ranking all 62 stephen king books

[the other mike]

Vulture ranks all 62 stephen king books:

http://www.vulture.com/2012/04/ranking-all-62-stephen-king-books.html#

nice article, that breezes by quickly, but the writer manages to explain the merits (or lack of) of each book.

agree? disagree?

i have to say my personal top 10 would look a little different from the article. for one thing, i haven't read book number 1.

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onto other SK news, eyes of a dragon (easily in my personal SK top 10) is gonna be a movie!!!! 

....but syfy might make it into a TV mini series instead. 


-mike

[Farrell]

When you said you hadn't read #1 I thought, "Huh.  I guess The Stand isn't #1." 

I haven't read anywhere near all of his books (in fact, I had never heard of a solid 20+ in this list), but I've read quite a few, and The Stand is my favorite.

[valance_the_hunter]

The Stand is my favorite.

Any of you guys read Under The Dome?  It's been staring me down for a while now, but I haven't bit the bullet.  I've heard good things though.

[Wormworth]

The first thing i noticed was: What a bunch of ugly book covers!! You'd think King books would have good-looking covers but maybe the writer of the piece chose the worst of the different editions.

I read all of King's books when I was a kid (explains a lot...) and after that only one here and there so I can't rank his work on the whole, but of the ones I've read The Stand definitely was my favorite. Hard to say how objective you can be with books like these because the ones you read at a certain age are bound to be the most powerful reading experiences, for me The Stand, carrie, Misery, Pet Sematary and The Dark Half.

Recently I've gotten the urge to get into some of King's best recent work, and this list seems like it could point me into the right direction.

[S. Earl]

Eyes of the Dragon holds up really well. Great almost all ages read.

[Wood]

Have to really tip the author's cap for doing this. Not an easy thing to do. I consider myself a Stephen King fan of the highest order, and I don't think I could've named 75% of his books without some help from my book shelves or the internetz -- much less review and rank them all.

My first thought? -- I liked Tommyknockers 

My second thought? -- I can't rank On Writing that highly, because it's a how to book and if you're not interested in that kind of process craft, it really doesn't stand high

My third though? -- Considering how many of his books I've read, how is it that I've never read the Dark Tower books? 

[Wormworth]

Have to really tip the author's cap for doing this. Not an easy thing to do. I consider myself a Stephen King fan of the highest order, and I don't think I could've named 75% of his books without some help from my book shelves or the internetz -- much less review and rank them all.

My first thought? -- I liked Tommyknockers 

My second thought? -- I can't rank On Writing that highly, because it's a how to book and if you're not interested in that kind of process craft, it really doesn't stand high

My third though? -- Considering how many of his books I've read, how is it that I've never read the Dark Tower books? 

On Writing is sort of autobiographical, too, in my recollection. It might give some insight into the writer's mind also for those not interested in writing themselves. It's an interesting and honest read. Danse Macabre is often forgotten when On Writing is praised, it's a nice companion piece to it and was very important to me when I read it as a youngster.

I haven't had much interest for Dark Tower books, either. And knowing the scope of the series feels intimidating.

[Jeppe]

My first thought was "Why do every single 'top x' article on the internet have to use a freaking slideshow?" So tired of them 
Besides that initial and silly frustration, however, it is a very fun project. I used to love King when I was younger, but the only things of his I've read in the past five or six years have been It and parts of Under the Dome. A few comments:

- The Regulators isn't King's best book, but number 58? Really? Same thing goes for a number of other titles, which the author of the list has ranked much lower than I would have (Cycle of the Werewolf at 51, Needful Things at 48, Four Past Midnight at 44 - the brilliant The Langoliers alone should earn it a much higher spot).

- The list author doesn't seem to be a big fan of short story collections, which for my money is a real shame. To me, the short story is the perfect medium for horror tales, and King is no exception. Many of the shorts that inspired novel-length revisits are actually better than their subsequent incarnations.

- This brings me to a few of the highly praised books that I just don't get. Salem's Lot as "the great modern vampire novel"? What? It on third place? Sure it contains great moments of suspense and character development, but to me it is ultimately a flawed and meandering novel that would probably be better if cut down to half the length. The same is true for Under the Dome, which I admittedly couldn't make it more than halfway through when I tried. In an authorship as long and colossal as King's, one can talk about tropes and cliches specific to his work - kingisms, if you will - and some of these extremely long books just seem choke-full of them.

- When he's right, he's right. Danse Macabre definitely deserves a spot close to the top. So do Different Seasons, The Dead Zone The Shinning, and The Stand. On Writing is a good read, and in many respects a better crafted book than most of King's works of fiction. Whether or not it's the type of book you're likely to read yet alone get something out of, it's quality is hard to argue with.

- Going through the list, there are definitely some titles that I feel like picking up now. I don't think I've ever encountered From a Buick 8, but it sounds interesting? I also never read Talisman, but it sounds like it's pretty well regarded in general?

[Wood]

I too have Under the Dome sitting on my shelf and it's been collecting dust. I think it's because I haven't vibed as much as I usually do on King's other recent works, and so I didn't want to subject myself to a massive tome like Under the Dome without some time away from other works that I wasn't grooving on.

But this list has my interest in diving in ramping. I would love to read a King book and be enchanted again in the way so many of his works used to pull me in.

[S. Earl]

To those that haven't read the Dark Tower books: Get on it. The first three are solid gold. I admit I have yet to finish the last two, but I've read the first four books at least 3 times each at this point. Pretty sure I posted around here a few years back when I was attempting to read all the related books. And having read Insomnia, Salem's Lot, The Stand, Eyes of the Dragon, Black House, Talisman as well, there are ties between all of them that are results of what goes down in the Dark Tower Series - Easter eggs everywhere.

I really need to finish it though, that's not a knock on it's quality, just my endurance for a series of novels that deep.

[Farrell]

I also never read Talisman, but it sounds like it's pretty well regarded in general?

That's the one he co-wrote with Peter Straub, I think.  I know my girlfriend is a fan of that one.  I haven't read it.  I do have a copy around here, though... 

[bean6344]

I guess I am in the minority.   I started reading King with Firestarter, but knew of him before hand.   From there, I started working my way backwards and then moved on to the new books.  I have read every novel and short story collection up to (but not including) Blaze.   I have the others but just have not taken the time to read them.

Here are my must reads.

Carrie    1974   
'Salem's Lot    1975
The Shining    1977
The Stand    1978
Danse Macabre    1981
The Talisman    1984
The Bachman Books    1985
It    1986
The Dark Tower II: The Drawing of the Three    1987
The Dark Tower III: The Waste Lands  1991
The Green Mile  1996
On Writing    2000


Bean

[valance_the_hunter]

I was really happy to see On Writing so high on the list-it's really an amazing read, and I can see why it is so high on the list…it does get passed around quite a bit on the writing workshop circuit, I almost like it more than John Gardner's The Art of Fiction   which I have always used as a bible when it comes to writing.

[Farrell]

I was really happy to see On Writing so high on the list-it's really an amazing read, and I can see why it is so high on the list…it does get passed around quite a bit on the writing workshop circuit, I almost like it more than John Gardner's The Art of Fiction   which I have always used as a bible when it comes to writing.

Whereabouts does your writing show up?  Anything published?

[Farrell]

I just could not get into the Dark Tower books.  I tried.  Oh, how I tried.  I received the first four (back when there were only four) as a gift; nice editions, with color illustration plates.  I made it through the first three books, barely.  The second and third were, I thought, about twice as long as they needed to be. 

[valance_the_hunter]

Whereabouts does your writing show up? 

Usually in slush piles

[the other mike]

my all time favorite book by stephen king: IT

all time favorite books runner up: the stand neck and neck with the talisman

favorite SK books that i will read anytime: salem's lot, eyes of the dragon, firestarter, misery

entertaining SK books that i'm glad i read (no particular order):

christine
four past midnight
cell
cycle of the werewolf
needful things
cujo
dark half
carrie
green mile
under the dome
dead zone
the shining

SK books i read that i'm neutral about or disliked:

tommyknockers
dreamcatcher
regulators
gerald's game
black house
thinner
desparation
night shift (i did kinda like the salem's lot sequel)
pet sematary
dolores claiborne

holy shit, making that list makes me appreciate how much of his books i've read. damn.

i've read like the first 3 or 4 dark tower books years ago, but i want to go back and re-read the seireis from the start. i'll decide then where on my list they go.

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under the dome- its about standard SK. the dome is just the stage where the town's character's bounce of each other. if you go into it with reasonable expectations, i think you'll have a good time.

personally i think while SK's still a GREAT writer, he's not writing the books that truly excite me anymore. i think its true for almost every author i read during my golden age (mid-80's to early 90's). don't get me started on dean koontz!


-mike

[TopherB]

The Dark Tower, hands down, is the best series Stephen King has ever produced.

If you haven't read the Stephen King Compendium yet, and you're a fan, pick it up.  It's like an OHOTMU for all of his novels, and it brings in how they're all tied together.  The ultimate must have for a continuity nut.

[Andrew a.k.a. Fist-of-Khonshu]

My favourite King book is IT. The story is fantastic but the time I read it for the first time holds some special memories, and the book was part of it.

I read the first few Dark Tower books, and I really enjoyed them, but they got lost in the shuffle of other books and comics.

I really enjoy his short story books. I think that is where King is sometimes strongest, Night Shift being my favourite of those.

Has anyone read 11.22.63? Not really a horror story, but I really did enjoy it, even if the ending was a little predictable.

[TopherB]

My favourite King book is IT. The story is fantastic but the time I read it for the first time holds some special memories, and the book was part of it.

My first experience with a Stephen King story was the tv mini-series for "It."  The book is definitely better than the movie, and it ranks up there for me as well.