3.79 AVERAGE


A King short story collection was just what I needed on a recent vacation — great storytelling for immersive fast-paced reading. These stories were perfect for keeping the outside world out. I also love King’s sharp intros to each of them.

Whatever one may think of Stephen King he is one of the best short fiction writers alive today. It may seem strange this talend from an artist who seems to want to write 800 page plus novels but when he hits his stride such as he did with The Body, Rita Hayworth and the Shawshank Redemption and the wonderful 1922 and the extremely creepy A Good Marriage, the last two from the collection, Full Dark No Stars I can think of no one right off who makes me love short fiction. However, The Bazaar of Bad Dreams just doesn't seem up to his potential. I'd recommend to at least read Everything's Eventual and Full Dark No Stars before this collection. These are entertaining if yoou don't have high expectations but I think mostly for King completists.
adventurous challenging dark emotional funny mysterious reflective sad tense fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: Complicated
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated
adventurous dark emotional funny mysterious sad tense medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: Complicated
Loveable characters: Complicated
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

Popsugar challenge - #12 - A book recommended by someone you just met

This one was recommended at the first Something witty bookclub, as a good audible listen. Each of Steven King's short stories are narrated by somebody different. Steven King's dark style is not my normal go to, and some of his stories are just creepy! But I enjoyed them more than I anticipated, I especially liked how a lot of his stories take place in New England and he's describing stretches of I-95 that I've driven a hundred times. My favorite was actually the ones that Steven King himself read, or the narrations in between the short stories, I thought his annotates to his writing process was much more enjoyable then the stories themselves. Although the Car that gobbles up humans, and the pink kindle stories were fantastic. I'll admit that I won't be so hesitant about Mr. King from now on.

I highly recommend experiencing this as an audio book. All the narrators are excellent, and Steven King's comments before each story make this well worth the listen even if you've previously read some of the stories as I have.

A book of short stories. Some of them I loved and others produced a feeling of ambivalence but enough were of the former to make it a 4.

Unos mejores que otros, pero están buenos

ভালো লাগার দিকগুলো বলি - প্রতিটি গল্প শুরু করবার আগে গল্পের পেছনের ঘটনা, কিভাবে আইডিয়া পেয়েছেন এগুলো নিয়ে ছোট ছোট কিছু অংশ লিখেছেন কিং। এই অংশগুলো খুবই উপভোগ্য। ছোট্ট ছোট্ট ইন্সপিরেশন থেকে কি সব আইডিয়া চলে আসে লেখকদের মগজে!

আরেকটি বিষয় শুরু আর শেষের ব্লাস্ট - প্রথম গল্প Mile 81 এবং শেষ গল্প Summer Thunder দু'টোই খুবই ভালো লেগেছে। Mile 81 - এ স্টিফেন কিং এর চিরাচরিত "ফুল-অন লাভক্রাফটিয়ান মোড" আর Summer Thunder - এ এপোক্যালিপ্টিক স্টোরি, পৃথিবী ধ্বংসের পূর্ববর্তী দুঃসহ মুহূর্ত। কিং-এর ভাষ্যমতে "দ্য স্ট্যান্ড" এর একটা ফোঁটা স্বাদ এখানে দেয়া হয়েছে। একটা সন্তুষ্টি নিয়ে বই শুরু আর শেষ করাটা কিন্তু দারুণ বিষয়! Mile 81 পড়ে বেশ এফেক্টেড হয়েছি, এটা থেকে একটা ফ্যান-আর্ট করার জন্য হাত নিশপিশ করছে।

এই দু'টো ছাড়া আর যে গল্পগুলো বেশি মনে দাগ কেটেছে সেগুলো হচ্ছে "Batman & Robin Have An Altercation", "Bad Little Kid", "Ur", "Under The Weather", " Blockade Billy", "Mister Yummy", " Obits".

কিং-এর অন্যান্য কালেকশনের মতোই সবগুলো গল্প পুরোপুরি ইউনিক এবং কাহিনী যে আসলে কোনদিকে যাচ্ছে ধরার কোনো উপায় নাই যেটা তার স্পেশালিটি। দুই একটা গল্প বেশ হতাশাজনক লেগেছে বা মনে হয়েছে হঠাৎ করে শেষ হয়ে গেলো - কিন্তু সব মিলিয়ে হিসাব করলে ইট ওয়াজ ওয়ার্থ ইট।
adventurous dark emotional funny hopeful mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes