Kevin's Watch

This book was really good (IMHO), but the bit with the snakes killing everyone weakened it for me. Anyone else have a part in this book they just didn't like? Unless it's all of it, in which case just say 'hated it'.




-B

This thread was sitting here on it's lone some... I felt sorry for it... it doesn't deserve to be isolated...

Desperation was on oh, probably tier 3 of my personal Stephen King pyramid. It goes something like this:

The Dark Tower
The Stand, The Talisman, It
Black House, Insomnia, Rose Madder, Desperation, Bag of Bones, Hearts in Atlantis
The Regulators, The Long Walk, Dolores Claiborne, Gerald's Game, Dreamcatcher, Salem's Lot, Needful Things
Stock Horror: Carrie, Cujo, Firestarter, Christine, etc.

And of course, that's not all of them, but something like that....


So, I liked Desperation.

Hmmm.... a pyramid? Cool idea.


Needful Things
The Stand, The Dark Half, Desperation
Carrie, The Shining, Pet Semetary,


The Dark Tower (I'm gonna be flamed for this but I hated the first book and never even tried to read the others)


-BtC

Not at all, Baradakas, we don't flame people here, only sautee them until golden brown.

The Dark Tower (I'm gonna be flamed for this but I hated the first book and never even tried to read the others)

*sigh* The most common complaint of all. Actually, maybe the only real complaint. People who've read all of them may have gripes here and there, but I've never met anyone who read them all and still didn't like the series.

If you're interested in trying again, my advice to you is forget the first book, and skip to the second. You can start from there without having to know what happened in the first one. The second may be dry as well at first, but if you stick with it until Roland reaches the first door, and you still don't like it, you'll probably never learn to. What's behind that first door is probably my favorite part in the whole thing.

And you can always go back and re-read the first one once you've been converted.

Well, B&B, you're probably right. King has rarely dissapointed me, and I should probably give em another shot.



-BtC

I'm almost done with this one. I'm on the China Pit part.

I've got to say that the pacing is damn near perfect in this novel, better than any other SK novel I've read. It seems that all his books have a great hook and a powerful ending, but inevitably they all reach that middle phase that seems to go on too long, straining credulity, leading to the "WFT am I reading? This is bullshit" response. My suspension of disbelief starts to wear thin. But then they always wow you in the end.

This time, I don't feel any missteps. Right when I feel things like, "Okay, they've been locked up in that jail long enough," they get out. Or, when they settle down to the theater, and I'm thinking, "how is this any better?" everything starts to fall apart for the protagonists. It feels that he is very conscious of reader expectations, in a way that makes it feel natural and organic, not planned or artificial.

I generally enjoy this one, although I get confused when I pair it with The Regulators.

--A

I wish I had the Regulators. I've started Insomnia, and it's a bit slow.

Oh I love Insomnia. Just wait. Its relation to the DT is pretty tenuous, but it reveals Kings experience with hallucinogens.

--A