Your most underrated SK book

[TanyaS]

I

I felt the same way about Cell! I couldn't connect to the characters at all. None of them were likable in my opinion. I understand unresolved endings, and sometimes even prefer them (i.e. The Mist). But this one just didn't do it for me.

I couldn't get into it either. I like the edge that King's older works have. For me, the rawness/edginess/clarity is just not there in the later works. Still love his books to bits though, right up to The Tommyknockers. Just my opine, and I so respect him, he makes writing look so easy! A Mozart of modern literature.

 

[TanyaS]

In a local paper, Carrie got voted as King's most popular novel still. Found this surprising. The Shining for example, is just a s good, as are other works, I reckon!! Carrie is a great read, compact, smart, comes to life, sympathetic and sad/chilling/dark.

 

[Witchcult Today]

i am going to have to go with Doctor Sleep, which blew my socks off...now this could be because of my deep connection i made with Dan as an adult. The first S.K. book i read was "The Shining" in 5th grade. I wasn't TOO much older than Doc when i read that and by the time Doctor Sleep dropped when i was 29, i had been through a nasty heroin addiction (over a year and a half recovered) AND i am a member of A.A. (only 2 weeks sober of alcohol right now, unfortunately...but, hey...baby steps! i just got home from a meeting, actually!) that book hit VERY close to home and is probably my favorite book by King. The level of accuracy he portrayed in reaching "The Bottom" and his portrayal of A.A. was absolutely perfect for me. Doctor Sleep came out at JUST the right time in my life...so accurate it was almost, for lack of better words, a creepy blessing.

 

[Dana Jean]

Welcome back and take it one day at a time.

 

[CordialJim]

Firestarter

 

[AchtungBaby]

I

I couldn't get into it either. I like the edge that King's older works have. For me, the rawness/edginess/clarity is just not there in the later works. Still love his books to bits though, right up to The Tommyknockers. Just my opine, and I so respect him, he makes writing look so easy! A Mozart of modern literature.

IMO, while his early works definitely have more bite and go for the jugular more often, his newer works (i.e Tommyknockers-on) are more about the story, writing very very complex characters, and putting a lot of heart and soul into it. They're different, yes, but I think King has definitely matured and grown as a writer.

 

[Grillo]

Hearts in Atlantis. Specifically the actual story in the book called "Hearts in Atlantis". A wonderful story about getting your legs underneath you in college and trying to figure out who you are going to be. The whole undercurrent of linking all the stories together in that book is just an incredible job of writing.

I love that book...one of my absolute favorites.

 

[Grillo]

For most underrated though, I'm going to have to choose Rose Madder, which I thought was excellent, but even SK has slagged that one off...

 

[TanyaS]

IMO, while his early works definitely have more bite and go for the jugular more often, his newer works (i.e Tommyknockers-on) are more about the story, writing very very complex characters, and putting a lot of heart and soul into it. They're different, yes, but I think King has definitely matured and grown as a writer.

His early works are better, in my view. They just read faster. Just sayin!!

 

[TanyaS]

For most underrated though, I'm going to have to choose Rose Madder, which I thought was excellent, but even SK has slagged that one off...

yeah, it dragged for me. didn't know SK had slagged it off though.

 

[Officious Little Prick]

Well, as it's my all-time favorite novel of his, but fans and critics alike always claim it to be mid- or low-tier King, I have to give this crown to CHRISTINE. That whole book fires on all cylinders (pun intended) and comprises everything I love about King. Superlative command of language, instantly unforgettable characters, deeply chilling scares, saturated in rich pathos and tragedy. Objectively, THE SHINING is his magnum opus (it's certainly his most profoundly terrifying and, as such, my second favorite) but, for me, CHRISTINE is the total package. Others have to be DESPERATION (probably my favorite work of his from the '90s, though, perplexing, its sister novel, THE REGULATORS, is one of my least favorites of his entire canon) and BLACK HOUSE, which I enjoyed several leagues over THE TALISMAN.

 

[TanyaS]

Christine does really rock. I have read it several times over and always enjoy it. The characters are so well rounded. Arnie so alive, Dennis so sensible, Leigh is lovely. A very rewarding read. Fun, scary, dramatic, and a fast-paced thrill. Cujo also, an all time fave. Such a chiller and so sad. Was there not a tyre jack in the car that Donna could have used on the dog? Guess not. What a shocking situation. Great book, very gritty and real. I love the characters of Charity and Brett Chamber the most. Wanted more of them!!

 

[Grillo]

yeah, it dragged for me. didn't know SK had slagged it off though.

From his Reddit AMA, when someone asked if there was a novel he wished he could unpublish: "If I were to 'unpublish' a novel...hmmm. There are some I'd probably rewrite, but unpublished? Probably not even ROSE MADDER, which has always seemed less than successful to me."

And from On Writing: "I have written plotted novels, but the results, in books like Insomnia and Rose Madder, have not been particularly inspiring. These are (much as I hate to admit it) stiff, trying-too-hard novels."

 

[TanyaS]

Thanks. Good on him for his honesty!

 

[Neesy]

From his Reddit AMA, when someone asked if there was a novel he wished he could unpublish: "If I were to 'unpublish' a novel...hmmm. There are some I'd probably rewrite, but unpublished? Probably not even ROSE MADDER, which has always seemed less than successful to me."

And from On Writing: "I have written plotted novels, but the results, in books like Insomnia and Rose Madder, have not been particularly inspiring. These are (much as I hate to admit it) stiff, trying-too-hard novels."

I think he is disparaging himself too much - I really liked Rose Madder a lot. I have never been an abused woman or anything like that but something about this book hit the right chords for me - even the weird fantasy parts.

 

[Officious Little Prick]

ROSE MADDER is, hands down, my absolute least favorite Stephen King novel (though I really enjoyed INSOMNIA, so I can't support his assertion it suffers from "trying too hard"). In another thread on this forum, someone mentioned a wish that King would rewrite it, but without all the supernatural mess, with Norman just a very real, everyday brand of evil. I fully support that wish; the opening chapter of the book was among the best I've ever read of King's, but as the supernatural began to leak into, then ultimately drown, the narrative, it became less and less convincing and, even more crucially damaging, flat-out tacky and in bad taste, considering the very real horrors Norman represents from which thousands of women in the U.S. suffer.

 

[Amy Kostyn-Jenkins]

I'm having a bit of trouble understanding what people mean by "underrated". Would that be based on fan response, lack of sales or critical attack? Or is it all of those? Every so often, SK releases a novel that goes nearly unnoticed and/or easily forgotten...for example, I'm surprised nobody here has mentioned Gerald's Game. Is that because readers enjoyed it, or because it deserves to be a dust-gatherer? I can usually find some interesting scraps hidden under the most vile refuse, so it's tough to come up with a title that had nothing worthwhile at all. Was Lisey's Story truly "underrated"? It seems to have the same "loved it"/"hated it" comments as just about every other SK novel. I did mention these two titles because one is probably my favorite (so far) and the other my least, but that isn't the topic. So...what is?

 

[Officious Little Prick]

I'm having a bit of trouble understanding what people mean by "underrated". Would that be based on fan response, lack of sales or critical attack? Or is it all of those? Every so often, SK releases a novel that goes nearly unnoticed and/or easily forgotten...for example, I'm surprised nobody here has mentioned Gerald's Game. Is that because readers enjoyed it, or because it deserves to be a dust-gatherer? I can usually find some interesting scraps hidden under the most vile refuse, so it's tough to come up with a title that had nothing worthwhile at all. Was Lisey's Story truly "underrated"? It seems to have the same "loved it"/"hated it" comments as just about every other SK novel. I did mention these two titles because one is probably my favorite (so far) and the other my least, but that isn't the topic. So...what is?

I wouldn't overthink it. I'd posit the idea is to champion King books that you feel to be among his very best works, but which never seem to be mentioned as among his core lauded-by-critics-and-fans-alike essentials (CARRIE, 'SALEM'S LOT, THE SHINING, THE STAND, PET SEMATARY, IT, MISERY, THE GREEN MILE, the DARK TOWER series, and 11/22/63). I would say that GERALD'S GAME and LISEY'S STORY are great suggestions for this topic because, if you believe they represent King at his very best (though I'd disagree that GERALD'S GAME does--in the range of his "battered woman" trilogy, DOLORES CLAIBORNE is far superior, though GERALD'S GAME obliterates ROSE MADDER), this is your chance to let fellow fans know, "Hey, the critics and general fan populace are missing a real gem here! Don't make the same mistake!"

Personally, I can't wait to get to LISEY'S STORY and see if it lives up to the author's own hype.

 

[Shoesalesman]

Cujo. Rarely ever see it in a top five or ten list, but this book had my then-twelve year old heart twisted in knots. I stayed in on a few sunny summer weekends and unplugged my Intellivision just to see how the characters made out. It's part of my fibre now.

 

[Neesy]

ROSE MADDER is, hands down, my absolute least favorite Stephen King novel (though I really enjoyed INSOMNIA, so I can't support his assertion it suffers from "trying too hard"). In another thread on this forum, someone mentioned a wish that King would rewrite it, but without all the supernatural mess, with Norman just a very real, everyday brand of evil. I fully support that wish; the opening chapter of the book was among the best I've ever read of King's, but as the supernatural began to leak into, then ultimately drown, the narrative, it became less and less convincing and, even more crucially damaging, flat-out tacky and in bad taste, considering the very real horrors Norman represents from which thousands of women in the U.S. suffer.

Bad taste? I wonder how many battered women escape into fantasy to block out the horror of real life. I guess we are all entitled to our view of a particular book but to me the supernatural did not take away the message that battered women suffer a great deal and need to escape their partners.