What Books CAN'T you get started reading?

[Seareach]

Gormenghast.

I guess I'm not intellectual enough.

I read approximately half of it and then gave up. I probably not "interllectual enough" either but I think I deluded myself long enough to get half way through the book.

[Wyldewode]

Gormenghast.

I guess I'm not intellectual enough.

I read approximately half of it and then gave up. I probably not "interllectual enough" either but I think I deluded myself long enough to get half way through the book.

Yeah. . . I got bored with it and quit just a few chapters into it.

~Lyr

[Zarathustra]

Mordant's Need does have a soap opera feel to it in parts. But in a good way. Ok, that makes absolutely no sense. Just read it, it's good.

I enjoyed Gerald's Game, if for no other reason than the fact that he could fill an entire book with the main character being chained to a bed the whole time. Wow. That's writing.

Honestly, I haven't read King's "best" stuff. Not It, The Stand, etc. (I did read Salem's Lot.) But I want to finish DT eventually. I was disappointed to hear that I'd have to read all these other books to truly "get" DT. Could someone make a list for me? Which other books do I need to read first?

And for all of you who can't finish Fellowship--much less the Silmarillion--shame on you! Turn in your fantasy lover's membership card, now! Seriously, it gets better. Much of the Fellowship still shows that Tolkien had no idea where the story was going at that point. He probably thought he was still writing a sequel to the Hobbit up until Rivendel. Once you get to Council of Elrond, the story takes on a new depth. It's kind of like the change you notice once you get to Riddles in the Dark in The Hobbit: he's seen a glimpse of a larger story, and he freakin' goes for it, man!

Ok, I said I wouldn't gripe about it any more (to save Lucimay's feelings), but I'm SERIOUSLY thinking about giving up on Gardens of the Moon. Seeing immortals (Rake) and gods (Shadowthrone) meet each other in the woods and "chit-chat" made me want to rip the book in two and scream at the top of my lungs. You've lived 100,000 years and you still talk like a 12-yr-old D&D fanboy's worst cliched fantasy dialogue?? ARRGG! I'll take Frodo and company shouting at each other any day over that.

But don't get me wrong. I'm not really complaining as much as I'm chiming in on this frustrating little thread.

[Nom vs. Vain]

I couldn't get passed two pages of the hobbit... heh

[Zarathustra]

It helped that I read the Hobbit at 12. It is a children's book. But it grows into a pre-teen's book by the end. Now I reread it every five years or so just to feel young again. Sigh.

[Avatar]

I was disappointed to hear that I'd have to read all these other books to truly "get" DT. Could someone make a list for me? Which other books do I need to read first?

I don't think they're all really essential, but they'll help you get some of the allusions.

Here's a rough list of the basics in my opinion:

Eyes of the Dragon
DT I
DT II
DT III
The Stand
DT IV
'Salem's Lot
DT V
Low Men
DT VI
Insomnia
Everything's Eventual (title story and Little Sisters of Eulalia)
DT VII

The map below is supposed to be the comprehensive list.



--A

[Wyldewode]

The map below is supposed to be the comprehensive list.



--A

Crap. Now you showed me a map, and since I've read just about everything around it, I suppose I have no choice but to read the damn books. But I swear to you, if Roland doesn't improve after the first book, I'm gonna crawl in there and slap the crap out of him. Yeah. . I know that doesn't make any sense, but it's late.

Incidentially, I loved Insommnia!

~Lyr

[Avatar]

I liked it too.

And Roland is, as far as I'm concerned, one of the greatest fantasy characters ever. Improve? He does. But I thought he was great right from the start.

Read them...you'll love them or hate them. No way to know until it's done. the visit the King forum in the library and tell us about it.

--A

[Wyldewode]

I liked it too.

And Roland is, as far as I'm concerned, one of the greatest fantasy characters ever. Improve? He does. But I thought he was great right from the start.

Read them...you'll love them or hate them. No way to know until it's done. the visit the King forum in the library and tell us about it.

--A

I literally was rooting for bad things to happen to him during the first book. I found that I cared so little about him as a character that I couldn't be persuaded to read the second book. Even now, it seems like torture to read the stupid things. And I like, even love King at times!

~Lyr

[Avatar]

Bird&Bear, (mod of the SK forum) says that she sometimes advises readers to skip book 1 altogether. *shrug* Actually, for me, it's one of my favourite books.

What have you got against Roland anyway?

--A

[Wyldewode]

Bird&Bear, (mod of the SK forum) says that she sometimes advises readers to skip book 1 altogether. *shrug* Actually, for me, it's one of my favourite books.

What have you got against Roland anyway?

--A

He pissed me off in the first book. He's such a self-important ass. *shrugs* And King doesn't give you any real convincing background to be sympathetic to the character. . So he just comes off as the kind of man who will take whatever or whoever he wants, use them up, and discard them with no more thought than one would give to a used tissue.

Maybe you're right. . I should have skipped book one in the first place.

~Lyr

[Avatar]

Believe me, he's a far more rounded character than that. As the series progresses, his background is better revealed. And the reasons he's like that, (and the implications), become clearer and clearer.

--A

[Wyldewode]

Believe me, he's a far more rounded character than that. As the series progresses, his background is better revealed. And the reasons he's like that, (and the implications), become clearer and clearer.

--A

I figured that he must become a more sympathetic character along the way, or else people wouldn't read the series at all. But I still find it hard to *want* to read a book about a character I don't give a damn about .


~Lyr

[Avatar]

Sympathetic...well...to an extent. But more understandable, definitely. Just read them.

--A

[Wyldewode]

Sympathetic...well...to an extent. But more understandable, definitely. Just read them.

--A

Okay, okay. . . I will. When I get to the bottom of my reading stack.

~Lyr

[variol son]

I'm stuck halfway through both The Man Who Faught Along and Wicked. I'll definately finish both, but probably not until after I've read Thud, A Feast for Crows and The Bonehunters when they come out in paperback.

[duchess of malfi]

Believe me, he's a far more rounded character than that. As the series progresses, his background is better revealed. And the reasons he's like that, (and the implications), become clearer and clearer.

--A

I figured that he must become a more sympathetic character along the way, or else people wouldn't read the series at all. But I still find it hard to *want* to read a book about a character I don't give a damn about .


~Lyr

Spoiler

One of the big points of the series is that Roland must learn to feel compassion and love for others, and learn to put others before himself and his quest. The awful moment in the first book when he lets Jake fall is a defining moment for him ala Covenant raping an innocent kid - that is the point where they hit rock bottom and have to crawl back upwards to regain their humanity.

[balon!]

Ive been trying to read Children of Dune for at least three years, I just cant get interested.

[Avatar]

It is one that's difficult to get into, although not as bad as Dune Messiah. I find it easiest if they're read one after the other, so you have a sense of continuity.

Children is a pivotal story really...it marks the end of Paul's empire, and the start of Leto II's Golden Path. It certainly has it's moments, one of the best of which I've just written about in the forum on danlo's Hangar that's dedicated to Dune. (See the Dune thread here for a link.)

It is also the ultimately tragic story of Alia, Paul's sister, and set's the stage for God Emporer.

To be honest though, none of the Dune sequels ever matched the first book. But read together, they represent an incredible swathe of history and universe development.

--A

[balon!]

I felt the same way. Sequals have always been hard for me to read. They never seem to match up to the orginal in my mind.