Discussing the book... Spoilers

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carrie's younger brother

Well-Known Member
Mar 8, 2012
5,428
25,651
NJ
was that the World would turn to cr#p if Man was left to his own devices but with Woman as a calming, sensible influence the World is a much better place
I would go beyond even the man vs. woman thing and say that the moral is that people need to respect one another in order for the species to continue.
 
Mar 12, 2010
6,538
29,004
Texas
was that the World would turn to cr#p if Man was left to his own devices but with Woman as a calming, sensible influence the World is a much better place

I would go beyond even the man vs. woman thing and say that the moral is that people need to respect one another in order for the species to continue.

Those are both good takes :) Another take could be...
Men are brutal. Women are too forgiving. C'est la vie.
 
Mar 12, 2010
6,538
29,004
Texas
At one point while I was reading Sleeping Beauties, I got the idea that SK and Owen sat around thinking up ideas and then combined them to create the story. Do y'all have any favorite ideas from the book?

One of my favorite ideas was how if someone tore away the webbing from one of the sleepers, the sleeper would wake up and go all zombie-like. But then, if the sleeper was left alone, the web would re-weave itself around the sleeper and the zombie-like female would calmly go back to sleep.
 

GNTLGNT

The idiot is IN
Jun 15, 2007
87,651
358,754
62
Cambridge, Ohio
...I finished up last night....enjoyed a leisurely read through.....final verdict from me, not that it matters a whit to the King's-is that I truly enjoyed it....not in my pantheon of the best, but it entertained me-and when it comes right down to it, that's why we spend the bucks....the supporting characters were somewhat one dimensional, but the main cast was well drawn and the intertwining that was done between both King men, really blended their individual styles into a homogenous whole....the tale to me was an allegorical take on the Garden of Eden combined with the age old battle of the sexes.....the conceptualization of this world, and that which was beyond Dooling was well spooled and might have been even more gripping if there hadn't been such a large amount of editing done...I for one would enjoy an unexpurgated re-visit to the town and the moths.....
 

Neil W

Well-Known Member
May 27, 2008
1,203
2,592
Isle of Wight UK
I thought this was a mystery tour novel - the journey was fun, the destination was a bit meh. There was a lot of humour in the writing, which I liked. I was hoping for rather more meat on the bones of the resolution than was the case. And none of the things I wanted to happen happened other than
Peters getting offed
.

The domestic abuse/ain't men bad subtext, though perfectly valid, felt about uncomfortable, especially when it got cranked up towards the end.

And who/what the heck was Eve? She was a deus ex machine, except introduced right at the start.

I quite enjoyed reading it, but it's not on the list for re-reading.
 
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Cody Williams

Member
Aug 19, 2014
5
32
28
The was...okay. Okay, I won't beat around the bush, I didn't really like it all that much. The first half of it was pretty damn good but the last half was hard to get through. What I dislike the most about it is that Stephen King has written this book before and with better results. This book is UNDER THE DOME without the dome. It is THE STAND without Mother Abigail and Randall Flagg. It is THE GREEN MILE without John Coffey. It is STORM OF THE CENTURY with a female Andre Linoge. When you're going to write a rehash of your own work, at least make it appealing (like certain Dean Koontz books that rip off COLD FIRE) and not a chore to get through (like other Dean Koontz books that I'd rather forget about). I didn't really like Joe Hill's THE FIREMAN that much (I mean, it was okay, ya know?) but I did like it more than this one. Personally, I prefer GWENDY'S BUTTON BOX of the releases this year. I'm not the kind of person who says that King has lost something in his later years. He hit a stumbling block in the 90s and early 2000s but returned to form (at least for me) right around DUMA KEY. I absolutely adore the novel, REVIVAL, and I'm looking forward to THE OUTSIDER next year. SLEEPING BEAUTIES was a stinker but I have high hopes for the next one...besides, I have my suspicions that Holly Gibney's going to show up and I really like that gal!
 
Mar 12, 2010
6,538
29,004
Texas
The was...okay. Okay, I won't beat around the bush, I didn't really like it all that much. The first half of it was pretty damn good but the last half was hard to get through. What I dislike the most about it is that Stephen King has written this book before and with better results. This book is UNDER THE DOME without the dome. It is THE STAND without Mother Abigail and Randall Flagg. It is THE GREEN MILE without John Coffey. It is STORM OF THE CENTURY with a female Andre Linoge. When you're going to write a rehash of your own work, at least make it appealing (like certain Dean Koontz books that rip off COLD FIRE) and not a chore to get through (like other Dean Koontz books that I'd rather forget about). I didn't really like Joe Hill's THE FIREMAN that much (I mean, it was okay, ya know?) but I did like it more than this one. Personally, I prefer GWENDY'S BUTTON BOX of the releases this year. I'm not the kind of person who says that King has lost something in his later years. He hit a stumbling block in the 90s and early 2000s but returned to form (at least for me) right around DUMA KEY. I absolutely adore the novel, REVIVAL, and I'm looking forward to THE OUTSIDER next year. SLEEPING BEAUTIES was a stinker but I have high hopes for the next one...besides, I have my suspicions that Holly Gibney's going to show up and I really like that gal!

I'm also looking forward to The Outsider :) Before SK wrote Mr Mercedes, I woulda never guessed he could write such excellant mystery thrillers.
 

Nomik

Carry on
Jun 19, 2016
3,973
22,555
47
Derry, NH
I tend to read King novels very quickly, and I slowed down a bit on this one. Personally, this was because I work for home and have a toddler, and that limits my reading time. Nevertheless, I was more than halfway through in about two days. Then, I read on the plane when I went on vacation last week. I now have 100 or so pages left, probably a little more…
I do like it, but I don’t love it. It’s an interesting concept, but I’m seeing some plot holes, and maybe these will be addressed as I finish the book.
for example, what happens to the cocooned Women when they give birth? As I said, I probably just haven’t gotten that far yet.
I just keep comparing it to The Stand. I suppose that’s not really a fair comparison. I was more invested in the characters in that novel that I am in this one, and the plot in this one doesn’t move along as perfectly.
 
Dec 27, 2017
13
73
West Coast Canada
Like many others here, I didn't love this book. It felt a lot like reworked Under the Dome; huge cast of characters, small town in a crisis, good vs evil. I thought the man vs woman aspect was over blown, but it could be allegory for all of the struggles we currently face; race, religion, nationality, gender, etc.

Women in our society are constrained by many social factors, and the exploration of that could have, should have been more interesting to me, but this one didn't grab me.

I may revise my opinion on second reading, sometimes books grow on me.
 

London Init Geezer

Well-Known Member
Mar 22, 2015
47
167
59
South London England
I don`t see an actual thread here for the book, or maybe I`m blind.
If some other thread in here is for the book discussion, then feel free to delete this one.
So, anyone started it yet?
First impressions?
I am 80 pages in, a lot of stuff already happened, but it is way to early to tell anything, whether it is good or not.
For now, all I can say is that I`m supper happy to have a new book in my hands....:)
Got the book for Christmas have read 60 pages and I’m loving it .Typical King with the character building back stories well pleased with it .
I’m a slow reader but when a story feels so good it’s an asset to take my time sit back and enjoy.
Every page I turn brings new wonderment to me.
Yes I may be OTT after only 60 pages but I’m hooked baby and enjoying the ride.
Happy new year people from the London Init Geezer.
 

chris2-4

"Pennywise Lives!"
Jan 17, 2011
490
683
Hanover, Maryland
I don`t see an actual thread here for the book, or maybe I`m blind.
If some other thread in here is for the book discussion, then feel free to delete this one.
So, anyone started it yet?
First impressions?
I am 80 pages in, a lot of stuff already happened, but it is way to early to tell anything, whether it is good or not.
For now, all I can say is that I`m supper happy to have a new book in my hands....:)
I don`t see an actual thread here for the book, or maybe I`m blind.
If some other thread in here is for the book discussion, then feel free to delete this one.
So, anyone started it yet?
First impressions?
I am 80 pages in, a lot of stuff already happened, but it is way to early to tell anything, whether it is good or not.
For now, all I can say is that I`m supper happy to have a new book in my hands....:)
I'm like 80 pages in. Hope it gets better.