Quick Poll:

[zallia]

Which Stephen King book should I read first??

Comments

[ersatzpixie.livejournal.com]

I dunno which you should start with, but the ones I like the most are the not-typical-horror ones, like The Stand, The Talisman (and it's sequel The Black House), The Eyes of the Dragon, Dolores Claiborne, The Green Mile, and It. I also like The Shining and the short story collection Different Seasons has the stories on which the movies "Shawshank Redemption" and "Stand By Me" were based.

I haven't really read anything of his in the last 10-15 years or so, though, so I can't comment on anything he's written recently.

[sakana-hime.livejournal.com]

The Gunslinger. It's amazing.

If you're going for horror though 'Salem's Lot is always a classic. I'm currently reading Everything's Eventual which is a collection of short stories and I'm enjoying it quite a bit. It has a good mix of spooky and heartfelt, and a touch of Dark Tower. :)

[wyrmis.livejournal.com]

For his old school horror style, the two best ones are Night Shift (short story collection) and Salem's Lot. I would wholeheartedly recommend those.

For his later, slightly more mystical-America style, The Stand is often chosen as *the* classic King novel, and I'll say either of the four-novella books: Four Past Midnight or Different Seasons (former more horror, latter intended to be non-horror).

I read Desperation, all 800 or so pages, in something like a day and a half. Upon watching the mini-series, wasn't super thrilled with the story. Don't know if that means the story was awesome and I just hated the mini, or if I was just craving books at the time.

Besides those, my three main recommendations are probably It, The Shining, and maybe Eyes of the Dragon.

For whatever reason, I have never read the Dark Tower series. And books like Hearts in Atlantis and Cell and From a Buick 8 have some interesting, post-Dark Tower pluses, but a lot of old school King fans don't seem to like them.

[tanz-fanatika.livejournal.com]

It depends on what you're looking for.

If you like short stories, I highly recommend Night Shift. Start with that, then do Skeleton Crew (which has my very favorite King piece: the novella "The Mist") and Nightmares and Dreamscapes.

If you want something a bit more fantasy, read Eyes of the Dragon. It's wonderful and atypical. If you like that, try the Dark Tower series next.

If you want horror and like longer novels, do The Stand or It. Both are fabulous. The Stand is a multicharacter, multi-POV, good vs. evil epic. It is more of a coming of age tale featuring a group of friends (mostly male, one female) both as kids and adults.

[zallia.livejournal.com]

lol Love the icon. The Stand and Talisman I'm currently reading in graphic novel format if only they would release the dang things faster. I have actually already read The Green Mile (back when I had to wait weeks for the next tiny installment!) and the Eyes of the Dragon, which I keep forgetting he did even though I've read it several times. I do want to read a lengthy horror and ended up grabbing Salem's Lot, though we'll see if I can stick with it.

[zallia.livejournal.com]

Sorry, I guess I should have mentioned that I have read some! I'm currently stymied in the middle of the Wizard and the Glass. I busted through the first three and a half during jury duty, but then it turned into the same as the graphic novels and I just can't seem to move forward on it. >_>

I did start Salem's Lot! My mom made a good point in that since a lot of them hearken back to old books I should start with the earlier ones.

[zallia.livejournal.com]

Salem's Lot one! Mainly because the only full-length non-DT ones I could find were that, Rose Madder and Desperation. And I feel the same as you on that miniseries. Well most of his movies actually. Which is why I hadn't taken him seriously as an author before. >_>

I actually have read Eyes of the Dragon several times! I forget that it was his doing though.

[sakana-hime.livejournal.com]

Actually, I didn't read Wizard and Glass. *coughcough*. I started it and just absolutely hated the Susan plot line so I skimmed all the flashback stuff then just read the end where it's back in Roland's present day. The last three books are also back in the present and continue Roland's quest for the Tower. You won't be lost if you skip Wizard and Glass as long as you know what happens to Susan and then read the end of it (part four). :)

Yeah, Stephen King loves putting references in his books. I guess it goes with his, "all worlds revolve around the Tower" theme he has or, to use a Doctor Who referece, sometimes the other worlds impress themselves upon ours.

[zallia.livejournal.com]

Okay, I feel a lot better then! I thought it was just cause I already knew the story, but even with the extra details it just seemed to be dragging and taking away from the quest that had engaged me in the first place. I'm glad you feel the same! Since the GNs have already covered all of that, I think I'll take a page from you and just skip ahead and finally, hopefully get around to reading the rest of the series. I love the idea of everything tying together, but I want to know all these DT references first. ;P