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Whats everyone reading?

Started by Paul faplad Finch, 30 March, 2009, 10:04:36 PM

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Tjm86

I'm currently on a bit of an early King re-read.  Having worked my way through both the Talisman and Stand again, I've blitzed through Firestarter once again and now on to Dead Zone.  The others have all lived up to my memory of them so it will be interesting to see how Dead Zone fares as it has long been a favourite of mine from his early work.  I've also got Shining there as well for a reread.

One thing that does strike me as interesting is that I've yet to really pick up on a common thematic link in his work.  I've found with many writers like Dick, Le Carre, Orwell or Dickens you can normally find some kind of thematic milieu so to speak.  So in Dick there is this common question about perception and reality, for Le Carre it is the dilapidated British empire, for Orwell it is the decrepit middle class ...  In King's case though I'm still working to pin it down.

Dandontdare

perhaps it's EVERYTHING IS TRYING TO KILL YOU - AND I MEAN EVERYTHING!

He's said in the past that the best horror comes from unexpected innocuous things - cars, clowns, pet dogs etc, rather than 'monsters'


wedgeski

Interesting point. It's true you never quite know what you're going to get with him.

Dead Zone is also a personal favourite.

TordelBack

Just today read Elevation as part of my own ongoing KingFest. Now that's a hard one to classify, it's almost magical realism.

MacabreMagpie

I'm reading 'Salem's Lot' currently for the first time. Too early in to make any kind of comment but I do like to read some classic King around this time of year... preferably an old, tattered copy found in a charity shop..

I picked it up whilst reading The Dark Tower when it became obvious I would benefit from reading this story before continuing.

Apestrife

Batman: Year one by Frank Miller and David Mazzucchelli. A book I really should read more often. Fantastic in every way possible.

Colin YNWA

Quote from: Apestrife on 21 September, 2019, 05:07:28 PM
Batman: Year one by Frank Miller and David Mazzucchelli. A book I really should read more often. Fantastic in every way possible.

Yep to be honest I rate it more than Dark Knight - as I do Daredevil Born Again come to that. Its a fantastic story.

TordelBack

Year One is by far the best Jim Gordon Batman book (caveat: of those I've read). I've very much enjoyed the odd run here and there, Batman & The Monster Men, Morrison's Batman & Robin, Dark Knight Returns of course, but really, Year One is the ultimate Batman book. Which is a problem, since it's nearly 30 years old.

Apestrife

Quote from: Colin YNWA on 21 September, 2019, 05:27:10 PM
Yep to be honest I rate it more than Dark Knight - as I do Daredevil Born Again come to that. Its a fantastic story.

I found myself thinking the same (about Year one being triumphant) several time while reading it last week. I'm re-reading DK now, and it feels almost too wordy and narrativly cramped when compared to Year one's impeccable efficiency. --That said, I still love DKR very much.

Picked up the absolute. Will soon read the accompanying version with the original colouring printed on pulp paper :)

Quote from: TordelBack on 21 September, 2019, 06:27:01 PM
Year One is by far the best Jim Gordon Batman book (caveat: of those I've read). I've very much enjoyed the odd run here and there, Batman & The Monster Men, Morrison's Batman & Robin, Dark Knight Returns of course, but really, Year One is the ultimate Batman book. Which is a problem, since it's nearly 30 years old.

It felt like it could'v been written today. And if it was, I'd still regard as highley as I do. Especially for it's narrative precision and dramatical accuracy.

Frank


Origin stories are the best bits of superheroes. I used to watch and quite enjoy the Spiderman & His Amazing Friends cartoon CBBC showed after school (i). One week, they did the Spiderman origin story and I was fucking riveted to the floor in front of the telly.

It was just so much more vital and primal (ii) than the regular toss that happened every week. Cap 1 and Iron Man are the best Marvel movies, for the same reason(s).

I love both Dark Knight Returns and Year One, even if they're verging on self-parody. I read DKR in 1988, having heard it was the best of the new comics for grown-ups, and I was surprised by how comic booky it was. It had Wonder Woman and Superman in it ...

... like Spiderman & His Amazing Friends.


(i) Wee crush on Firestar

(ii) I'm sure I would have used this word at the time

MacabreMagpie

The "origins of Sonic" issue of Sonic The Comic has stuck in my mind for about two decades. I could tell you everything about the cover without having seen it again for most of that time.

The Enigmatic Dr X

Just finished Normal by Warren Ellis. It's a glorified short story - maybe 100 pages - with a locked room conundrum: what happened to the guy, locked in his room with no way in or out, and why has he been replaced by a swarm of insects?
Lock up your spoons!

broodblik

I have completed Shanghai Red. I can highly recommend it. A story of revenge and retribution:

Red is one of hundreds of people who were shanghaied out of Portland in the late 1800s. Drugged, kidnapped, and sold to a ship's captain for $50, she wakes up on a boat headed out to sea for years, unable to escape or reveal who she is. Now, she's coming back in a blood-soaked boat to find her family and track down the men responsible for stealing her life out from under her.

When I die, I want to die like my grandfather who died peacefully in his sleep. Not screaming like all the passengers in his car.

Old age is the Lord's way of telling us to step aside for something new. Death's in case we didn't take the hint.

Colin YNWA

Quote from: broodblik on 22 September, 2019, 05:19:23 PM
I have completed Shanghai Red. I can highly recommend it. A story of revenge and retribution:

Red is one of hundreds of people who were shanghaied out of Portland in the late 1800s. Drugged, kidnapped, and sold to a ship's captain for $50, she wakes up on a boat headed out to sea for years, unable to escape or reveal who she is. Now, she's coming back in a blood-soaked boat to find her family and track down the men responsible for stealing her life out from under her.

Yeah read this when it came out as a five issue mini. Really good and I echo your recommendation.

GordyM

Quote from: The Enigmatic Dr X on 22 September, 2019, 10:53:01 AM
Just finished Normal by Warren Ellis. It's a glorified short story - maybe 100 pages - with a locked room conundrum: what happened to the guy, locked in his room with no way in or out, and why has he been replaced by a swarm of insects?

Is it worth picking up?
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