A Very Familiar Feeling is Beginning to Come Over Me

[Marty Coslaw]

Hi everybody, I'm excited to be here! I only recently began reading fiction in earnest, but I've always loved King's stories as I've seen them on TV or on the big screen. When I was young I mostly stuck to Goosebumps, but I did read the novelette that spawned my favorite King movie (Silver Bullet), Cycle of the Werewolf.

It was about 20 years between that one and the first King book I picked up (after my conversion to proper reading). I was an English major in college (believe it or not), so I've got all this pent up book-discussion that I'm dying to exorcise.

The reason I visited this message board initially was to discuss Road Work, the first Bachman novel I've tried, because it wasn't what I was expecting, but I'm sure I'll work my way through plenty more of the list. I love that discussions are broken down by category!

Here's a list of what I've read so far in order:

Cycle of the Werewolf
Hearts in Atlantis
The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon
Joyland
Doctor Sleep
The Eyes of the Dragon
Revival
Duma Key
IT
Skeleton Crew
Four Past Midnight
Mr. Mercedes
Finders Keepers
End of Watch
The Shining
Night Shift
Pet Sematary
Roadwork
(In-progress) Everything's Eventual

 

[Dana Jean]

Welcome!

 

[Spideyman]

 

[Doc Creed]

Great to have you on the chain gang. What did you think about Pet Sematary? I look forward to your opinions on Roadwork.

 

[GNTLGNT]

....hiya Mr. Coleslaw!....

 

[not_nadine]

 

[ServantThirteen]

Greetings!

 

[king family fan]

 

[Marty Coslaw]

Great to have you on the chain gang. What did you think about Pet Sematary? I look forward to your opinions on Roadwork.

Thanks for responding! So glad you asked about Pet Sematary, and very impressed by your moniker. I wrote about it because I just recently heard they were re-making the movie. I hadn't seen it in a while, so I watched the original again, and came to the same conclusion I did last time I watched: it's not my favorite King movie. I think the book goes a long way to explaining some of the stranger aspects of the film, but I also think they missed some big opportunities in how they made the 1989 film. For example,

Spoiler

a lot of the mythology behind the Micmac burial ground is lost (the power it holds over Judd is not explored as well), and the entire concept of the wendigo (which I think could understandably be left out, but still).

I'm more excited for this re-make than I think I would be for any other new attempts at King's films.
Above all, I think Pet Sematary is the most emotionally complex, and possibly the most emotionally realistic King book I've read. It focuses on the family and the effects of family trauma in a way that reminds me of The Shining in its brilliance and effectiveness. Also, I may have missed it elsewhere, but those two (Shining and Sematary) for me were like a workshop on how to make a compelling protagonist who the reader is not really rooting for, at least in the end. Still, the original is a gem, and if you haven't seen it yet, you should immediately watch Unearthed and Untold.

 

[Paddy C]

Welcome to the SKMB

 

[Dana Jean]

Thanks for responding! So glad you asked about Pet Sematary, and very impressed by your moniker. I wrote about it because I just recently heard they were re-making the movie. I hadn't seen it in a while, so I watched the original again, and came to the same conclusion I did last time I watched: it's not my favorite King movie. I think the book goes a long way to explaining some of the stranger aspects of the film, but I also think they missed some big opportunities in how they made the 1989 film. For example,

Spoiler

a lot of the mythology behind the Micmac burial ground is lost (the power it holds over Judd is not explored as well), and the entire concept of the wendigo (which I think could understandably be left out, but still).

I'm more excited for this re-make than I think I would be for any other new attempts at King's films.
Above all, I think Pet Sematary is the most emotionally complex, and possibly the most emotionally realistic King book I've read. It focuses on the family and the effects of family trauma in a way that reminds me of The Shining in its brilliance and effectiveness. Also, I may have missed it elsewhere, but those two (Shining and Sematary) for me were like a workshop on how to make a compelling protagonist who the reader is not really rooting for, at least in the end. Still, the original is a gem, and if you haven't seen it yet, you should immediately watch Unearthed and Untold.

Hi Marty! I removed the link to your blog post in this area of the board. You are welcome to start a thread in the Self Promotion area of the board and repost that link again.

 

[Doc Creed]

Thanks for responding! So glad you asked about Pet Sematary, and very impressed by your moniker. I wrote about it because I just recently heard they were re-making the movie. I hadn't seen it in a while, so I watched the original again, and came to the same conclusion I did last time I watched: it's not my favorite King movie. I think the book goes a long way to explaining some of the stranger aspects of the film, but I also think they missed some big opportunities in how they made the 1989 film. For example,

Spoiler

a lot of the mythology behind the Micmac burial ground is lost (the power it holds over Judd is not explored as well), and the entire concept of the wendigo (which I think could understandably be left out, but still).

I'm more excited for this re-make than I think I would be for any other new attempts at King's films.
Above all, I think Pet Sematary is the most emotionally complex, and possibly the most emotionally realistic King book I've read. It focuses on the family and the effects of family trauma in a way that reminds me of The Shining in its brilliance and effectiveness. Also, I may have missed it elsewhere, but those two (Shining and Sematary) for me were like a workshop on how to make a compelling protagonist who the reader is not really rooting for, at least in the end. Still, the original is a gem, and if you haven't seen it yet, you should immediately watch Unearthed and Untold.

I agree with your comparisons to The Shining. I haven't seen Unearthed and Untold yet but I want to see it. Did you purchase the DVD?

 

[Marty Coslaw]

I agree with your comparisons to The Shining. I haven't seen Unearthed and Untold yet but I want to see it. Did you purchase the DVD?

I actually watched it because it was free...if you have Prime, the documentary about the making of Pet Sematary is free! I don't know about you, but I would never have given it a chance if it weren't. Turns out it's pretty darn good. If you're a huge fan I'd say spend the money to see this, if nothing else, to see how they made Judd's house!

 

[Marty Coslaw]

Hi Marty! I removed the link to your blog post in this area of the board. You are welcome to start a thread in the Self Promotion area of the board and repost that link again.

I totally understand and appreciate you allowing the rest of the post. I did read the user guide and just didn't see any restriction on that, thanks for explaining the procedure, I'm just eager to get the discussion going.

 

[Neesy]

Hi everybody, I'm excited to be here! I only recently began reading fiction in earnest, but I've always loved King's stories as I've seen them on TV or on the big screen. When I was young I mostly stuck to Goosebumps, but I did read the novelette that spawned my favorite King movie (Silver Bullet), Cycle of the Werewolf.

It was about 20 years between that one and the first King book I picked up (after my conversion to proper reading). I was an English major in college (believe it or not), so I've got all this pent up book-discussion that I'm dying to exorcise.

The reason I visited this message board initially was to discuss Road Work, the first Bachman novel I've tried, because it wasn't what I was expecting, but I'm sure I'll work my way through plenty more of the list. I love that discussions are broken down by category!

Here's a list of what I've read so far in order:

Cycle of the Werewolf
Hearts in Atlantis
The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon
Joyland
Doctor Sleep
The Eyes of the Dragon
Revival
Duma Key
IT
Skeleton Crew
Four Past Midnight
Mr. Mercedes
Finders Keepers
End of Watch
The Shining
Night Shift
Pet Sematary
Roadwork
(In-progress) Everything's Eventual

 

[Ceefor]