Stephen King Fans discussion

So I haven't delved into a King epic for a while and I'm giving Needful Things a try. Any spoiler-free thoughts on this hefty tome?

I really thought it was creepy.

I thought the end of the book was a little extreme.

I thought it was the weakest of King's books and the ending was rather silly and lame.

G.R. --

As to "Needful Things" - it's not that the book is bad, it's just that there are so, so many better Kings to read out there: Have you read "Duma Key" or "Insomnia" or especially, "Hearts in Atlantis" (which is actually 4 novellas with a common theme - One incredible book!

Needful Things is a personal favorite, actually..

It's been years since I read N.T. Maybe I'll have to dig it out for a re-read here soon. :)

Kit★ wrote: "It's been years since I read N.T. Maybe I'll have to dig it out for a re-read here soon. :)"

Sounds like a GREAT idea, Kit!:)

Am rereading right now! Been years since I read it, and so far am really enjoying.

I loved Needful Things, ending is a little weak, but we're talking King here, so the ending is always a problem.

Chris wrote: "I loved Needful Things, ending is a little weak, but we're talking King here, so the ending is always a problem."

How would you have ended it, Chris?

Chris wrote: "I loved Needful Things, ending is a little weak, but we're talking King here, so the ending is always a problem."

Since Chris is not a professional writer (or maybe he is!) I may have sounded a little rude. Okay, here's a better question. What would you recommend, Chris, that has a good ending? Or give us the names of authors who are better than King.

Some of the books with good ending are:

Notebook by Nicholas Sparks
Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown
Langolier (in Four Past Midnight) by Stephen King

S.K. is my favorite author because I enjoy solving occasional puzzles in his books. I say puzzles because sometimes if you read a passage in his books, you sometimes have to pause and think about it. It's the way King describes the story that I like. If you have read Nicholas Spark's novels, you would agree with me that his language is too easy to understand. Spark's story is very interesting but it's not really fun to read.

Thank you, thank you thank you, Chris!! -- Excellent defense, except you need to keep reminding people that Stephen King is the FIRST writer to say that there are better writers than he working today. He is just special, unique in the true sense of the word.

Chris great point! I have to say that after I finish one of S.K.'s books the story stays in my mind vividly for several days and I think about decisions made by or could have made by the major players and the outcomes. While I enjoy a great variety of authors, he is the only one to consistantly cause me to do this.

Needful Things was a hard one for me. I found myself getting very angry with the characters to the point where I almost didn't finish the book. I realized that it was a good thing that King was making me feel so strongly about something.

Calvin wrote: "Some of the books with good ending are:

Notebook by Nicholas Sparks
Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown
Langolier (in Four Past Midnight) by Stephen King

S.K. is my favorite author because I enjoy solving..."

Interesting choices. I thought the endings to both Davinci Code and Langoliers were pretty weak (all of Code was weak, IMO).

both Davinci Code and Langoliers were pretty weak"

Then please recommend some books you really respect.

both Davinci Code and Langoliers were pretty weak"

Both Davinci Code and Langoliers (and the Notebook) have been made into a movie and the reason is because of a great ending. If a book is made into a movie, I think you should respect its plots and ideas. I've looked at Gatorman's profile and saw some books with high ratings and I might try some of his favorite books but... why haven't they been made into movies? Needful Things also have been made into a movie but the screenwriter changed the ending (due to budget problems, I believe). And believe me. If the book is great and exciting, movie makers invest tons of money on it. The bestseller, The Help, is on big screen, isn't it?

Many of my favorite books of all time have crappy endings. :)
Needful Things is pretty good, not essential. It was considered to be his goodbye to Castle Rock, so it is still worth the read. I liked the movie, too.

Calvin wrote: "both Davinci Code and Langoliers were pretty weak"

Both Davinci Code and Langoliers (and the Notebook) have been made into a movie and the reason is because of a great ending. If a book is made i..."

No, the reason they were made into movies is because they were written by very popular authors with the hope that those fans would flock to watch the movie version. Why would you assume it's because of the endings?

I don't have to respect any book that is made into a movie. Crappy books are made into movies every year. It often has nothing to do with the quality of the book but rather the popularity (Twilight, anyone?). And please don't say that a book can only be popular if it's a quality book. One does not necessarily require the other. Filmakers only care if a book is popular and will draw fans. They don't care if it's "great".

Many of my 5-star books have not been made into films because film makers probably don't believe the author is popular enough to draw enough fans to make a sufficient profit. You seriously think it's because the books are no good? That is some seriously flawed logic.

You are certainly entitled to your opinion on the endings of the books we mentioned, and I only offered my counter opinion to show differing views. But please don't tell me what I should respect simply because someone turned it into a film. That makes no sense.

Agrimorfee wrote: "Many of my favorite books of all time have crappy endings. :)
Needful Things is pretty good, not essential. It was considered to be his goodbye to Castle Rock, so it is still worth the read. I like..."

I liked the movie better than the book.

Hmmm. This novel kind of lost me toward the end. It was so interesting, then I feel like I got bombarded with too many characters. Plus, I never felt a true connection with Alan & Polly. It was good, and I am probably harsher on it cause it is King. I expect a lot from the man!!

On another note: What do you think Mr. Gaunt is? A demon? The devil himself? He was the most interesting character in the book!

Mr. Gaunt is, with no doubt, the old debbil himself!

Bondama wrote: "Mr. Gaunt is, with no doubt, the old debbil himself!"

I finished reading Needful Things last week and I really enjoyed it - and totally agree with you that Mr. Gaunt is the devil himself! What an intriguing villain.

I found that towards the end of the book, it was hard to keep up with the characters, although I really loved Polly and Alan. I haven't read any of the other Castle Rock books (I've seen the movie version of Cujo though) and I'd like to read them solely based on Alan's character.

What I really found interesting about this novel was that although there was gore and monsters, there was that element of psychological horror. Definitely had me wondering what I would do for a certain object...

Jaime wrote: "Hmmm. This novel kind of lost me toward the end. It was so interesting, then I feel like I got bombarded with too many characters. Plus, I never felt a true connection with Alan & Polly. It was goo..."

That was my biggest problem with it. Too many characters and subplots which overloaded the book.

Gatorman wrote: "Jaime wrote: "Hmmm. This novel kind of lost me toward the end. It was so interesting, then I feel like I got bombarded with too many characters. Plus, I never felt a true connection with Alan & Pol..."

The story is about "lots of" people who eventually collide at the end. And each individual has his or her own life and stories. If the book is about one or two characters, then how do you describe all those store items that bring curse?

Calvin wrote: "Gatorman wrote: "Jaime wrote: "Hmmm. This novel kind of lost me toward the end. It was so interesting, then I feel like I got bombarded with too many characters. Plus, I never felt a true connectio..."

I didn't say it had to be about one or two characters, just not as many as King put in and certainly not as many who just were not interesting. The overload of subplots just didn't work for me. The book is way too long and the ending did not justify the length, IMO. My least favorite King book, along with Cujo.

Calvin wrote: "Gatorman wrote: "Jaime wrote: "Hmmm. This novel kind of lost me toward the end. It was so interesting, then I feel like I got bombarded with too many characters. Plus, I never felt a true connectio..."

I understand the purpose of all the characters, just lost me at times. Especially characters with similar names, sometimes couldn't remember who was who. But, overall I enjoy this book. Like I said, I'm a little harsher to King novels cause I expect a lot!

I'm not sure, I may have said this before, but my major issue with this book is that I don't really find any of the characters likable or relatable. (view spoiler)[ Maybe I'm just naive and like to think people can't be that easily duped into being awful toward one another just to get what they want. (hide spoiler)]

I agree with a lot of the comments on here. The ending wasn't quite as good as I had hoped, but I really liked this book. As someone else said, King has a way of making you think that no other author can do, at least for me anyway. For several days, if not weeks, after I finish the book I am still thinking about the book!

I may be in the minority on this one, but it's one of my favorite books that I have read, mostly because of the idea behind it. Made me think of how we are today (myself included) and how we covet items so much. Are we all that different from the characters in the book? I know some people didn't like how many characters are in the book, but that's part of what makes it so good, in my opinion.

I really liked this book. Maybe the fact that I love treasure hunting in "junktique" shops made me able to relate to the story line. lol.

I love this book and I the movie was not half bad. I like who was chosen to play the part of Mr. Gaunt.

This is my all time favorite SK book. I read it so many times the summer it came out that I couldn't even touch it for a couple years, I think I read it at least 10 times that summer. I think Gaunt was a mischief maker, perhaps a demon, maybe an agent of the Crimson King?

Angel wrote: "This is my all time favorite SK book. I read it so many times the summer it came out that I couldn't even touch it for a couple years, I think I read it at least 10 times that summer. I think Gaunt..."

It is my all time favorite, but NT definetly has a special place in my heart. I remember reading it when I was 13 and thinking "Do people really have lives like this behind closed doors?" now 21 years later, the answer is yes, lol.

I really liked this book because I genuinely felt that I knew so many of the characters and some of them reminded me of people in my own life...I will definitely read it again someday if I ever get through all of my to read list or at least read all the King books I haven't gotten to yet. :)

I am loving this book so far... I was hoping it would win for this months group read but it didn't...

Just finished it. On the border between loved/liked it. The concepts were great. Most of the characters were fleshed out with good stories. The ending was a little bit...let's say...unexplained. The thing that is keeping me from giving it 4 stars is (view spoiler)[ where the hell did Alan get the powers from? How the hell did he make the magic tricks work like he did? I am sure it was an outside presence but WHO THE HELL WAS IT? (hide spoiler)]

I am guessing this book ties in to The Dark Tower somehow? Don't tell me exactly how but does it?

Micah wrote: "Just finished it. On the border between loved/liked it. The concepts were great. Most of the characters were fleshed out with good stories. The ending was a little bit...let's say...unexplained. Th..."

I don't know the specifics, but I'm sure there are connection between the two, seeing as how almost all of his work is DT-related.

Dustin wrote: "I don't know the specifics, but I'm sure there are connection between the two, seeing as how almost all of his work is DT-related."

Having not read past book 2 of The Dark Tower series I have no idea how it would be related. The ending was just to much out of left field for it not to be related I think. For me anyways. I will get around to finishing that series. Someday.

Micah wrote: "Dustin wrote: "I don't know the specifics, but I'm sure there are connection between the two, seeing as how almost all of his work is DT-related."

Having not read past book 2 of The Dark Tower ser..."


Oh, shoot! I didn't think about that. I apologize if I've spoiled the series in any way, Micah. I don't think I have, but if so, I am truly sorry..

No you didn't spoil anything your answer was what I was looking for. No worries.

Kit★ wrote: "It's been years since I read N.T. Maybe I'll have to dig it out for a re-read here soon. :)"

This is a little embaressing but I've read this book and I can't even remember how it ends. So I can't even comment on it! I remember one very creepy part, (view spoiler)[ when the kid is so desperate that he sticks the shotgun in his mouth. I just remember that image. I can't even remember if he pulls the trigger. I need to re-read this one haha (hide spoiler)]

Micah wrote: "No you didn't spoil anything your answer was what I was looking for. No worries."

Oh good, that is such a relief!:)

Kit★ wrote: "It's been years since I read N.T. Maybe I'll have to dig it out for a re-read here soon. :)"

I'd love to re-read it, as well!

Christopher wrote: "Kit★ wrote: "This is a little embaressing but I've read this book and I can't even remember how it ends. So I can't even comment on it! I remember one very creepy part, spoiler removed "

Kit- (view spoiler)[ he does and it's awful. Along with the sheriff's visit to his little brother in the hospital later on in the book. Tore me up. (hide spoiler)]

I don't know -=-- just on what I remember, I don't immediately recall any obvious references, but I'm sure Uncle Stevie managed to season the book with a few, harder to find refs.

Bondama wrote: "I don't know -=-- just on what I remember, I don't immediately recall any obvious references, but I'm sure Uncle Stevie managed to season the book with a few, harder to find refs."

I've no doubt, Bondama!:)

I'm only right now re-reading this after its initial publication. At the time, I was underwhelmed and feeling SK might actually had begun a "washing up" period. I was wrong, clearly, based on what he has written starting around 1999. However, I find myself enjoying Needful Things quite a lot actually.

The reason I chose to respond to this post at all, though, is the question about any DT tie-ins. I'm always looking but have found only one very minor one thus far. Early in the novel, as Polly's backstory is relayed, her infant child, is referred to more than once as a "chap". Probably more a coincidence than anything.

I also feel as though this novel was almost a warm-up for much of Under the Dome. Even though it features some form of all time baddy RF, it's really about small town relationships and how quickly they can turn sour. It even features a corrupt town selectman. Lastly, and related to an UTD connection, there is also a small character (view spoiler)[(the guy who tells Polly her "chap" has died) (hide spoiler)] who is a short-order cook who used to be in the Army.

As an aside and an apology, how do I mark whether my posts have spoilers?