Stephen King's Best Novel?

[subtletylost]

the only one I have actually read is Carrie. But that is only because I can't afford to buy books. I found Carrie at a flea market for a quarter and always wanted to read a Stephen King book, seeing as how he is my dad's like second or third cousin (or maybe farther his great-grandfather is my great-great-grandfather's brother, at least that is what I gathered from the rest of my dad's family.), so i decided to get it. I loved it. I tried to read 'The Green Mile', 'A Buick 8', 'It', 'Dreamcatcher', 'Just After Sunset' and a few others last year during school (I love the school library) but due to tests I could not finish them.

I would definitely recommend any of his books, though my mom has been telling me to read 'Salem's Lot', 'The Shining', 'Cujo', 'Christine', & 'The Stand'.

But she told me not to read 'The Tommyknockers', she said that it is a like (pobably exaggerating a little) 5000 page book that got made into a 4 hour "movie series thing"(her exact words.) So now I definitely want to read 'The Tommyknockers'.


EDIT: If anyone can find me a copy of any of those books(paper,e-book,audiobook doesn't matter) for cheaper than amazon please message me. Though the ones i was reading during school I can start reading again at about 7:45 Monday morning, because I will be back in school and can only hope they have new books.

randomness ahead
One time from the Library there I picked up a book to read, I believe it was "The Land of Silver Apples" by Nancy Farmer, the entire first two chapters fell out of the book when I opened it.

 

[Master_Shake]

I've only read a handful of his books so I'm hardly an authority on the matter. From what I've read, Misery and The Mist are my absolute favorites. I found just about everything of his to be thoroughly enjoyable though, with the slight exceptions of Cycle of the Werewolf (it wasn't bad, just not on par with his other work) and a few short stories.

The Shining was also great, but to be quite honest I prefer Stanley Kubrick's version of the story (weird, I know). The book never quite terrified me like the film did.

 

[Wish]

The Long Walk.

 

[dlsevern]

I've only read a handful of his books so I'm hardly an authority on the matter. From what I've read, Misery and The Mist are my absolute favorites. I found just about everything of his to be thoroughly enjoyable though, with the slight exceptions of Cycle of the Werewolf (it wasn't bad, just not on par with his other work) and a few short stories.

The Shining was also great, but to be quite honest I prefer Stanley Kubrick's version of the story (weird, I know). The book never quite terrified me like the film did.

The film over the book? Are you sure you have all of your marbles, lol. I will never understand someone saying that but of course that is your perogative. At least you said that you PREFERRED the film better than the book and not that the film WAS better than the book.

 

[dlsevern]

The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon..............Just kidding!

Top of the list:
It, The Dark Tower series, Pet Semetary, Salem's Lot, Cell, any of his collections(novellas and short stories), The Shining, Christine, Dreamcatcher, Desperation, Misery, The Tommyknockers, The Talisman, Blackhouse, Insomnia, Bag of Bones, Duma Key, The Stand, Needful Things and Gerald's Game.

Middle of the road:
Lisey's Story, Carrie, Cujo, Regulators, The Dark Half, Dolores Claiborne, Firestarter, The Green Mile, and Thinner.

Bottom of the Barrel:
The Dead Zone, The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon, From A Buick 8, Rose Madder, The Colorado Kid, and Cycle of the Werewolf. Keep in mind though that From A Buick 8 has ties to The Dark Tower for sure, really everything he has written is based on the idea of alternate realities, an idea that plays a significant role in The Dark Tower.

I didn't care for The Dead Zone much at all when I first read it, but I would really like to reread it, tastes change as you grow older.

I have yet to read Eyes of the Dragon, The Bachman Books collection, Under the Dome, Full Dark No Stars, or Blaze.

I have changed my mind about From A Buick 8, it now goes at the top of my list

 

[TedKeller]

I think his early post-imemdiate success books like Cujo and Roadwork are his best. That's the period when he suddenly tries to prove to the world that he can write 'real' high lit books, and I think he fails, but produces stunning novels nevertheless.

 

[Pedro Del Mar]

dlsevern - how come you've put from a Buick 8 to top of your list?

I've had it on the shelf for over 5 years and haven't gotten around to reading it (and have read the majority of his other works). I heard it wasn't one of his best and I didn't really enjoy Christine and it sounds the same. Be interested to hear why you've put it top?

 

[dlsevern]

dlsevern - how come you've put from a Buick 8 to top of your list?

I've had it on the shelf for over 5 years and haven't gotten around to reading it (and have read the majority of his other works). I heard it wasn't one of his best and I didn't really enjoy Christine and it sounds the same. Be interested to hear why you've put it top?

It is actually nothing like Christine at all, it has an atmosphere to it somewhat like Lovecraft's "The Colour out of Space", that same other worldly quality. The main reason I like it so much is that it reminds me of a few times when I've sat and listened to someone tell me about some weird or disturbing incident that happened to them that they have no rational explanation for. In other words, it made me feel that helplessness that you get when your a child hearing a ghost story for the first time and are unable to separate the story from real life. The detail was wonderful without going overboard like many of his stories do, he just gets down to the meat of the story. He isn't going for the quick scare or the gross out, the horror is subtle but unforgettable. It is a story that can just plain make your skin crawl and is able to get into those dark recesses of your mind. Plus it is related to The Dark Tower in a small way.

 

[D_Davis]

I love The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon. I don't understand the hate piled upon that book. It's one of King's most harrowing stories, and he does a brilliant job at getting inside that little girl's head. I love the way she turns to fantasy and her imagination to help her through her little trip through hell. It's simply a fantastic little tale that deserves a lot more love.

It's actually the book that got me back into reading King as an adult.

 

[Pedro Del Mar]

Thanks dlsevern - it's now moved right up my "to read" pile as it sounds far better than I expected

 

[Christopher Lee]

I think his early post-imemdiate success books like Cujo and Roadwork are his best. That's the period when he suddenly tries to prove to the world that he can write 'real' high lit books, and I think he fails, but produces stunning novels nevertheless.

Fun Fact: He wrote the entire manuscript for Cujo drunk, with napkins in each nostril to stifle the coke-induced bleeding. In an interview he says that he regrettably doesn't remember writing much of it at all.(actually, i think he mentions this in On Writing: Another amazing book on the craft.)

Personally, I think his best books are IT, The Stand, Hearts in Atlantis, and The Shining. I'm a sucker for his long winded, diarrhea-of-the-mouth stuff.

 

[dlsevern]

I'm a sucker for his long winded, diarrhea-of-the-mouth stuff.

Me too Grizz, me too.

 

[wiley]

to me his best one is clearly 'the stand'!

 

[D.A. Madigan]

THE STAND is probably King's most ambitious and best executed novel, but it is also distinguished by one other thing: the several different editions (UNCUT and the various slightly modified versions of the original that appeared over the first ten or fifteen years the book was in print) show that King, like nearly everyone else, BADLY BADLY BADLY needs an editor.

The Uncut version of THE STAND is awful... it wanders, it's full of stupid, pointless, unnecessary nonsense, and the stuff that King himself really likes (mostly, The Kid) is just vulgar, witless, and awful. As King has become more and more popular and has been able to increasingly ignore and all editorial direction, his work has become more and more... well, vulgar, witless, and awful. Plots have suffered, his stories have become little more than exercises in mean spiritedness and self indulgence... honestly, to read a good King story, you need to go back to the first ten or so books that he wrote (ignoring CUJO, which was just a precursor of bad things to come) when he was still accepting advice and instruction from people besides himself.

I'm currently re reading 'SALEM'S LOT (for, I don't know, about the fiftieth time) and despite the frequent lapses in proper sentence structure, every wonderful thing about King's writing (when it's good) is here... great characterizations, a solid plot (of course, he stole most of it from Bram Stoker, so there you go), a real talent for recreating the nuance, atmosphere, and details of normal reality, making the genuine horror of the creeping, supernatural evil authentically horrifying... this was King approaching his peak. He had better novels still in him (both THE STAND and THE SHINING are, technically, better executed than 'SALEM'S LOT) but this book shows how he has already mastered the form of the contemporary horror novel, and comes the closest of anything he has written to being actual literature.

There are King books I enjoy a little bit better than 'SALEM'S LOT -- FIRESTARTER is a wonderful guilty pleasure, pure cotton candy/junk food from start to finish, a terrific and improved cover version of John Farris' already excellent THE FURY -- and I adore THE DEAD ZONE for its palpable humanity and probably King's finest work is RITA HAYWORTH AND THE SHAWSHANK REDEMPTION... but 'SALEM'S LOT is still a wonderful story to wander around in. And it's also a great tool for aspiring writers to study; everything you need to know about constructing a story is right there in that book.

 

[Christopher Lee]

I must say I just finished Bag of Bones and I thought it was also very good.

 

[AndrewT]

Shawshank Redemption novella is pretty good writing better than what you expect for his bloated novels. So is Dead Zone.

If those stories dont make you think he wrote something worth reading then nothing he wrote afterwards will make you change.

Actually Shawshank Redemption is one of four novellas that makes "spring" in his novel Different Seasons. The whole book is extremely well written and I was surprised no one else mentioned it here. I have only read maybe four of his books and DS was definitely superior to the others. Some may not think of it as a novel since it is actually four novellas. But if you count it then it has to be in the running, especially since two movies have been made from it - Shawshank Redemption and Stand By Me. It and The Stand are quite good but technically DS is better writing.

 

[Action Avenue]

My favorite King novels:
1. 'Salem's Lot
2. Christine
3. The Green Mile
4. Pet Sematary
5. The Shining

Bonus: The Mist is my favorite of King's short stories.
Oddly enough, all the tales I've listed here made really good movies as well.

 

[mayaHP]

Actually Shawshank Redemption is one of four novellas that makes "spring" in his novel Different Seasons. The whole book is extremely well written and I was surprised no one else mentioned it here.

Different Seasons is my all-time favourite too. I particularly love the prologue part of the Body.

 

[Reivax26]

No love for The Regulators? It was a pretty good book and I enjoyed it quite a bit especially how it opened up.

 

[Oct125]

Like many people, I'm much more fond of his earlier novels- Salem's Lot, Carrie, Pet Cemetery, etc. The more recent ones I've tried seem more grotesque and gory than scary or imaginative.