The Shining and Carrie were by far my favourties when I was younger, I've now swapped over the The Stand. His sci-fi/fantasy series The Dark Tower never got me even slightly interested, which is a shame since I've read all his others but I just can't get through those ones. I'm also kinda struggling with his latest, Under the Dome.

I got Under The Dome for Christmas, but haven't tackled it yet. It's supposed to be great! I started "Hearts in Atlantis" and loved the beginning. Then I got distracted by something, and never went back to it. It couldn't have been TOO compelling.

I never got into the Dark Tower series although some have told me it's his masterpiece. I know it's supposed to link to a lot of his other works, including The Talisman, The Stand, Salem's Lot and so on. One of these days I'll have to give it a shot.

If you start it, Lilo, you won't want to stop until you're finished. It's an undertaking, for sure, but by the time you get to the final chapter of Book 7, you'll wonder where the time went, and be saddened by the fact that it's really over. You'll come to care a great deal about the characters (especially Roland).

SB, I picked up "Under the Dome" a few weeks before Christmas, but put off starting it until after New Years because my in-laws were up from Florida for the holidays. Anyway, I'm a little more than 2/3rds of the way through it as we speak, er, type . It's a bit like "The Stand," in that it's very apocalyptic, and it creates a real "us versus them" attitude with the survivors (those living "Under the Dome"). The good guys are likable and the bad guys, well, you just can't wait for them to be dead.

So typical King, I guess. But in a good way, because it's not formulaic in the least (like so many other writers who publish 20, 30 or 40+ novels).

just bought his last short story collection JUST BEFORE SUNSET from a bargain book store in town for £2

Brand new and hard cover at that

Yogi, read "A Very Tight Place" first. You'll never use a portable toilet again. Trust me on this.

Ok PB. Thanks!

Speaking of Stephen King, last night there was a John Cusak movie on HBO based on King's short story entitled, "1408". I never heard of it. Unfortunately it was on too late and I only saw the beginning. It did look good though and I hope to see it "On Demand" soon.

The premise is that John Cusak's character is a writer who dismisses many of these haunted house theories. He goes to this NYC hotel where room 1408 is supposedly haunted. Ha ha..that's as far as I saw the movie last night. I want to see the rest.

TIS

Picked up DUMA KEY yesterday at work. found it in one of the day rooms when i was looking for a wheel chair

I finally tackled "Under The Dome". It really was very good.

Funny, my husband often says that if you took away the "civilized" things in our lives (running water, electricity, courts of law, etc.), it wouldn't take us very long before society would completely collapse. "Under The Dome" proves that theory very well.

I enjoyed it, and I think that Barbie just might be one of my favorite King characters ever.

Just blasted through it as well. Very good. One armed men drawing spooky pictures and fighting the Queen of the Dead and her pirate ship of soul sucking zombies with his art is right up my street

Who doesn't love a good tale about soul sucking zombies??

I recently re-read "Cujo," Babe, and I have to say that this is a very mean, cruel book. I mean, I can't say that King's protagonists always end up well at the end of his novels/stories, but all I can say is poor Vic.



It seems King must have been in a very bitter frame of mind when he wrote this book, but I guess we can't ask him since he doesn't even remember much about writing it. I mean it's still a great read, but so, so cruel.

I think the most heartbreaking part of that book had to be when
I remember thinking that the book was cruel when I first read in my early 20s. Now, as a mother, it kills me.

Yeah, thank God the film's director didn't have the stomach for that ending. If I remember correctly, the little boy from "Who's the Boss?" played Tad in the movie.

Man, I hope that kid is sitting somewhere getting rich off his residuals!

I was going to stick this in one of the movie threads, but I thought I'd get a better shot at a reply over here.

Has anyone seen the film adaptation of "Apt Pupil"?

It came out in '98 but I never got around to seeing it (I had heard they changed King's ending and that turned me off at the time).

I changed my mind after recently reading the novella again, so I was going to order it from Netflix, but was a bit put off by the mixed reviews, and I trust the judgement of BBers a lot more anyway .

It did make some changes to the book, primarily though not exclusively the ending. It also played up (ahem) a not so subtle Ho Yay element that wasn't really there in the original story if I recall correctly.

That said it's still a good movie. It stars Gandalf (!) (Ian McKellen) and he does a very good job. The kid is more disturbing in his evil in the movie than in the book.

Not the best adapatation of King's work but far from the worst.
FWIW, I think King liked it.

if you want the worst adapatation of King's work, look into the lawnmower man.

For King fans, the Syfy channel is having a Stephen King marathon this weekend. Actually I'm watching The Langoliers right now, which I never saw all the way through.

Anyway, it starts tomorrow for those who get SyFy. I haven't seen the full list of films, but I'll try to get them for you. I do know that "The Tommyknockers" is one of the films.


TIS

Thanks, TIS!! Desperation is a good one, that I both read and watched. Some of them I want to wait to see until I get to the book, but that might take me too long! I'm working on The Dead Zone right now.

Here's their schedule:
http://www.syfy.com/schedule/index.php?date=2010-09-3

It's about time, woman .

Remember how I told you how the ending would make you cry?

Well, pm me when you're balling your eyes out .

Johnny Smith just might be my favorite King character EVER. His story is definitely King's most tragic. I know I've mentioned before how much I disliked the movie, despite a fantastic performance by Martin Sheen, but the book is top of my list.

PB, as for King's books, no ending made me cry like "Cujo". Although the movie was changed to Happy Hollywood Ending, which I usually despise, I was actually relieved that it was.

I mentioned that just for you. I get to work early and read it in the car, then read more at lunch - the only time I can justify reading King over a textbook nowadays. But yeah, someone's bound to see me crying my eyes out eventually. And I'll be sure to let you know.

SB, thanks for your comments - with yours and PB's recommendations, I know I'll enjoy it. And someday I'll see about the movie. haha

Wow, quite an undertaking for Ron Howard!

There's quite a bit to cover here (the series currently totals seven full length King novels, and counting). But a film trilogy AND a television series?

All I can say is, I hope Opie is up to it!

Universal to produce three films and TV series based on Stephen King's 'The Dark Tower'

Entertainment Weekly
Lynette Rice

Universal announced today that it has acquired the rights to produce three films and an NBC series based on the seven novels, short stories and comic books from Stephen King’s The Dark Tower. Ron Howard will direct the first film and the first season of the TV show, which will be written by Akiva Goldsman (The Da Vinci Code).

“I’ve been waiting for the right team to bring the characters and stories in these books to film and TV viewers around the world,” said King, in a statement. “Ron, Akiva, Brian along with Universal and NBC have a deep interest and passion for the The Dark Tower series and I know that will translate into an intriguing series of films and TV shows that respect the origins and the characters in The Dark Tower that fans have come to love.”

More than 30 million copies of The Dark Tower have been sold in 40 countries. After the series of seven books was completed, a prequel of comic books based on one of the characters was also published.

“The worlds of Stephen King’s The Dark Tower series are richly detailed, inter-locking and deeply connected,” said Goldsman in a statement. “By telling this story across media platforms and over multiple hours—and with a view to telling it completely—we have our best chance of translating Roland’s quest to reach The Dark Tower onto screen. We are proceeding with tremendous excitement, fidelity to the source material and, quite frankly, no small amount of awe at this opportunity.”

King is also a columnist for Entertainment Weekly.

In stores tomorrow, November 9th. A brand new collection (4 all together) of novellas, all dealing with the theme of retribution and vengeance.

I went up to Barnes and Noble in Co-Op City yesterday, but the snot nosed kid wouldn't sell it to me yet. But in all fairness to him, I assume these publishers are kind of strict about their release dates.

Full Dark, No Stars

My daughter's boyfriend works in Toys R Us. They wouldn't sell a customer a video game ahead of its release date for his son's birthday gift. He got so irate, they had to call the police and have him escorted from the store. Were you there, too?

Yeah, that was me .

I saw his new book in the shop today PB. Different cover though!

I saw the new book in the local Kroger. It was marked down 20% but that's normal for Kroger. I think it's a price discrimination thing. Anyway it got pretty good reviews. I need to check Amazon b/c I may have already pre-ordered it. If not then I'll pick it up on the weekend.