I've been a pretty avid reader since I was in my early teens. One of the first books I can remember reading is Stephen King's 'Salem's Lot. Back before the Twilight and Sookie Stackhouse series of novels this was a popular vampire novel to read. The original movie made back in the late 70s/early 80s wasn't that great of a movie (and to be honest most movies based on books aren't that great). It was remade a few years back for tv on TNT and starred Rob Lowe as Ben Mears. I will say, in my opinion, that it was a much better adaptation of King's novel. After reading that book, I became a Stephen King addict. To date I've read many of his novels, and I have loved every single one of them. My favorite Stephen King novel is The Stand. I think I've read that one about a half a dozen times now. I never fail to find something that I hadn't noticed before.
If you've never read this book, I suggest that you do, and I suggest that you get the uncut version. The book is lengthy, though. The uncut version has close to 1,000 pages. I will give you as brief a synopsis as I can of it. The book opens on an Army base where the government has been experimenting with what they call the Superflu virus. The virus is accidently (or is it) released and one of the guards on the base unwittingly helps to spread the virus. Once the virus begins to spread it is unstoppable. There is no cure and almost everyone in the world is wiped out. The story does keep its focus here in the States, and it begins to follow those who survive. King introduces many characters, some good, some bad as the story evolves. The novel has romance, adventure, violence, and, of course, an epic battle between good and evil. The Stand was made into a mini-series back in 1994, starring Rob Lowe, Gary Sinise, Molly Ringwald, Corin Nemec, Laura San Giacomo, and many others. It was a pretty good mini-series, but, like most movies, it had to cut out some of the things from the novel (i.e. Laura San Giacomo's character, Nadine, is actually 2 characters rolled into one). I wouldn't mind seeing this movie re-made, whether it be in mini-series format or feature-length format. I mean, some of the movies out there these days that are popular are 3 hours long, and I think King could adapt it into something of that nature.
One of the things that I love about King's novels is how once I start reading one I can't put it down. I've been reading his Dark Tower series, and I absolutely love it! I finished book 5, Wolves of the Calla, not too long ago and I can't wait to read book 6, Song for Susannah. When I have the money to get it I know I'll have to drive to The Woodlands (which isn't that far) and get it from the Barnes and Noble store. Of course, I'll buy both book 6 and 7 so I can get the series finshed out. I'll give you a brief synopsis of this series, just in case you've never heard of it. It centers around Roland of Gilead, a gunslinger, and his journey to find the Dark Tower. Along the way he encounters Jake, a boy from 1978 New York, Eddie, a young man from 1983 New York, and Odetta, a young black woman (who lost her legs below the knees) from 1960s New York. These three become Roland's companions on his journey to the Dark Tower. Again, King used his good versus evil theme. Roland and his crew must battle all kinds of evil forces along their path to the Tower.
Come to think of it, I don't know of any of King's novels that I wouldn't recommend for you to read. Of course, you have to like his genre, horror/supernatural, to really be able to get into him. The language isn't always that pretty, either, so if you don't like a lot of cursing (especially the F-word), then you might not like him too well. If you're not sure you want to invest a lot of time in one of his novels, then I suggest maybe you try one of his shorter stories. The Gingerbread Girl is pretty good (you can find it in his collection called Just After Sunset). Four Past Midnight is another collection of his novellas that I really liked. Everything's Eventual is yet another I'd recommend.
Now, if you happen not to care for Stephen King (even after this all-but-convincing post!), maybe my next blog will give you an author you can sink your brain cells into! So stay tuned until next time, folks!
