Well, I'm done with Under the Dome. I'll post extended thoughts in the next couple of days, but in the meantime...really flippin' good. Like, kind of great.
Maybe even great, straight-up.
Observation about the ending:
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Well, I'm done with Under the Dome. I'll post extended thoughts in the next couple of days, but in the meantime...really flippin' good. Like, kind of great.
Maybe even great, straight-up.
Observation about the ending:
[]
I think The Stand already has that covered, but if that ever disappears, this is an acceptable replacement. Hell, you can find a few compelling similarities between the two:Quoting Daniel Davis (view post)
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I'm kinda torn on the ending. Not the Dome creators, so much as the general tenor of the last eighty pages or so. In perhaps too-traditional a King fashion, it's pretty anticlimactic.
Put a review of it in my blog.
I'd agree with you that the writing is stronger. I'll check back on this one in a few years and see how the characters hold up - they're always my favorite part of Stephen King's writing.
I like the review. I'm looking forward to reading this again in a year or so.
This new book "Kraken" by China Miéville sounds pretty cool.
"All right, that's too hot. Anything we can do about that heat?"
"Rick...it's a flamethrower."
Anyone read or reading this new vampire thing: The Passage by Justin Cronin? 200 pages in it's pretty high quality so far, some dumb attempts at fleshing out the near future world aside. Governor Jenna Bush? C'mon book.
No, I've never even heard of this.
Every time I go to Chapters I swear I see a dozen new horrors I want to read.
"All right, that's too hot. Anything we can do about that heat?"
"Rick...it's a flamethrower."
I started reading 'Salem's Lot, again. It's been about 20 years since I last read it. Damn is it ever good. I'd encourage anyone who ever doubted King's ability to write solid prose, while also telling a fantastic story with amazing characters, to read this book. It really is one of his very best novels. I'm glad I'm reading it again - I'm picking up on far more little details. Some of his characterizations are simply brilliant.
two things i especially like from that novel.
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all in all, it really is a wonderful novel.
"Over analysis is like the oil of the Match-Cut machine." KK2.0
'Salem's Lot is easily my favorite King. I've only read ten or so of his novels, but nothing has come close in terms of quality writing.
"'Salem's Lot" is my favorite King novel, as well.
It's brilliant.
"All right, that's too hot. Anything we can do about that heat?"
"Rick...it's a flamethrower."
Okay, this is weird, because 'salem's Lot is my favorite King novel too.
Not my favorite either, but I also think it's very good.
I am quite enjoying M. R. James' ghost stories. What do you guys think of him? Perhaps being a contemporary of Lovecraft diminishes his achievement somewhat, but I am surprised not a lot more have been said about him.
"Over analysis is like the oil of the Match-Cut machine." KK2.0
I'm halfway through David Moody's "Hater".
It's good. Very quick read. Very succinct prose.
I love that he's a guy who just published his work online on his own website and people liked it enough that it was picked up for publishing.
"All right, that's too hot. Anything we can do about that heat?"
"Rick...it's a flamethrower."
He's great. I've only read about 1/2 of the collection I have:
But I like what I've read quite a bit.
So I put down A Game of Thrones - I just can't get into it right now.
I started reading The Strain, by Del Toro and Hogan. The story is pretty good, but my God is the prose ever clunky. Oh man...I've always suspected that Del Toro wasn't a very good writer, and this is just more proof. Although maybe its Hogan's fault? I don't know. I feel like the authors don't trust the readers to get it - they think we're stupid. For instance, there is a character who works for the CDC, and he's part of the first response team. They call his team the Canary team, referring to the canary carried by minors to test to unclean air. This is common knowledge, especially for an "adult" audience (and it's not a YA novel), but the authors spend a paragraph explaining what the term "canary" means in the situation. Another character is a "tort" lawyer, and the authors again take time to explain what a "tort" is.
It also has some of the worst metaphors I've ever read.
Nothing is ever left to context or left to the reader to discover. It's all very, very amateurish. Can't believe the amount of critical praise heaped onto this one. It is especially evident after having re-read 'Salem's Lot and Some of Your Blood, two vastly superior vampire novels. But hey, I burned through 100 pages last night, and I am being entertained.
The Strain - by Gullible Dumb Toto and some other guy
Wow, this book is terribly written. Oh man...so bad. The story is pretty cool, but I just couldn't put up with how poor the prose is. I felt insulted by the authors and their inability to trust me to get things. I only finished about 1/2 the book, but 3/4 of those ~250 pages were nothing by needless explanations about stupid things.
I cannot believe that this book has received the critical and fan-based praise that it has.
For my vampire kicks I'll stick to 'Salem's Lot, Some of Your Blood, and the Joe Pitt books.
Salem's Lot is such a big book. Is it an easy read?
Yes it is. King's prose are beautiful and layered but also straight-forward and uncomplicated.
"'Salem's Lot" is the very best example of Stephen King weaving a tale of a community. Of small-town America. And that's what I've found he is very best at. His story-telling ability on this scale is really second to none.
On a different note, I finished "Hater" last night. One of the quickest reads I've ever had - read it in two sittings of about 90 minutes each. The prose are really nothing special. In fact at times the book isn't very well written at all. But the story is quite interesting, and for a quick, genuinely tense chiller it was a good read.
The final 30 pages of so are very tense.
I would definitely read the second entry in the series.
"All right, that's too hot. Anything we can do about that heat?"
"Rick...it's a flamethrower."
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