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The Dark Towers are the best epos ever after LOTR.
I never got into Harry Potter tho. Maybe I should admit I never read them because of the whole hype.
The book I always return to is 'Ich Christiane F.' (Children of Station Zoo) about a 12 year old girl in Berlin who turn into junk. I read it first time at the age of 13 and have since then been following her life and her perpetuous battle with drugs.
I think that book should be compulsary in every country. Little trainspotting, but not romantized at all. Just think beginning 80s, underground clubs, David Bowie music scene.
I'd have to agree with Stephen King. Just got The Girl started on her first King (Eyes of the Dragon)... Wifeypooh thinks the reason I'm insane is that I was reading the horror stuff at ten...
You were nineteen at the earliest. Not sixteen.
I need to read the Dark Tower series. I call myself a Steven King fan, but I've never read those.
Oh, and Kal: I started watching slasher, blood and guts type movies when I was 3, and I turned out just fine. *twitch* Tell your wife she's crazy.
That book meme has been going around hasn't it!? There are now a hundred different versions of it. I'm still waiting to be tagged with some meme I'd created long ago. That would be a gas.
I'll have to defend non-fiction, though, reading biographies and journals from the great explorers is like time travel (when they're done well).
Franky, that's an interesting sounding book.
Kal, same reason I'm insane. Reading IT at the age of 10 will do that to you.
M, you're right. My mistake.
Virginia, it's an acquired taste, but worth it.
RW, how did I know you'd say that about biographies? I was actually trying to bait you a little by putting that in there. Aha!
Hey Av,
I grew up in Orono, Maine, home of the University of Maine (at Orono). Stephen King went to UMO, and one of his English teachers was the father of a guy (Brett Bishop) who became one of my closest friends in my class. Brett told me this story way back when we were in 11th grade (1981-82), and I've always remember ed it. While attending the UMO, SK was taking part in a Vietnam War Protest and threw one of those police wooden-horses into a ditch, and got arrested. Who does he call to come bail him out? My friend's dad, Jim Bishop, his English professor. If you have the story he wrote under the pseudonym Richard Bachman called "The Long Walk", it's dedicated to Jim Bishop.
That's all. Have a good day, chum.
Wow... a fellow comic geek that's into Spenser and Fletch... who da thunk it?
This meme needs to add "Author you wish you were smart enough to understand..." because I love Umberto Eco, yet struggle with his books in a way that makes me feel like a moron every time.
Hmmmm, intersting stuff! I'm not a huge fan of the Parker series -- it's a little too macho for me and I'm not a King liker either.
Ditto on Where the Red Fern Grows, but did you ever read Bridge to Terabithia? (That might not be spelled right)
And I love the Hardy Boys idea! That had me laughing!
#9--Of course. Me too. I have no list. I just read them.
Avi, it is. Pretty rough. A film has been made of it too, very good movie actually, dunno bout an English version tho.
I also love bios, but mainly I use to read bios of musicians, many times even different bios of the same artist.
I loved Fletch, the whole series, and read them over and over. Also Terry Pratchett, Dorothy Sayers, Tim Powers, Sean Stewart. And Stephen King is a master. And I'm not saying it just because I live in Maine.
My most recent desire in books is Darkly Dreaming Dexter and the Historian. The minute I get some extra cash, they are so mine.
I read the first Dark Tower book in eighth grade, which means I waited nearly fifteen years to finish reading the series. And here's what I have to say:
Fuck the Dark Tower. Biggest let-down in literary history. Grow as a writer? Maybe. But the motherfucker sacrifced his imagination to do it. And I get that he was hit by a van. But he needs to get over it. Or maybe he should have gotten under it.
To implore him to read it before it was finished, I swore to a friend that I would finish the series myself if anything happened to Mr. King before he could finish it.
I wish I'd have had to do it. Then I might still have some respect for the author who guided me carefully through the horrors of my teenage years.
Fuck Stephen King. Fuck him up his stupid ass. Even if he isn't a donkey.
Kingdom Come was pretty damn good. The ideas behind the story are very powerful.
Do you have any other favorite comics or graphic novels? I'm a big fan of Maus, The Dark Knight Returns, Watchmen, and Sandman.
TFOKP, that's a great story.
Dave, I'm not famliiar with Umberto Eco.
Dramedy, I've never though Spenser was particularly macho - his approach towards women is quite liberal. I haven't read Bridge, though.
Mist, I figured as much. You seem like a voracious reader.
Franky, I just can't get into bios. Don't know why.
Tracy, I have the Historian sitting here, but I don't know if I want to read it. It just seems like too much effort.
PTB, what do you mean? The last book was awesome! His ending was not a cop-out at all - it was a perfect way to end a book that was leading to a massive deus ex machina moment.
Joe, I'm not a fan of Maus. DKR and the Watchmen are classics, but I never got into Sandman at all. However, there are a lot of more recent books that have come out that have been tremendous. I read about 30 new comics every Wednesday.
personally, I love davinci code - can't wait to see the movie. however, I love stephen king too - I'm currently reading Four Past Midnight.
You're one of the few people who can make a list about books entertaining. Seriously.
I don't mean the ending, or, just the ending. I mean the last three books altogether. How many times can an author steal from himself (or from others, even when he's admittedly stealing) before we admit that he shit out his imagination one unfortuante day when he found himself without a bottle of Kaopectate at the ready?
For my part, though I finished the series, I gave up on it moment he described the way the Wolves looked. I said, 'Wow. Sounds a lot like Dr. Doom.' I have never been so disappointed to be right. Mr. King is the reason I still will not walk within ten feet of a storm drain, and he can't come up with anything better than a Marvel super-villian that's been around for 50 years?
Fuck that.
Yeah, I don't think it was the greatest idea to make "Where the Red Fern Grows" a must read for school-age children. I remember being completely traumatized.
People have completely tried to push me into that Adventures of Kavalier and Clay book. I'm still resisting - even more so now.
I think The Dark Tower series is the only group of King novels I skipped.
Where the Red Fern Grows... awesome choice. I cried at that one, too, and also Old Yeller. Heartbreaking. And I gotta go with Dramedy girl on "Bridge to Terabithia". Oh, and "A Taste of Blackberries"... cried reading every single one of em. Dang, there were a lot of really tragic children's novels!! How depressing. Thank God for Judy Blume.
Liked Da Vinci code... But DB's Angels & Demons, not so much.
Dawn, that's okay. There's no accounting for taste! :P
Britt, aw shucks.
PTB, you see, I loved the blurring of our reality with Roland's. He was sowing those seeds in the beginning, but I think the accident really clarified things for him. I enjoy some of the later books even more than the original.
Holli, you should give the DT series a try.
Cat, Judy Blume rocked.
Love Stephen King, Dean Koontz, John Saul (tho his are kind of redundant at times). One of my fave books is The Shining..and for a laugh, you can't beat David Sedaris.
I loved the first three of the Dark Tower...but on Buddha's recommendation, didn't finish the series...
But I would read your book, Avi. Porn, twisted comedy and horror? Now that's what I am looking for in a good book.
Tug, I've never read David Sedaris. I'll have to check him out.
HCG, Buddha's overreacting. Give them a try. And my book would be fucking awesome!
In defense of Non-fiction: King's On Writing is a must read for King fans and anyone who likes to write.
Kal-I agree! Love that book.
Okay - so the big question. Were you pissed off or satisfied with the ending of the Dark Tower books?
Kal and HCG, yeah, that's true.
Lucy, I was satisfied. It made sense.
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