Rereading Tommyknockers

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Kurben

The Fool on the Hill
Apr 12, 2014
9,682
65,192
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sweden
First time i read this i got as far as Bobbi and Gard trying to dig it up but i never really connected as much as i usually do to a major player in a King book. And when the story moved into Haven i started to lose interest. It seemed soooo looong. It picked up when they got into the ship but altogether not worthy of King i thought. But that was way back. Now i have reread it and while i still think the middle part could use some editing it does not seem nearly as long as it did. The Major characters are still not the best characters that have taken life under Kings pen but they do move and it is a sad and destructive love-friend relationship between them. For some reason the book hang together much better now than the first time i read it. It is far from his best but it is also far from a bad book. Rereading Tommyknockers has made me think more of it as a book. It might have something to do with that i read it in swedish the first time and the translater was bad but i think it is more likely that i was not in a King mood when i read it. No matter how much you like Hot dogs if you are in an icecream mood you are not gonna appreciate them.
 

skimom2

Just moseyin' through...
Oct 9, 2013
15,683
92,168
USA
No matter how much you like Hot dogs if you are in an icecream mood you are not gonna appreciate them.

Tommyknockers will always be hot dogs on an ice cream day for me, I think. I severely disliked it the first time, but I have given it 2 more chances. I liked it better the last time, but not a lot. It's just not my cuppa, I guess. I loved the dog and got sad at what happened to him, but that was about it--lol.
 

Kurben

The Fool on the Hill
Apr 12, 2014
9,682
65,192
59
sweden
I agree it will never rank among his 20 or even 30 best books but i don't think that necessary means it is a bad book. Comparing with others in the field now of course and then i think it is comparable. But it is never gonna compare with his best, not even close. Have just bought the Talisman in english and planning to reread that one next and follow up with Black house.
 

Officious Little Prick

Well-Known Member
Aug 28, 2014
129
443
51
Broken Arrow, OK
I definitely think a pattern's been established that King's straight sci-fi, 1950s-movie-style alien invasion stories, a la THE TOMMYKNOCKERS and DREAMCATCHER, are not his strengths. That said, I still say (and if I had a dollar for every for every time I've said it, I'd be in Stephen King's tax bracket) King's lesser works are still superior in many ways to most authors' best.
 

Machine's Way

“Go then, there are other worlds than these.”
Jul 13, 2009
671
2,877
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Baltimore
I remember liking it when I first read it a very long time ago. But as I have read a lot more of his works and have matured I would like to give this a re-read and see what I think, as I forget a lot of the details. Don't know when that may happen tho, as I find it really hard to re-read something when I have fresh new King stories I have not read yet.
 

kingricefan

All-being, keeper of Space, Time & Dimension.
Jul 11, 2006
30,011
127,446
Spokane, WA
I didn't much like it the first time I read it. I just didn't care for either of the two main characters. I did a re-read a couple years ago and, while I liked it better, it's still not on my top 20 list. King was struggling with his addictions during the writing of this book and that made its way into the writing. The writing seems distant and rather cold to me.
 

KingAHolic

Banned
Feb 3, 2015
6,926
20,505
Old Dominion
I didn't much like it the first time I read it. I just didn't care for either of the two main characters. I did a re-read a couple years ago and, while I liked it better, it's still not on my top 20 list. King was struggling with his addictions during the writing of this book and that made its way into the writing. The writing seems distant and rather cold to me.

I liked it on the first read. Interesting thoughts on this KRF...
 

GNTLGNT

The idiot is IN
Jun 15, 2007
87,651
358,754
62
Cambridge, Ohio
What's he know.
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Tanith

Well-Known Member
Apr 29, 2009
81
311
56
This one is next on my "SK re-read" list. I don't think I've read it since its release either, so it'll be instructive to go back to it. It came to mind because I was musing on sai King the other day, thinking he'd covered most of the "classic" horror themes--vampires, werewolves, Elder Gods and so on.

But which of his works could be considered under the now-popular Zombie Apocalypse theme? This one, The Cell, or another one? Or has he written it yet?

Minds that need examining are ready to find out...namely, mine.

:D
 

Walter Oobleck

keeps coming back...or going, and going, and going
Mar 6, 2013
11,749
34,805
This one is next on my "SK re-read" list. I don't think I've read it since its release either, so it'll be instructive to go back to it. It came to mind because I was musing on sai King the other day, thinking he'd covered most of the "classic" horror themes--vampires, werewolves, Elder Gods and so on.

But which of his works could be considered under the now-popular Zombie Apocalypse theme? This one, The Cell, or another one? Or has he written it yet?

Minds that need examining are ready to find out...namely, mine.

:D

I love this story. Pikers! Those who don't like it...update The Inferno...I think one of the lower rings of purgatory has room...what with all the early releases, pardons, indulgences, whatnot and wherefore. I like how a couple chapters stand alone...one was even published alone...Becka Paulson Something or Other...forget exactly how it goes. Check out Dreamcatcher, too, Tanith...another one I thoroughly enjoyed..."the Evian-drinking, salad-eating Goths had reached their objective!"
 

Shoesalesman

Well-Known Member
Aug 12, 2010
1,814
4,093
Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
Some are put off by this book because of what Peter has to endure.

I admit I was rootin' for the fella and was a bit miffed at what you're referring to. But overall I though this book was pretty good. I think it comes down to SK's way of describing folks who need soap, scrubbin' and some time in the sun. Bobbi and Gard, I'm looking in your direction!
 

Pucker

We all have it coming, kid
May 9, 2010
2,906
6,242
62
I probably defend The Tommyknockers more because most people don't seem to like it much than out of any great love for the work.

I'll admit to liking Bobbi's sister. I think some might agree that King goes to the "abuse" well a little too often in the catalog, but it's good to see here that he's at least aware that women are capable of abuse, too.

And Gard?

Well, what can you say about Gard?

He's in a unique position to be exactly the kind of hero he turns out to be, and it's hard not to like the way that kind of pisses him off while he's getting used to it.

I guess I just like drunks more than I let on.

"Shot your wife, huh? Good deal."