[quote=“Filmlovr1, post:498, topic:1204”]I recently finished Doctor Sleep, by Stephen King. The sequel to The Shining. I enjoyed it.
Meanwhile, I’ve been trying to finish King’s 11/22/63 the past couple years, and made it past half-way, but it’s been difficult to finish it up. IMO, some of King’s works are captivating…The Shining, It, Desperation, Under the Dome, Doctor Sleep, and The Talisman(co-written with Peter Straub), and some others; but I find that King can sometimes go off on a tangent and the pacing of some of his other novels grinds to a screeching halt.[/quote]
I have to admit that I didn’t care much for DOCTOR SLEEP. And, saying that, enjoyed the heck out of 11/22/63.
I would read King’s grocery list, though. He’s been my favorite writer since I discovered him in 1975, and I haven’t looked back since.
For several years starting in the late '90s, my favorite author was Dan Simmons. He could pretty much write in any genre…horror, fantasy/sci-fi, semi-factual historical, crime novels, etc. My personal favorites are:
The Summer of Night
The Terror
Carrion Comfort
The Hyperion/Endymion series
The Crook Factory
The Song of Kali
Children of the Night
Black Hills
Some others not so much. I absolutely hated Flashback. So much in fact, I was turned off to reading his stuff for a few years now. However, I’m planning on reading his newest, The Abominable.
This is another oater series written by Laurence James and John Harvey. Very detailed in its graphic descriptions, I love this series! It’s set during the Civil War, and Thorn and his Raiders (lifted pretty much from THE DIRTY DOZEN) go behind the Confederate lines wreaking havoc.
Good stuff so far without breaking much new ground. It’s a light read and it’s far from essential - it would be a great present for someone brand new to the genre, though! - but I’m enjoying it.
Putting aside my latest manuscript, I picked up HERNE THE HUNTER #11 Silver Threads.
This is an excellent oater series. Much in the same vein as a spaghetti oater, Laurence James (who wrote this installment) keeps the action moving quickly. There’s also nice touches to his characterization.
I’m reading Endo’s When I Whistle and I guess Endo is my kind of novelist - it’s a wonderful stuff, just like his Silence. Nothing sinister has happened so far, but it’s bound to transmute into something very, very dolorous. I love it.
Just finished Kamera Books series: “John Carpenter” by Colin Odell & Michelle LeBlanc. It’s in the same series of books as “Spaghetti Westerns” by Howard Hughes. Great, short and to the point analysis of virtually all of Carpenter’s films from Dark Star all the way to The Ward. I’m currently reading an older book on Hammer Productions films.
To my way of thinking, Kubrick drastically simplifies the book’s section regarding Alex’s internal despair deriving from the fact that the prison therapy deprived him of the joy of listening to his beloved music. Apart from that and getting rid of the motif of the old scholar, which is pretty significant too, he also removes the book’s last chapter, which plays an exceedingly crucial role, and completely modifies the motif of the writer whose wife gets raped. Whilst the writer in the book feels like a real human being, in the movie, Kubrick renders him homosexual (absolutely no idea why), but most importantly almost caricatural in his behaviour and appearance. Surely, a filmmaker can interpret any work in their own way, but upon reading the book, I was deeply disappointed with Kubrick’s flick, which felt immensely superficial vis-a-vis the book, and the depth of Alex’s character which felt cardboard-dimensional in Kubrick’s motion picture.
Kubrick’s film is a satire and every character in the film is a caricature.
The last chapter of the book is one which was not in every edition of the book. Kubrick only knew the book without that chapter, and couldn’t believe later that Burgess really wrote such a last chapter, which is some kind of happy end in a skewed way, and of course he preferred his ending with Alex remaining violent, but now with the approval of society.
Mickey, I don’t know why you think the writer is homosexual. He was married before, and the mere existence of this body builder guy does not necessarily mean that he is his lover besides being his aid.
