I have to say that I find King very patchy. When he is good he is really excellent, as in "The Stand" and "Bag of bones", but some of his books are totally unreadable, for me at least. One called "From a Buick 8" was one of the most boring books I have ever tried to read. I rarely read him these days, but people keep suggesting I would enjoy the Dark Tower series. Maybe I will try one or two some time, but they are nowhere near the top of my list. David From: ebooktalk-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:ebooktalk-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Trish Talbot Sent: 21 April 2013 21:19 To: ebooktalk@xxxxxxxxxxxxx Subject: [ebooktalk] Re: AN OLD FAVOURITE Yes, Ian, I would definitely agree that "The Shining" is one of his best books, of the ones I've read anyway. It was the first one I read, as I hadn't thought I would like Stephen King, and was surprised when I enjoyed it. I also liked "Misery" and "Gerald's Game". I found "Insomnia" painfully slow and boring, and there was another one I gave up on, whose title escapes me at the moment. I started "Dolores Claybourne" and can't remember now why I didn't finish it, but might give it another go. Trish. -----Original Message----- From: ebooktalk-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:ebooktalk-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx]On Behalf Of Ian Macrae Sent: 21 April 2013 20:46 To: ebooktalk@xxxxxxxxxxxxx Subject: [ebooktalk] Re: AN OLD FAVOURITE Don't recognise that title Shell, but The Shining is one of his best. In fact, much of his good stuff is about writers of whom Jack Torrence is one. Some time ago I read an interview with the actor who played Lloyd the barman in the Kubrick film and he described how Jack Nicholson deliberately took torrence over the top in the first scene when the Overlook starts coming back to life. For anyone interested in giving King a go while steering well clear of the out-and-out horror stuff, I'd really recommend Delores Claiborne. Yet another brilliantly conceived and constructed story masterfully told. For anyone less faint-hearted, Misery is a great book and also a great film with a memorable performance from Kathy bates. On 21 Apr 2013, at 19:59, Shell wrote: Hi Ian, I have to admit that I'm not a Stephen King fan. I enjoyed some of his earlier books and would still like to read The Shining as it's one of my top ten favourite films. I remember reading a strange book by him many years ago called something like the Eyes of the dragon I think, but that could be wrong. I think I read it on calibre casettes, so that must be a fair few years ago. I enjoyed that one enormously, though it's not my usual type of book. Shell. -------------------------------------------------- From: "Ian Macrae" <ian.macrae1@xxxxxxx> Sent: Sunday, April 21, 2013 6:52 PM To: <ebooktalk@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> Subject: [ebooktalk] AN OLD FAVOURITE > Some people here will know that I'm a fan of Stephen King. Having read almost everything he's written, I'm not though uncritical. He admits himself to having written Somme of his books while the balance of his mind was chemically disturbed by recreational drugs of one sort or another. But I've just finished a book which has confirmed my belief that King is one of the great story tellers of literature. Many of his books are very long. But writing under the pseudonym Richard Bachman, he wrote a number of shorter novels which have been published as The bachman books parts one and two. I've read two of these since yesterday lunchtime. The first, rage, was drawn to my attention by a message to the RNIB TB list because there's a story going round that King wants to take the book out of print because its subject matter concerns a school shooting and it's apparently been found in the possession of recent people who've undertaken similar activity. I have to say I found it compelling. But the second, the Long Walk was even more so. I started it just after The Archers omnibus and finished it just before 6. It's set in a future US society and The Long Walk of the title is what we'd now call a reality gameshow involving a hundred men who set off from the US Canadian border. The game has strict rules - no one can drop below the speed of 4 MPH or stop walking without receiving up to 3 warnings after which soldiers accompanying them shoot the offender. The walk continues until only one of the men is left standing. the winner can have a life-time supply of anything he wants. This is a truly masterful piece of King storytelling, full of suspense, anxiety, tension and excitement of a very understated kind. Anyone who avoids him for his horror quotient need not do so with these stories. Absolutely excellent and highly recommended. > _____ No virus found in this message. Checked by AVG - www.avg.com Version: 10.0.1432 / Virus Database: 3162/5762 - Release Date: 04/21/13