Under the Dome is the most recent work of King's that I've read. I thought the idea was great, and the execution horrible. The same characters that have held a solid place in his other novels are rehashed into caricatures of themselves, and it is difficult to care about the fate of someone who evokes no emotional response, whether it be positive or negative. The story itself got progressively more ridiculous, leaving King no choice but to tidily wrap it all up with a convenient deus ex machina, which I suppose is no worse than the other preposterous plot devices used in the story. In my opinion, it would have been a lot more interesting if the characters had started eating each other, and a hell of a lot more believable. That said, I am very much a fan of many of King's earlier novels, back when his characters were wholly original and you adored the ones he wanted you to love and loathed the ones he wanted you to hate. Although I have often thought his dialogue to be a bit unnatural--it is hard to believe sometimes that a ten year old boy or sixty year old drunk or twenty-five year old love interest all have the ability to launch off into incredibly articulate monologues--King's purpose is served: to provide well-written mind candy as summertime lakeside entertainment.
I too, find King a little bit too predictable. I know he's trying to freak and scare the reader, but the constant sexual deviance, descriptions of body functions, and those disurbing internal monologues of all the characters in every single book, gets a little tedious after a while. I concur that 'The Stand' was excellent, however. There was one (I forget its name , now) where people were shitting satellite dishes or something? That's when I stopped reading King for good.
Gosh he's done a few good 'uns, the transfer to film often fails to do full justice, though at least it draws attention to the writer - and hopefully may encourage the reading of the books in their original format
Oh I have been reading king since I can remember, the first book of his I read was pet cemetery, my sss said it, was a good one to start with
King is my favourite author. He has such an ability to make three dimensional characters, even if they are completely unrealistic, each is completely distinct from the next. I'm a huge fan of the Dark Tower series. The Stand is brilliant. One that tends to get left out of his top stuff, but really stuck with me was Rose Madder. There are still a few I haven't gotten to. But very few. I think about 3 or 4. I started reading him when I was 11 or 12, It was my first and it scared me silly. I had to lock the book up before I could go to bed. I was sure if it was out then the clown could come out of the book and get me.
I LOVE Stephen King. I just bought 11/22/63! Cannot wait to read it! However, I was sorely disappointed in the film adaptation of Bag of Bones that premiered on A&E last month. I loved that book, the movie SUCKED!!!
