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3.83 AVERAGE
3.83 AVERAGE
LT’s Theory of Pets, The Death of Jack Hamilton, and Riding the Bullet really stood out for me. To be fair, there aren’t really any bad ones in this collection. Although, I did skim-read The Dark Tower story, as that series just ain’t for me.
adventurous
dark
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
N/A
Strong character development:
N/A
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Roland subplot goes hard
Everything’s eventual and 1408 go crazy
Last story sucks hard
Everything’s eventual and 1408 go crazy
Last story sucks hard
Very mixed bag... Autopsy Room Four, Riding the Bullet, and Everything’s Eventual were excellent. A couple were very good. A few missed completely for me.
dark
medium-paced
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
tense
medium-paced
adventurous
dark
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it a million times: I don’t think King writes especially good short stories. All too often they’re missing the focused and lived-in characters, ie. what makes King worth reading (in my opinion—don’t get mad at me, horrorheads).
However, this is maybe the most consistent King short story collection thus far, L.T.’s Theory of Pets being the only REAL stinker. But the two standouts, That Feeling, You Can Only Say What It Is in French and 1408 (both dripping with dread and a nearly surreal touch that King seldom taps), are back-to-back and come quite late in the book.
The rest is serviceable in one way or another, but not much more.
3 out of 5
Bright-red Pennywise Clown Noses
However, this is maybe the most consistent King short story collection thus far, L.T.’s Theory of Pets being the only REAL stinker. But the two standouts, That Feeling, You Can Only Say What It Is in French and 1408 (both dripping with dread and a nearly surreal touch that King seldom taps), are back-to-back and come quite late in the book.
The rest is serviceable in one way or another, but not much more.
3 out of 5
Bright-red Pennywise Clown Noses
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
I am not a fan of short stories. I find them synonymous with boring lectures in old high school and college lit classes. Don't get me wrong, my BA is in English, so I love a good yarn as much as the next guy and can appreciate a really good short story. My main issue with short stories, other than having flashbacks to analyzing sentence structures of a Flannery O'Connor story, is that feeling of always wanting more. What I mean by that is short stories always feel incomplete to me. I want more from them. I feel like I have a ton of unanswered questions. So I just don't read short stories.
The only exception to that is Stephen King. I am a nut for anything he writes. But as usual, I am not wowed by his short stories. The only stories I liked in this ensemble were "Autopsy Room Four" and "The Death of Jack Hamilton." 2 out of 14 . . . not very good. The only other one that I am on the fence about whether or not I liked it was "The Man in the Black Suit." It had a Slenderman feel to it, and it left me wondering if it was the inspiration for the Slenderman phenomenon.
The only exception to that is Stephen King. I am a nut for anything he writes. But as usual, I am not wowed by his short stories. The only stories I liked in this ensemble were "Autopsy Room Four" and "The Death of Jack Hamilton." 2 out of 14 . . . not very good. The only other one that I am on the fence about whether or not I liked it was "The Man in the Black Suit." It had a Slenderman feel to it, and it left me wondering if it was the inspiration for the Slenderman phenomenon.