The Book Thread

[LordPercy]

Oh and Different Seasons the collection of novellas which has The Shawshank Redemption and The Body/Stand By me as part of it

[BadTurtle]

Oh and Different Seasons the collection of novellas which has The Shawshank Redemption and The Body/Stand By me as part of it

Apt Pupil was in there too. Great story. Less good film.

I would recommend Different Seasons, the Shining or Salem's Lot. Salem's lot is probably the most indicative of his general writing style and plotting. IT is also my favourite, but its well over a thousand pages so its a big undertaking.

[mooch]

IT is my favourite King book although I'm very fond of the originals like Lord Percy said, carrie, misery
the dead zone is great too

I'm a big Stephen King fan though, he has a talent for creating amazing characters & conversation.

[Biggy Shackleton]

if one was to read their first Stephen King book, what book do people recommend starting on?

I'd go for The Shining.
Or you could go for whichever is the biggest Stephen King you haven't seen the film version of.

I haven't read a whole lot of his books, but I did read The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon years ago, and really enjoyed it. Its not a horror though. Its a novella about a girl who loves baseball, gets lost in the woods, and all she has is a radio, so she listens to a game on it with her favourite player.

Finished Slaughterhouse Five - Kurt Vonnegut last night.
Brilliant. Breakfast of Champions next i think.

[i_ate_cats]

Finished Slaughterhouse Five - Kurt Vonnegut last night.
Brilliant. Breakfast of Champions next i think.

Breakfast of Champions was the first Vonnegut book I ever read and I still absolutely love it. It's not considered one his best, it's a bit all over the place, which was one of the things I loved about it.

[BadTurtle]

if one was to read their first Stephen King book, what book do people recommend starting on?

I'd go for The Shining.
Or you could go for whichever is the biggest Stephen King you haven't seen the film version of.

I haven't read a whole lot of his books, but I did read The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon years ago, and really enjoyed it. Its not a horror though. Its a novella about a girl who loves baseball, gets lost in the woods, and all she has is a radio, so she listens to a game on it with her favourite player.

Great book. I'd say there's a touch of horror in there,

with the creature tracking her.

Another good one to start off with that always slips my mind for some reason: Dolores Claiborne. Thought that was easily one of his creepiest books.

[Dick Jones]

Did anyone ever read his fantasy one, The Eyes of the Dragon.

Fairly derivative (iirc he says so himself in the foreword), but a great story with some amazing reveals. Flagg is the villain.

Also, his memoir On Writing is great. Tells his life story but also breaks down the art of novel-writing and explains his methods.

In it he claims to have no memory of writing Cujo, he was so fucked on whiskey and cocaine for years. Says after he got sober he was sitting at his desk one day, glanced up and saw it, and thought....huh.


Edit: Just looked up The Eyes of the Dragon there. According to wiki, the book was "rejected" by his fans for being childish and not horror; it was this criticism, and the notion of being stuck in one genre, that gave him the idea for Misery. There you go, fact fans.

[BadTurtle]

I didn't think much of Eyes of the dragon tbh, but I'm not a fan of fantasy books

[mooch]

ah yeh doloris claiborne is great.

I read eyes of the dragon years ago but I can't remember anything about it.....doesn't say much, but I'm the same, not a fan of the fantasy stuff.

[mooch]

I feel like revisiting all my old King books now!

[bartleby]

Im tearing through him now. Read Salmems Lot, It, The Running Man and now the Stand, plus the Dark Tower series. The number of books he has is just flat out insane. Ill prob spend the rest of my life trying to read them all. Plan on doing it though. Same with the discworld novels. I buy 1 or two of them with every batch of books. Im bout a quarter of the way through i think

[Dick Jones]

ah yeh doloris claiborne is great.

I read eyes of the dragon years ago but I can't remember anything about it.....doesn't say much, but I'm the same, not a fan of the fantasy stuff.

It was where the prince was imprisoned at the top of a tower. Every day he pulled a single thread from his napkin at mealtimes, and spends years making a rope to escape.

Not sure if he wrote that or The Shawshank Redemption first, but it's almost identical. At one point a guard opens the door and he's gone, before it flashes back to show how he did it.

[i_ate_cats]

Megg & Mogg in Amsterdam (and Other Stories) - Simon Hanselmann

More of the same, which is a good thing. Some of the strips were on Vice http://www.vice.com/read/megg-mogg-owl-part-18

Gross, quite brilliant.

Patience - Daniel Clowes

The best thing Clowes has done in ages. Solid story, very affecting, beautifully drawn.

[shivo]

Can someone recommend me a book?
Short, non-fiction and available for the kindle.

[citizen snips]

Two books I've read and enjoyed lately are white bicycles by Joe Boyd and Rasputin by Frances Welch but I'm not sure how short of a book you mean? I'd recommend white bicycles first anyway.

[Biggy Shackleton]

Ready Player One
I'm glad it's finished. Found the narrator to be really obnoxious and the love interest stuff is really tedious. Like it's written by a teenage boy. The video game stuff and general plot might make for an alright film. Script will need a lot of work.

I think its meant to sound like that. I enjoyed all the pop culture references. Its pure fantastical release, I didnt take the book too seriously.

Started the Stand. Didnt realise Id bought an extended edition. Fucking 1400 pages. Christ. I like King, but its too much. Ill finish it cos Ive wanted to read the story for a while, but its more effort than I was hoping. Gonna read one or two of John Ajvide Lindqvist books next.

Ready Player One
After Stranger Things and the whole 80's nostalgia that induced, a work mate gave me the audio book of this to listen to a few weeks ago.

I had to pack it in after listening to 3 chapters. As a book, its total fucking muck. Sub-literate.
Fair dues, write about what you know, or what interest you and all that, but take a fucking writing class or two first.

And all the 80's movies references and comic book / star wars nods.... it wedges every single one of them in that it can. Got tiresome fast.

[voidoid]

So what are people's recommendations for good Graphic Novels.

Have bought Trashed for my girlfriend but looking to surprise her with something else she didn't specifically ask for.

Also is there any decent comic shops in Dublin that aren't just rammed with serialised superheroes and figurines?

[mooch]

So what are people's recommendations for good Graphic Novels.

Have bought Trashed for my girlfriend but looking to surprise her with something else she didn't specifically ask for.

Also is there any decent comic shops in Dublin that aren't just rammed with serialised superheroes and figurines?

i loved Locke & Key....in fact i've asked for the box set for christmas. it's reduced to €70 odd on the book depository website

it's pretty gory but i love it

[fatguy2k1]

So what are people's recommendations for good Graphic Novels.

Have bought Trashed for my girlfriend but looking to surprise her with something else she didn't specifically ask for.

Also is there any decent comic shops in Dublin that aren't just rammed with serialised superheroes and figurines?

second recommendation for Locke & Key.
100 Bullets: what would you do if a stranger gave you a gun and 100 bullets to take revenge on someone who wronged you, and there would be no repressions.

Sex Criminals: have sex, pause time, rob banks. sounds crazy but it's funny as fook

Saga: Romeo and Juliet in space, kinda. two warring factions, a couple fall in love, have a baby and needs to hide forever.

if you want graphic novels and not series :
This One Summer - Coming of age story that was a good read.

[i_ate_cats]

So what are people's recommendations for good Graphic Novels.

Have bought Trashed for my girlfriend but looking to surprise her with something else she didn't specifically ask for.

Also is there any decent comic shops in Dublin that aren't just rammed with serialised superheroes and figurines?

Was in Hodges Figgis the other day and it's pretty well stocked.

I've not read Trashed yet but I read Derf's other ones.

I loved Daniel Clowe's Patience, great story, lovely book. Best big title I read this year.

Little bit weirder but there's a compilation of Charles Burn's recent trilogy (X'ed Out, The Hive, Sugar Skull) which would be a nice gift if that's her cuppa.

For gags and depravity I'd recommend Simon Hanselmann's Amsterdam (Meg and Mog stories)