Potted comments

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Neil W

Well-Known Member
May 27, 2008
1,203
2,592
Isle of Wight UK
I was trying to get my thoughts about each book distilled into as few words as possible. Feel free to comment, disagree, andd to, offer alternatives ettc.


Carrie - A solid first published effort.
Salem’s Lot - Scary vampire tale.
The Shining - The horror novel as Literature: brilliantly structured and told.
Rage - Prescient, and the more horrifying for it.
Night Shift - Short stories, more hits than misses.
The Stand - The horror novel as Epic. A wonderfully satisfying read.
The Long Walk - Simple concept, brilliant story.
The Dead Zone - Sci-fi horror. Pleasing but sad.
Firestarter - More sci-fi horror. Action-packed with some great set pieces.
Roadwork - forgettable.
Cujo - His first claustrophobia horror novel. Adequate.
The Running Man - Dystopic sci-fi horror. Adequate.
Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption - Terrific novella, suspenseful and full of heart.
The Body - Wistful nostalgia.
The Breathing Method - Obvious, but fun.
Apt Pupil - This is why people say nasty things about SK’s thought processes.
Christine - Evil car tragedy, still works well.
Pet Sematary - One of SK’s nastier horror tales, especially if you’re a parent.
The Talisman (co-written with Peter Straub) - Enjoyable road trip in parallel worlds.
Thinner - A simple but effective suspense horror.
Skeleton Crew - A mixed bag of short stories, with one or two good ones.
It - Very enjoyable journey with a slightly disappointing destination.
The Eyes Of The Dragon - Enjoyable adventure in fantasy world.
Misery - Visceral psychological (and physical) horror.
The Tommyknockers - One of his big cast, slow build books.
The Dark Half - Enjoyable suspense horror (but the background is better still!)
The Langoliers - Airport-based horror/suspense: very enjoyable.
Secret Window, Secret Garden - Madness, or something worse? The horror story as mystery.
The Library Policeman - A pleasing notion, rather forgettably executed.
The Sun Dog - Another nice idea not closely embraced by memory.
Needful Things - Big cast again, but some geuine nastiness going on.
Dolores Claiborne - Excellent character-based real-life horror.
Gerald’s Game - Simple idea, perhaps not quite enough to sustain a full novel.
Nightmares And Dreamscapes - Short stories, a good collection.
Insomnia - Fantasy meets nightmare. I really enjoyed this one.
Rose Madder - Rather forgettable real-life horror.
The Green Mile - Excellent gentle horror.
Desperation - A rather obvious monster.
The Regulators - Intriguing and offbeat.
Bag of Bones - Familiar ground, but well told.
The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon - An oddity, but affecting and effective.
Low Men In Yellow Coats - Excellent story about childhood and friendship.
Hearts In Atlantis - A study of compulsion.
Blind Willie - Mildy touching but a little inconsequential.
Why We’re In Vietnam - Forgettable novella.
Dreamcatcher - A promising idea, but the ball got dropped.
Black House (co-written with Peter Straub) - A good sequel to The Talisman, but stylistically difficult to get started.
Everything’s Eventual - Short stories, fairly forgettable.
From a Buick 8 - Weird car tales which don’t stick in the memory.
The Colorado Kid - A slight piece, but enjoyably out of the ordinary.
Cell - OK, but a bit impersonal.
Lisey's Story - Rewarding, but not the easiest.
Blaze - Atmospheric and sad.
Duma Key - Very good supernatural horror with heart.
Just After Sunset - short stories, I think I enjoyed them but can’t really remember.
Under The Dome - Another big cast novel, an enjoyable journey with a so-so destination.
Blockade Billy -Short, nasty and effective.
1922 - Harsh and gripping.
Big Driver - Real-life horror. Good.
Fair Extension - Strong idea, well done.
A Good Marriage - Another effectively nasty piece.
11/22/63 - Superb novel: emotional and well worked out.
Joyland - Delightful short novel.
Dr Sleep - A welcome and worthy sequel.
Mr Mercedes - A nicely done procedural crime thriller.
 
The Dark Tower 1: The Gunslinger - Difficult to get into.
The Dark Tower 2: The Drawing of the Three - Completely different: excellent.
The Dark Tower 3: The Waste Lands - Another change of gears: also excellent.
The Dark Tower 4: Wizard and Glass - I didn’t care for the extensive flashback sequences.
The Dark Tower: The Wind Through The Keyhole - Very enjoyable tall tales.
The Dark Tower 5: Wolves Of The Calla - Probably my favourite DT novel.
The Dark Tower 6: Song Of Susannah - Dark moments for our travellers: but transitional and therefore less effective.
The Dark Tower 7: The Dark Tower - A very good climax, with much emotion.
 

Shasta

On his shell he holds the earth.
I can get them down to one word for you, based on what you wrote. One is, after all, the fewest possible.

Carrie - solid
Salem’s Lot - Scary
The Shining - brilliant
Rage - Prescient
Night Shift - hits
The Stand - satisfying
The Long Walk - brilliant
The Dead Zone - Pleasing
Firestarter - great
Roadwork - forgettable.
Cujo - Adequate.
The Running Man - Adequate.
Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption - Terrific
The Body - Wistful
The Breathing Method - Obvious
Apt Pupil - nasty
Christine - Evil
Pet Sematary - nasty
The Talisman (co-written with Peter Straub) - Enjoyable
Thinner - effective
Skeleton Crew - mixed
It - enjoyable
The Eyes Of The Dragon - Enjoyable
Misery - Visceral
The Tommyknockers - slow
The Dark Half - Enjoyable
The Langoliers - enjoyable.
Secret Window, Secret Garden -mystery.
The Library Policeman -pleasing
The Sun Dog - nice
Needful Things - nasty
Dolores Claiborne - Excellent
Gerald’s Game - Simple
Nightmares And Dreamscapes -good
Insomnia - Fantasy
Rose Madder - forgettable
The Green Mile - Excellent
Desperation - obvious
The Regulators - Intriguing
Bag of Bones - Familiar
The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon - oddity
Low Men In Yellow Coats - Excellent
Hearts In Atlantis - compulsion.
Blind Willie - inconsequential.
Why We’re In Vietnam - Forgettable
Dreamcatcher - promising
Black House (co-written with Peter Straub) - good
Everything’s Eventual - forgettable.
From a Buick 8 - Weird
The Colorado Kid - enjoyable
Cell - impersonal.
Lisey's Story - Rewarding
Blaze - Atmospheric
Duma Key - good
Just After Sunset - enjoyable
Under The Dome - enjoyable
Blockade Billy -effective.
1922 - Harsh
Big Driver - Good.
Fair Extension - Strong
A Good Marriage -effective
11/22/63 - emotional
Joyland - Delightful
Dr Sleep - worthy
Mr Mercedes - procedural

The Dark Tower 1: The Gunslinger - Difficult
The Dark Tower 2: The Drawing of the Three - excellent.
The Dark Tower 3: The Waste Lands - excellent.
The Dark Tower 4: Wizard and Glass - extensive
The Dark Tower: The Wind Through The Keyhole -enjoyable
The Dark Tower 5: Wolves Of The Calla - favourite
The Dark Tower 6: Song Of Susannah - transitional
The Dark Tower 7: The Dark Tower - emotion.


(Please note that these are definitely not my opinions. We seem to disagree on pretty much all of them!)
 

Bryan James

Well-Known Member
Apr 3, 2009
5,150
7,644
South Cackalacky
Tastes better (with hot sauce) than:

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