[bksvol-discuss] Re: OT: Stephen King
- From: "Estelnalissi" <airadil@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: <bksvol-discuss@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Sat, 26 Aug 2006 23:41:43 -0400
Dear Amy,
The Green Mile was originally published in serial form of I think 6 parts. Web
Braille has it, but the parts are named individually which is confusing. The
book is deeply moving and emotional.
In some respects, King is a perpetual adolescent who revels in blood, guts and
spewing bodily fluids. He writes this because it's fun for him and a
considerable portion of his readers like the spooky, icky stuff, too. But, he
can also be very mature, perceptive and sensitive. His characters literally
walk off the pages. Being a chicken, I by pass most of King, knowing I'm
missing some good reading. I like his short stories, The Green Mile and The
Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon, best.
King listened to books on tape way before audio books became popular with
sighted readers. He used to pay his kids to read books on tape. He'd listen to
them as he walked the roads in Maine. Soon his kids were hooked on reading out
loud and he didn't have to pay them. He was one of the first authors to be
deeply committed to mass marketing of audio books and he insisted that his
books be unabridged. Remember at first how most mass market audio was abridged.
Well, not his.
What I'm building up to here is that through my local library I've been
literally thrilled to hear him reading his books. Part of the pleasure is that
you can hear that absolute glee he feels retelling his stories. He reads as if
the story was brand new to him. He's as excited, creeped out or moved as much
as he imagines his most appreciative readers are as they listen. Like Dickens,
he's absolutely ecstatic about reading his books aloud and I find his
enthusiasm contagious. You can literally hear him smiling and like me you might
find yourself smiling back.
One more thing I admire about Steven King is that, unlike some prolific best
selling authors, he doesn't have a boatload of researchers and ghost writers
doing the lion's share of the work cranking out a slew of books. He writes long
hours. He doesn't sweat the small stuff. His drafts are rough, needing a deal
of line editing, but the content, structure, all of it, are expressions of his
imagination experience delight in the horrific and his values. When so much of
our entertainment is hatched by a group mind operating in direct response to
market analysis, I admire authors who are one man or one woman, shows, more
than ever!
King writes books he'd like to read himself and has a massive niche in the
reading population. If horror stories were roller coasters, King's might be one
of the fastest, highest and one with the steepest plummets. That's how it looks
to me, but I don't read much horror.
Scot, are you listening? You are the horror officianotto on the list. How would
you put King in perspective?
Woo. Considering I only really liked a handful of his books, I had a lot to say
about Steven King. I admit I think he's a cool person. It's not about right and
wrong, but what floats your boat or sinks it. Yeah choice!
Always with love,
Lissi
"My story is finally out there in the ether, a self-sufficient organism beyond
my control, changing shape in every new mind that absorbs it."
From The Night Listener, a novel by
Armistead Maupin
----- Original Message -----
From: Amy Goldring Tajalli
To: bksvol-discuss@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Sent: Saturday, August 26, 2006 1:28 PM
Subject: [bksvol-discuss] Re: OT: Stephen King
Pratik,
I quit reaking Stephen King after he started to sound like a teenage boy who
just learn to swear. He was using four (and five, and 6-) letter swear words
as though the had to get them out of his system. Now I am not a prude but I
like swear words where they are necessary and effective aand even Lenny Bruce
stopped using them when he finally got people to understand the point he was
making. You would be amazed how long the "F" word has been in the English
language and how little it has changed. The only thing that changes is it
frequency and I hope we have reached the point of oversaturation - I certainly
have. If you can recommend books like I have been reading about recently in
these pages I could be really tempted to go back to his works. The only one I
have not packed away is The Stand and I have both editions and have read both.
Can you tell me which book includes "The Green Mile" ? If the movie does it
credit it is a little gem.
I have little time for reading anymore since I have been a volunteer but If I
every find the time to finish Les Mis I will be looking for other reading
material [other than the bookshare material] . And I still want to follow up
with the Tolkien validating I agreed to as well as books relating to the period
and subjects of Genji. I am amazed and how some of you get to do so much
scanning and validating while still having lives outside of that.
What is a life, anyway?
Amy
omst
----- Original Message -----
From: "k4zq" <k4zq@xxxxxxxxxxxx>
To: "books ` list" <bksvol-discuss@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Saturday, August 26, 2006 12:41 PM
Subject: [bksvol-discuss] Re: OT: Stephen King
> Pratik,
>
> Steve wrote an account of his son's Little League team's run for the Maine
> state championship which is one of the best sports novelettes I've ever
> read.
>
> He also has written a memoir called "On Writing" which I think is essential
> for anyone really interested in the art of writing fiction.
>
> Peace,
> Ernie
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Pratik Patel" <pratikp1@xxxxxxxxx>
> To: <bksvol-discuss@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
> Sent: Saturday, August 26, 2006 11:07 AM
> Subject: [bksvol-discuss] Re: OT: Stephen King
>
>
>> Hello,
>>
>> Steven King can be an incredible writer when he puts his mind to it. A
>> part of his Dark Tower series is amazing. He loses it when he stretches
>> things too much. A book such as "Hearts of Atlantis," which doesn't
>> contain
>> the strangeness of some of the other books, really brings out King's
>> strengths. His short stories are wonderful as well.
>>
>> Pratik
>>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: bksvol-discuss-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
>> [mailto:bksvol-discuss-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of k4zq
>> Sent: Saturday, August 26, 2006 2:34 AM
>> To: bksvol-discuss@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
>> Subject: [bksvol-discuss] Re: OT: Stephen King
>>
>> Cindy,
>>
>> Steve felt sorry for Cujo, too.
>>
>> Peace,
>> Ernie
>>
>> ----- Original Message -----
>> From: "Cindy" <popularplace@xxxxxxxxx>
>> To: <bksvol-discuss@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
>> Sent: Friday, August 25, 2006 6:32 PM
>> Subject: [bksvol-discuss] OT: Stephen King
>>
>>
>>>I read Cujo and Misery, and I think he's a good
>>> writer, at least in those books. I really felt sorry
>>> for Cujo. It wasn't his fault he went mad.
>>>
>>> I also read a book of his short stories and thought
>>> they were well-written. Certainly more so than some of
>>> the popular authors, both mystery and other fiction,
>>> that I've read for bookshare.
>>>
>>> Cindy
>>> --- Evan Reese <mentat1@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
>>>
>>>> If it put you to sleep, why are you going to read
>>>> the book?
>>>>
>>>> As far as King goes, the two I read were Carrie, and
>>>> The dead Zone. Carrie was only okay, and since it
>>>> was - I think - his first novel, I cut him some
>>>> slack on that one. But I was especially
>>>> disappointed with The Dead Zone. He didn't really
>>>> do anything interesting with the precognition angle
>>>> compared to what Frank Herbert or Mike resnick did
>>>> with it. Besides, evil is so banal anyway.
>>>>
>>>> ----- Original Message -----
>>>> From: k4zq
>>>> To: bksvol-discuss@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
>>>> Sent: Friday, August 25, 2006 2:30 PM
>>>> Subject: [bksvol-discuss] Re: A Submission
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> The Synopsis put me to sleep. 'Bout as good as
>>>> Cliff Notes. However, I've read a couple of books
>>>> before, although, not too many, so I think I can
>>>> muddle through.
>>>>
>>>> Be careful what you say to me. I got that reject
>>>> button, you know.
>>>>
>>>> Sorry about Steve, Evan. Apt Pupil is just a good
>>>> addition for education in the dark side.
>>>>
>>>> Peace,
>>>> Ernie
>>>> ----- Original Message -----
>>>> From: Evan Reese
>>>> To: bksvol-discuss@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
>>>> Sent: Friday, August 25, 2006 11:57 AM
>>>> Subject: [bksvol-discuss] Re: A Submission
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> It was just the left half of the dust jacket!
>>>> What do you mean long? It fit in the submission
>>>> form, so maybe you aren't getting enough sleep. I
>>>> just read through it again in a minute or so. If
>>>> you're having this much trouble with a synopsis, you
>>>> may not want to tackle a whole book just yet. <grin>
>>>>
>>>> I read to of King's works, and I wasn't
>>>> impressed with his writing ability.
>>>>
>>>> ----- Original Message -----
>>>> From: k4zq
>>>> To: bksvol-discuss@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
>>>> Sent: Friday, August 25, 2006 8:00 AM
>>>> Subject: [bksvol-discuss] Re: A Submission
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> Evan!
>>>>
>>>> Was that synopsis the entire book? Thought
>>>> I'd never get through it.
>>>>
>>>> I'll go see if somebody already has it, and if
>>>> not, I'll get it, then I can consult with you on it
>>>> if I need.
>>>>
>>>> Btw, If you Ain't familiar with "Apt Pupil,"
>>>> it's an excellent contribution to your development
>>>> as purely evil.
>>>>
>>>> Peace,
>>>> Ernie
>>>> ----- Original Message -----
>>>> From: Evan Reese
>>>> To: bksvol-discuss@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
>>>> Sent: Thursday, August 24, 2006 10:25 PM
>>>> Subject: [bksvol-discuss] A Submission
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> Well, I finally got it up there. The book
>>>> is called Transcension by Damien Broderick. It is
>>>> Science Fiction. I hope the validator reads the
>>>> comments I put in the form. All of the chapter
>>>> headings, as well as the title and author on the
>>>> title page, are in lower-case letters. I hope
>>>> whomever doesn't decide that they are errors and
>>>> "fix" them.
>>>>
>>>> Ironically, after all the recent talk about
>>>> validators reading through submissions, I hope
>>>> whoever does this one does the minimum, unless they
>>>> are familiar with the book. There are a number of
>>>> other peculiarities in the book which might be taken
>>>> as errors if someone doesn't notice their
>>>> consistency. For example, the chapter headings with
>>>> Arabic numbers are followed by a space, a colon,
>>>> another space, and then the chapter name, whereas
>>>> those chapters starting with roman numerals are
>>>> followed by a colon without the space. I really
>>>> enjoyed the book, but it was a lot of work to get
>>>> into shape.
>>>>
>>>> For any who are interested, here is the
>>>> synopsis from the dust jacket:
>>>>
>>>> Damien Broderick has been a leading
>>>> Australian SF writer since the seventies, winning
>>>> numerous awards. His novel The Dreaming Dragons was
>>>> named one of the 100 best SF novels. His recent
>>>> nonfiction book, The Spike, is a mind-stretching
>>>> look at the wonders of the high-tech future. Now in
>>>> Transcension, he brings to life one of the high-tech
>>>> futures he imagined in The Spike, a 22nd-century
>>>> Utopia pervaded by nanotechnology and ruled by a
>>>> benign but coldly objective AI. Transcension may be
>>>> Broderick's best book yet.
>>>>
>>>> Amanda is a brilliant violinist, a
>>>> mathematical genius, and a rebel. Impatient for the
>>>> adult status her society only grants at age thirty,
>>>> but determined to have a real adventure first, she
>>>> has repeatedly gotten into trouble and found herself
>>>> in the courtroom of Magistrate Mohammed Abdel-Malek,
>>>> the sole resurrectee from among those who were
>>>> frozen in the early 21st century, the man whose mind
>>>> was the seed for Aleph, the AI that rules this
>>>> Utopia.
>>>>
>>>> Mathewmark is a real adolescent, living in
>>>> the last place where they still exist, the
>>>> reservation known as the Valley of the God of One's
>>>> Choice, where those who have chosen faith over
>>>> technology are allowed to live out their simpler
>>>> lives. When Amanda determines that access to the
>>>> valley is the key to the daring stunt she plans, it
>>>> is Mathewmark she will have to lead into temptation.
>>>>
>>>> But just as Amanda, Mathewmark. and
>>>> Abdel-Malek are struggling to find themselves and
>>>> achieve their potentials, so is Aleph, and the AI's
>>>> success will be a challenge to them and all of
>>>> humanity.
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>> ------------------------------------------------------------------------
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> No virus found in this incoming message.
>>>> Checked by AVG Free Edition.
>>>> Version: 7.1.405 / Virus Database:
>>>> 268.11.5/426 - Release Date: 8/23/2006
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>
>>
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>>>>
>>>>
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>>>> - Release Date: 8/24/2006
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>>>
>>>
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