal hand-written thank you note to King.)
I may have approached this book pre-conditioned with a positive bias, however, and that is my love of stories written in the first person. It's possible that Rage could only have worked in the first person, and I'm having a hard time objectively deciding if that's good or bad. (Robert Silverberg, a master of first-person novels, helped mould my formative years of fandom with Dying Inside, A Time of Changes, Gilgamesh the King, The Book of Skulls, etc.)
As for The Long Walk, I'm not enjoying it as much as Rage (so far). Very different feel to it, very no non-sense, trudges on without veering from the path (haha! sorry...) but it's growing on me. I'm looking for some internal logic that may not be there in the end, like an underlying reason why this long walk exists at all and why teenagers would volunteer for something like this, many of them without following all the "Hints", risking their very lives on a long shot...
Thank you to Bill and Nathan for welcoming me back! |
| Posted By : Frank - 4/29/2008 11:37 AM | SPOILER ALERT!
OK finished The Long Walk. Again, I think effective is a good word to describe most of it, but I also feel it was a bit too long for its own good. He could've shaved eight or ten thousand words off without draining any power out of it. I lost my enthusiasm for it near the end for three reasons:
1) Stebbins' geneology is revealed a little too late in the story, leaving no time for any tension to build from it and there's not even a hint of any payoff from it in the final encounter between The Major and Garraty.
2) The last chapter is very anti-climactic, there's not much dramatic punch or emotion written into the deaths of last two Walkers opposing Garraty. I felt much stronger pangs in the deaths of several minor characters and the final two deaths should've been at least as affecting as any of the earlier shootings.
3) The lazy non-ending pissed me off. After that monotonous plot I expected more than just a simple "the long walk goes on forever for Garraty" copout. Non-endings really rile me up (some of you on this board may remember my angry post about The Sopranos finale) and if your story has no ending then it's not finished and it shouldn't be published. If there are still publishers out there willing to print stories without endings then I've got a hard-drive full of unfinished ones they can have at a bargain! |
| Posted By : darkbow - 4/29/2008 5:16 PM | As much as I enjoy his writing, I have to say that endings are not King's strong point. And funny you should mention non-endings concerning King, especially considering some of the controversy among readers about the DT.
"Beneath a Persian Sun" upcoming in Carnivah House's "Infinity Swords" anthology
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| Posted By : Bill Ward - 4/29/2008 5:36 PM | Or The Stand? lol
I wish I remembered The Long Walk well enough to comment.
billwardwriter.com |
| Posted By : darkbow - 4/30/2008 1:55 PM | King has had ups and downs in his career. I mostly agree with Jeff's timeline, though I've always felt King peaked with The Stand (which I believe was the book following The Dead Zone, can't remember the exact order), then things went downhill for a good while. I think King came back a little about the time of IT, but then slowly declined again. And I haven't liked much he's written since his accident a few years back.
"Beneath a Persian Sun" upcoming in Carnivah House's "Infinity Swords" anthology
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| Posted By : Laird - 5/1/2008 7:50 AM | | Hi, Frank:
Here's my view from across the aisle  :
"The lazy non-ending pissed me off. After that monotonous plot I expected more than just a simple "the long walk goes on forever for Garraty" copout. Non-endings really rile me up (some of you on this board may remember my angry post about The Sopranos finale) and if your story has no ending then it's not finished and it shouldn't be published."
I think historically, critics and fans galore would disagree with that last sentiment. Nonetheless, these aren't non-endings -- they're called anticlimaxes. Anticlimaxes have been used to famous (and acclaimed) effect in McCarthy's BLOOD MERIDIAN, and Hemingway's A FAREWELL TO ARMS, for example. Good enough for the masters, good enough for me.
For the record, I loved the Soprano's finale. Different strokes. ;) |
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