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3.77 AVERAGE
3.77 AVERAGE
Stephen King: I feel like he's my oldest friend and the dude can write, man.
I'm pretty confident that if it hadn't been for a chance encounter with Mr King's work at Army Central Library in Rawalpindi, I would never have begun writing. Like the man himself says, people come into your life for a reason.
N&D is a collection of short stories and one lonely, beautiful poem. The poem deserves it's own post (it's THAT nice) so here we'll just talk about the stories themselves.
They. Are. Amazing.
There. That's out of the way. Having to pick a clear favourite out of these gorgeous little gems is like asking me which feature of my daughter's face do I like the bes: Eyes? Nose? Lips? HER WHOLE FACE OKTHXBYE.
Each of the stories is cleverly crafted, elegantly paced.
'Dolan's Cadillac' is a fantastic bit of revenge fiction which I will not spoil by talking about it. MUST read. AND it comes with an amazing film adaptations which I also heartily recommend. Two words: Wes Bentley. Yum.
'The Moving Finger' got under my skin so much that it was hard for me to understand HOW someone who I've never met, sitting thousands of miles away, could creep me out so thoroughly. Why do these terrible things happen to such nice people? Who knows, my friend?
'The House on Maple Street' will restore your faith though. Sometimes the evil villain will get EXACTLY what's coming for him. Also, Trent in this story was named for Trent Reznor of Nine Inch Nails, double yum, chum!
Fav line: Sometimes you could get rid of the ghosts that were haunting your life if you could only work up enough courage to face them.
Recommended Music: NIN, duh
I'm pretty confident that if it hadn't been for a chance encounter with Mr King's work at Army Central Library in Rawalpindi, I would never have begun writing. Like the man himself says, people come into your life for a reason.
N&D is a collection of short stories and one lonely, beautiful poem. The poem deserves it's own post (it's THAT nice) so here we'll just talk about the stories themselves.
They. Are. Amazing.
There. That's out of the way. Having to pick a clear favourite out of these gorgeous little gems is like asking me which feature of my daughter's face do I like the bes: Eyes? Nose? Lips? HER WHOLE FACE OKTHXBYE.
Each of the stories is cleverly crafted, elegantly paced.
'Dolan's Cadillac' is a fantastic bit of revenge fiction which I will not spoil by talking about it. MUST read. AND it comes with an amazing film adaptations which I also heartily recommend. Two words: Wes Bentley. Yum.
'The Moving Finger' got under my skin so much that it was hard for me to understand HOW someone who I've never met, sitting thousands of miles away, could creep me out so thoroughly. Why do these terrible things happen to such nice people? Who knows, my friend?
'The House on Maple Street' will restore your faith though. Sometimes the evil villain will get EXACTLY what's coming for him. Also, Trent in this story was named for Trent Reznor of Nine Inch Nails, double yum, chum!
Fav line: Sometimes you could get rid of the ghosts that were haunting your life if you could only work up enough courage to face them.
Recommended Music: NIN, duh
Forgive me people, for I have blasphemed. It’s been a week or so since my last review and since the last time I finished a book.
I have rated Stephen King’s work a 2 star.
I am not proud of it, as King is my first love, my first literary kiss, my reading Godfather and yet...here we are.
There’s a small ray of redemption in this review for me: it’s a book of short stories. So it’s not really King King. That’s what I tell myself anyways.
I mean, this did not even FEEL or read like a Stephen King’s work. His other 2 short story collections weren’t my favorite either, I admit it they weren’t anywhere near this bad.
Yes, sure there were a couple of stories that peaked my interest, but overall it was very disappointing of a read.
Let me guide you through it.
1. Dolan’s Cadillac. This belongs in crime fiction. Ok story, I expected more “King” from an opener. This did the opposite to warm me up for the next story. I’m not a fan of crime fiction, so this was 1 star for me.
2. The End of the Whole Mess. Umm what did I just read? Kinda reminds me of Flowers for Algernon. Not terrible. 3 stars.
3. Suffer the Little Children. Ok. Now we are talking! I thought. This was a great story. 4 stars.
4. The Night Flyer. Ugh. Good potential. Modern Dracula. Just so much focus on the technical details of random stuff that I was bored most of the time. 2 stars.
5. Popsy. Good story #2! Solid, feels fun to read. 3 stars.
6. It Grows on You. What....I’m not sure what this was. Can’t tell you. I still don’t know what this story was about. Was confused in the beginning and more confused at the end. 1 star.
7. Chattery Teeth. Solid. Very solid. 3 stars.
8. Dedication. Disturbing story, I’ll give it that. But disturbing in a disgusting and confused way. It was ok, I suppose. At this point in the book, I’m happy with just OK. 3 stars.
9. The Moving Finger. Finally a good Stephen King like story, I felt was worthy of a name. Simple concept yet makes me take a glance and listen for scratching in my bathroom sync still. 4 stars.
10. Sneakers. Another solid one here. Very slow paced but also very creepy. Ghostlike, one might even say. 3 stars.
11. You Know They Have a Hell of a Band. This story did not age well pretty much at all. It is also very VERY heavy on American pop culture (or Rock culture I should rather say). It might have read better if I knew who all the people were but other then Elvis...it was just blah. I totally get how someone who knows all the names, would love this story. For me it was ok. 3 stars.
12. Home Delivery. Zombie apocalypse take. I think I’m just so over zombies at this point that I just sighed and chugged along through the story. I’m zombie burnt out. If you’re not, might be different for you. 2 stars.
13. Rainy Season. Another one where King came through for me. Solid, creepy, weird. 3 stars.
14. My Pretty Point. Get ready for a philosophical discussion about time. 30 pages long one. No real story here. Just a philosophical mind-break. For what it was, fine... 3 stars.
15. Sorry, Right Number. Finally. Finally. Finally. Yes! A great story. I think I was so excited after a mind numbing 200 pages or so that this just came thought really good. Why was it a play though? Why.... that was the only deterrent for me. 4 stars.
16. The Ten O’Clock People. Here I really thought things were beginning to look up. King saved the best of his stories for last. What a fun one. Really loved this story. 5 stars.
17. Crouch End. Yyyess! Another one I totally lost myself in. Lovecraft shines sooo good here. A perfect story. Loved it. 5 stars.
18. The House on Maple Street. Another really solid one. Funny idea. I would like to read a sequel. There probably won’t be one. But still an alien story of sorts is always fun. 4 stars.
19. The Fifth Quarter. Interesting take on heist/hitman story. Overall pretty short, packed with action and ok. 3 stars.
20. The Doctor’s Case. I like Sherlock Holmes but I just did not expect this in a volume of short stories by Stephen King. It caught my brain off guard. It was a good story though. Not a King’s story, but everyone is allowed to mess around here and there. Why not? 3 stars.
21. Umney’s Last Case. Really enjoyed this one. A fun and intriguing look inside the writer’s mind. Questions of identity. Reality. Duality. Who are we anyways? And while we’re at it what is real? 4 stars.
22. Head Down. And we plunged right down the gutter and into oblivion. It didn’t help that I’m not a baseball fan, obviously. But this entire story felt like I just read a transcription of a baseball game. That’s all this was. There was no spin to it...nothing. Just basically reading a baseball game. What.... 0 stars.
So here you go. I felt like I needed to pay a penance for my rating of 2 stars, but I stand by it. This did not feel like a book of Stephen King. It had its sparks but there were many times I wondered if I was not going to finish this. If I would put it on the shelf of DNF and move on.
Well...can’t win them all, right?
Personally, I’d suggest to skip this one. I couldn’t wait to put it back in my shelf so that it can collect dust for the next ever after.
Roman.
I have rated Stephen King’s work a 2 star.
I am not proud of it, as King is my first love, my first literary kiss, my reading Godfather and yet...here we are.
There’s a small ray of redemption in this review for me: it’s a book of short stories. So it’s not really King King. That’s what I tell myself anyways.
I mean, this did not even FEEL or read like a Stephen King’s work. His other 2 short story collections weren’t my favorite either, I admit it they weren’t anywhere near this bad.
Yes, sure there were a couple of stories that peaked my interest, but overall it was very disappointing of a read.
Let me guide you through it.
1. Dolan’s Cadillac. This belongs in crime fiction. Ok story, I expected more “King” from an opener. This did the opposite to warm me up for the next story. I’m not a fan of crime fiction, so this was 1 star for me.
2. The End of the Whole Mess. Umm what did I just read? Kinda reminds me of Flowers for Algernon. Not terrible. 3 stars.
3. Suffer the Little Children. Ok. Now we are talking! I thought. This was a great story. 4 stars.
4. The Night Flyer. Ugh. Good potential. Modern Dracula. Just so much focus on the technical details of random stuff that I was bored most of the time. 2 stars.
5. Popsy. Good story #2! Solid, feels fun to read. 3 stars.
6. It Grows on You. What....I’m not sure what this was. Can’t tell you. I still don’t know what this story was about. Was confused in the beginning and more confused at the end. 1 star.
7. Chattery Teeth. Solid. Very solid. 3 stars.
8. Dedication. Disturbing story, I’ll give it that. But disturbing in a disgusting and confused way. It was ok, I suppose. At this point in the book, I’m happy with just OK. 3 stars.
9. The Moving Finger. Finally a good Stephen King like story, I felt was worthy of a name. Simple concept yet makes me take a glance and listen for scratching in my bathroom sync still. 4 stars.
10. Sneakers. Another solid one here. Very slow paced but also very creepy. Ghostlike, one might even say. 3 stars.
11. You Know They Have a Hell of a Band. This story did not age well pretty much at all. It is also very VERY heavy on American pop culture (or Rock culture I should rather say). It might have read better if I knew who all the people were but other then Elvis...it was just blah. I totally get how someone who knows all the names, would love this story. For me it was ok. 3 stars.
12. Home Delivery. Zombie apocalypse take. I think I’m just so over zombies at this point that I just sighed and chugged along through the story. I’m zombie burnt out. If you’re not, might be different for you. 2 stars.
13. Rainy Season. Another one where King came through for me. Solid, creepy, weird. 3 stars.
14. My Pretty Point. Get ready for a philosophical discussion about time. 30 pages long one. No real story here. Just a philosophical mind-break. For what it was, fine... 3 stars.
15. Sorry, Right Number. Finally. Finally. Finally. Yes! A great story. I think I was so excited after a mind numbing 200 pages or so that this just came thought really good. Why was it a play though? Why.... that was the only deterrent for me. 4 stars.
16. The Ten O’Clock People. Here I really thought things were beginning to look up. King saved the best of his stories for last. What a fun one. Really loved this story. 5 stars.
17. Crouch End. Yyyess! Another one I totally lost myself in. Lovecraft shines sooo good here. A perfect story. Loved it. 5 stars.
18. The House on Maple Street. Another really solid one. Funny idea. I would like to read a sequel. There probably won’t be one. But still an alien story of sorts is always fun. 4 stars.
19. The Fifth Quarter. Interesting take on heist/hitman story. Overall pretty short, packed with action and ok. 3 stars.
20. The Doctor’s Case. I like Sherlock Holmes but I just did not expect this in a volume of short stories by Stephen King. It caught my brain off guard. It was a good story though. Not a King’s story, but everyone is allowed to mess around here and there. Why not? 3 stars.
21. Umney’s Last Case. Really enjoyed this one. A fun and intriguing look inside the writer’s mind. Questions of identity. Reality. Duality. Who are we anyways? And while we’re at it what is real? 4 stars.
22. Head Down. And we plunged right down the gutter and into oblivion. It didn’t help that I’m not a baseball fan, obviously. But this entire story felt like I just read a transcription of a baseball game. That’s all this was. There was no spin to it...nothing. Just basically reading a baseball game. What.... 0 stars.
So here you go. I felt like I needed to pay a penance for my rating of 2 stars, but I stand by it. This did not feel like a book of Stephen King. It had its sparks but there were many times I wondered if I was not going to finish this. If I would put it on the shelf of DNF and move on.
Well...can’t win them all, right?
Personally, I’d suggest to skip this one. I couldn’t wait to put it back in my shelf so that it can collect dust for the next ever after.
Roman.
Smásagnasafn. Sögurnar eru margar góðar, sumar mjög góðar, nokkrar minna spennandi. Yfir heildina vel þess virði. Besta sagan var líklega af kennslukonunni. Ógeðslegasta sagan var mögulega sagana af móður rithöfundarins.
Definitivamente el cuento no es mi género. Ninguna de las historias terminó por satisfacerme por completo, pero hay muchas que sí asustan y que se desarrollan bastante bien.
I would say that the first 300-350 pages were the best so I gave this book a lower rating then I thought I would since that's not much considering the length.
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
N/A
Strong character development:
N/A
Loveable characters:
N/A
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
N/A
A few of these stories missed the mark for me, but on the whole I found myself engrossed in the worlds and horrors that King created. I still prefer his longform works, but a few of these were truly jarring in the best way.
I usually LOVE short story collections by King, but this one was disappointing. I found most of the stories amusing or funny rather than scary or interesting. It took me over a month to finish, as it could not hold my attention. Giving it 3 stars as I did enjoy some of the stories, such as: the fifth quarter, Home delivery, sneakers, suffer the little children, and Dolan's Cadillac.
Skipped a lot of it, but that's the usual with King.
Read this all through high school as well. On a summer trip with other students we would use it to read "Stephan King Bedtime Stories" and it was always good for that.
I loved it when they made them into a mini series.
My Favorites: (In order of love)
"The End of the Whole Mess"
"The Moving Finger"
"It Grows On You"
"You Know They Got a Hell of a Band"
"The Night Flier"
I loved it when they made them into a mini series.
My Favorites: (In order of love)
"The End of the Whole Mess"
"The Moving Finger"
"It Grows On You"
"You Know They Got a Hell of a Band"
"The Night Flier"
In this collection there are lots of pretty good stories, a few blah, and a few great. I don’t usually go for audiobooks but the sheer talent and diversity of narrators in this one sold me — Rob Lowe, Kathy Bates, Tim Curry, Grace Slick, and Matthew Broderick, just to name a few.
It’s quite an undertaking to read/listen to the whole thing but it’s worth checking out a few of the standout stories - Dolan’s Cadillac, Chattery Teeth, The End of the Whole Mess, Sorry Right Number, and The House on Maple Street were my favorites.
It’s quite an undertaking to read/listen to the whole thing but it’s worth checking out a few of the standout stories - Dolan’s Cadillac, Chattery Teeth, The End of the Whole Mess, Sorry Right Number, and The House on Maple Street were my favorites.