Fairy Tale by Stephen King

[James Rogers]

Stephen King's latest book is out and I've got it!! It's called Fairy Tale. I'm only on page 13, but so far, as usual, I'm loving it. I swear, King can write about absolutely anything and it will be highly entertaining. His style is so smooth and casual. Reading a Stephen King book is so enjoyable, I pretty much don't mind that 9 times out of 10 the ending will be,,,,, not so good.

Well, I'd like to stay and say more but I've got some reading to do

 

[Nate North]

I'm a SK fan also. I find the guy genuinely likeable. He's not the best author in the world, but he lacks any pretentiousness, and that goes a long way. Masterpieces are pretty rare, but I've stuck with him since I was a kid, and there have been a lot of great moments.

From the Talisman and the Gunslinger, to Delores Clayborne and Gerald's game, his wildly unpredictable quality keeps me guessing year after year.

I do have a complaint to lodge, but it's not against SK, but rather whatever moron made the "Dark Tower" movie. You know how the 1200 page "battlefield earth" didn't fit well in a 90 minute movie? What made them think that a 7 volume series could be effectively converted into one? It just seemed so pointless to make a Gunslinger movie without the bird, without the 200 ft cyborg bear, without the evil talking train, without the empty post apocalyptic cities, etc. Where was Cort? They just made a template action movie with a few borrowed character names.

 

[James Rogers]

I've read something like 52 of the 59 King books I own (all hard cover, most 1st edition), but I have never read the Dark Tower series. A friend of mine who did read it (listened to it on cd) said the ending wasn't worth the effort. Somehow that put me off wanting to read it.

Side thought: Dean Koontz. I love his work. In many ways he is Stephen King but with a better sense of humor. The most obvious difference between the two is that King is a liberal and Koontz is a conservative... That explains why Barnes and Noble always has 2 or 3 shelves of King's novels but only one or two copies of any of Koontz's novels. So unfair that politics has to play a part in deciding who we are "allowed" to read.

George Orwell, here we come.

 

[Nate North]

I like Dean Koontz as well, and he used to be a lot more popular in the 90s than he is now. I think that the many film adaptations kept SK at a much higher profile over the years, and that's why they stock more. Plus, you know, Koontz never really had a "Shawshank Redemption". Both authors excelled at horror, but with stuff like Shawshank, and stand by me, King probably managed to be relatable to a much wider audience.

I'm not so sure that bookstores are picking what fiction they stock based directly on politics, but Hollywood, that's a different story. Unfortunately, I don't really side with either party anymore, so regardless of who wins, I'll end up loosing.

 

[James Rogers]

Koontz was commissioned to turn the horror film Fun House into a novel. The movie was pretty terrible but the book is incredible. It is by far my favorite Koontz novel. Give it a go when you're in the mood for some fun horror!

 

[James Rogers]

.... about 400 pages in and I'm starting to get nervous. The story is good and King seems to be taking us somewhere, but that's right about the time you realize there aren't enough pages left for him to explain everything..

There are still around 200 pages to go, but man, he has a lot of ground to cover.. I hope he doesn't pull a " then the boy woke up, realizing it was all just a dream". No thanks, Stephen. I've already seen the Wizard of Oz. I want a real ending!!

 

[Nate North]

Lol, I know that feeling, happens on tv shows a lot at the end also.

I remember looking at the time counter halfway through my first viewing of the Sopranos finale, and thinking, I'm not sure they can wrap all this up in the next 20 minutes. It turned out worse than I thought.

Don't even get me started on lost.

With Steven King though, he usually does a pretty fair job wrapping his stories. I would not be shocked for example, if the book ended in 170 pages and the last 30 were just about the main characters in their old age or something.

Glad to hear you're enjoying it though! I've gotten a dozen books behind on King, but I'll get to it some day.

 

[James Rogers]

Finished.
The story stayed true to the title, Fairy Tale. That's what it was. The beginning provided a bridge between your basic day to day life with all of it's ups and down, and the fairy tale that ensued. Kind of like Alice tumbling down the rabbit hole. King made a point to suggest that all of life is a fairy tale. That idea alone was worth the price of the book. There's also plenty of dirt and slime and stink and fucking and shitting, and killing, and did I mention filth?Yep, plenty of it..
It was a good book and I recommend it, but not for children.