The BOOKS thread... what you reading?

[cthulhu]

@ Stephanie
i've read th egreen mile or to be more precisely listened to a uncut audio book, but i don't know what you mean by series? are there more storys about the subject?

so when i read the second mr. mercedes book, which is without any mystery or horror, a plain thriller which a huge story, i went back to the first part. and then i read "der anschlag", which is about somebody going back in time, to stop harvey lee oswald murdering kennedy. but this is also not really a science fiction book, it's a fascinating description of the 60's and about the possible motivation and life of lee oswald. also not your typical stephen king, but a brilliant, tense story, but after all these storys for me there isn't anymore such thing as a typical stephen king.

then i went back to pet semetary, and it scared the shit out of me. i knew the story, i saw the movie, but king is so cruel here, you know what is going to come and he knows that you know..and still he is raising the tention so high and giving the characters so much depth that you jus can't believe what he is doing or going to do to them. bastard!;-)

i also totally enjoyed the dome!

but for master ray and stephanie i recommend the mercedes trilogy...or start also with the second book, which is just so fantastic.

is the cell about the signal from th emobile phones? this one is called in germany pulse..and of course i liked that too very much.

mr. mercedes trilogy = bill hodges trilogy

[Whirlwind]

Stephen King is a fantastic storyteller but is almost universally reviled by critics...

I don't know about the critics hating Mr. King. They seemed to have come around and have grown to appreciate the phenomenal skill he has at what he does. Most of King's recent works have received high praise from the critics.

I have enjoyed many a King work....but I still say he needed a strong-minded editor overseeing much of his work. King is at his best when he tells a rapid fire tale.

[Master Ray]

@ Stephanie
i've read th egreen mile or to be more precisely listened to a uncut audio book, but i don't know what you mean by series? are there more storys about the subject?

so when i read the second mr. mercedes book, which is without any mystery or horror, a plain thriller which a huge story, i went back to the first part. and then i read "der anschlag", which is about somebody going back in time, to stop harvey lee oswald murdering kennedy. but this is also not really a science fiction book, it's a fascinating description of the 60's and about the possible motivation and life of lee oswald. also not your typical stephen king, but a brilliant, tense story, but after all these storys for me there isn't anymore such thing as a typical stephen king.

then i went back to pet semetary, and it scared the shit out of me. i knew the story, i saw the movie, but king is so cruel here, you know what is going to come and he knows that you know..and still he is raising the tention so high and giving the characters so much depth that you jus can't believe what he is doing or going to do to them. bastard!;-)

i also totally enjoyed the dome!

but for master ray and stephanie i recommend the mercedes trilogy...or start also with the second book, which is just so fantastic.

is the cell about the signal from th emobile phones? this one is called in germany pulse..and of course i liked that too very much.

mr. mercedes trilogy = bill hodges trilogy

Hi, Cthulhu... yes, Cell is the english language title of what you know as Pulse... and I do like that book but trust me, the film is dreadful.  Likewise, The Dome is known as Under The Dome in English speaking territories.  And 'der anschlag' is called, in english language versions, '11/22/63'!  Actually, I found that idea of that last one quite intriguing but never got around to reading it.  There's another one for the list!

[Anna Woman von NRW]

I enjoyed reading Cell as well - not surprised it's a naff film, somehow most king adaptations are (The Shawshank Redemption & Green Mile honorable exceptions).

Anyone read Dr Sleep?

Clive Barker was an author I used to enjoy - Books Of Blood to start with but Weaveworld and Imajica were pretty damn fine, dunno what he's been up to of late. I tend to rely on charity shop visits when I'm back home nowadays so I'm not too up to date 

[Master Ray]

Anna did you every check out 'The Great And Secret Show' or 'Coldheart Canyon'?  Probably my favourites of his.

Also, the novella 'Cabal', made into the film 'Nightbreed', is excellent.  I'm hearing rumours that this short novel is going to be made into a TV show, which is an interesting prospect...

[Anna Woman von NRW]

Coldheart Canyon is a new one to me - will keep an eye out. Cheers 

[cthulhu]

Coldheart Canyon is also one of my favourites, you should check it out Anna.

They want to seriously serialize cabal? Well, if so...there are some pretty good smaller series out there. Stranger Things for example i truely recommend to you Master Ray and anybody who has some love for the 80's nerd-culture. So if they take cabal and do what clive barker wasn't able to do because of the limitations of a movie, the money, running time etc..it could be a good thing.

[orlando]

Anyone read Dr Sleep?

Dr Sleep was a great follow up of The Shining. While the story was completely different from the first part, it was interesting to see how Danny coped with his gift as a grown-up.

I too was a big Stephen King fan in my youth. I remember reading "It" at the age of 14, only reading during the day because it was far too scary in the dark.  I had read most of the classics, when the books became a bit boring in my view somewhere around the mid nineties. However I rediscovered him after her finished The Dark Tower cycle.

Even though I usually prefer to read English books in the original version, for Stephen King novels I love the German Audio Book versions read by David Nathan. He is probably best known as being the German voice of Johnny Depp and Christian Bale. His interpretation of the King Novels is world class and after re-reading/listening the old classics, I also choose the audio versions of his current books. Already loooking forward to the second part of the Mr. Mercedes Trilogy.


However that has to wait until I have finished listening to "Paddle Your Own Canoe: One Man's Fundamentals for Delicious Living" by Nick Offerman, read by the author. As a big fan of Parks & Recreation, I was interested in learing about the man behind Ron Swanson. While I don't fully agree with everything he talks about and some is more relevant for US citizens, it is really funny to listen to him recounting his youth in Smalltown Illinois.

[cthulhu]

hey orlando,

cool that you mention david nathan!
he is indeed a brilliant narrator and his tone fits perfectly for stephen king storys. i would recommend some short story anthologys: "im kabinett des todes", "basar der bösen träume" read by nathan. i also have one audio book of "briefe aus jerusalem" by stephen king, read by joachim kerzel and he is also perfect for that story.

i got to know david nathan as an narrator, when he took over the audio books of the festa verlag of h.p.lovecraft storys. but there's one thing i about certain, that he could not deliver: i listened to "ready player one" by ernest cline and it was read by..i don't know at the moment. but when the book got more famous there was a new edition out read by nathan. and though i think he has some great abilitys to play very different characters, this time it was already perfect and david wouldn't have that kind of energy needed. and some of the reviews just stated that. nathan has become a superstar of audio books.....

and now the really fckn thing which gets on my nerves as i write this....i wanted to look after who was the reader of rpo, and i had to find out that my audio book was deleted! i payed for it, and audible just says: "sorry, we know this is not good but it's not here anymore"
you kidding me?
put all things in the cloud, they said, there it is more safe they said..."Electronic art. Ended up lasting as long as a fart"

what a bloody fckn thing is that? i bought it, i listened to it and i erased it on my phone to get more space and now it's gone from my library? and i can nothing do about it? now i have to get the nathan version of that book..is this what this is about?...sorry for my rant, i really loved that version of ready player one and wanted to hear it again befor seeing the movie by spielberg. bloody hell..damn you cloud!
 

[Master Ray]

Coldheart Canyon is also one of my favourites, you should check it out Anna.

They want to seriously serialize cabal? Well, if so...there are some pretty good smaller series out there. Stranger Things for example i truely recommend to you Master Ray and anybody who has some love for the 80's nerd-culture. So if they take cabal and do what clive barker wasn't able to do because of the limitations of a movie, the money, running time etc..it could be a good thing.

Yeah, seen Stranger Things, I liked it but not quite as much as others!  I'll still give the next series a watch!

I think that Cabal / Nightbreed definately has enough of a concept to make a pretty good long-running TV show.  I'll keep you posted if I hear any news.

And 'Doctor Sleep' has apparently been green-lit for a major movie with Ewan Mcgregor in the lead role!  I do need to check that book out...

[orlando]

and now the really fckn thing which gets on my nerves as i write this....i wanted to look after who was the reader of rpo, and i had to find out that my audio book was deleted! i payed for it, and audible just says: "sorry, we know this is not good but it's not here anymore"
you kidding me?
put all things in the cloud, they said, there it is more safe they said..."Electronic art. Ended up lasting as long as a fart"

I just checked my version of Ready Player One on the audible website and you are right, it's gone too. My Audible app still shows it and it says it was read by Martin Bross. If I try to download it, it even starts. I don't have Wifi at the moment, so I won't download the whole thing, but maybe you are lucky and can also download it via the app.

[Stephanie]

@ Stephanie
i've read th egreen mile or to be more precisely listened to a uncut audio book, but i don't know what you mean by series? are there more storys about the subject?

Well, yes, when it was first released, King had this idea to do it the old-fashioned way where one part of the story got released per month. Tough for the reader - but actually a pretty neat idea. 

[cthulhu]

@ orlando
good idea, i'm right now downloading it on my external sd-card, it seems to work! i have no idea, what is behind that bibliothek thing at audible.

and have fun with finderlohn, i think it's even a an increase in tension and story compared to mr. mercedes.

@stephanie
ah, i see. then i'm just glad i hadn't to wait for the story to be continued like weekly;-)

[Master Ray]

I also remember The Green Mile being released in the UK in monthly installments, very slim paperback volumes for a couple of quid... agreed, quite a nice way to release a new book and cost less than a single hardback edition of a new story!  Nowadays, of course, it's all available in one book...

[Anna Woman von NRW]

Anyone read Dr Sleep?

Dr Sleep was a great follow up of The Shining. While the story was completely different from the first part, it was interesting to see how Danny coped with his gift as a grown-up.

Danke Orlando  I'll look out for it now.

And 'Doctor Sleep' has apparently been green-lit for a major movie with Ewan Mcgregor in the lead role!  I do need to check that book out...

Mmm..... Stephen King on film has a somewhat shite record  Mind you perhaps with Mcgregor in it the budget might be big enough to do a good job

I also remember The Green Mile being released in the UK in monthly installments, very slim paperback volumes for a couple of quid.

Yes he did it as a "hommage" to the cheap paperback serial novels he used to read as a kid.