I've begun to read Stephen King, and I've found out that I quite enjoy his writing. Can anyone enlighten me on which of his books are worth reading and which are crap? I've already read Cujo and loved it, and I'm in the process of reading Hearts in Atlantis, which so far has been interesting, though a little on the slow side so far.

Hey Borg, how's it goin? I have read a lot of Stephen King's books and have enjoyed most all of them. That said, your current book, Hearts in Atlantis, is a very slow book and one i found to be hardly worth the effort to finish. If you havent read Salem's Lot, I highly recommend it! The Stand is an awesome book in my opinion also.

I got it for Christmas, in hardcover no less, but like both of us said, it's slow. Just bought Bag of Bones, too.

Oh, and welcome to Allforums.net!

Oh yeah, King is a really great author IMO. He doesn't write like James Joyce or anything, but his stories are incredibly
imaginative, yet somehow realistic at the same time.

Anyways, I have a definite favorite I recommend: "The Long Walk." Loved this book. Sometimes it's sold as a single small softcover or sometimes it's part of a foursome called "The Bachman Books." The Bachman Books are a set of books he wrote under a pseudonym (Richard Bachman) to see if he could still sell books without a reputation. He sounds like a interesting individual. If you do end up with the Bachman Books, one of the other stories, "Rage," is pretty good too. His sets of short stories are also worthwhile, particularly "Night Shift." I mean to read "Cujo" one of these days, but never got around to it.

Did you read "Bag of Bones" yet? I really liked the first half of that book, was kindof disappointed at the end tho.

I'm 20 pages into it so far. Can't give much of an opinion on it yet, as 20 isn't much out of 732!

I have read almost everything by Stephen King. I agree with Havok, the Stand is my favorite! Salem's lot was one of his best too. (creepy). I couldnt get into Bag of Bones or Gerald's Game. I guess I should try again. And I also agree with Leper, The Long Walk by Richard Bachman (a.k.a. Stephen King) was a really thought provoking , interesting short story. My family has talked and debated many times about it. "It" was also excellent, you will never think about clowns the same way again!

oh yeah! how could i leave out "It"? that was a Very spooky book......although i didnt like what they did with the made for tv movie. (never was a "john-boy" fan) Oops i guess im telling my age now.

I agree again Havok. TV and movies rarely do his books justice. Did you see "The Lawnmower Man"? I heard (although I cannot be sure of this) that King actually sued to have his name removed from any connection with the movie. they also screwed up "Pet Semetary". The closest Hollywood has ever come to making a good movie out of a King book was "The Stand"

wow alessa....its amazing how our opinions on stephen king are alike. you almost took the words right out of my mouth. and yes, i did see lawnmower man. and i do not blame stephen king a bit for trying to get his name removed from that project. ditto your opinion of the stand also.....

used to read a lot of KIng. "The Stand" is his best. one book that really irritated me was "Gerald's Game" - it seemed the book was over in about 10 pages. movies have been a continual disappointment, although "Cujo" and "Christine" seemed to follow the books reasonably well.