this post was submitted on 28 Sep 2024
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Very slow-burning books, and I almost always lost interest before finishing them. I found The Dark Tower especially tedious. After I couldn't force myself read it, I got the audiobook version a lnd tried to listen to it three times, but always fell asleep. Ironically, the books I genuinely enjoyed were some of his longest ones: It, and The Stand.
As Richard Bachman, on the other hand, he wrote loads of entertaining books. It almost seems like in that persona he didn't give a shit what others thought of his works, and the books ended up eminently readable.
Funny. I had the same experience. I loved the stand and it but couldn't get past an hour or 2 of the dark tower.
The gunslinger is definitely a hard one to get going (but it does get going) because he was super young when he wrote it (I think he was like 19 or something like that) but overall the Dark Tower series is one of the best pieces of fiction I've ever read. Especially if you're familiar with his world building (lots of books live within the Dark Tower universe like The Stand, Salem's Lot, even The Shining to an extent). It also has one of the most memorable open lines of any book series "The man in black fled across the desert, and the gun slinger followed".
That bad? I'm getting mixed signals all over. Lol
Like Tolkien, his writing style isn't for everyone. Some are drawn in by the madness and cosmic horror realized, others can't penetrate the veil and tune out. Then again, that's what's great about fiction and story telling. Finding what works best for you.
I've read "the hobbit" last month and it was wonderful. I really enjoyed it. Then watched the movie and got really mad how they didn't follow story. Same thing with "the count of Monte Cristo", watched the 2000 movie and I wanted to go choke the director of the movie. WTH did they do that for. The whole story was messed up. Lol
I never go into a movie expecting them to stay close to the book. To paraphrase Douglas Adams, each medium has it's own way to tell a story and you can't compare them equally
I get it, but the books were so good that the movies made me mad. Especially, the count of Monte cristo. That really got on my nerves. They actually modified the story to tell different events. :/
I'm just sad that the middle earth movies didn't include Tom Bombadil. Yeah, it would have severely interrupted the movie flow but that's kinda Tom's whole deal.
The Hearts in Atlantis movie is wholly different from the book and I really can't get myself to enjoy the movie even when trying not to compare because the underpinning plot drivers were removed. It would be like doing King's Insomnia as a movie and not including the little doctors.
It's complicated and a difficult tightrope to walk for people who enjoy both book and movie stories
Check out some of his novellas like The Langoliers, If It Bleeds, Elevation, etc. They are shorter reads (for King at least, usually only a couple hundred pages) and generally get straight to the point (instead of spending a chapter describing a scene).
That and his short stories are some of his best work. It might make you want to jump into some of his more iconic stuff or allow you to realize you don't love his writing style and save you a couple thousand pages.
The Boogeyman is my favorite short story from him. Jerusalem's Lot is also the short story that Salem's Lot comes from. Another great read.