I've never read a Stephen King book... which do you recommend?

[destrekor]

It was unrealistic in that nobody went into orderly survivalist mode and started to lay out some organization. King just left them all in a hazy, civilian, "don't look too closely into what's going on" mode so he could set things up to blindside them. He didn't spend the effort to actually hide and perfect any of the machinations or really set up the disasters, he just made everyone around them incompetent. It was lazy and an insult to the reader's intelligence.

And you couldn't tell from early on that everything going on internally was pointless?
His descriptions of the goings-on were wordy. They would've been wordy even if they wove together into a meaningful pattern, which they didn't. You could tell that nothing meaningful was going to come out of any of them. You could tell that a calamity was coming that was going to overwrite it all and render it moot. So you could tell that it was all pointless filler. Wordy, unending filler.
It was agonizing.

The only things of any meaning in the entire book were the setup, the military efforts, the page or two they gave to the artifact, and then the very ending. Everything else was wiped clean by circumstance.

It was a story.
I'd hate to tell you how much of your life is pointless and rendered moot after any specific situation.

Not everything in a book needs to be connected specifically to the main event. Hell, this book I'd argue wasn't at all about the main events y'all actually focused on. It was about how fucked up characters do dumb shit as other things are going on around them that should actually take precedence... but it's not happening. So, other characters get frustrated, attempt to set some things straight, other retards ruin the day, etc etc.

 

[Wyndru]

I liked Pet Sematary

 

[surfsatwerk]

It was unrealistic in that nobody went into orderly survivalist mode and started to lay out some organization. King just left them all in a hazy, civilian, "don't look too closely into what's going on" mode so he could set things up to blindside them. He didn't spend the effort to actually hide and perfect any of the machinations or really set up the disasters, he just made everyone around them incompetent. It was lazy and an insult to the reader's intelligence.

And you couldn't tell from early on that everything going on internally was pointless?
His descriptions of the goings-on were wordy. They would've been wordy even if they wove together into a meaningful pattern, which they didn't. You could tell that nothing meaningful was going to come out of any of them. You could tell that a calamity was coming that was going to overwrite it all and render it moot. So you could tell that it was all pointless filler. Wordy, unending filler.
It was agonizing.

The only things of any meaning in the entire book were the setup, the military efforts, the page or two they gave to the artifact, and then the very ending. Everything else was wiped clean by circumstance.

You must not enjoy much outside of your pony thing.

 

[polarmystery]

I read The Dome a while back, I couldn't put it down. Read the entire 1000 pages in a few days. Great book.

 

[disappoint]

The Shining

All work and no play...

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The first king book I read was Firestarter. I think I was in high school at the time. I liked it a lot. But then, I didn't have the attention span of a fruitfly like some of these adhd/medicated kids today.

Here's a good short story to tide you over till you sink your teeth into a King novel:
http://forums.anandtech.com/showthread.php?t=2227775

 

[SlitheryDee]

It was unrealistic in that nobody went into orderly survivalist mode and started to lay out some organization. King just left them all in a hazy, civilian, "don't look too closely into what's going on" mode so he could set things up to blindside them. He didn't spend the effort to actually hide and perfect any of the machinations or really set up the disasters, he just made everyone around them incompetent. It was lazy and an insult to the reader's intelligence.

And you couldn't tell from early on that everything going on internally was pointless?
His descriptions of the goings-on were wordy. They would've been wordy even if they wove together into a meaningful pattern, which they didn't. You could tell that nothing meaningful was going to come out of any of them. You could tell that a calamity was coming that was going to overwrite it all and render it moot. So you could tell that it was all pointless filler. Wordy, unending filler.
It was agonizing.

The only things of any meaning in the entire book were the setup, the military efforts, the page or two they gave to the artifact, and then the very ending. Everything else was wiped clean by circumstance.

Well, all the stuff that happened in town was supposed to be interesting in it's own right. In a way the dome was the least important aspect, serving only to bring the town's hidden secrets to the surface. All King really wanted was something that would upset the balance of the town and keep them in one place so that the things he wanted to happen would happen.

 

[SP33Demon]

Salem's Lot, and if you have time, It.

 

[ZOXXO]

The Green Mile

 

[djnsmith7]

The Stand & The Shining are his best books...

 

[radhak]

I recently saw a trailer for 'The Hunger Games', which looks like it cribbed some ideas from The Long Walk as far as I could tell. I've only read the Long Walk though, so I don't know how deep the connection really lies.

Sorry, wrong book. The Hunger Games actually seem derived from the Running Man (SK himself has remarked so; but he still liked the HG trilogy). But as expected, the Running Man is downright darker and gloomier.

 

[kevman]

I just read 11/22/63 and much to my surprise I enjoyed it. I was thinking I wouldn't finish it, but I liked it.

 

[Muse]

TBH, I think you may be better off if you never do read a Stephen King book. I read Desperation and thought King had a great thing going until he introduced the impossible. Not the implausible, but a level of supernatural goings on that far surpassed any sane person's ability to believe. IMO he passed up a chance to write a really good book. I finished it, but I very much resented his having blown it. I'm not even tempted to try some of his other writings unless I have reason to believe I won't regret the experience. I realize he's amazingly prolific, but AFAIK, he hasn't written anything I would like.