Which King book did you NOT like??

[srboone]

Several of King's books started out as good ideas, but those good ideas got lost when trying to tie the story into the DT series. Insomnia and Black House come immediaely to mind. Insomnia started out good, but then just kept going and going and going...Black House suffered from an unknown narrator for the first 100 pages, then got really good, then when off the deep end.

[the_last_gunslinger]

Lisey's Story, definitely a book I absolutely did not enjoy. It was too long considering how weak the plot was, and the flashback within a flashback within a flashback was awfully difficult to follow.

Dolores Claiborne and The Eyes of the Dragon were also difficult reads, as well as The Talisman. These are the only books of his I'd say I actually did not like.

[aihutch]

I have to go with Thinner. That book annoyed me for some reason to the point where I almost didn't finish it and it was a short book for Stephen King.

[RJK1981]

Lisey's Story, definitely a book I absolutely did not enjoy.

I really liked this one, though I will admit it seemed a bit hard to get into initially, but did get to where I was liking it quite a bit.

[the_last_gunslinger]

I really liked this one, though I will admit it seemed a bit hard to get into initially, but did get to where I was liking it quite a bit.

I can see why it held appeal for some; it clearly was an important book that probably reflected more of Stephen King's own personal fears, (famous author dies, leaving behind beloved wife). There are some definite parallels to King's own life. And that's probably why he feels it's his best work. The problem, I think, is that the horror doesn't resonate with the common reader. It was too personal and thus, I felt slightly disconnected from the story.

I did like the concept of Boo'ya moon, though, and I thought the crazed man attempting to gain access to some of the author's unpublished stories actually made for a better narrative than the whole love lost thing. I kind of wish he had placed more emphasis on that aspect. I might have liked it a little more.

[TerryE]

For me it was also Rose Madder. Insomnia would also be towards the top of that list. I think I'm one of the few people who really liked From a Buick Eight. It was the use of different narrators and the great use of each voice that I loved in that one. And a few months after I finished Buick I was on a trip to New England. We had just entered Maine (Stephen King country, ya ken it) and stopped at a light on Route 1. Sitting at the light coming the other way was an old fifties Buick that looked an awful lot like the one on the cover of the book. I asked my dad what year it was and it was a couple years off, so huge relief there.

[srboone]

I think I'm one of the few people who really liked From a Buick Eight.

I'm with you on Buick 8.

Early works of his--including It--suffered to varying degrees from clumsy handling of multiple narrators. From that stand point alone 8 is brilliant. Ultimately, 8 is minor King, but it represents the near perfection of his craft.

[jmcraven]

My least favorite would have to be Buick 8.

That said, I have found that at different times in life, the way I receive an SK book changes. Insomnia is a great example. I tried 3 times to read it during the first year or so after it came out, and I just could not get into it. Then a few years later I picked it up again and enjoyed it. I liked The Tommyknockers from the first time I cracked it. I have to echo the sentiments of some others and say that I really love SK's short stories and novellas.

It's been 5 years since I tried Buick 8, and my life has changed a lot since then. It may be time to give it another spin.

[RJHubbard53]

i cant think of a King book I haven't read... my top 3 worse are:
Lisey's Story
Tommyknockers
Dreamcatcher

[Ben Staad]

The three books off the top of my head that I did not like are:

Under The Dome & Tommyknockers & Cujo

In that order with UTD being my least favorite.

[RJK1981]

I remember liking The Tommyknockers, though it's been several years now and I definitely wouldn't call it one of my favorites. What I absolutely didn't like at all was the miniseries they made for this one, I still have not been able to sit and watch even disc 1 in it's entirety because it was so different.

[Ben Staad]

I remember liking The Tommyknockers, though it's been several years now and I definitely wouldn't call it one of my favorites. What I absolutely didn't like at all was the miniseries they made for this one, I still have not been able to sit and watch even disc 1 in it's entirety because it was so different.

You are right about the mini-series. That thing was a real stinker.

[RJK1981]

You are right about the mini-series. That thing was a real stinker.

I liked it so much I got bored fast-forwarding that one, lol

[portrait in flesh]

Being terribly out of date, the last "new" King works I read (new in that they'd been recently released) were Desperation/The Regulators. (I have since read Bag of Bones, but even that's more than 10 years old). Of the works I have read, the hardest to get through was The Stand. I figure the version I read was the revamped one, since I know I read it well after the mini-series adaptation. When it was good, it was pretty good, but the religious parts got a little too much for me.

[OldFisben]

Well... Under the Dome, The Talisman, Rose Madder, Insomnia, Song of Susannah and Dark Tower VII. It was boring to read them.