Stephen King - 'IT', really scary book

I love Lord Of The Flies and always meant to read Lolita. I haven't read the rest. Probably should try some Jane Austin at some point but it feels like they will all be very dated, although probably much better written than that On The Beach rubbish book.

You. Have. To. Read. Cloud. Atlas.

Then we will definitely have a second book we both love If nothing else, just read the dystopian ("Sonmi") and post-apocalyptic ("Sloosha") stories.

Cote and Remus come to blows again! There MUST be another book which we both love - I am DETERMINED to find something you will like.

Some of my favourites are:

Lord Of The Flies
Lolita
A Handful Of Dust
A Heartbreaking Work Of Staggering Genius
All of Jane Austen's

Any use?

Remus - Keep Roland. I finished the book and won't be reading another one of the Dark Tower books. Can't believe I wasted so many hours on this crap long-winded foul-mouthed pointless exercise in shooting stuff. For future reference: Cote doesn't like Westerns and she doesn't like Fantasy books.

@OP. Haven't seen 'It' but appreciate your [and SK's] pain after reading -vs- seeing 'Christine'. In response to subsequent posters, loved 'The Stand' and SK's most recent book: 11/22/63

Roland = ultra-sexy. I spend more time than is probably healthy trying to spot potential Rolands on the streets of Birmingham!

Yes to Eddie in Mafia toilet - love it!

I'm at 92% so pretty sure I've read it. Was that with Eddie stuck in mafia boss' toilet?

Are you talking about the guy whose fingers got eaten at the beginning of the book, and who has been feverish with terrible infection ever since? "Gorgeous"? You need to go out more often

Just sit back and enjoy the gorgeousness that is Roland. Have you got to the naked gunfight yet?

Remus - I'm reading Dark Tower: Drawing Of The Three now on your recommendation and wondering why you did this to me

Unlike many, my first exposure to king was Insomnia, and its so beautiful.

Yeah, the Shining film is very different. I love the book.

I LOVE It, the Stand, Dolores Claiborne, Firestarter (the ending is amazing and the father daughter relationship is so sweet and sad), the Girl who Loved Tom Gordon, The Talisman...oh, and 'Salem's Lot.

Did anyone read his new novella collection called Full Dark, No Stars? It chilled me.

The Stand is my favourite as well! The Green Mile is the most faithful to the original book film that I've ever seen, though. It's a truly excellent story, and the film is superb.

I read Desperation the other day, really liked it until it did the standard SK thing of going all supernatural and ridiculous. I found the same with IT - really frightening and gripping, and then it's all supernatural monster nonsense and it loses all the tension almost instantly. It's a real shame, I'd love him to write a horror where it could all actually happen, that would be far more scary, and more satisfying as well!

I love Insomnia and really hope someone makes a decent film of it one day. I think that properly done the "world of auras" could be stunning. I always feel something almost like genuine grief at the end :(

Has anyone read Rose Madder? Think that could be a cracking film too.

I've just read 'Blockade Billy' which I got for 30p in a charity shop and which looked absolutely brand new. Has anybody read it? It also had a short story, 'Morality' which has freaked me out a bit - really horrible and quite un-King-like, as it seemed to be just nasty for nastiness' sake.

Another Stephen King fan here, read all his earlier books several times each, even now if I see a balloon I think of IT (we all float down here..)
The Stand has got to be my favourite of all time, but like most of you guys on here I haven't really enjoyed some of his latest stories.
I lost all my books when I moved but reading this makes me want to start reading them all again!

Good point, OP - King is very good at smalltown evil, he has quite a jaded view of human nature IMO. The same sort of thing happens in Under the Dome too, and another common thread is the way King REALLY doesn't like the American brand of extreme fundie Christianity.

Thanks Remus.

I was about to trawl through Wiki.....

Evil Twin and sparrows = Dark half.

I thought Christine was an ok film version of the book.

Help...! What was the title of the book which had the evil twin, who drove a car with the plates "high toned son of a bitch" ?? Can't remember it.

The sparrows are coming?

I loved Needful Things - "gobble my crank with your metal filled mouth!" remember that quote from 10 years ago.

When I was in Maine, I went to Ogunquit beach just because of "The Stand".

I love the interconnecting characters in his books. They were part of the enjoyment of my youth, skint, reading Stephen King books from the library.

Going back to IT - I think the way the evil manifests itself is explained pretty well between the lines. IT feeds on fear more than anything else, because apparently fear makes its victims taste better. So it manifests to each person as something different - that which they fear most. In children these fears will be very different from the fears of adults, and according to IT, children manifest a greater intensity of fear and so are better prey. It's quite sophisticated as a concept.

It's also clear in the book that IT comes from outside our own world, but after IT's arrival a vicious circle develops in which Derry is infected with its evil, and IT then feeds on the consequences of that evil, which makes the infection in the town worse with each cycle.

You can't tell I'm a Stephen King nut, can you?

I read It when I was about 15 and it terrified me, I'm talking sleepless nights, fear of the dark, everything! I think I lot of the layers and complexities of the book escaped me at the time, so I might re-read it.

The Green Mile was a fantastic film adaptation, makes me cry every time. Really wonderful story.

Salem's lot was also very good and scary. The tv adaptation not so good.
Carrie and Shawshank redemption both made good cross others onto film. Kathy Bates in Misery was fantastic.
Dark Half raises the question of what would you do if your alter ego came to live.
Thinner frightens me as well.
Tommyknockers could possibly be an amazing film if made now with all the fx available and a decent director.
A few friends have a fear of clowns now after reading IT and banned them from the house.