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3.79 AVERAGE
3.79 AVERAGE
Another great SK short story collection; now with Narrative Poems!
Most of these stories are super-depressing... Highlights for me were "Drunken Fireworks", the fucked-up elephant poem "The Bone Church" and "Cookie Jar" - I want to know more about Lalanka and the forza mist...
I got this book for Christmas last year and what a treat it was. The stories are all very quick and easy - a little quirkier than a lot of his short stories, less dark. I loved it.
A nice collection, as King's short story collections usually are.
Some stories were meh and some I really liked. As usual, none really bad ones.
Not many were horror, but still great writing. Goes to show that a great writer isn't bound by genres.
The most eye-opening for me was a story about a regular couple on a regular day - and then one of them dies suddenly. It made me realise that perhaps even that could be true horror.
Some stories were meh and some I really liked. As usual, none really bad ones.
Not many were horror, but still great writing. Goes to show that a great writer isn't bound by genres.
The most eye-opening for me was a story about a regular couple on a regular day - and then one of them dies suddenly. It made me realise that perhaps even that could be true horror.
1. Mile 81 – 3/5
2. Premium Harmony – 3/5
3. Batman and Robin Have an Altercation – 3.5/5
4. The Dune – 2/5
5. Bad Little Kid – 3.5/5
6. A Death 3.5/5
7. The Bone Church – 2/5
8. Morality – 2/5
9. Afterlife – 2/5
10. Ur – 4/5
11. Herman Wouk is Still Alive – 3.5/5
12. Under the Weather – 3/5
13. Blockade Billy – 2/5
14. Mister Yummy – 2.5/5
15. Tommy – 2/5
16. The Little Green God of Agony – 2/5
17. That Bus is Another World - 2/5
18. Obits – 4/5
19. Drunken Fireworks 2/5
20. Summer Thunder – 3/5
I didn’t love any of the stories, but there were a couple of them that stood out more.
I liked the ideas of some stories more than the actual stories. I really enjoyed his introductions to each story, it’s always nice to know about the inspirations behind each story and Stephen King is a great casual writer, I think I enjoy his real life anecdotes more than most of his fiction. His short stories are very hit and miss. Some are extraordinary but a lot of his newer collections don’t hit hard for me.
This list is missing The Cookie Jar, which I’d give 3.5/5
2. Premium Harmony – 3/5
3. Batman and Robin Have an Altercation – 3.5/5
4. The Dune – 2/5
5. Bad Little Kid – 3.5/5
6. A Death 3.5/5
7. The Bone Church – 2/5
8. Morality – 2/5
9. Afterlife – 2/5
10. Ur – 4/5
11. Herman Wouk is Still Alive – 3.5/5
12. Under the Weather – 3/5
13. Blockade Billy – 2/5
14. Mister Yummy – 2.5/5
15. Tommy – 2/5
16. The Little Green God of Agony – 2/5
17. That Bus is Another World - 2/5
18. Obits – 4/5
19. Drunken Fireworks 2/5
20. Summer Thunder – 3/5
I didn’t love any of the stories, but there were a couple of them that stood out more.
I liked the ideas of some stories more than the actual stories. I really enjoyed his introductions to each story, it’s always nice to know about the inspirations behind each story and Stephen King is a great casual writer, I think I enjoy his real life anecdotes more than most of his fiction. His short stories are very hit and miss. Some are extraordinary but a lot of his newer collections don’t hit hard for me.
This list is missing The Cookie Jar, which I’d give 3.5/5
challenging
dark
tense
fast-paced
I was about to give this one 3 stars and then I looked back through the TOC at just how many stories I did enjoy (I just took so long reading the whole thing, I forgot about a bunch). King includes a page or two commentary before each one providing a little background. Oddly, I found these detracted or distracted more than added anything to the reading experience. The first story, "Mile 81", remained my favorite throughout.
I generally really enjoy Stephen King, especially his short stories, and I did like some in this collection. But on the whole I found the writing rather lackluster; when every single character has the same speech patterns and most of the female characters are all described by the length of their legs/size of their breasts, it quickly becomes boring and honestly, offensive. I recognize that some male characters are written to see women that way, i.e. only making note of their looks rather than their personality; but in this book, I ran into this sexist style of writing far too often and quickly tired of it.
That being said--I did enjoy some stories, and I think it's at least worth a look. Some of these dark little vignettes were unsettling and moving at the same time, i.e. "Under The Weather." And "The Little Green God of Agony" was a particularly gripping read.
That being said--I did enjoy some stories, and I think it's at least worth a look. Some of these dark little vignettes were unsettling and moving at the same time, i.e. "Under The Weather." And "The Little Green God of Agony" was a particularly gripping read.
I've been reading Stephen King for over half my life so I'm used to his stories, but the short story Herman Wouk is Still Alive has messed me up for life.
Most of the book read like a grouchy old man wrote it. Constant diatribes about the younger generations.
Most of the book read like a grouchy old man wrote it. Constant diatribes about the younger generations.
It's an uneven collection, entertaining if not spectacular.
Mile 81: this is a solid, King-type of horror story, though the buildup with the kid is strangely long and pointless, since ultimately most of it is unrelated to the story itself (why the vodka, for example). The end kind of fizzled out for me.
Premium Harmony: this story is terrible. There is no arc, no feeling at all toward the characters except disgust, cruelty toward animals, and it’s loaded with fatphobia. Yuck.
Batman and Robin Have an Altercation: this is all about dementia, with a good twist at the end.
The Dune: a good, if somewhat predictable, supernatural story about an old judge who sees names printed on a sand dune.
Bad Little Kid: also good, if somewhat predictable. At the end, you realize George is truly a jerk.
A Death: After reading, I wondered if I missed something, because it just wasn’t very interesting.
The Bone Church: Totally forgettable poem.
Morality: A contemplation of sin (and ultimately how it affects a marriage) that ends up pretty boring.
Afterlife: not bad, but also not terribly exciting. What happens in the afterlife and, perhaps more importantly, does it even matter?
UR: I looked forward to this story because it has a direct Dark Tower connection, though I didn’t know ahead of time that it is basically a paid Amazon ad. It is a story about a Kindle, and fortunately does not sound too dated (King actually revised the original version to, among other things, get rid of the “what is this gadget”?” type of language). The idea of different books in different versions of our world is a cool one, and very Dark Tower.
I do have to say I was disappointed with the ending (SPOILER). First of all, the low men are practically nice, which seems not to be their nature, not to mention the fact that they claim to be protecting the tower. They don’t give people passes like this. Second, the ending is so unambiguously simple and happy that I was almost surprised the story was over. Not very King-ish. (SPOILER END)
Herman Wouk is Still Alive: Evocative and sad story, though it only partially matched the mystery King poses in the short preface, about a woman who somehow ingests massive amount of alcohol and marijuana, then drives. As usual, King goes overboard when describing overweight people.
Under the Weather: The hook here is that the protagonist tells us something that he is apparently not willing to accept for himself about his wife, who he says is under the weather. It’s fine, nothing special.
Blockade Billy: I first read this in 2010, and wrote, “It was OK, and good baseball writing, but the climax was disappointing after all the build up.”
Mister Yummy: Bland story about how you know you are about to die.
Tommy: Poem. Meh.
The Little Green God of Agony: King’s effort to describe the intense pain he felt after his accident. Solid.
That Bus is Another World: King loves to have characters who work for advertising firms. This one is good, and makes you think about what reactions you would have if you were on your way to something important.
Obits: A guy makes people die by writing their obituary. In his intro, King says he wishes a movie he saw took the theme to its conclusion, but he doesn’t really either. Great story, weak ending.
Drunken Fireworks: quite a build up about two families doing a fireworks competition across a lake, then it fizzles. Another example of King having characters revel in their racism.
Summer Thunder: the end of the world after a nuclear war. A sad one.
Mile 81: this is a solid, King-type of horror story, though the buildup with the kid is strangely long and pointless, since ultimately most of it is unrelated to the story itself (why the vodka, for example). The end kind of fizzled out for me.
Premium Harmony: this story is terrible. There is no arc, no feeling at all toward the characters except disgust, cruelty toward animals, and it’s loaded with fatphobia. Yuck.
Batman and Robin Have an Altercation: this is all about dementia, with a good twist at the end.
The Dune: a good, if somewhat predictable, supernatural story about an old judge who sees names printed on a sand dune.
Bad Little Kid: also good, if somewhat predictable. At the end, you realize George is truly a jerk.
A Death: After reading, I wondered if I missed something, because it just wasn’t very interesting.
The Bone Church: Totally forgettable poem.
Morality: A contemplation of sin (and ultimately how it affects a marriage) that ends up pretty boring.
Afterlife: not bad, but also not terribly exciting. What happens in the afterlife and, perhaps more importantly, does it even matter?
UR: I looked forward to this story because it has a direct Dark Tower connection, though I didn’t know ahead of time that it is basically a paid Amazon ad. It is a story about a Kindle, and fortunately does not sound too dated (King actually revised the original version to, among other things, get rid of the “what is this gadget”?” type of language). The idea of different books in different versions of our world is a cool one, and very Dark Tower.
I do have to say I was disappointed with the ending (SPOILER). First of all, the low men are practically nice, which seems not to be their nature, not to mention the fact that they claim to be protecting the tower. They don’t give people passes like this. Second, the ending is so unambiguously simple and happy that I was almost surprised the story was over. Not very King-ish. (SPOILER END)
Herman Wouk is Still Alive: Evocative and sad story, though it only partially matched the mystery King poses in the short preface, about a woman who somehow ingests massive amount of alcohol and marijuana, then drives. As usual, King goes overboard when describing overweight people.
Under the Weather: The hook here is that the protagonist tells us something that he is apparently not willing to accept for himself about his wife, who he says is under the weather. It’s fine, nothing special.
Blockade Billy: I first read this in 2010, and wrote, “It was OK, and good baseball writing, but the climax was disappointing after all the build up.”
Mister Yummy: Bland story about how you know you are about to die.
Tommy: Poem. Meh.
The Little Green God of Agony: King’s effort to describe the intense pain he felt after his accident. Solid.
That Bus is Another World: King loves to have characters who work for advertising firms. This one is good, and makes you think about what reactions you would have if you were on your way to something important.
Obits: A guy makes people die by writing their obituary. In his intro, King says he wishes a movie he saw took the theme to its conclusion, but he doesn’t really either. Great story, weak ending.
Drunken Fireworks: quite a build up about two families doing a fireworks competition across a lake, then it fizzles. Another example of King having characters revel in their racism.
Summer Thunder: the end of the world after a nuclear war. A sad one.