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Stephen King: Lisey's Story

Then I'll be forced to highlight copy my last post, flatter it up a bit, switch around a few words or so, and then paste it in the "Duma Key," thread.

However, I liked Cell and Lisey's Story...but "Memory," (The Duma Key seed), just annoyed me to no mans end.
 
Yes, but that was a younger me (by what? A few months?), and in the last three months my expectations of quality have soared to a high point, which is sad, because I can no longer simply enjoy anything; I start analyzing and thinking "What would I do here?"

For Christ's Sake during the action sequence in Transformers I kept thinking how I would have directed the scene, and I don't even have any ambitions of being a director.

So, back when I read the two mentioned, I had yet to read things such as The Stand, Misery, Cujo, Bag of Bones (I know you hate this one but I thought it was great), Green Mile, etc.

I wasn't exposed to the vintage King, so I had found them to be good. I'm sure if I read them now, going in for the first time and not knowing of the plot/characters/etc. my reaction to the books would have been something more like yours or Stewarts.
 
Because you are evolving from a reader into a writer. :)

Just wait another few years, you'll have your works published in top literary magazines.

But do not limit yourself to King and King only. There are many horror writers who write better than King, such as Roald Dahl--the master of plot, pacing, and twist-ending--which King unfortunately lacks.
 
Bottom line question:

I just now picked this book up from the bargain table at my local book store. Should I go ahead and read it or should I take it back and exchange it for something else? :confused: (I was enjoying King's books right up until Bag of Bones and Dreamcatchers, both of which I could have pretty much lived without ... )
 
My advice: try reading the first 100 pages or so. If you don't like what you see, then bring it back and find something else. I can't say this book is King's worst effort (that would be The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon) but you're definitely not missing anything special if you decide not to read it.
 
Anamnesis said:
My advice: try reading the first 100 pages or so. If you don't like what you see, then bring it back and find something else. I can't say this book is King's worst effort (that would be The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon) but you're definitely not missing anything special if you decide not to read it.
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Sigh. Maybe I'll just take it back and then check it out of the library someday. What was it about TGWLTG that you especially disliked? I kinda enjoyed that one.
 
Sadly, you have to get to the halfway mark of Lisey's before it becomes something worthwhile, so that's a bit past page 100. I recommend it, because it is a story with resonance for sure, an ending and climax that is much more memorable than the endings in many of his other novels, and for that I will always consider it a good piece of work from him.

I'd say get to the halfway mark and decide for yourself by then what you want to do with it, because from what I've seen regarding reader reviews, the story is either a great hit or a fatal miss--there's no middle ground.
 
What was it about TGWLTG that you especially disliked? I kinda enjoyed that one.
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I remember thinking the book was really boring. A young girl stuck in the woods by herself probably could have been an intriguing story, but it just didn't work for me. I tried reading the book a second time and still didn't enjoy it.
 
Lol, I liked The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon, actually. I thought his worst by a mile was Dreamcatcher....Jeeze. I love Stephen King though and have been buying his books for 20 years at least. Haven't read this one though...Lisey's Story. How is it?
 
Phew, thanks Eyez. I read that post but was uncertain whether I wanted to accept responsibility of being the asshole or not.

You did perfectly well, though.
 
Lisey's Story

I tried listening to this one on audio book and couldn't finish it. I thought it was rather boring and I'm a huge King fan.
 
I finished this book a couple of months ago and didn’t really think it was anything special... just ok.

Now, am I the only S.K. fan who loves Dreamcatcher AND Insomnia??? :confused:
I just love these books and have seen so many people who don’t like them that I am starting to think I am a bit off! :p

:D
 
I loved Insomnia (one of my all-time King favorites) and I enjoyed Dreamcatcher as well. I've read both of them at least twice. I am currently reading Lisey's Story. It was kind of hum-drum at first, but it's got its hooks in me now.
 
I read this one and actually really enjoyed, much more than I expected to, especially the second half or so. And I have been put off by much of King's more recent work. Particularly From a Buick 8 and Dreamcatcher. The last book by King that I really liked, besides Lisey's Story, was probably Bag of Bones.
I have to say though, I am a pretty big King fan, but he's always been a little hit or miss for me. I either seem to love his books (Different Seasons, IT, Pet Semetary, The Shining, The Dead Zone, The Stand) , or wish I hadn't wasted my time (The Tommyknockers, Christine, Dreamcatcher).
 
Stewart said:
Probably. There's an Andy Clutterbuck in the book too, and I seem to remember that name from something else of King's that I've read, although I couldn't tell you what.

I started the book on Saturday and will try to review it properly once I'm finished, but initial thoughts are that the opening is a rambling mess. But it eventually gives way to something coherent around the 150 page mark and has been plodding along okay since.

The title of the novel, Lisey's Story, seems to be a bit of a misnomer given that she doesn't appear to have a story. I do note that the third part shares the name of the novel, so I'll reserve judgement there. The language is really annoying and repetitive. An editor could have cut through the majority of it with his red pen and probably produced a better narrative. It's also rife with annoying transliterations of accents (if anyone can tell me what 'a puff-ickly huy-yuge batch of orifice' is supposed to mean...perfectly huge something...then let me know). I don't mind an author using a phrase I don't understand in the book as the context may explain it or I'm not meant to know just yet, but King is putting these words and phrases in Lisey's head - surely she doesn't occasionally think in all manner of accents. Another page expander happens to be the annoying habit of using 'as so-and-so would say' and 'what so-and-so would call a' with regards to almost every phrase in the book. And then there's the word smucking. :mad:


There's much made of the derivation of the word, being from boo, book, and clue. As far as I can tell it's derived from bollocks. It doesn't make sense, no matter how much King has tried to explain it, and it makes every character that uses it appear childish. It's more than a stretch: I think King has snapped.
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Perfectly huge badge of office.
Mocking the symbol of authority which is apparently ostentatious...
But, although he is my favorite author, I still wonder if King knows how much he dislikes Police officers. He sure lets us know his politics throughout his writing, (and I have seen it become more obvious in the writing as time has passed). Holly was ridiculous, even though he claimed he was not "soap boxing". He said he hoped he'd give a conservative main character/protagonist equal time. I don't think that's necessary. He is a writer and, as an artist, he can do whatever he wants... And because he is King, we the loyal readers will ravenously gobble it up. I still am not sure I believe him, but I think he may believe it.
Which I did.
But Holly was tough to get through because I felt like I was being beat up with it, beyond what was helpful to her character or the story.
 
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