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So yeah, I have never read the book It which seems to shock the shit out of everyone because I do love to read, especially thrillers/suspense/horror.

 

So I decided to download it on my Kindle for my next read. I am about 200 pages into it and so far it seems like a very slow burning book. I have to ask, does it pick up or, because of it's size, does it take a long time to really get into the meat of the story?

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So yeah, I have never read the book It which seems to shock the **** out of everyone because I do love to read, especially thrillers/suspense/horror.

 

Missing out on a specific book should never be a big surprise. There are SO MANY of them out there and it takes a fair amount of time to finish one. Only the most ubiquitous phenomenons like the Harry Potter or books we all read in school like To Kill a Mockingbird really belong in such a category. Compared to film, where there aren't nearly as many choices, and there are tons of films that nearly everyone has seen at one point or another, plus many more that are considered essential to specific genres if you're a fan.

 

For an example, I probably read 50 novels a year. But I've never even thought of picking up a Stephen King novel other than once reading the Prologue to The Shining in TV Guide back when that mini-series came out. Nothing against him, he just never struck my fancy.

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It's Stephen King in his prime of being let to do whatever he wants. It's never a action-packed thriller, but it does have some great stuff in it. But yeah, it's a slow burn. Have you read much King?

I haven't read much. Really the only ones I've read prior to this is Salem's Lot and Pet Semetary. And I read those a long time ago.

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I'm on the third Dark Tower book. It's good and all but I breezed through the first two in no time, and I'm over two weeks in and barely half way through. I think part of it is real life distractions but it's definitely not all of it.

 

The Stand is definitely best King. For years, Insomnia remained the only book I quit without finishing, though that changed when I gave up on something else last year. So yeah, King can be great or garbage.

 

Haven't read It. You're welcome.

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The only two books of his I have read are The Stand and Under the Dome. I really enjoyed the former, though I started reading it while coming down with a nasty virus while traveling, which provided a little too much synergy with the start of the book. The latter is also a really long book that could have definitely stood for shortening down. It was considerably better than the TV show, not that that is saying much, but I enjoyed it, too. I'm not sure why I haven't gotten around to reading any of King's other books.

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I think a worst list would be fun too.

Full discloser, I finished none of these because I couldn't hang:

 

1. From a Buick 8

2. Dr. Sleep

3. Dreamcatcher

4. Dark Tower 8

5. Needful Things

 

Honorable mention (bad): Maximum Overdrive

Honorable mention (good): Joyland

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Guest El Chalupacabra

So yeah, I have never read the book It which seems to shock the **** out of everyone because I do love to read, especially thrillers/suspense/horror.

 

So I decided to download it on my Kindle for my next read. I am about 200 pages into it and so far it seems like a very slow burning book. I have to ask, does it pick up or, because of it's size, does it take a long time to really get into the meat of the story?

Take what I am about to say with a grain of salt because I am a bad Stephen King reader: while I've read many of his works up through about 2005ish, I've never read the Dark Tower series. Anyway, to answer your question, IT does get better, but it is not an action-packed thriller. Keep in mind it was written in the mid 1980s, not long after The Body (AKA Stand By Me) which seems to me a time when Stephen King was feeling nostalgia for his baby boomer 1950s childhood. So, IT, is more about him writing about his childhood and weaving in the supernatural element in, than action.

 

If you want writing by Stephen King that reads fast and get to the point quickly, his collection books are great for that, and some even feel a bit Twilight Zone-like. I'd suggest Night Shift, Different Seasons, Skeleton Crew, The Bachman Books, Four Past Midnight, Nightmares and Dreamscapes, and Hearts in Atlantis, to start.

 

 

TOP FIVE KING NOVELS AND GO!

 

 

 

1. Salem's Lot

2. Christine

3. Tommyknockers

4. Wizard and Glass / Gunslinger Born

5. Pet Semetary

 

(obviously, I don't love post-crash un-retired King)

Mine are

 

1. Pet Semetary

2. IT

3. Salem's Lot

4. Insomnia

5. Bag of Bones

 

I would have listed The Shining, Christine, The Green Mile, Cycle of the Werewolf (AKA Silver Bullet), and Misery, which are all good, but I like the movies better. Especially The Shining, where I think Kubrick did a better, and scarier job than the original book.

 

 

I think a worst list would be fun too.

 

 

Mine are:

 

1. From A Buick 8

2. Needful Things

3. The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon

4. Cujo

5. Gerald's Game

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Nothing tops Kubrick's Shining, but the book is very good too. Misery is better than the movie though. Even more violent.

I hated it! But because Kubrik, mostly. I didn't appreciate his style when it came out and I'm still bitter about the hedge maze.

 

The only book of his I read that I didn't like at all is Dolores Claiborne. He just does NOT GET women.

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It was a powerful book. A fascinating exploration of the nature of evil. It came across to me as if Lord of the Rings had taken place in 1980s middle America. That seems to be King's strong point. Making mid 20th century middle America the locus point of every dark myth and legend mankind ever told.

 

Nothing scared the crap out of me like The Shining once did, though. Book, Kubric film and even the miniseries remake all alike. Not so much now that I'm 17 years sober, but when I was drinking, and in early sobriety, that story gave me nightmares like nothing else.

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I've read It a couple of times. Not a King fan overall because I don't like violence or profanity and his books are full of them, but I have read The Shining & Pet Semetary.

 

It's main character is actually the town of Derry. So the backstory of the town, its history, its residents are part of the story. That's why King spends a lot of time on backstory.

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It is my favorite book. It is long, but there is nothing boring about it. What really got me invested were the stories about 1904 and 1931. Once I read those, I was in. Like, where is this baby going? What happens in 1958 and then 1985? Then, the details that were not shown in the 1990 movie. For instance, that kid that liked to kill animals? Then, he opens the fridge in the park and... I'll leave it at that.

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