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Post by Mark Sieber on Jan 21, 2020 22:50:13 GMT
I tried reading this and I tried reading that. Nothing was working, so I figured I'd go back to some King. I had only read The Dark Half once, way back when it first came out in hardcover. I never considered it a favorite, but I know I liked it,
I read a hundred pages last night. What surprises me is how much like The Outsider it is. Both have a character who is suspected of a crime where there is irrefutable evidence that he committed it. And both have rock solid alibis. Both have an avatar of himself that has manifested itself and is committing atrocities.
I actually think I am enjoying The Dark Half more this time around.
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Post by goathunter on Jan 23, 2020 0:22:59 GMT
The Dark Half was the final straw for me with King. I quit reading him until I finally read The Green Mile after it received so much praise.
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Post by Mark Sieber on Jan 26, 2020 10:06:48 GMT
I'm still enjoying The Dark Half. It's more hardboiled than a lot of King's work, and even if I am not crazy about the premise, I can see why it was important to him. It's a good book, far better than most of the "indie" stuff people slobber praise all over these days.
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brlesh
Junior Member
Posts: 58
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Post by brlesh on Feb 2, 2020 18:11:18 GMT
I remember reading The Dark Half when it first came out, and it was, for me, definitely towards bottom of my Stephen King list. In fact, most of the books I liked less than The Dark Half were Bachman books, though several of the Dark Tower books, especially the last three in the series, also rank at the bottom of my Stephen King list.
B
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Post by Mark Sieber on Feb 2, 2020 21:07:13 GMT
While we are being honest, the ones I disliked the most are Insomnia, Rose Madder, The Regulators, Dreamcatcher, Lisey's Story (I feel like I need to give this one another chance), Cell, and Desperation. And the Dark Tower stuff, of course.
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Post by goathunter on Feb 2, 2020 23:47:57 GMT
These days, there are more King books I haven't read than King books I have. As I mentioned earlier, after The Dark Half, I didn't read anything until The Green Mile, but I didn't read anything else for a while. I've since read a half dozen or so, but haven't enjoyed them all. The ones I have enjoyed: Joyland, 11/22/63, and Doctor Sleep. I didn't like Duma Key, The Colorado Kid, From a Buick 8, or Mr. Mercedes. I despised Under the Dome. And that covers everything I've read since 1989.
Almost. There was one King book I read between The Dark Half and The Green Mile: the "uncut" edition of The Stand. I had read that book a few times before then, but the 1990 edition literally ruined the book for me. The added material was completely unnecessary, but what really ruined it was the half-assed updates to set it in 1990. Just terrible, and I've never had any interest in reading it again since. If I ever do, it'll be the original.
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Post by Mark Sieber on Feb 3, 2020 16:26:05 GMT
I seem to be in the minority (again!) but I loved the Hodges Trilogy.
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Post by goathunter on Feb 4, 2020 1:18:44 GMT
I seem to be in the minority (again!) but I loved the Hodges Trilogy. I didn't hate Mr. Mercedes, but I thought it had a few too many plot conveniences. I don't even remember now what they were, but they bugged me enough that I wasn't interested in continuing the trilogy. |
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Post by Mark Sieber on Feb 4, 2020 21:35:15 GMT
I of course noticed the cliches, but for me it was King playing with the stereotypes of the private eye genre.
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