10 Best Stephen King Books



Rolling Stone did a poll, asking what the 10 best Stephen King books are.  The answers -- a little ridiculous.  (www.rollingstone.com) I am glad they allowed novella's to count.

Here is the Rolling Stone line up:
10. Wizard and Glass. (REALLY?!)
9. Rita Hayworth and the Shawshank Redemption.
8. The Dead Zone
7. The Green Mile
6. 11.22.63
5. Misery
4. Salem's Lot
3. The Shining
2. IT
1. The Stand

I wonder if Shawshank might be getting a huge boost from movie memory.  I read the novella recently, and was struck by how much butter the movie is.  In fact, the same is true of The Body, which was turned into Stand By Me.  I liked the movie better.  In turn, I wonder if books like Bag of Bones might be overlooked because of the poor performance of the mini-series. Notice all the books selected were adapted nicely to screen, with the exception of Wizard and Glass.  In fact, The Deadzone and The Shining have both been given multiple treat

And I'm glad a Dark Tower novel made the list. . . but Wizard and Glass?  My favorites of that series were Drawing of the Three and Wolves of the Calla.

What would a correct list look like?  Glad you asked. . .
10. Christine
9. The Green Mile
8. Joyland
7. Salem's Lot
6. Dolores Claiborne
5. 11.22.63
4. The Shining
3. Pet Sematary
2. IT
1. The Stand

So I chose a lot of books people tell me they don't like.  (Pet Sematary, Christine, Joyland, Dolores Claiborne.)  But in many ways, these novels are much stronger than they are given credit for.  Dolores Claiborne in particular is an incredibly intense novel that is driven by both character and plot.  In fact, there are two plots moving through the book, and a connection point to Gerald's Game.  Frankly, it's brilliant.  Why is it so easily overlooked?  Because it was written in a period that was experimental for King.  So books like Needful Things, Gerald's Game, Rose Madder were not as strong and to some degree, I think, caused Dolores Claiborne to be lumped in with them.

Also, Pet Sematary is a dark, terrible novel.  (Expect a similar darkness to loom over Revival.) But it is also a strong novel.  In fact, I think it is better -- even scarier in theme --than The Shining.  Think about it, the guy digs up his dead sons body!  King takes you there!  The Shining is an exceedingly closed in novel; at points it's a tough read.  The Shining has been romanticized, so people give it a little more grace than they might otherwise. The thing is, The Shining is very closed in; almost claustrophobic.  In fact, note what reviews at the time said compared to modern readers.  The story is almost solely carried by three characters trapped in a hotel.  It is slow going for a few pages.  Yeah, when it starts rolling, it's good stuff!

I also think Joyland is too easily skipped over. What's great about that book is not the plot;  the mystery is secondary.  What makes the novel really strong is King's ability to take us back to 1973 and to the feelings of first love.  It's one thing to read a book King wrote in the 70's and think, "wow, this feels like the seventies alright."  Try reading the original edition of The Stand.  In fact, the revised version of The Stand still has flavors of the seventies.  But with Joyland, King wasn't writing during the period; but he perfectly recreated it. He did something similar with both IT and 11.22.63.

Does Christine deserve to be on a Stephen King top ten list?  I think so.  Not only is the novel a good one, but it represents the young Stephen King anxious to just drive the horror home.  It's a bloodbath; and unapologetically so.  The reader can feel King's joy.  Cars, rock and roll, and girls -- oh, and a ghost. It's not "deep" -- but it is a delight for the horror fan. King got himself into a hole when he wrote his narrator into a hospital bed.  So mid novel, he switched to third person!  I'm surprised he didn't rewrite the novel to stay with one perspective; but ultimately it is fine with me.  Who really cares if a writers switches between narrative styles?  Only my English teacher; and she's dead.

Don't you hate top ten lists?  Me too.  Good,  now give  me yours. . . 

Far more fun than a 10 Best list is a 10 worst list. And the funny thing is -- I still read and enjoy several of the books off this list.  They're just not King at the top of his game.  But, unable to come up with TEN -- here's five.
5. Gerald's Game
4. Insomnia.
3. The Tommyknockers
2. Dreamcatcher
1. Cell

7 comments:

  1. I'd place the Shining quite a bit higher than number 3, yet not number one. The irony is, I do think the original novel could have used at least two minor rewrites. In fact, the reason I like Garris's version is because those rewrites were more or less worked into the story.

    Speaking of Revival, I think it's possible we may see another novel intersect with it: Eyes of the Dragon. Having just gotten into the book, I'm wondering if the interactions with the two main characters will carry certain echoes between that of Flagg and Thomas; older, corrupt man, confused, wayward youth.

    It's just a thought, I wondered if maybe readers shouldn't be looking out for that.

    ChrisC

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  2. My top 10:

    10. Dead zone
    9. Nightmares and dreamscapes
    8. 22.11.63
    7. Salem´s Lot
    6. Cujo
    5. DT: Wizard and glass
    4. The Stand
    3. Pet Sematary
    2. IT
    1. Long Walk

    My top 5 worst:

    1. Tommynockers
    2. Colorado kid
    3.Roadwork
    4. Rose Madder
    5.The girl who loved Tom Gordon

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  3. Some love for The Long Walk. I like it!!

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  4. My Top Five

    1. The Shining
    2. Salem's Lot
    3Cujo/Delores Claiborne (Its a tie)
    4. On Writing
    5. Danse Macabre

    I hope its ok to put non fiction on the list. I think these are both really good books on their respective topics.

    There has only been two Stephen King books I haven't thought were very good.

    5. Under the Dome (what a stupid, awful ending)
    4. Dreamcatcher (a 800 page fart joke)
    3.
    2.
    1.

    Even with the books I didn't like, I have to be honest and say that I enjoyed reading them. So I had to reach here.

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    Replies
    1. I forgot about Pet Sematary when I was typing my list. This one is definitely #1 for me. A tie with the Shining. I just think this novel's the cat's meow.

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  5. Wizard and glass deserves a top ten spot. That book was so good and is easily one of my faves

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  6. My list hehe.

    10 It
    9 Dark Tower v: Wolves of the Calla
    8 Hearts in Atlantis
    6 Doctor Sleep
    5 11/22/63
    4 Salem´s Lot
    3 The Shining
    2 Bag of Bones
    1 Dark Tower IV: Wizard and Glass

    ReplyDelete