Pretty Great,huh?

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mrblonde

Well-Known Member
Feb 4, 2010
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MA
I always thought "The Stand" would be my favorite King book, but I've listened to this on audio 4 times now. Each time it seems to get better. The first chapter of this book is BY FAR the single best chapter he has ever written.
I haven't read The Stand in 3 years or so (It was an annual thing for a decade) but I think it's been displaced on the top of my list.
 

bigkingfan91

Well-Known Member
Mar 1, 2014
190
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WV
It blew me away, I just could not put it down. I developed such a connection with the characters, he really caught pure emotion for me in this one. Amazing description of the locations as well. This would make a great movie, if done right.

The ending, like the last 2 pages, there came a part that I'm sure hit a lot of us pretty hard, and I was sitting there like AHHHHHH NOOOOO!

I'd love a sequel for this one on down the road, much like how everyone wondered whatever happened to Dan Torrance.. Maybe Edgar takes over a certain hotel, and begins to paint! :)
 

Timothy A

Member
Apr 26, 2014
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63
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I think this because my top 3 scariest SK books when I finished. I haven't felt this chill up my spine since Jerusalem's Lot and a little in Bag of Bones. I do think this book is underrated. More people really should read.

I totally agree. For some reason I couldn't get into this book when it was published in 2008 but I recently found it in a box I hadn't unpacked since we moved recently. I finished it in two days. The characters are some of Mr. King's most vivid. The relationship between Edgar and Wireman was amazing. As MandarkC said, this work is very under-rated.
 
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Marrena

Member
May 1, 2014
10
52
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Duma is Top 5 on my Stephen King list. Can't even explain how special that book is to me.

Can we assume no spoiler warning necessary in these threads, if a book has been out for a while?

Duma Key is in my top 5 of all books, which is saying something. I will be rereading this one many times in the future. The ending was very different from the rest of the book. I'm assuming that his fanbase has certain expectations, or maybe he had to write something that would lend itself to film. I'm going to do a thought exercise and go to that ruined home in my mind, and see if I would have done things any differently. Most of the book was so realistic, I was really surprised at how it rang true.
 
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Neesy

#1 fan (Annie Wilkes cousin) 1st cousin Mom's side
May 24, 2012
61,289
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Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada
Can we assume no spoiler warning necessary in these threads, if a book has been out for a while?

Duma Key is in my top 5 of all books, which is saying something. I will be rereading this one many times in the future. The ending was very different from the rest of the book. I'm assuming that his fanbase has certain expectations, or maybe he had to write something that would lend itself to film. I'm going to do a thought exercise and go to that ruined home in my mind, and see if I would have done things any differently. Most of the book was so realistic, I was really surprised at how it rang true.
I did not actually read the book "It" until I came to this web site a couple of years ago, so yeah maybe using a spoiler is a good idea, as Moderator says above.
p.s. I thought Duma Key was excellent, too! Welcome to the SKMB Marrena :cheerful:
 
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MandarkC

Active Member
Mar 11, 2014
26
93
London, United Kingdom
Thank you! I heard that Lisey's Story is similar? I am burning with curiosity to get more.
Lisey's story is sweet. If I remember correctly, I'd say it's less like Duma Key and more like Rose Madder
without the painting
(^I mean elements of Lisey's Story fits more with Rose Madder than Duma Key in my mind)
 
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booklover72

very strange person
Jan 12, 2014
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I read this 3 times and it is fantastic, loved the characters, but his description of the beach made me think i was there. i could visualise the whole thing in my head. My second favourite SK book - BOB is the first.
 
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Marrena

Member
May 1, 2014
10
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58
Before Duma Key, I read Dear Life by Nobel Prize-winning Alice Munro. The book really irritated me. It was beautifully written, but the behavior of every character in it was completely unrealistic, inauthentic, except for the handful of stories at the end that were autobiographical. Maybe it's because I'm a freak, but I found the behavior of the characters in Duma Key to be realistic and authentic. Human.

At any rate, in my opinion there wasn't anything in her book that was better written than this:

The water surged around us. Once I got used to it, I loved the silky feel of that surge: first the lift that made me feel as if I'd magically dieted off twelve pounds or so, then the backrun that pulled sand out from between my toes in small, tickling whirlpools. Seventy or eighty yards beyond us, two fat pelicans drew a line across the morning. Then they folded their wings and dropped like stones.​
 

FlakeNoir

Original Kiwi© SKMB®
Moderator
Apr 11, 2006
44,082
175,641
New Zealand
Before Duma Key, I read Dear Life by Nobel Prize-winning Alice Munro. The book really irritated me. It was beautifully written, but the behavior of every character in it was completely unrealistic, inauthentic, except for the handful of stories at the end that were autobiographical. Maybe it's because I'm a freak, but I found the behavior of the characters in Duma Key to be realistic and authentic. Human.

At any rate, in my opinion there wasn't anything in her book that was better written than this:

The water surged around us. Once I got used to it, I loved the silky feel of that surge: first the lift that made me feel as if I'd magically dieted off twelve pounds or so, then the backrun that pulled sand out from between my toes in small, tickling whirlpools. Seventy or eighty yards beyond us, two fat pelicans drew a line across the morning. Then they folded their wings and dropped like stones.​
That was a fantastic piece...
 
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:

The water surged around us. Once I got used to it, I loved the silky feel of that surge: first the lift that made me feel as if I'd magically dieted off twelve pounds or so, then the backrun that pulled sand out from between my toes in small, tickling whirlpools. Seventy or eighty yards beyond us, two fat pelicans drew a line across the morning. Then they folded their wings and dropped like stones.​

I am on a re-read of Duma Key and just read this part today. Anyone who has stood in a big body of water knows this feeling for the miracle it is and he just captures it. Makes you think every other description is perfectly captured too.
 

not_nadine

Comfortably Roont
Nov 19, 2011
29,655
139,785
Behind you
I just finished the book. I had started it a long time ago and put it down for some reason.

It was wonderful. I now have to go read through the threads that I skipped.

Great read. (I love Wireman)
 
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