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doowopgirl

very avid fan
Aug 7, 2009
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dublin ireland
if you're having trouble with The Gunslinger, try skipping it and read book II, The Drawing of the Three. That works for lots of people.

John
I actuallt read Wind Through the keyhole first, then Drawing of the Three. then started over with the Gunslinger and was hooked by then. I read the whole series again starting with the Gunslinger and going through to the end. So good advice.
 

doowopgirl

very avid fan
Aug 7, 2009
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dublin ireland
Hope you don't mind me answering instead of ArchaeoGirl

I am pretty sure it is a black billed magpie
bb_magpie_mikewisnicki.jpg


Just seems to have its feathers ruffled a bit
Magpies are supposed to be bad luck and you must spit if you see one one it's own.
 

Nomik

Carry on
Jun 19, 2016
3,973
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Derry, NH
I thought that this thread was for Joyland. I'm confused, book is awesome so far.
Maybe I'm biased.
So far we've got UNH, my alma mater- even references to the food river at the dining hall (I too, worked at the dining hall), then the setting appears to be very similar to my favorite place on earth, Canobie Lake Park. That amusement park was the actual setting for my entire childhood and adolescent developmental fun. I got lost in the house and mirrors once though, that was scary.
Maybe I'll stop liking it at some point but I don't see how.
 
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doowopgirl

very avid fan
Aug 7, 2009
6,946
25,119
65
dublin ireland
I hate magpies. They are the rats of the sky. They love to steal the babies of other birds from their nests.
There is a whole magpie poem. One for sorrow, two for joy, three for a girl, four for a boy, five for silver, six for gold, seven for a secret never to be told, eight for a wish, nine for a kiss, 10 for a bird you cannot miss. how's that for weird.
 

ArchaeoGirl

Member
Oct 15, 2016
10
48
I thought that this thread was for Joyland. I'm confused, book is awesome so far.
Maybe I'm biased.
So far we've got UNH, my alma mater- even references to the food river at the dining hall (I too, worked at the dining hall), then the setting appears to be very similar to my favorite place on earth, Canobie Lake Park. That amusement park was the actual setting for my entire childhood and adolescent developmental fun. I got lost in the house and mirrors once though, that was scary.
Maybe I'll stop liking it at some point but I don't see how.

I loved Canobie Lake Park. Spent quite a bit of time there myself growing up. We also went to Story Land and Santa's Village quite a bit, or up the Kancamagus highway (Swift river was a great playground). I loved Story Land, mostly because it scared the crap out of me. Those giant cartoon figures were all smiles, but it seemed (to me) that they were hiding some insidious plan for when the lights went down. I always wanted to go there at night, but my folks weren't up for that. I was the weird child who loved being scared. My grandparents lived in Maine, and I spent most summers terrifying myself in the Maine woods. For my money, you won't find a scarier place than that... (Except maybe SK's imagination?)
 
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Nomik

Carry on
Jun 19, 2016
3,973
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Derry, NH
I loved Canobie Lake Park. Spent quite a bit of time there myself growing up. We also went to Story Land and Santa's Village quite a bit, or up the Kancamagus highway (Swift river was a great playground). I loved Story Land, mostly because it scared the crap out of me. Those giant cartoon figures were all smiles, but it seemed (to me) that they were hiding some insidious plan for when the lights went down. I always wanted to go there at night, but my folks weren't up for that. I was the weird child who loved being scared. My grandparents lived in Maine, and I spent most summers terrifying myself in the Maine woods. For my money, you won't find a scarier place than that... (Except maybe SK's imagination?)
It sounds like we have very similar childhoods- I know!
About the woods. I have a story for you. This happened in the woods outside of Near the Derry - Hampstead border. I was trail riding with my instructor's daughter. She had her pony and I had my horse. We were a little bit off trail and right there in another words we found this abandoned cabin. So creepy! I was probably 14 or 15 and she was 11, so we felt that it was a good idea to approach it. There were what can only be described as set Satanic phrases, words, and symbols, scrawled in red. Didn't look like spray paint - spray paint doesn't pool and drip. What possessed us to go enter the cabin, I still don't know. We tethered our ponies to a tree and inside we found bedding and a fire pit. The walls or creepier than the outside of the place. Years later, I saw the Blair witch Project… similar kind of house.

We did spend quite a bit of time driving along the kankamangus en route to dog shows.
My favorite hiking/fishing spot (not counting coastal ones) were the trails by the Piscataqua River. I think I went to Storyland when I was younger… Now that you mention it I'm thinking of the town and Dr. sleep.
Have you ever been to Laconia? There is hickory stick farm (just a duck restaurant)
They have the most sensational duck and something called zippy pineapple salad. We bought their cookbook and still make the salad every single holiday.
That Eda Ville rail way was a nice day trip too. Speaking of day trips, Vermont! Smugglers not sure, the skyline restaurants, the seven Gables in Stowe. .
I hope all that stuff is still there, it took my mom and me 20 minutes just to remember the name of the Piscataqua, and my father and I hiked there all the time.
Daytrip's… LL Bean? . . .very different trip going with your parents then when you go with your friends in college at 3 AM.
 

Neesy

#1 fan (Annie Wilkes cousin) 1st cousin Mom's side
May 24, 2012
61,289
239,271
Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada
It sounds like we have very similar childhoods- I know!
About the woods. I have a story for you. This happened in the woods outside of Near the Derry - Hampstead border. I was trail riding with my instructor's daughter. She had her pony and I had my horse. We were a little bit off trail and right there in another words we found this abandoned cabin. So creepy! I was probably 14 or 15 and she was 11, so we felt that it was a good idea to approach it. There were what can only be described as set Satanic phrases, words, and symbols, scrawled in red. Didn't look like spray paint - spray paint doesn't pool and drip. What possessed us to go enter the cabin, I still don't know. We tethered our ponies to a tree and inside we found bedding and a fire pit. The walls or creepier than the outside of the place. Years later, I saw the Blair witch Project… similar kind of house.

We did spend quite a bit of time driving along the kankamangus en route to dog shows.
My favorite hiking/fishing spot (not counting coastal ones) were the trails by the Piscataqua River. I think I went to Storyland when I was younger… Now that you mention it I'm thinking of the town and Dr. sleep.
Have you ever been to Laconia? There is hickory stick farm (just a duck restaurant)
They have the most sensational duck and something called zippy pineapple salad. We bought their cookbook and still make the salad every single holiday.
That Eda Ville rail way was a nice day trip too. Speaking of day trips, Vermont! Smugglers not sure, the skyline restaurants, the seven Gables in Stowe. .
I hope all that stuff is still there, it took my mom and me 20 minutes just to remember the name of the Piscataqua, and my father and I hiked there all the time.
Daytrip's… LL Bean? . . .very different trip going with your parents then when you go with your friends in college at 3 AM.

"They have the most sensational duck and something called zippy pineapple salad. We bought their cookbook and still make the salad every single holiday".

Is this the recipe?

ZIPPY PINEAPPLE SALAD


1 (3 oz.) pkg. lemon Jello
1 (3 oz.) pkg. lime Jello
2 c. boiling water
1 c. mayonnaise
3 tbsp. horseradish
1 (16 oz.) pkg. cottage cheese
1 c. evaporated milk
1 (2 lb.) can crushed pineapple
Dissolve Jello in boiling water. Assemble remaining ingredients in a large bowl. Mix well. Add dissolved Jello. Pour into oiled mold. Refrigerate until set.

Serve on bed of lettuce with Fruit Dressing.
 

Nomik

Carry on
Jun 19, 2016
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Derry, NH
That is it! Have you tried it?
I miss home!

I realize that this has completely veered from the original thread, but now I'm more homesick than usual. Especially in light of the fact that I'm sitting in front of Walgreens right now, looking at a sleeping homeless man.
 
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Nomik

Carry on
Jun 19, 2016
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Derry, NH
No - my former in-laws were fans of this type of salad

(I might just give it a try, actually)

I like both cottage cheese and horseradish so this one looks better than most!

They often put tiny marshmallows in their molded jello salads
It's delicious. Interesting… other fans of this type of salad . . .
 
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ArchaeoGirl

Member
Oct 15, 2016
10
48
Joyland made me realize how much I have forgotten about all of the SK books I have read. I miss discovering little crossovers (Ex. Dolores Claiborne and Gerald's Game) and have decided to go all the way back to the beginning (Carrie) and read forward again. I imagine there are a lot of little nuances that I probably missed the first time around. (In my defense, I started reading SK when I was about 10, and many (see many, many, many) years have passed since then. My sleuthing skills have much improved since then, and I get a weird satisfaction when I read something that gives me an "Ah ha!" moment. It's an ambitious undertaking, but it will be fun. Time to open some boxes and get out the dust buster...
 

ArchaeoGirl

Member
Oct 15, 2016
10
48
Yeah, back to the topic.

Joyland was a ok read for me. Seemed it could have been a short story.

It was shorter than the average SK novel. Novellas seem like they should be easier to make into movies (As this one is going to be) that stay true to the story. I get a little worried when Hollyweird makes a movie adaption of a novel that I love. I have yet to say "That movie was better than the book". For me, Pet Cemetery stayed the closest (visually) to how the book played out in my mind as I read it.