Update: Week 41

Week: 41

Novel: The Dark Tower #5: Wolves of the Calla

Published: 2003

Pages 527-611(/611)

Novel: The Dark Tower #6: Song of Susannah

Published: 2004

Pages 1-82(/430)

Update: Week 40

Week: 40

Novel: The Dark Tower #5: Wolves of the Calla

Published: 2003

Pages 407-526(/611)

Update: Week 39

Week: 39

Novel: The Dark Tower #5: Wolves of the Calla

Published: 2003

Pages 296-406(/611)

Update: Week 38

Week: 38


Novel: The Dark Tower #5: Wolves of the Calla

Published: 2003

Pages 209-296(/611)

Update: Week 37

Week: 37

Novel: The Dark Tower #5: Wolves of the Calla

Published: 2003

Pages 175-208(/611)

Update: Week 36

Week: 36

Novel: The Dark Tower #5: Wolves of the Calla

Published: 2003

Pages 95-174(/611)

Update: Week 35

Week: 35

Novel: The Dark Tower #4: Wizard and Glass

Published: 1997

Pages 804-840(/840)

Novel: The Dark Tower #5: Wolves of the Calla

Published: 2003

Pages 1-94(/611)

Update: Week 34

Week: 34

Novel: The Dark Tower #4: Wizard and Glass

Published: 1997

Pages 561-804(/840)

Update: Week 33

Week: 33

Novel: The Dark Tower #4: Wizard and Glass

Published: 1997

Pages 419-560(/840)

Update: Week 32

Week: 32

Novel: The Dark Tower #4: Wizard and Glass

Published: 1997

Pages 225-418(/840)

Update: Week 31

Week: 31

Novel: The Dark Tower #4: Wizard and Glass

Published: 1997

Pages 153-224(/840)

Update: Week 30

Week: 30

Novel: The Dark Tower #4: Wizard and Glass

Published: 1997

Pages 51-152(/840)

Update: Week 29

Week: 29

Novel: The Dark Tower #3: The Waste Lands

Published: 1991

Pages 516-582(/582)

Novel: The Dark Tower #4: Wizard and Glass

Published: 1997

Pages 1-50(/840)

Under the Dome - 4 Paperback Covers

This past week sees the release of the paperback edition of Stephen King's newest novel, Under the Dome. What makes this release interested is that, in the UK at least, there are 4 different covers you can choose from:

You can read my review of Under the Dome here.

 

Update: Week 28

Week: 28

Novel: The Dark Tower #3: The Waste Lands

Published: 1991

Pages 431-515(/582)

Update: Week 27

Week: 27

Novel: The Dark Tower #3: The Waste Lands

Published: 1991

Pages 359-430 (/582)

Update: Week 26

Week: 26

Novel: The Dark Tower #3: The Waste Lands

Published: 1991

Pages 295-358 (/582)

Update: Week 25

Week: 25

Novel: The Dark Tower #3: The Waste Lands

Published: 1991

Pages 165-294 (/582)

Update: Week 24

Week: 24

Novel: The Dark Tower #3: The Waste Lands

Published: 1991

Pages 78-164 (/582)

Update: Week 23

Week: 23

Novel: The Dark Tower #2: The Drawing of the Three

Published: 1987

Pages 384-454 (/454)


 

Novel: The Dark Tower #3: The Waste Lands

Published: 1991

Pages 1-77 (/582)

Update: Week 22

Week: 22

Novel: The Dark Tower #2: The Drawing of the Three

Published: 1987

Pages 278-383 (/454)

Update: Week 21

Week: 21

Novel: The Dark Tower #2: The Drawing of the Three

Published: 1987

Pages 213-277 (/454)

Update: Week 20

Week: 20

Novel: The Dark Tower #2: The Drawing of the Three

Published: 1987

Pages 92-212 (/454)

Update: Week 19

Week 19

Novel: The Dark Tower #1: The Gunslinger

Published: 1982

Pages 162-238 (/238)

Novel: The Dark Tower #2: The Drawing of the Three

Published: 1987

Pages 1-91 (/454)

Update: Week 18

Week 18

Novel: The Dark Tower #1: The Gunslinger

Published: 1982

Pages 76-161 (/238)

Update: Week 17

Week 17

Novel: The Bachman Books

Story: The Running Man

Published: 1982

Pages 917-978 (/978)
 
 

Novel: The Dark Tower #1: The Gunslinger

Published: 1982

Pages 1-75 (/238)

The First 3

I really enjoyed the first three published Stephen King novels – Carrie, ‘Salem’s Lot and The Shining. ‘Salem’s Lot being the only one I hadn’t read all the way through before starting this project.

Out of these books my favourite is actually the first, Carrie. It is the one I most relate to. The horrors of being a teenager, with all the angst that goes with it, leaps off the pages and rings true with my own experience of those years.

Ratings:

Carrie: 9/10

‘Salem’s Lot 7/10

The Shining 8.5/10

Update: Week 16

Week 16

Novel: The Bachman Books

Story: The Running Man

Published: 1982

Pages 810-916 (/978)

Update: Week 15

Week 15

Novel: The Bachman Books

Story: The Running Man

Published: 1982

Pages 758-809 (/978)

Update: Week 14

Week 14

Novel: The Bachman Books

Story: Roadwork

Published: 1981

Pages 622-704(/704) (/978)

Novel: The Bachman Books

Story: The Running Man

Published: 1982

Pages 705-757 (/978)

Update: Week 13

Week 13

Novel: The Bachman Books

Story: Roadwork

Published: 1981

Pages 521-621(/704) (/978)

Update: Week 12

Week 12

Novel: The Bachman Books

Story: Roadwork

Published: 1981

Pages 371-520(/704) (/978)

Update: Week 11

Week 11

Novel: The Bachman Books

Story: The Long Walk

Published: 1979

Pages 161-340(/340) (/978)



Novel: The Bachman Books

Story: Roadwork

Published: 1981

Pages 341-370(/704) (/978)

Update: Week 10

Week 10

Novel: The Shining

Published: 1977

Pages read: 446-497 (/497)

Novel: The Bachman Books

Story: The Long Walk

Published: 1979

Pages 1-160 (/340) (/978)

The Shining: Review

The third, and final, book of my selection, The First 3, has always been a favourite of mine, The Shining.

Unlike both Carrie and ‘Salem’s Lot, The Shining has a more claustrophobic quality that drives the horror. The book’s plot centres around the Torrance family; Jack, Wendy and their five-year-old son Danny, who has some sort of physic ability, which his parents, mostly his mother, have noticed but quickly dismiss, calling Tony, the older boy that tells Danny things in his mind, just Danny’s imaginary friend.

After Jack loses his job as a school teacher for striking a student, the Torrance family move into the Overlook Hotel for the winter so that Jack can work as the caretaker. They arrive on the last day of business for the Overlook, and as the final guests are leaving, the Torrance’s prepare to settle down for a harsh winter, and not just from the weather.

On being shown around the hotel’s kitchen by the cook, Dick Hallorann, he and Danny strike up an instant friendship because like Danny, Hallorann also has some physic ability which he calls ‘The Shining’. Hallorann is surprised at how powerful Danny’s power actually is, and warns the boy that if he is in any trouble while staying at the hotel, Danny can physically call him and he, Hallorann, will come as fast as he can.

Pretty much all hotels have a history, and many things happen within their walls, including illicit liaisons and death, sometimes both at the same time. Some people believe that buildings can absorb the energies of the events that occur in them, and those sensitive to those energies can feel or even see them. In The Shining, the Overlook Hotel has a history so powerful, that Hallorann’s fears for Danny and his mother’s safety are well and truly justified. And as the snow pens the Torrance’s in, making escape almost impossible, the ghostly forces inside the Overlook make their move, and begin focusing on Jack.

Jack Torrance is a troubled man, an alcoholic clinging onto the ‘Wagon’ for dear life, and a victim of his own father’s brutal abuse when he, Jack, was a child. These things the evil force inside the Overlook Hotel latch onto, driving Jack further and further down the road to self destruction, and to try and murder his wife and son. As he falls deeper and deeper under the Overlook’s power, Jack believes that the Overlook wants him to join those ghosts housed there; however, its real desire is for Danny.

The main themes of the book are the effects of alcoholism, and do those who are abused as children go on to be abusers themselves, leading to the breakdown of the family. In The Shining, King gives us a horror not just supernatural in nature, but one of domestic abuse that unfortunately more people can relate to now, 33 years after it was written.

King speaks to Mark Lawson

I have now finished reading the first three novels published by Stephen King, and am moving on to the three novels in the collection, The Bachman Books, which are The Long Walk, Roadwork and The Running Man. I will be writing my review of The Shining in the next few days, as well as my thoughts on the "First 3" as a whole. In the meantime, below are two excerpts from an interview with Stephen King by Mark Lawson for the BBC.

Update: Week 9

Week 9

Novel: The Shining

Published: 1977

Pages read: 282-445 (/497)