Rereading Stephen King's "It"

[deaddei]

Following an earlier thread, I went and bought a copy as I last read it in 1986.
I'd forgotten it has over 1300 pages!
Anyway, have made a decent start- one arm ripped off so far and the clown is under the bridge with the balloons.
I know I will be up all night.....

[AnakisT]

I love IT, it is my favorite Stephen King book. Over the years i have re-read it too many times to count!

I have just finished re-reading the dark tower series.

[LostArt]

You are braver than me! I remember that book as being really scary - I don't think I have the courage to read it again. Did you see the TV adaptation of it?

[TheLadyEvenstar]

I read "IT" first when I was 13/14 had a real thing for Stephen King books then. I watched the TV adaption but didn't really rate it.

Thanks to this thread I will be re-reading it again later.

The Rose Madder story is another favourite of mine.

[SleepingLion]

I am reading Under the Dome at the moment. I have read quite a lot of his. 'It' was years ago... Has anyone read 'The Stand'? For some reason I've never got round to it, but is meant to be one of his classics, isn't it?

One of my favourites is 'Misery'.

[deaddei]

Yes I've seen the TV one- I remamber the version of Salem's Lot more, which gave me nightmares for weeks.

[AnakisT]

The Stand is a classic. Wasn't too happy with Under the Dome though, out of the newest books Duma Key is my favorite.

Yes, i am a Misery style super fan! Queued up once for six hours to get a signed book.

[elvislives]

The Stand is my favourite SK book, and the one that got me into him. I have read it so many times I could probably recite it

I enjoyed the Dome. Felt like a return to his earlier work. Tried to read Duma Key three times and just can't get into it.

Sad but if you go back to the really early stuff you can see how his accident affected the quality of his writing.

[BelligerentGhoul]

I re-read it last year iirc. I had forgotten about something v sad which happens near the end. Enjoy!

The Stand and The Dark Tower series are his best, in my opinion.

[ChickensHaveNoEyebrows]

IT is an evil, evil book

[stainesmassif]

The stand is brrrrlliant. Read it, read it!

I just finished under the dome last week at 3 am on a school night. Vg, I'd say he's back on form.
Still can't bring myself to finish the dark tower series.

[CheerfulYank]

I love, love, love It and the Stand. I like the Stand more, but It is tremendous too. My favorite part in It is when Bill (who has a stutter) tells Richie that he's going to speech therapy. Richie replies, "Ggggive 'em hhhell, Bbbbbill!" :) So typical of boys that age...

They're both great books, and It is terrifying. I still stay away from storm drains.

I also really like Delores Claiborne and Firestarter. A new one that I also was a big fan of is The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon.

[CheerfulYank]

Dolores Claiborne

[deaddei]

Got to page 500, and am realising it could have been slightly condensed.
But enjoying it- the werewolf has just made an appearance.

[BaggedandTagged]

I love his short stories. Still shudder at "The Road Virus Heads North"

[bruffin]

My favorite was always The Dead Zone. I was reading SK when he first started writing as the books were being released but then didn't read anything for years except Rose Madder and Misery until recently when I read Under The Dome and Duma Key. I preferred Duma Key. I have Cell from the library but DS has pinched that.

[TheMoonOnAStick]

OMG that clown is terrifying! I must have another read of that, it must be a good 20 years since I last read it too.

But deaddei 'Got to page 500, and am realising it could have been slightly condensed' Oh noo! Do they really do that with his books?? How annoying!

I do like to come back to SK once in a while. Every so often a SK book is the only thing that hits the spot isn't it? It's a sort of craving.

Just reading Insomnia atm. I can't say it's gripped me as much as others I've read of his, but still enjoying it even so.

[SleepingLion]

I think deaddei means King could have condensed his tale a bit, not that the editors have been getting the scissors out

He does love the looooooong stories but they are gripping. I loved The Dead Zone too.

I had a very strange experience reading Cujo last summer - he had written a paragraph from the perspective of the mother (SAHM) and I swear he had stepped into my head and written down exactly what it's like sometimes to be a wife and mother. I don't think I've ever read a male writer who so perfectly captures the at times mind-numbing banality of a woman's life as he did in that one paragraph.

Am thinking of having a Stephen King revival read: might head for the library next week...

[TheMoonOnAStick]

Aahh.. Gotcha! Sorry, think I need to wake up a bit!

[TheMoonOnAStick]

Too much 'mind-numbing banality' (how v v true!) and now I can't think straight anymore.

[BelligerentGhoul]

I thought 'Cell' was rubbish. Quite enjoyed 'Duma Key' (v different from his usual) and thought 'Dome' was okay and a return to form in the sense of characterisation and initial idea but then got a bit silly and was frustrated a bit by the huge death toll (although I understood why he did this).

'The Stand' makes me sob every time I re-read it - his greatest talent is not in the horror but in the characterisation and the empathy he enables one to develop with them, I think.

[AnakisT]

Last time i read The Stand was last year. I can remember being curled up on a Saturday night reading with Sky News on in the background i looked up to see what the breaking news was.....Swine Flu outbreak in Mexico

Shit myself!

[deaddei]

lol TheMoononaStick!!!
Yes SleepingLion, that's what I meant
Well they've all arrived back in Derry now, so I will be up till the wee small hours with this one.

[moondog]

Stephen King is suberb and 'It' and 'The Stand' two of he very best.
Bit scary to read at night though!

[deaddei]

Just finished it......wow, had forgotten the ending.
Very sad, how they all forget each other.
Now, time for the next book!

[BelligerentGhoul]

Oh yes - and the weird bit with Bill's wife, is that right? I was disappointed in the ending when I re-read it last year.