Desperation/Regulators
Howard Siegel
I am in the middle of "Desperation" and have just finished the "
Regulators". I was wondering if any other readers find these books on a
different wavelength vs classic King?
I have read all or most of Stephen King's novels (including those
written by Bachman) and find these last two (D & E) less enjoyable. They
seem to be more chaotic with less of a firm underlying story.
Of course it could be just me, but I am curious if any other readers
find these two books in particular, upsetting.
I'd appreciate sincere replies -no flaming- thanks.
Howard Siegel
Merrick
Howard Siegel wrote:
SPOILERS...
Hi, Howard,
Well, I *think* I understand what you are saying, here, but I'm not
sure. I did find Desp. to be a little disjointed to begin with, what
with the various characters being brought into the story bit by bit, but
I wouldn't choose the word "chaotic" to describe my perception of that
work. And the story became, for me, very linear after everyone was
brought together at the jail. By "...less of a firm underlying story."
did you mean that there is less explanation for Tak -- it's origin and
motives -- or have I missed the point entirely?
If that is your meaning, I can see how you could say that. For example,
in It, the true form of the being was finally revealed at the end, while
Tak seems to be left out "there", ephemeral, the final image one of a
wolf/cloud. Does this make any sense at all?
Oh, and as an aside, I've read both books and Desperation was, IMO,
better than The Regs. Desp. was the one I read first. I have a
suspicion that the order in which they are read *is* significant, though
some here have said otherwise. Having read Desp., I was drawn along
through TR more easily, and my previously established affection for the
characters kept me more interested (I suspect) than I would have been
reading TR first...
Merrick
--
"We praise a man who feels angry on the right grounds and against the
right persons and also in the right manner at the right moment and for
the right length of time."
Aristotle
Howard Siegel
Dear Merrick,
Thanks for your reply to my "dilemna".
You may be right that the order one reads this book set is important. I
read The Regulators first, and now I'm in the middle of Desperation.
While reading TR, I excused my uncomfortableness by saying "I guess King
is trying to write in Bachman's persona and making this novel a bit
rougher at the edges with more gore". Gore, as such, doesn't bother me -
if it did, I wouldn't be a King fan - but TR left me uncomfortable -
even while reading it.
Now, I thought, I'm going to read in the voice of King. The tone is the
same. I call it chaotic, although a better word might be unsettling, or
rough. Most King novels pit good against evil, with certain forces
starting out surrealistic and ending more real as they go on. I like
that. However, TR/DP seems more disjointed than most. I will, of course,
finish it. I'm curious to see how it all comes together. Perhaps I am
being impatient. I'll let you know.
BTW, I was given a set of Desperation audio cassettes read by Kathy
Bates. I chose to give these to my son since I prefer to "read" for my
imagination vs "listening". Perhaps I will listen to the tapes after I
finish reading the book. Kathy Bates is the perfect King actor/actress.
I have read everything that King has written except for Dark Tower. I
love his style; his imagination; his creative writing skills; character
development - and heart. I recently finished the Green Mile series, and
THAT met all my King expectations.
Thank you for trying to understand my little problem. I knew there would
be a King Newsgroup if I looked for it! And I knew there would be
understanding folks like you at the other end of the electronic tube.
Regards, Howard
Linda Mclain
Merrick--
I read The Regulators and absolutely LOVED it, but I am confused. I
bought Desperation a few weeks and began reading and found that the same
character names are used but they refer to different people. Am I crazy?
Did I miss something? I read The Regulators in four days, but have been
confused by Desperation and can't seem to get into it. Which book is
supposed to be read first? I think SK has tried to confuse us all--again.
TR and D do seem on a slightly different level than SK's previous work,
but I do not necessarily see that as a bad point. Someone please fill me
in, here. Are the characters the same in both books, or are they mixed
up like they seem to be? Odd.
Amy
LisaM
Linda Mclain wrote:
>
> but I do not necessarily see that as a bad point. Someone please fill me
> in, here. Are the characters the same in both books, or are they mixed
> up like they seem to be? Odd.
> Amy
>
Amy,
This has been discussed on this ng ad-naseum. IMHO, these are two
totally different stories. Keep that in mind while reading the second
one. Do not try to compare the two sets of characters because they are
not the exact same in the books. I described it earlier this way:
It's almost as if a creative writing teacher gave an assignment and said
to her class, here is a list of characters and some of their traits,
here is a list of towns that need to be mentioned, here is the name of
the evil, here is the name of some things that are popular (ie.. tv
shows). Now write a story. Two different people wrote two different
stories.
LisaM
CleveJMA
> I have a suspicion that the order in which they are read *is*
significant,
>though some here have said otherwise. Having read Desp., I was drawn
>along through TR more easily, and my previously established affection for
the
>characters kept me more interested (I suspect) than I would have been
>reading TR first...
That's interesting. I read them in the opposite order and was very glad I
had, because I thought _that_ made the most sense.
I doubt if there's any significance to reading order ... it mostly seems
to be
a matter of perception.
jma
"In all these things, we are more than conquerors ..."
Janet Aldrich
Clev...@aol.com
Tracy
I read Regulators first also. As a matter of fact I'm still reading
Desperation. No problem so far. I did wait a while before I started
Desp. didn't want to get confused on the characters!
Merry Christmas!
Tracy
Dan Chapman
CleveJMA <clev...@aol.com> wrote in article
<19961223145...@ladder01.news.aol.com>...
> > I have a suspicion that the order in which they are read *is*
> significant,
> >though some here have said otherwise. Having read Desp., I was drawn
> >along through TR more easily, and my previously established affection
for
> the
> >characters kept me more interested (I suspect) than I would have been
> >reading TR first...
>
> That's interesting. I read them in the opposite order and was very glad
I
> had, because I thought _that_ made the most sense.
>
> I doubt if there's any significance to reading order ... it mostly seems
> to be
> a matter of perception.
>
> jma
>
Interesting. According to SK, there is no significance. I can see now what
he meant -- that no matter which one you read first, you automatically
think you did it the right way! :-)
BTW, I read Desperation first and am partway through TR. Feels right to
me...
--
Dan Chapman
Technician, Jackpine Business Centers
dcha...@jackpine.com
http://www.jackpine.com/~dchapman
"The oldest and strongest emotion of mankind is fear, and the
oldest and strongest kind of fear is fear of the unknown."
-- H.P. Lovecraft, "Supernatural Horror in Literature"