running themes stephen king books

[marissab]

I'm reading Duma Key and am picking up lots of themes from other books. For example, one man who can't sleep says he feels like he's floating above himself like a balloon. This is an obvious ref to insomnia. I've read about links between books with randalf flagg and other baddies with RF initials. I would like to know more about these themes. Does anyone know if anyone's written anything i can read up on? It's something I'm interested in because I'm going back and re-reading the old SK's.

I hated, 'Horns' - thought it was ridiculous. Daniel Radcliffe is in the film version, the idea of which isn't working for me much either. 'Heart Shaped Box' okay but vastly inferior to daddy.

I used to love sk and my favourite thing was recognising the characters from other books. I'm reading Duma key right now and I'll be honest, i'm a bit bored.

I think in my review of Horns I described it as being 'a bit Dean Koontz'. Which at one time would have been a compliment but now is a insult of the highest order.

I didn't know their was going to be a film. Daniel Radcliffe? No.

Have you tried NOS 4R2 yet? It's worth it. This is the one.

Will do.

Dogs are always faithful unless they are Cujo

Poor Cujo. :(

I'm not remembering lots of incest.

Was it King or Bryson whose mum threw out all his baseball cards? Am having a bimbo moment but I 'think' it was SK.

He taught lit and clearly reads a lot, and yes, he comes back a lot to writers and writing - The Dark Half especially but lots more.

There was incest in Gerald's Game but I'm struggling to think of it in any other books. But as we've said, there's a lot of books and they cover a lot of themes. I bet I'll think of more as soon as I hit post message.

His father left the family when he and his brother were young, and I think they went to live with relatives. They weren't very well off by the sounds of things.

He has an enthusiasm for the popular culture of the fifties I think, the music, the films and as he was a child I think that carries over to the things that children of his time enjoyed. And a lot of those things are iconic now, in design etc, there is a lot of interest in the things of that time. I think he enjoys the ephemera of childhood really.

I noticed the same thing in the most recent Joe Hill book, a lot of detail about bicycle design and motorcycles etc.

Do you mean Beverly from IT? I remember that now, he kept talking about her being 'intact' didn't he?

Still can't remember incest in Tommyknockers but it's been a long time since I read it.

Great thread. I really enjoy the crossover themes in SK books.
No one has mentioned Rose Madder, it is one of my favourites.
He did a small baseball one Billy ???, was a bit meh
Thank god for MN. I never knew he had a new book out or had a son that wrote. Will need to go book shopping.
Also, my brother has been praising Dark Tower series for years. Will have to give in and give it a go. Don't know why I have avoided them, like fantasy and cowboys

I remember Beverley in 'It' but can't remember anything in The Tommyknockers (then again, I loathe that book so don't think about it much!).

The baseball one is Blockade Billy. It's okay but lightweight - in the same way that Joyland is his 'pulp' novel, BB is his 'little sporty' novel. :) I think baseball comes across in a much more interesting way in The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon (great book btw!).

What I love about him is that he knows he's typecast but still experiments with genre, publishing ideas, different media etc. Does anybody remember his weird internet only one about a plant?

Thanks for the memory jog. I do have vague recollections now - not enough to re-read the damn thing and check though!

Oh, I remember that now. That bit about the abuse was horrible, but I'd forgotten what book it was in.

Musickeepsme - my eye is twitching again.

Have you seen this flowchart The Stephen King Universe detailing links between different books?

my brother would love that poster but if I bought it I would keep it
It looks great

I love that poster!

Sarah has Dean Koontz slipped a bit then? Haven't read any of his for a while. I liked the Odd Thomas I read a while back?

I am thinking the poster is affordable in pounds sterling........but I would have to get at least 2!!

I think he has slipped.

The last few books of his that I read seemed to promise a lot and deliver nothing. A few of them seem to get to the end and have him realise he has no idea how to finish the story properly. IIRC one of them had everything fixed at the last moment by a magic dog.

I gave up on him for awhile but decided to try the 77 Something Street and hated that as well.

That's a shame. Though I have plenty other reading to do now! I see SK and Peter Straub did a follow up on The Black House. I have no idea how, but I missed it. So definately giving that a go.

Dean K is a poor writer, who lets his own personality and what I think must be pretty overbearing Christianity get in the way of telling a decent story. It's all pretty mawkish - a shame as a couple of his earlier ones showed promise. Also, let's face it, he churns so many out and so quickly that he's clearly not going through much of a planning, thinking, refining or editing process.

I did like some of his books, Intensity was very good if I remember, and I think Dragon Tears and Strangers were both good. And Lightning. But I haven't read them for ages so I'm not sure if they will have stood the test of time for me.

It is all a little bit perfect though, in his world. Children are always good and good people are usually beautiful. I agree about the Christianity as well, it is a pretty big presence in his later books, which can work against the story.