Page 52 of 62 FirstFirst ... 2425051525354 ... LastLast
Results 1,276 to 1,300 of 1548

Thread: Horror, Fantasy, and other non-sci-fi genres...

  1. #1276
    What is best in life? D_Davis's Avatar
    Join Date
    Nov 2007
    Location
    Seattle
    Posts
    24,138
    McDermott is definitely more of a prose stylist than he is a story teller. I think he's more concerned with creating atmosphere and characters than he is the plot. This is one of the reasons why I think he's more literary than his contemporaries. Nothing much happens on the Dogsland books. They are slow and plodding, and almost entirely uneventful. But they're damn good.

    Your list - Sounds great, especially if they offer Kindle versions. I've been out of the small press biz this year, so it'll be good to see what's up.

    I'm about 1/2 through The Shining, a boy howdy is it kicking my ass. As much as I like the film - I really do - it just doesn't compare to psychological depths of character and the horror of the place found in the book. The way King gets into the heads of each of the three main characters is masterful. So glad I'm reading this again, and I'm really looking forward to Dr. Sleep.

  2. #1277
    Winston* Classic Winston*'s Avatar
    Join Date
    Nov 2007
    Location
    Wellington
    Posts
    8,229
    Wasn't that impressed by The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon. Feel like with such a small narrative, King's only real task was to relay the mindset of a 9 year old girl and I don't think he really achieved that.

  3. #1278
    What is best in life? D_Davis's Avatar
    Join Date
    Nov 2007
    Location
    Seattle
    Posts
    24,138
    Quote Quoting Winston* (view post)
    Wasn't that impressed by The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon. Feel like with such a small narrative, King's only real task was to relay the mindset of a 9 year old girl and I don't think he really achieved that.
    You could be right, it's been awhile since I read it. However, I remember liking it distinctly because of the way King wrote for the little girl. It rang true with me in the sense that he wrote her like a lot of children in literature; she was meant to represent the reader's memory of being a young person, and played upon the reader's imagination of being a young person in that situation.

    Danny in The Shining is very similar, and I love his character. King portrays a character wiser in his years, and this is ultimately quite tragic because even though he knows things, he is still in a child's body, and is thus not able to act upon that advanced knowledge in an adult manner. Danny represents the hopelessness of the situation, of knowing what to do, but being unable to do it. This is shown clearly through his inability to read, and the fact that Tony is always pointing out signs to him.

    King doesn't write children as children but instead writes them in the way that we remember being a child, filtered through all of our years of growth.

  4. #1279
    What is best in life? D_Davis's Avatar
    Join Date
    Nov 2007
    Location
    Seattle
    Posts
    24,138
    Jack's monologue about being on the wagon is so brilliantly written. Sometimes King comes up with some of the best metaphors and descriptions - he has a way of describing things that resonate deeply.

    I think I'll do a re-read of The Dark Tower this year. Whenever I read King, my mind always gets drawn back to that.

  5. #1280
    The Pan megladon8's Avatar
    Join Date
    Nov 2007
    Location
    Ottawa, Canada
    Posts
    29,050
    Quote Quoting D_Davis (view post)
    Jack's monologue about being on the wagon is so brilliantly written. Sometimes King comes up with some of the best metaphors and descriptions - he has a way of describing things that resonate deeply.

    I think I'll do a re-read of The Dark Tower this year. Whenever I read King, my mind always gets drawn back to that.

    I've been thinking of doing this since I started reading "It", and wanted to see all the Derry connections.

    I also have a few King books on my shelf I have not read yet - "The Tommyknockers", "Duma Key", "Lisey's Story" - and would like to check out.

    And I picked up "Joyland" so I have that one to read as well.
    "All right, that's too hot. Anything we can do about that heat?"

    "Rick...it's a flamethrower."

  6. #1281
    What is best in life? D_Davis's Avatar
    Join Date
    Nov 2007
    Location
    Seattle
    Posts
    24,138
    Quote Quoting megladon8 (view post)
    I also have a few King books on my shelf I have not read yet - "The Tommyknockers", "Duma Key", "Lisey's Story" - and would like to check out.
    Unfortunately, I can't say much good for any of those.

    Forgot about Joyland...although I pre-ordered it, so it should have been shipped to me. Need to check!

    I forget, meg, have you read The Dark Tower?

  7. #1282
    The Pan megladon8's Avatar
    Join Date
    Nov 2007
    Location
    Ottawa, Canada
    Posts
    29,050
    Quote Quoting D_Davis (view post)
    Unfortunately, I can't say much good for any of those.

    Forgot about Joyland...although I pre-ordered it, so it should have been shipped to me. Need to check!

    I forget, meg, have you read The Dark Tower?

    Yes. Quite possibly my favorite book series ever.

    I found "Wolves of the Calla" a bit tedious due to its basically repeating everything that happened before it, but other than that, every single book was masterful.

    Just the amount of imagination and planning that went into weaving that single series together was incredible, but then taking into consideration how they act as the center of a wheel, with King's other work connecting to it all like spokes - it's mind-blowing.

    He should have received a Nobel Price in Awesomeness.
    "All right, that's too hot. Anything we can do about that heat?"

    "Rick...it's a flamethrower."

  8. #1283
    What is best in life? D_Davis's Avatar
    Join Date
    Nov 2007
    Location
    Seattle
    Posts
    24,138
    Nice! Don't know what I forgot all that.

    Wolves is my favorite of the series, but I agree with everything else you said.

  9. #1284
    The Pan megladon8's Avatar
    Join Date
    Nov 2007
    Location
    Ottawa, Canada
    Posts
    29,050
    Quote Quoting D_Davis (view post)
    Nice! Don't know what I forgot all that.

    Wolves is my favorite of the series, but I agree with everything else you said.

    Well maybe I'm remembering incorrectly - was it "Wolves" or "Wizard and Glass" in which King basically spent about 300 pages summarizing everything that had happened so far?

    It's been a good 6 years since I read them so I may be getting them mixed up.
    "All right, that's too hot. Anything we can do about that heat?"

    "Rick...it's a flamethrower."

  10. #1285
    What is best in life? D_Davis's Avatar
    Join Date
    Nov 2007
    Location
    Seattle
    Posts
    24,138
    WaG had the 400 page flashback - easily my least favorite of the series. Although I do love the beginning and ending parts on Blain the Train.

    Wolves is Seven Samurai.

  11. #1286
    The Pan megladon8's Avatar
    Join Date
    Nov 2007
    Location
    Ottawa, Canada
    Posts
    29,050
    Quote Quoting D_Davis (view post)
    WaG had the 400 page flashback - easily my least favorite of the series. Although I do love the beginning and ending parts on Blain the Train.

    Wolves is Seven Samurai.

    Okay, apologies then. It's "Wizard and Glass" that I found the weakest of them all.

    "Wolves" was awesome.
    "All right, that's too hot. Anything we can do about that heat?"

    "Rick...it's a flamethrower."

  12. #1287
    What is best in life? D_Davis's Avatar
    Join Date
    Nov 2007
    Location
    Seattle
    Posts
    24,138
    Wolves is when they protect the village from the army of Dr. Doom robot wolves with the Harry Potter grenades and spinning plate shuriken. So bad ass.

    My favorite parts of that novel are all the palavers with Roland and the ka-tet.

  13. #1288
    What is best in life? D_Davis's Avatar
    Join Date
    Nov 2007
    Location
    Seattle
    Posts
    24,138
    Dammit, I can't wait to read these again. Just talking about them floods my mind with awesome memories.

    Love the return of Father Callahan. Damn, that is so awesome.

  14. #1289
    The Pan megladon8's Avatar
    Join Date
    Nov 2007
    Location
    Ottawa, Canada
    Posts
    29,050
    I've always loved that phrase used throughout the series, "you have forgotten the face of your father."

    Awesome stuff.
    "All right, that's too hot. Anything we can do about that heat?"

    "Rick...it's a flamethrower."

  15. #1290
    The Pan megladon8's Avatar
    Join Date
    Nov 2007
    Location
    Ottawa, Canada
    Posts
    29,050
    D have you ever had the chance to check out some Mieville?

    I picked up a hardcover copy of "Embassytown" for $6 yesterday.

    I find him consistently interesting, even when his stories don't quite succeed. His prose are incredible.
    "All right, that's too hot. Anything we can do about that heat?"

    "Rick...it's a flamethrower."

  16. #1291
    What is best in life? D_Davis's Avatar
    Join Date
    Nov 2007
    Location
    Seattle
    Posts
    24,138
    I tried reading Peridio (sp?) Street Station many years ago, and I didn't like it at all.

    However, that was long before I got into Cisco, Ligotti, and McDermott, or any of the new weird.

    So I plan on giving him another shoot in the near future. I have a feeling I'll get along well with his stuff now.

  17. #1292
    Winston* Classic Winston*'s Avatar
    Join Date
    Nov 2007
    Location
    Wellington
    Posts
    8,229
    Quote Quoting D_Davis (view post)
    I tried reading Peridio (sp?) Street Station many years ago, and I didn't like it at all.

    However, that was long before I got into Cisco, Ligotti, and McDermott, or any of the new weird.

    So I plan on giving him another shoot in the near future. I have a feeling I'll get along well with his stuff now.
    Read The City and the City. Masterpiece.

  18. #1293
    What is best in life? D_Davis's Avatar
    Join Date
    Nov 2007
    Location
    Seattle
    Posts
    24,138
    Quote Quoting Winston* (view post)
    Read The City and the City. Masterpiece.
    That sounds very cool.

  19. #1294
    The Pan megladon8's Avatar
    Join Date
    Nov 2007
    Location
    Ottawa, Canada
    Posts
    29,050
    "It" continues to astound.

    Nearing the halfway point. The adults have come back to Derry, and just opened their fortune cookies in the Chinese restaurant.

    Is there anyone else in literature who can write an enormous cast of characters and have them so clearly and richly illustrated that a character list is not needed?

    I've read fantasy books with half the characters of some of King's books ("Needful Things" and "'Salem's Lot", to name two with particularly large character counts) and I wasn't able to keep names straight. I felt like I needed a graph.

    King can write an entire town, and I am never caught wondering "wait...who was this guy again?" or "was she the one who did this, or this?" and I never have to backtrack.

    Anyways, I'm loving reading this book as a bittersweet examination of childhood nostalgia. The power of the memories we make and the bonds we forge in those early years. King captures that sweet paid of remembering so well.
    "All right, that's too hot. Anything we can do about that heat?"

    "Rick...it's a flamethrower."

  20. #1295
    What is best in life? D_Davis's Avatar
    Join Date
    Nov 2007
    Location
    Seattle
    Posts
    24,138
    Yes! King is a master of the ensemble, and I prefer his epic works to his more personal ones. Before reading a King story, I can pretty much guess how much I'm going to like it based on how many characters it has - the more characters, the more I'll like it. Typically.

    The part in It when the adults return to Derry is my favorite. I love how broken they all are.

  21. #1296
    Winston* Classic Winston*'s Avatar
    Join Date
    Nov 2007
    Location
    Wellington
    Posts
    8,229
    Quote Quoting megladon8 (view post)
    Is there anyone else in literature who can write an enormous cast of characters and have them so clearly and richly illustrated that a character list is not needed?
    Dickens?

  22. #1297
    Too much responsibility Kurosawa Fan's Avatar
    Join Date
    Nov 2007
    Location
    Michigan
    Posts
    16,664
    I'd nominate George R.R. Martin as well.

  23. #1298
    What is best in life? D_Davis's Avatar
    Join Date
    Nov 2007
    Location
    Seattle
    Posts
    24,138
    Dan Simmons does good ensemble pieces, as does Clive Barker.

    My absolute favorite is Larry McMurtry with the Lonesome Dove series. Dozens and dozens of characters, and each is as alive and vibrant as the next. Just a phenomenal example of fiction.

  24. #1299
    - - - - -
    Join Date
    Sep 2010
    Posts
    11,530
    Quote Quoting Winston* (view post)
    Dickens?
    + Alexandre Dumas

  25. #1300
    What is best in life? D_Davis's Avatar
    Join Date
    Nov 2007
    Location
    Seattle
    Posts
    24,138
    I need to read Dumas.

Page 52 of 62 FirstFirst ... 2425051525354 ... LastLast

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •  
An forum