Stephen King - Best Book??

[Elligeo]

Please can someone suggest the best Stephen King book, I watched my first film by him lastnight and it was fantastic (cats eye) and now I would like to find a book by him... any suggestions would be great, thank you!

 

[HoopyFrood]

Oh, well now you're asking something! You've opened up a can of worms here, my friend, I am a true SK fan!

Well...I can thoroughly recommend the following:

Misery - This is the first SK book I read. It's fantastic, it follows the story of one man's struggle against a deranged woman who claims to be his number one fan. Very tense and very graphic in places!

The Shining - Perhaps the only truly chilling book I have ever read. I assure you that it will raise the hairs on the back of your neck.

Cell - I know that not everyone enjoyed this as much as I did, but I think this recent release by Stephen King is brilliant. The 'bad guys' as it were, are zombies with attitude! Brilliant.

Anyway, I could go on (and on and on) but those three are definitely worth a look at, I feel. Happy reading!

 

[Stormpirate]

I would echo The Shining. It is always a favorite of mine, along with The Stand. His foray into fantasy, with Eyes of the Dragon is enjoyable.

 

[HoopyFrood]

Yes, I think Eyes of the Dragon was the the second one that I read of his books. Definitely agree with Stormpirate to read that if you like fantasy as well.

Saying thus, if you are a fan of fantasy, and rather daring, you could go for his The Dark Tower series. It's not his usual horror, it's a tale that stretches across seven books...a very good, alternative fantasy. Although it's probably wise to at least read a couple of his other books and get used to his style before you attempt such a thing! But I would certainly suggest that if you do find you like his books (and I sincerely hope you do!) then you should definitely try The Dark Tower series.

 

[BookStop]

The Shining and Pet Cemetary are pretty good - The Green Mile is wonderful - my all-time favs, though, are the short stories The Mist, The Long Walk, and The Jaunt.

 

[HoopyFrood]

Oh! The Green Mile! (how do I keep forgetting these?!) *Nods* Definitely The Green Mile, an absolutely incredibly book, packed full of emotion.

I think I should stop now, because I'm just going to end up recommending all of his books.

You know what? You should read them all

 

[littlemissattitude]

Oh, gosh. Best?

Maybe 'Salem's Lot. The Dead Zone, which is the first King I read, is also very good. Perhaps even The Shining. Those aren't necessarily my favorites, but I think they are probably the best, tightest storytelling of any of his novels that I've read.

 

[that old guy]

are the short stories The Mist, The Long Walk, and The Jaunt.

I guess I'm being picky, but I think The Long Walk is actually considered a novel.

If I had to pick one novel: The Stand. My problem is that I've read both versions of it so many time I'm kind of sick of it. I generally like the unabridged version, except for the end.

 

[Nesacat]

The best? For me that would begin with IT. Then there's also Salem's Lot, The Shining and Needful Things. Pet Cemetary is pretty good and so is Rose Madder.

I also really liked Eyes of The Dragon, Green Mile and Shawshank Redemption.

Liked Dreamcatcher as well though I hated the movie with a vengeance and I really like his short stories such as the ones collected in Nightmares & Dreamscapes. Sometimes I think they reflect the scope of his talents much better than the full length books.

 

[dsmith]

My favorites are: Cell, Salem's Lot, and The Stand.

 

[ravenus]

Everyone has their own set of King fav's. Mine are:

Novels:
Hearts in Atlantis
The Gunslinger
Carrie
The Stand, I found brilliant in parts and insufferably boring in others, but probably worth a single trudge through its ridiculous length.

Novellas & Short story collections:
Different Seasons
Bachman Books - Rage, The Long Walk
Skeleton Crew
Night Shift

 

[Trey Greyjoy]

For me its The Talisman although it was co-written with Peter Straub. A very very close second is The Stand, then The Shining. It was remarkable most of the way through but failed at the end. I mention it here because the bulk of It was some of King's absolute best.

 

[Quokka]

Gotta agree with alot of whats been said.

I loved The Stand but if you look at it and think thats just one *@$"! big book maybe come back to it.... but do come back to it .

Pet Cemetary and Salem's Lot are both good reads and two books that got me into King. Reading Carrie now which is his first published novel (correct me if Im wrong?) and its very good particularly with his added introduction.

Though I havent read The Shinning or Misery myself

 

[joeybdot]

Firestarter

 

[Lucien21]

Anything except Geralds Game, Delores Claiborne and Rose Madder which were rubbish.

Personl Favs are The Stand or IT.

 

[HoopyFrood]

It's strange, I know they are considered, probably by general consent, his weakest novels, but I still really quite like Rose Madder and Delores Claiborne...

 

[that old guy]

I liked Dolores Claiborne, but loathed Rose Madder. There're about five or six King novels I think are complete clunkers: Insomnia, Gerald's Game, Dreamcatcher, Road Work (as Bachman), a couple others I can't think of at the moment. But I think Rose Madder was by far his worst. I doubt if you or I wrote Rose Madder we could have ever gotten it published. It was just a mess, one that got worse as the book progressed.

In fact I'd just about given up on his new stuff until I read Hearts In Atlantis, which was very good. Ditto Cell. So he's still stuck with me as a fan.

 

[HoopyFrood]

I absolutely loved Cell.

I admit I didn't enjoy Dreamcatcher all that much. It was intriguing and I liked the five main characters, but it didn't create as much enjoyment as his other books.

Gerald's Game was equally uninspiring...not a bad story, but not really that arresting.

Insomnia I liked quite a lot.

The only ever Stephen King book that I've started and never finished because it just bored me too much was The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon. I just couldn't get into that at all. One day I might go back to it, I suppose...

 

[Urien]

1. The Stand
2. It.
3. Salem's Lot
4. The Shining.

 

[that old guy]

The only ever Stephen King book that I've started and never finished because it just bored me too much was The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon. I just couldn't get into that at all. One day I might go back to it, I suppose...

I've never even picked up that one, since I've never heard anyone say anything good about it. Plus Tom Gordon is long gone from the Red Sox.

The only King novel I've started and not finished was The Regulators (as Richard Bachman). I'd have had it on my "clunker" list, but I figured I couldn't say for sure since I hadn't finished it. I took it out of the library and just got bored with it. When it was due I brought it back, didn't even try to renew it. I've sometimes wondered if I should have started with Desperation. Perhaps it would have made more sense.