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re: Stephen King's IT....(Update) I take back what I said, book is fantastic
Posted on 4/20/17 at 9:50 pm to Geauxtac260
Posted on 4/20/17 at 9:50 pm to Geauxtac260
quote:That was one of the worst parts. Thank you.
Like...who cares about Stan's wife!? Does it matter how she was raised, or what it was like being a Jew? Honestly I don't think it's relevant to the story at all. During that chapter I wanted to through my phone out the window (audible book via stored on phone).
Is her background even important?
This post was edited on 5/21/17 at 3:50 pm
1
Posted on 4/20/17 at 10:23 pm to Geauxtac260
Knowing Stan's wife's back story helps put you into the body of Stan and see out of his eyes. I definitely agree about King being long winded, but it's this kind of detail and imagery that puts you in the book instead of just reading it.
Posted on 4/21/17 at 12:56 am to Scruffy
King is a good story teller but a shite writer. If that makes any kind of sense.
Posted on 4/21/17 at 1:47 am to Scruffy
Stephen King is a pretty poor writer with fantastic concepts.
I see the fellow above me had a similar sentiment.
I see the fellow above me had a similar sentiment.
This post was edited on 4/21/17 at 1:55 am
Posted on 4/21/17 at 1:50 am to Scruffy
quote:
Descriptive flow is essential, but it just appears overly congested at times.
You would hate Tom Wolfe's Bonfire of the Vanities and A Man In Full. Two of my favorite books, but valid criticism in overly involved descriptions of clothing, architecture, food, and setting in general.
Posted on 4/21/17 at 1:54 am to Geauxtac260
Listening to narrations of long novels seems like a good idea, but, counter intuitively, I've found it can really mess up the pace and make a long but enjoyable read into an interminable slog.
I tried listening to Infinite Jest on audio, after like 3 non-consecutive hours I was only on page fifty, so I stopped listening and now I'm blazing through it just reading.
I tried listening to Infinite Jest on audio, after like 3 non-consecutive hours I was only on page fifty, so I stopped listening and now I'm blazing through it just reading.
This post was edited on 4/21/17 at 1:58 am
Posted on 4/21/17 at 8:07 am to Breesus
quote:
It's my favorite book ever written. I've read it cover to cover at least 6 times in my life.
But I'm a huge King fan boy, so....
IT's my favorite King novel, with The Stand coming in a close second.
I'm re-reading it for the 5th time right now.
For those of you complaining about the length of his descriptions of things, I wonder how old you are. My guess is that you're in the millennial range, with the attention span of a gnat. You're the TLDR generation and I pity you.
King's use of description to set up the visceral sense of the scene it what MAKES his stories scary. Anyone can say "a clown in a gutter grabbed a kids arm and tore it off". The way King takes the time to set up Georgie's death, flashing back to Bill helping him make the boat, Georgie's description as the typical annoying little brother who's cute and lovable ties you emotionally to his fate. Then the slow approach to the gutter, with a vivid picture of the swollen Kenduskeag and Penobscott rivers being fed by the deluge over Derry. The boat goes down the drain, and then something as seemingly innocent and friendly as a clown appears.
Sorry if his style "bores you", but the time he takes to build his world, with backstories for minor characters and detailed descriptions of places and things that happened in the past makes it all the more real, and all the more terrifying.
If it's too boring might I suggest the Twilight series?
Posted on 4/21/17 at 8:23 am to Scruffy
quote:
I'm just losing focus when King uses two pages/3-4 paragraphs to basically say, "the house is at the end of the street".
Descriptive flow is essential, but it just appears overly congested at times.
I tried to read the Dark Tower, and got about 100 pages in and had to stop. It was ridiculous in the description. I know i should power through it and it's a good book, but i just couldn't do it.
FWIW, i read an interview by King and he even admitted his earlier books are hard to get through. He says, himself, that he regrets that writing style because he was trying too hard to impress or show off his literary knowledge, when he should have just focused on the story and got to the point.
I'm not opposed to reading through detail, after all, i'm huge on Clancy, and that dude can go into detail for 5 pages on missile aviation mechanics, just to tell you a missile exploded.
Posted on 4/21/17 at 8:25 am to Scruffy
i just looked up the amazon audio book of IT, and it's 45 hours long at $32. 
Posted on 4/21/17 at 8:44 am to BugAC
quote:Same here. Crichton does the same thing when he would discuss a fairly complex biology or physics concept.
I'm not opposed to reading through detail, after all, i'm huge on Clancy, and that dude can go into detail for 5 pages on missile aviation mechanics, just to tell you a missile exploded.
Posted on 4/21/17 at 9:11 am to EyeTwentyNole
Funny that criticism of so many loved books is that there is too much detail, look at this thread we have mentioned, King, GRRM & Wolfe. My favorite author Tolkien is also criticized by some for this. Thing is that the details are what immerses some readers into the story and turns others off. Great examples of to each their own.
Posted on 4/21/17 at 9:31 am to Scruffy
Is Neverwhere good? Picked it up at an antique shop that was going out of business last summer.
Posted on 4/21/17 at 9:34 am to Tackle74
quote:
Thing is that the details are what immerses some readers into the story and turns others off. Great examples of to each their own.
Well i think detail is vital to storytelling. It's how you engross a reader and get them invested in the book. However, there is a time where detail is simply filler and is needlessly in there. Like i said with reading Clancy, i don't need to know the model specifications to the AK-47 if that doesn't have some sort of point to the story. Reading The Cardinal of the Kremlin, there was easily a full page of exposition about the gas powered chambering of the AK47 which had nothing to do with the story other than, the muhajadeen were using AK's to attack the Soviets.
Most authors do it. Some to more of an extent, than others.
Posted on 4/21/17 at 10:10 am to Scruffy
King is not a very good writer. Great storyteller however.
Posted on 4/21/17 at 1:41 pm to Scruffy
beep beep richie
Just finished it last weekend. Pretty good book. I'd rank it 3rd though on my King list
1. The Stand
2. Wizard and Glass
3. IT
Just finished it last weekend. Pretty good book. I'd rank it 3rd though on my King list
1. The Stand
2. Wizard and Glass
3. IT
Posted on 4/21/17 at 2:03 pm to Scruffy
quote:
I can't think of another writer who can use so many pages and so much description to say so very little.
Maybe GRRM?
Oh man dont read The Stand!
Posted on 4/21/17 at 2:52 pm to Scanlon Shorthalt
quote:
IT's my favorite King novel, with The Stand coming in a close second. I'm re-reading it for the 5th time right now. For those of you complaining about the length of his descriptions of things, I wonder how old you are. My guess is that you're in the millennial range, with the attention span of a gnat. You're the TLDR generation and I pity you. King's use of description to set up the visceral sense of the scene it what MAKES his stories scary. Anyone can say "a clown in a gutter grabbed a kids arm and tore it off". The way King takes the time to set up Georgie's death, flashing back to Bill helping him make the boat, Georgie's description as the typical annoying little brother who's cute and lovable ties you emotionally to his fate. Then the slow approach to the gutter, with a vivid picture of the swollen Kenduskeag and Penobscott rivers being fed by the deluge over Derry. The boat goes down the drain, and then something as seemingly innocent and friendly as a clown appears. Sorry if his style "bores you", but the time he takes to build his world, with backstories for minor characters and detailed descriptions of places and things that happened in the past makes it all the more real, and all the more terrifying. If it's too boring might I suggest the Twilight series?
Man I hate this condensedning, highfalutin, pretentious attitude. You can pound sand as far as I'm concerned.
I've read lots of Kings books, to include the Stand, as well as Song of Ice and Fire series, so it's not like I should have to limit myself to curious George books. Just saying that the level of detail it takes to describe the things that have nothing to do with the story make certain parts of the book hard to press through.
I appreciate the detail it took to kill Georgie. I appreciate the back stories and character development of the main characters. I'm not trying to say it's a bad book, heck I've read it three times! But to say it doesn't get bogged down at times is disingenuous.
Oh yeah...gen x here.
This post was edited on 4/21/17 at 3:14 pm
Posted on 4/21/17 at 4:02 pm to Scruffy
Tangent:
I was at the Radiohead concert a couple of weeks ago. I was wearing a New Orleans Baby Cakes Tshirt. One of the hipsters sitting by me got all up in my grill "I love Neil Gaiman. His Babycakes story is so on point, especially in today's Trump America. I applaud you for wearing such a controversial shirt."
Me: "What the frick are you talking about?"
I had to google Gaiman Babycakes. frick that story.
/tangent
quote:
Neil Gaiman
I was at the Radiohead concert a couple of weeks ago. I was wearing a New Orleans Baby Cakes Tshirt. One of the hipsters sitting by me got all up in my grill "I love Neil Gaiman. His Babycakes story is so on point, especially in today's Trump America. I applaud you for wearing such a controversial shirt."
Me: "What the frick are you talking about?"
I had to google Gaiman Babycakes. frick that story.
/tangent
Posted on 4/21/17 at 4:10 pm to DirtyMikeandtheBoys
quote:
Just finished it last weekend. Pretty good book. I'd rank it 3rd though on my King list
1. The Stand
2. Wizard and Glass
3. IT
I'm currently on Wizard and Glass but I took a break when it switched to Susan and haven't picked it back up in a while.
Posted on 4/21/17 at 4:14 pm to Esquire
quote:
Wizard and Glass
Its the best book in the series
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