King is a Koontz fan? :)
Jeff Kreider
John W. O'Brien III wrote:
>
> anyone catch Stephen and Tabitha King on 60 minutes?
> king hasn't read tolstoy, but he has read "many books by Dean Koontz"
I saw it. I thought that was interesting. The statement seemed to be just
slightly out of context. I think 60-minutes edited out part of that discussion
(the voice over said that King remembered later that he HAD read a Tolstoy novel).
I wonder if King said that because of the internet discussion recently on
Desperation about the reference to Dean Koontz and Daniell Steel.
--
Jeff Kreider, Consultant Computer Software Support for Your Business
210 N. Iris Ave Specializing in Alpha Micro Environments...
Rialto, CA 92376-5727 --------------------
Phone: (909) 874-6214 Books via Internet. Mysteries, Thrillers,
Fax: (909) 874-2143 Modern Firsts, Signed and Unsigned. Email
Email: jk...@ix.netcom.com for current catalogue.
Bonnie Bernstein
I don't think he said it because the discussion about Daniell Steel and
Dean Koontz. I think he said it because he, like tons of other people
(myself included), think that Dean Koontz is a great author.
I think Dean Koontz is the second best author in America, under
SK, of course.
Peter B.
saul milligan
Jeff Kreider wrote:
>
> John W. O'Brien III wrote:
> >
> > anyone catch Stephen and Tabitha King on 60 minutes?
> > king hasn't read tolstoy, but he has read "many books by Dean Koontz"
>
>slightly out of context.I think 60-minutes edited out part of that
>read a Tolstoy novel).
>I wonder if King said that because of the internet discussion recently
>on Desperation about the reference to Dean Koontz and Daniell Steel.
I had the distinct impression that King was playing and having fun
throughout the interview. The 'sleeping with a nightlight' bit was one
clear example but I really thought that the 'read all of Koontz' stuff
was equally tongue in cheek.
Stevie Canuck
--
So we make stories of our own,
in fevered and envious imitation of our Maker,
hoping that we'll tell, by chance, what God left untold.
And finishing our tale, come to understand why we were born.
Clive Barker
Jeff Kreider
I didn't mean to suggest that I don't think King doesn't read Koontz or
he that he doesn't enjoy Koontz's work. I'm sure he does. I was just
wondering why he brought it up, at that point in the conversation,
that's all.
Bonnie Bernstein wrote:
>
> Jeff Kreider <jk...@ix.netcom.com> wrote:
> >John W. O'Brien III wrote:
> >>
> >> anyone catch Stephen and Tabitha King on 60 minutes?
> >> king hasn't read tolstoy, but he has read "many books by Dean Koontz"
> >
> >I saw it. I thought that was interesting. The statement seemed to be just
> >slightly out of context. I think 60-minutes edited out part of that discussion
> >(the voice over said that King remembered later that he HAD read a Tolstoy novel).
> >I wonder if King said that because of the internet discussion recently on
> >Desperation about the reference to Dean Koontz and Daniell Steel.
>
saul milligan
Bonnie Bernstein wrote:
>
> Jeff Kreider <jk...@ix.netcom.com> wrote:
> >John W. O'Brien III wrote:
> >>
>>>anyone catch Stephen and Tabitha King on 60 minutes?
>>>king hasn't read tolstoy, but he has read "many books by Dean Koontz"
> >
>>I saw it. I thought that was interesting. The statement seemed to be
>>read a Tolstoy novel). I wonder if King said that because of the
>>internet discussion recently on Desperation about the reference to Dean
>>Koontz and Daniell Steel.
> I don't think he said it because the discussion about Daniell Steel and
> Dean Koontz. I think he said it because he, like tons of other people
> (myself included), think that Dean Koontz is a great author.
> I think Dean Koontz is the second best author in America, under
> SK, of course.
I think he said it because he was being snide about the folks who
consider him (King) trashy. He was stating that he hasn't read some of
the fiction which is considered to define the english language literary
novel and it occurred to him that it would be funny to say that he has
read an author who is regarded, if anything, as even more trashy than
King himself.
I don't think it is possible to know from that statement whether King
likes Koontz's work or whether he has even read it.
Stevie Canuck
btw ... did you really say that Koontz is the second best author in
America? Now that is funny!!
--
Yes the world is the best place of all
...
but then right in the middle of it
comes the smiling mortician.
L. Ferlinghetti
saul milligan
Peter wrote:
>
> saul milligan <mill...@rogerswave.ca> wrote:
> >btw ... did you really say that Koontz is the second best author in
> >America? Now that is funny!!
>Yes, that's exactly what I said. He is the second best author in the
>America at writing entertainment, King is the first. Michael Crichton is
>also good, but he's only published something like 12 books. If he
>had written more books, I might consider him, but not now.
>Who do you think are the most entertaining authors in the U.S.?
Well, as we procede from 'best' to 'most entertaining', who would I rank
ahead of Dean Koontz, restricting myself to American writers?
As a partial list, and in alphabetical order:
James Lee Burke
Tom Clancy
Pat Conroy
Patricia Cornwell
Mark Helperin
Jonathon Kellerman
Stephen King
Anne Rice
Tom Robbins
Peter Straub
BTW ... what does number of books published have to do with the quality
of an author's writing or the entertainment value for that matter?
Bonnie Bernstein
saul milligan <mill...@rogerswave.ca> wrote:
>btw ... did you really say that Koontz is the second best author in
>America? Now that is funny!!
>Yes the world is the best place of all
>...
>but then right in the middle of it
>comes the smiling mortician.
> L. Ferlinghetti
Yes, that's exactly what I said. He is the second best author in the
America at writing entertainment, King is the first. Michael Crichton is
also good, but he's only published something like 12 books. If he
had written more books, I might consider him, but not now.
Who do you think are the most entertaining authors in the U.S.?
Peter B.
lin...@voicenet.com
In article <5edd2p$e...@nntp4.u.washington.edu>,
Bonnie Bernstein <bern...@u.washington.edu> wrote:
>saul milligan <mill...@rogerswave.ca> wrote:
>>btw ... did you really say that Koontz is the second best author in
>>America? Now that is funny!!
hilarious. :-)
>
>Yes, that's exactly what I said. He is the second best author in the
>America at writing entertainment, King is the first. Michael Crichton is
>also good, but he's only published something like 12 books. If he
>had written more books, I might consider him, but not now.
>Who do you think are the most entertaining authors in the U.S.?
>
>Peter B.
The "entertainment" distinction is important; otherwise, you're
comparing apples and oranges. You wouldn't compare "Independence Day"
with "Schlinder's List", would you? (Forgive the film example in place of
a comparison of books.)
I don't see why the number of books published is important. Koontz
has 50+ novels but what if only a dozen are on Crichton's level? Then the
other 40 books don't count for much in my opinion.
I like all three authors: King, Koontz and Cricton.
I also find Dan Simmons ("Carrion Comfort") and John Varley
("Steel Beach") very entertaining.
- Dave
JD
saul milligan <mill...@rogerswave.ca> wrote:
>Jeff Kreider wrote:
>>
>> John W. O'Brien III wrote:
>> >
>> > anyone catch Stephen and Tabitha King on 60 minutes?
>> > king hasn't read tolstoy, but he has read "many books by Dean Koontz"
>>
>>slightly out of context.I think 60-minutes edited out part of that
>>read a Tolstoy novel).
>>I wonder if King said that because of the internet discussion recently
>>on Desperation about the reference to Dean Koontz and Daniell Steel.
>
>
>throughout the interview. The 'sleeping with a nightlight' bit was one
>clear example but I really thought that the 'read all of Koontz' stuff
>was equally tongue in cheek.
>
>--
>So we make stories of our own,
>in fevered and envious imitation of our Maker,
>hoping that we'll tell, by chance, what God left untold.
>And finishing our tale, come to understand why we were born.
> Clive Barker
I can't stand posts that begin the way I'm about to begin this
one...but...here goes...I read an interveiw somewhere (I can't
believe I don't have documentation on this) an author say (I
thought it was a SK interview--but I'm not 100% certain) that
all Dean Koontz books were alike, just with different
characters. I distinctly remember the quote,"read one Koontz
book, you've read 'em all." So when SK said he'd read all of
Koontz, I was ROTFLOL. My husband thought it sounded like a
"dig" at Koontz, but wasn't sure til I'd whiped the tears from
my eyes, and got a breath to explain it. Once again, I'm not
sure it was SK who originated the quote--maybe he read it in
the same interview?
Does anyone else remember a quote like this from a big horror
author?
Randy Flood
Argus wrote:
> I would put him in with R.L. Stine, or the guy who wrote the book about the Pet
> Detective who was a Nam Vet, it was called Accroyed or something like
> A.
>
> Not A Straub fan.
My son got the "Escape From Horrorland" (based on the R.L. Stine book)
CD ROM for his birthday. It features Issabella Rossilini and Jeff
Goldblum and is actually very cool for both kids and adults.
As far as PS goes, I'll let him respond to you.
Randy
--
Did you ever notice that everybody else stuff is shit,
and your shit is stuff? -George Carlin
ABSK geek code:ST++++ P++ R+++ OT++ F--- !N DK+++ sk+++(sk---)
C+++ I++ GO----- ot+++++
Gareth Challis
> I didn't mean to suggest that I don't think King doesn't read Koontz or
> he that he doesn't enjoy Koontz's work. I'm sure he does. I was just
> wondering why he brought it up, at that point in the conversation,
> that's all.
I've not seen the interview (and doubt I will being stuck here in not-so
sunny England), but I seem to remember one of DK's books has a quote from
King on the back cover - maybe this is the UK edition only though ? oh,
here we go ... found it :
... from the cover of Phantoms :
' Gruesome, unrelenting - it has atmosphere, character and story. I
couldn't let it
alone until I was done. It's well realised, intelligent and humane ...' -
Stephen King.
Seems that he does have some taste ;-)
G.
--
Gareth Challis The Unofficial Dean Koontz Web Site :
gar...@zebster.com http://www.zebster.com/koontz
Argus
saul milligan wrote:
<SNIP>
>
> I think he said it because he was being snide about the folks who
> consider him (King) trashy. He was stating that he hasn't read some of
> the fiction which is considered to define the english language literary
> novel and it occurred to him that it would be funny to say that he has
> read an author who is regarded, if anything, as even more trashy than
> King himself.
>
> I don't think it is possible to know from that statement whether King
> likes Koontz's work or whether he has even read it.
>
> Stevie Canuck
>
> America? Now that is funny!!
> Yes the world is the best place of all
> ...
> but then right in the middle of it
> comes the smiling mortician.
> L. Ferlinghetti
I have read a lot of King, and a lot of Koontz and most of the time I would rather read
a Koontz novel then a King Novel. It's not that I think Koontz is better then King, I
don't, I also don't King is better then Koontz. They write diffrent books about diffrent
things, Koontz is not a horror writer his storys are more mystery with a fringe of
Supernatural.
And Koontz is the best in what he does. If it where not so he would not sell any books.
Now king on the other hand writes stories to scare the Hell out of people. He writes
Horror, and he is the best in his field.
If King doesn't like Koontz then that fine with me. He can Like or dislike whoever he
wants. Its a free country, or it was the last time I checked.
Just throwing in my .02
A.
Argus
saul milligan wrote:
<snip>
>
> Well, as we procede from 'best' to 'most entertaining', who would I rank
> ahead of Dean Koontz, restricting myself to American writers?
>
> As a partial list, and in alphabetical order:
>
>
> BTW ... what does number of books published have to do with the quality
> of an author's writing or the entertainment value for that matter?
>
> --
> So we make stories of our own,
> in fevered and envious imitation of our Maker,
> hoping that we'll tell, by chance, what God left untold.
> And finishing our tale, come to understand why we were born.
> Clive Barker
Peter Straub?!?!
PETER Straub!?!?
PETER STRAUB!!!!
God he SUCKS......
Sorry. I'm back now. I would never put P.S. in a list with Dean Koontz or S. King.
I would put him in with R.L. Stine, or the guy who wrote the book about the Pet
Detective who was a Nam Vet, it was called Accroyed or something like that.
Peter Straub.........God I hate his writing.
How can you call him Entertaining?
saul milligan
I responded to someone who thought Koontz was the second most
entertaining writer in America by listing a number of authors I find more
entertaining than Dean. My list included Peter Straub whose book Mystery
I have just finished reading. I loved that book and am getting ready to
read the Throat and then go back and re read Shadowland.
Argus responded to my inclusion of Straub as follows:
> Peter Straub?!?!
> PETER Straub!?!?
> PETER STRAUB!!!!
> God he SUCKS......
> Sorry. I'm back now. I would never put P.S. in a list with Dean Koontz
>or S. King.I would put him in with R.L. Stine, or the guy who wrote the
>book about the Pet Detective who was a Nam Vet, it was called Accroyed
>or something like that.
>Peter Straub.........God I hate his writing.
>How can you call him Entertaining?
... and I gotta say Argus, that if you would class Straub with R.L.Stine
then you know bloody nothing about entertainment or literature and beyond
that it is not worth responding to your petty rantings.
Stevie Canuck
Jon Skeet
Argus <ar...@hotmail.com> wrote:
> And Koontz is the best in what he does. If it were not so he
> would not sell any books.
Disagree, with the logic at least. (I've only read two Koontz books;
quite entertaining but I'm not overly bothered about reading any
more, so I can't really say whether he's the "best" at what he does.
I suspect he's not, as far as my tastes go, but that's another
matter) ... it's quite possible (and it frequently happens) that
things which are best are not always the same things which sell
well.
If King hadn't had his break with Carrie, he might not nearly as
popular... it's impossible to tell. But that doesn't mean he would
be any the worse author for it.
Examples outside literature include Betamax/VHS and (IMO) anything
else/Windows... the "build a better mousetrap" idea just doesn't
work in practise.
--
Jon Skeet
When 900 years old *you* reach, look as good *you* will not, hmm?
Yoda - http://yoda.trin.cam.ac.uk. Geek code:
d- s:- a-- C++ UL++ P+ L++ W+++ N++ w--- M-- t- 5 X+ tv b+++ D+ G h* r++
Argus
Every one is entitled to their oppion.
A.
Argus
> d- s:- a-- C++ UL++ P+ L++ W+++ N++ w--- M-- t- 5 X+ tv b+++ D+ G h* r++
I have read everything by King except I never finished The Tailsman. I have read 3/4 of
everthing by Koontz. (And 4 of PS books).
King and Koontz have a diffrent writers diffrent styles and diffrent stories.
A.
What I love about this country is I can disagree with you.
Bonnie Bernstein
saul milligan <mill...@rogerswave.ca> wrote:
>> >America? Now that is funny!!
>
>>America at writing entertainment, King is the first. Michael Crichton is
>>also good, but he's only published something like 12 books. If he
>>had written more books, I might consider him, but not now.
>>Who do you think are the most entertaining authors in the U.S.?
>
>
>ahead of Dean Koontz, restricting myself to American writers?
>
>As a partial list, and in alphabetical order:
>
>Tom Clancy
>Pat Conroy
>Patricia Cornwell
>Mark Helperin
>Jonathon Kellerman
>Stephen King
>Anne Rice
>Tom Robbins
>
>BTW ... what does number of books published have to do with the quality
>of an author's writing or the entertainment value for that matter?
>
> Stevie Canuck
>--
>So we make stories of our own,
>in fevered and envious imitation of our Maker,
>hoping that we'll tell, by chance, what God left untold.
>And finishing our tale, come to understand why we were born.
> Clive Barker
The number of books published by an author has nothing to do with
his or her quality. I'm not gonna say that somebody that's only
published about 12 books is up there with Koontz and King. Crichton's
books are almost as good, but he hasn't released enough to be
recognized.
Peter B.
Argus
O.K.
I've read about 4 books by P.S. The only one that comes to mind is the last one
"Floating Dragon." And I sorry I was not pleased with the story. It was a chore to
finish. And when I was done I asked myself "Why did I read it?"
If you can give me the name of a P.S. Book that is as good as Lightning or It and then I
will read it.
A.
Vegard
|> I have read everything by King except I never finished The Tailsman.
Is this a new book? I haven't heard about it.
|> I have read 3/4 of
|> everthing by Koontz. (And 4 of PS books).
What? You haven't been able to finish _any_ of them? I've only read one Koontz,
and even tho' I was tempted to throw it away when I'd read 3/4 of it, I
managed to finish it. It wasn't worth it tho', so I understand you.
|> King and Koontz have a diffrent writers diffrent styles and diffrent stories.
Uh, I think you forgot to put a few words into that sentence, but I guess
what you _meant_ to say is "King and Koontz have a diff[e]rent [staff of] writers
[with] diff[e]rent styles and diff[e]rent stories."
And all I have to say to that is that from what I've heard about Koontz, his
staff seems to have a very uniform style and stories that are amazingly alike.
Kings staff, OTOH, hasn't quite succeeded with the latter -- perhaps it's lack
of coordination, I don't know.
|> What I love about this country is I can disagree with you.
Uh... Which country is that?
Vegard
Stein
Must be North Korea.
Stein.
John Patrick Riley
KatOh9tale wrote:
>
> I don't know if SK really reads Koontz or not, but I would be interested
> in knowing what other writers you newsgroup folks read when your not
> reading KING. What are 5 authors you would read if you couldn't read SK?
>
> --
> Remember that you are dust, and to dust you shall return.
I'd have to think awhile to come up with the top 5,(heaven forbid!) but
I KNOW that Ray Bradbury is #1 on my list -John
saul milligan
As part of an ongoing discussion Peter (Bonnie Bernstein) claimed that D.
Koontz was the second best author in America ... and then qualified that
by saying 'second most entertaining'. He then went on to say that
although Michael Crichton is good, since he has only published 12 books
he can not be considered to be in the same class as King and Koontz. I
wondered ...
>>BTW ... what does number of books published have to do with the quality
>>of an author's writing or the entertainment value for that matter?
... and Peter (Bonnie Bernstein) responded as follows ...
> The number of books published by an author has nothing to do with
> his or her quality. I'm not gonna say that somebody that's only
> published about 12 books is up there with Koontz and King. Crichton's
> books are almost as good, but he hasn't released enough to be
> recognized.
Now is it just me or does this statement seem inherently confusing. If
number of books published has nothing to do with the quality of an
author's writing then why will you not say that "someone who has only
published about 12 books is up there with Koontz and King"? If quantity
has nothing to do with it why even mention it?
Stevie Canuck
BTW Peter ... what _did_ you think of my list of author's who I consider
more entertaining than Koontz? Have you heard of, or read any of them?
John W. O'Brien III
|>I think he said it because he was being snide about the folks who
|>consider him (King) trashy. He was stating that he hasn't read some of
|>the fiction which is considered to define the english language literary
|>novel and it occurred to him that it would be funny to say that he has
|>read an author who is regarded, if anything, as even more trashy than
|>King himself.
|>
|>I don't think it is possible to know from that statement whether King
|>likes Koontz's work or whether he has even read it.
well, i know king pretty well... i've met him several times, mostly at
rock bottom remainders concerts ;) and read not only all the books
written by the man, but several about him, and through my own personal
experience, as well as the experiences handed down from authors of
books about him, he is an honest man, and i don't believe that he
would say he's read koontz if indeed he hasn't :)
if anything he'd be more apt to say "dean who?" implying that he
doesn't know of anyone more trashy than himself :)
given his hectic schedule it may be tough to believe he has time to
read at all.... but knowing how he liked detective/horror comic books
as a child, and still does as an adult.... it wouldn't be too tough to
believe that he would read koontz. many koontz novels have that
suspenseful "comic book" feel to them.... read "Lightning" :)
|>btw ... did you really say that Koontz is the second best author in
|>America? Now that is funny!!
John W. O'Brien III
On 18 Feb 1997 23:13:29 GMT, Bonnie Bernstein
<bern...@u.washington.edu> is rumored to have said:
|>Yes, that's exactly what I said. He is the second best author in the
|>America at writing entertainment, King is the first. Michael Crichton is
|>also good, but he's only published something like 12 books. If he
|>had written more books, I might consider him, but not now.
|>Who do you think are the most entertaining authors in the U.S.?
i think king and koontz are tied for the best author, because you have
to look at the fact that they have different styles....
chrichton, king and koontz the only thing they have in common reallis
the hard "K" sound in the begining of their names :)
for most entertaining novelists.... that's a matter of taste :)
|>Peter B.
|>
|>
Jared Head
Argus (ar...@hotmail.com) wrote:
: Sorry. I'm back now. I would never put P.S. in a list with Dean Koontz
: or S. King.
Neither would I, but with me that would be meant as a compliment.
: Not A Straub fan.
I guess we've worked that out by now.
Jared
A Straub fan
--
Jared Head at the Department of Biochemistry, University of Bristol
"A computer lets you make more mistakes faster than any invention in human
history - with the possible exceptions of handguns and tequila."
Mitch Ratliffe
Jon Skeet
Argus <ar...@hotmail.com> wrote:
> If you can give me the name of a P.S. Book that is as good as
> Lightning or It and then I will read it.
Ghost Story. On a par with It, although completely different. Hard
to get started with, but then I always find Peter's books hard...
that's part of the interest, working out what goes where, piecing
the whole thing together.
--
Jon Skeet
When 900 years old *you* reach, look as good *you* will not, hmm?
Yoda - http://yoda.trin.cam.ac.uk. Geek code:
Jared Head
saul milligan (mill...@rogerswave.ca) wrote:
: I had the distinct impression that King was playing and having fun
: throughout the interview. The 'sleeping with a nightlight' bit was one
: clear example but I really thought that the 'read all of Koontz' stuff
: was equally tongue in cheek.
One of the many expects may have to correct me, but hasn't King spent some
time as an English teacher? Never read the classics? No wonder he had to
give it up.
Jared
Jon Skeet
Argus <ar...@hotmail.com> wrote:
> Jon Skeet wrote:
> >
> > Argus <ar...@hotmail.com> wrote:
> >
> > > And Koontz is the best in what he does. If it were not so he
> > > would not sell any books.
> >
> > Disagree, with the logic at least. (I've only read two Koontz books;
> > quite entertaining but I'm not overly bothered about reading any
> > more, so I can't really say whether he's the "best" at what he does.
> > I suspect he's not, as far as my tastes go, but that's another
> > matter) ... it's quite possible (and it frequently happens) that
> > things which are best are not always the same things which sell
> > well.
> I have read everything by King except I never finished The Tailsman.
> I have read 3/4 of everthing by Koontz. (And 4 of PS books).
> King and Koontz have a diffrent writers diffrent styles and diffrent stories.
I'm happy to grant all of that... but what on earth does it have to
do with my doubts about the validity of your logic?
Jared Head
Argus (ar...@hotmail.com) wrote:
: If you can give me the name of a P.S. Book that is as good as Lightning or It and then I
: will read it.
I would imagine that Peter Straub's telephone directory is as good as
Lightning; mine certainly is. Is it maybe possible that any definition
of 'good' is subjective? *I* would say that Koko is better than It. It
seems you wouldn't. Not much we can add to that, is there?
Kim Murrell
In article <330C8C...@rogerswave.ca> saul milligan <mill...@rogerswave.ca> writes:
>
> .... and Peter (Bonnie Bernstein) responded as follows ...
>
>
> > The number of books published by an author has nothing to do with
> > his or her quality. I'm not gonna say that somebody that's only
> > published about 12 books is up there with Koontz and King. Crichton's
> > books are almost as good, but he hasn't released enough to be
> > recognized.
>
>
> Now is it just me or does this statement seem inherently confusing.
It's not just you, Stevie.
Kim
--
"Love is a snowmobile racing across the tundra,
and then suddenly it flips over, pinning you underneath.
At night, the ice weasels come." -Matt Groening
Jordan C. Lund
KatOh9tale (katoh...@aol.com) wrote:
: I don't know if SK really reads Koontz or not, but I would be interested
: in knowing what other writers you newsgroup folks read when your not
: reading KING. What are 5 authors you would read if you couldn't read SK?
Steve Perry
H.P. Lovecraft
Lord Dunsany
Christopher Hinz
James Robinson
- Jordan
jor...@europa.com
****************************************************************************
* "I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately... and not, *
* when I came to die, discover that I had not lived." - Thoreau *
****************************************************************************
Cheryl
In article <19970220153...@ladder02.news.aol.com>, KatOh9tale
<katoh...@aol.com> writes
>I don't know if SK really reads Koontz or not, but I would be interested
>in knowing what other writers you newsgroup folks read when your not
>reading KING. What are 5 authors you would read if you couldn't read SK?
>
Speaking as someone who did stop reading King for a while, I was glad I
did, simply because I found some other authors that I enjoy almost as
much now.
Pratchett
Banks (Iain and Iain M)
Silverberg
Welsh (Irvine)
Frasier (Antonia I think, god I can't remember)
to name but a few.
For all those who want an alternative answer to one of the riddles posed
to Blaine in the first couple of chapters of Wizard and Glass,
Pratchett's Pyramids is worth a read. May not make as much sense, but
it is definately amusing.
Cheryl
Van Rauch
>
>
> |> everthing by Koontz. (And 4 of PS books).
>
> and even tho' I was tempted to throw it away when I'd read 3/4 of it, I
> managed to finish it. It wasn't worth it tho', so I understand you.
>
>
> what you _meant_ to say is "King and Koontz have a diff[e]rent [staff of] writers
> [with] diff[e]rent styles and diff[e]rent stories."
>
> And all I have to say to that is that from what I've heard about Koontz, his
> staff seems to have a very uniform style and stories that are amazingly alike.
> Kings staff, OTOH, hasn't quite succeeded with the latter -- perhaps it's lack
> of coordination, I don't know.
>
> |> What I love about this country is I can disagree with you.
>
> Uh... Which country is that?
>
> Vegard
To whom it may concern:
I regret to inform you that "v...@mirrorsys.com" won't be frequenting
this group in the near future (as if anyone cares, but let's
play along, shall we?). After reading the preceding post, not only
did he incur a parastomal hernia resulting from
an extraordinary laughing episode, but he apparently suffered
a concussion (resulting in possible brain hemmorage) from striking his
forehead on the rim of the commode. (Apparently, the uncontrollable
lunatic behavior
resulted in a an involuntary vomit reflex. dear me)
He asks that contributions to aide his recovery be made to your local
literacy fund.
Sincerely,
Angie Witherston R.N.
NorWest Home Hospice Care
Portland, OR
Attorney in fact for V.W.R.
--
Bonnie Bernstein
Argus <ar...@hotmail.com> wrote:
>O.K.
>
>I've read about 4 books by P.S. The only one that comes to mind is the last one
>"Floating Dragon." And I sorry I was not pleased with the story. It was a chore to
>finish. And when I was done I asked myself "Why did I read it?"
>
>will read it.
>
>
Lightning, now that was a good book. You know one of the things that
makes Koontz so great? He can change the genre of a book, in the middle
of it. (Probably didn't make much since, I never have been that good
at writing.) For example: Lightning starts out as a drama, it then
moves on to a romance, and it ends up at Science Fiction.
I've only read 2/3 of King's books, and from what I've read, he hasn't
done that. I mean, changing the actual genre in the middle of a book.
And I don't think he's as good as Koontz is as writing drama. But he
is better than Koontz at horror and suspence.
Peter B.
Bonnie Bernstein
saul milligan <mill...@rogerswave.ca> wrote:
>As part of an ongoing discussion Peter (Bonnie Bernstein) claimed that D.
>Koontz was the second best author in America ... and then qualified that
>by saying 'second most entertaining'. He then went on to say that
>although Michael Crichton is good, since he has only published 12 books
>he can not be considered to be in the same class as King and Koontz. I
>wondered ...
>
>
>>>BTW ... what does number of books published have to do with the quality
>>>of an author's writing or the entertainment value for that matter?
>
>
>
>
>> The number of books published by an author has nothing to do with
>> his or her quality. I'm not gonna say that somebody that's only
>> published about 12 books is up there with Koontz and King. Crichton's
>> books are almost as good, but he hasn't released enough to be
>> recognized.
>
>
>number of books published has nothing to do with the quality of an
>author's writing then why will you not say that "someone who has only
>published about 12 books is up there with Koontz and King"? If quantity
>has nothing to do with it why even mention it?
>
> Stevie Canuck
>
>BTW Peter ... what _did_ you think of my list of author's who I consider
>more entertaining than Koontz? Have you heard of, or read any of them?
>Yes the world is the best place of all
>...
>but then right in the middle of it
>comes the smiling mortician.
> L. Ferlinghetti
First off, what did you think I meant by best author? Best at writing
Algebra based text-books? Travel guides? Of course entertainment.
Do you ever see posts about research books? No.
Second, if Michael Crichton keeps on writing quality novels, I will
put him at the top with Koontz and King. Lets say a young horror
author comes along, he writes three GREAT novels, and then people
start saying that he's as good as King. But then he starts to right
crap. That's why you wait to proclaim him as "great." It's like Alex Rodriguez and Cal Ripken. It's obvious that Alex is better tha=
n Cal, but Alex has only done great for one season, compared to Cal's 15. So people say that Cal is the best. That's how things work=
in any movie, sport, book, etc. If somebody does great on something a couple of times, but somebody else has done something great 4=
0 times.
You rank the guys that's proved himself 40 times ahead of the couple times guy, and you wait for the guy that did good a couple of t=
imes prove himself. And after he's proved himself, you consider him.
About the list of mostly horror authors. I read Clive Barker's Sacrament, and, embarrasing as it is to admit, I haven't read the
other authors. You see, I'm new to books. I rarely read until
I started reading King about three years ago, and since then I've
been mostly alternating with King and Koontz. With the occasional
fantasy or Science Fiction inbetween. (e.g. Crichton) So if I wasn't for King, I might of hardly ever read. About Clancy: Tom Clancy=
's topics look so boring that I haven't even gave him a shot.
Peter B.
Randy Flood
Pagan Wench wrote:
>
> Okay, here are the list of authors that I read when I don't have a new King
> book to devour:
>
> 1. Dean Koontz: yes, I like him. He's not quite horror.....but good.
> I happen to think he is a very descriptive writer. I often wonder
> what a collaboration between him and King would be like.
I like Koontz also. Phantoms was a damn good book. My beef with him is
that his endings stink! "Here's a good book with a sugary fit for 5 year
old ending". I just finished reading Intensity and, except for the
"magical" deer I thought it was his best book. Nothing supernatural
about it either. (Plus it had the best ending of any of his books.)
>
> 2. Anne Rice: I love her books.....particularly the way she seems to
> write "chronicles" (i.e The Mayfair Family, The Vampire Chronicles)
I've read the Vampire Chronicles series and some of it was very good
some was pretty bad. I can't seem to generate any interest in any of her
other stuff tho'.
>
> 3. Robin Cook: The scientist in me loves his hi-tech/medical thrillers
My mother-in-law loves this guy. I read Mindbend and pretty much gave up
on him.
>
> 4. Michael Crichton: ditto......I like his science/thriller books
I don't really care for this guy much.
>
> 5. John Grisham
I like the movies of his books better.
And then there's Tom Clancy. Clancy inserts way too many facts in his
books. Hunt for Red October was real specific in the
pressure-temperature-reactivity relationship in a nuclear reactor. Even
though it was accurate (I used to run reactors in the Navy) it was DULL.
>
> Also, I have become enthralled in the books that are based on the CD-ROM
> game MYST. The are coauthored by one of the Miller Brothers (who designed
> the game), and are quite good. I also have some Clive Barker on my
> bookshelf and some classics: Dante, Edgar Allan Poe, Tolkein, and nice
> leather-bound edition of The Complete Hitchhikers Guide (well, I consider
> this a classic anyway). And, of course, The X-Files books written by Kevin
> Anderson.
Ummm, other than the classics mentioned (including Hitchhikers)I haven't
read any of these so I can't comment.
>
> --
> Regards,
> The Pagan Wench
Randy
--
Did you ever notice that everybody else stuff is shit,
and your shit is stuff? -George Carlin
ABSK geek code:ST++++ P++ R+++ OT++ F--- !N DK+++ sk+++(sk---)
C+++ I++ GO----- ot+++++
Jan Junod
On 20 Feb 1997, KatOh9tale wrote:
> I don't know if SK really reads Koontz or not, but I would be interested
> in knowing what other writers you newsgroup folks read when your not
> reading KING. What are 5 authors you would read if you couldn't read SK?
1. Tom Robbins (my spiritual advisor!)
2. J. A. Jance (these two are mystery writers who live in Seattle,
3. Earl Emerson and place their detectives in the Seattle area.)
4. Lillian Jackson-Braun (mystery writers whose cats solve the
5. Rita Mae and Sneaky-Pie Brown mysteries 'cause the humans are too
dumb)
Jan Junod ju...@u.washington.edu
***************************************************************************
absk geek code:
IT++++ ST+++ TA++
P+ R++ OT+ F N+ DK++++
sk+++ ps+ dk ep++ ar- ac+++
C++ I++ GO---- V++++ OR- ot+++
***********************************
Patrick Hudson
Argus wrote:
>
> O.K.
>
> I've read about 4 books by P.S. The only one that comes to mind is the last one
> "Floating Dragon." And I sorry I was not pleased with the story. It was a chore to
> finish. And when I was done I asked myself "Why did I read it?"
>
> If you can give me the name of a P.S. Book that is as good as Lightning or It and then I
> will read it.
>
> A.
Ghost Story
--
Patrick Hudson
Lighting Designer pshu...@earthlink.net
The Theatre Design & Technical Jobs Page:
Chicago IL http://home.earthlink.net/~pshudson/jobs
Home page http://home.earthlink.net/~pshudson
saul milligan
Argus wrote:
>
> O.K.
>I've read about 4 books by P.S. The only one that comes to mind is the >last one "Floating Dragon." And I sorry I was not pleased with the >story. It was a chore to finish. And when I was done I asked myself "Why >did I read it?"
>If you can give me the name of a P.S. Book that is as good as Lightning >or It and then I will read it.
Well Argus, if the last Straub you read was Floating Dragon then you may
want to consider doing some catching up. Quick summary ... someone
correct me if I miss something ... Straub began his career in terms of
published novels with three of what I consider to be classic, if
difficult horror books. These were Ghost Story, Shadowland and Floating
Dragon.
If I recall correctly, he then made a major shift in his writing by
turning to what would more accurately be termed suspense thrillers with
the trilogy of Koko, Mystery and The Throat. He has continued in this
'genre' with his latest book The Hellfire Club.
Peter Straub also writes short fiction but I am limiting my comments
here to his novels.
IMO Mystery, which I have just finished reading in the last month, is
easily the most accessible book of Straub's which I have read. I have
yet to get to The Throat and Hellfire Club but I am eagerly looking
forward to them both.
You might try Mystery Argus ... but if you are looking for something the
'calibre' of D. Koontz ... forget it.
Stevie Canuck
saul milligan
Bonnie Bernstein wrote:
> Lightning, now that was a good book. You know one of the things that
> makes Koontz so great? He can change the genre of a book, in the middle
> of it. (Probably didn't make much since, I never have been that good
> at writing.) For example: Lightning starts out as a drama, it then
> moves on to a romance, and it ends up at Science Fiction.
> I've only read 2/3 of King's books, and from what I've read, he hasn't
> done that. I mean, changing the actual genre in the middle of a book.
> And I don't think he's as good as Koontz is as writing drama. But he
> is better than Koontz at horror and suspence.
Changing genre's in mid tale? Hmmm ... sounds like someone who can't
decide what he wants to do or perhaps has a decidedly short attention
span. A novel that changes genre in mid stream would about make me tear
my hair out <BEG>
Stevie Canuck
--
Blackbird singing in the dead of night
Take these broken wings and learn to fly ...
Lennon and McCartney
saul milligan
Bonnie Bernstein wrote:
> First off, what did you think I meant by best author? Best at writing
> Algebra based text-books? Travel guides? Of course entertainment.
> Do you ever see posts about research books? No.
No I was pretty sure you were talking about fiction. Now when you
switched off from best to most entertaining I started to get the notion
that you were talking mass market fiction.
>Second, if Michael Crichton keeps on writing quality novels, I will
>put him at the top with Koontz and King. Lets say a young horror
>author comes along, he writes three GREAT novels, and then people
>start saying that he's as good as King. But then he starts to right
>crap. That's why you wait to proclaim him as "great."
Sure but you know ... some 'great' authors just take a lot longer to
write than King and Koontz do. Some authors do detailed research and
some are just not prolific. None of that means that they are not great.
> About the list of mostly horror authors.
Actually, the list was mostly _not_ horror authors.
>I read Clive Barker's Sacrament,
Now there is a fine book! The only reason Barker wasn't on my list was
because we seemed to be talking American authors.
> and, embarrasing as it is to admit, I haven't read the other authors.
> You see, I'm new to books. I rarely read until I started reading King
> about three years ago, and since then I've been mostly alternating with > King and Koontz.
I know this is going to sound really snotty but now I understand why you
think King and Koontz are the two best writers going.<G>
> With the occasional fantasy or Science Fiction
> in between. (e.g. Crichton) So if I wasn't for King, I might of hardly > ever read. About Clancy: Tom Clancy's topics look so boring that I > > haven't even gave him a shot.
Actually I am not even all that keen on Clancy ... but he does entertain
me a hell of a lot more than Dean Koontz ever did. I read a couple of
Dean's books a while back and found them predictable in the most obvious
of ways and just gave up on the guy. Maybe he has improved but that is
certainly not the impression I get from listening to a range of opinions
about the guy and his work.
saul milligan
Argus wrote:
>
> saul milligan wrote:
>> ... and I gotta say Argus, that if you would class Straub with >>R.L.Stine then you know bloody nothing about entertainment or >>literature and beyond that it is not worth responding to your petty >>rantings.
> Every one is entitled to their oppion.
You betcha ARGUS!! you can even have an _opinion_ if you want. I
certainly have one.
Marcus Tiller
KatOh9tale wrote:
>
> I don't know if SK really reads Koontz or not, but I would be interested
> in knowing what other writers you newsgroup folks read when your not
> reading KING. What are 5 authors you would read if you couldn't read SK?
>
Well here's my *other* favorites (in no particular order).
Richard Bachman :)
Ok, really:
Clive Barker
Dean Koontz
John Saul
William Gibson
Bruce Sterling
H.P. Lovecraft
Edgar Allen Poe
I know that's more than five but I couldn't decide on just five.
Bracken MacLeod
> I don't know if SK really reads Koontz or not, but I would be interested
> in knowing what other writers you newsgroup folks read when your not
> reading KING. What are 5 authors you would read if you couldn't read
>SK?
>
I think I've posted something like this before, but what the hell, I'll do
it again.
In the weeks in between SK novels (joke people) I read: (in order of
preference)
1. Andrew Vachss (Hard Boiled crime fiction)
2. Clive Barker (duh)
3. Mircea Eliade (philosophy of religion)
4. Michael Crighton (everything)
5. Franz Kafka (again, I say, duh)
Slainte,
Bracken
--
**************************************************************************
* Convictions are more dangerous enemies of truth than lies. - Nietzsche *
**************************************************************************
Stacie Wolff
On 20 Feb 1997 15:31:27 GMT, katoh...@aol.com (KatOh9tale) wrote:
>I don't know if SK really reads Koontz or not, but I would be interested
>in knowing what other writers you newsgroup folks read when your not
>reading KING. What are 5 authors you would read if you couldn't read SK?
>
>--
>Remember that you are dust, and to dust you shall return.
Poppy Z. Brite, Kathe Koja, and Joe Landsdale.
After SK, of course.
Stacie
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++
It's all fun and games
until someone loses an eye.
Dan Signer
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Argus
Stein wrote:
> >
> > Uh... Which country is that?
> >
> > Vegard
>
>
> Stein.
Ha Ha.
You are so funny.
A.
Bonnie Bernstein
"Pagan Wench" <tr...@flash.net> wrote:
>
>
>KatOh9tale <katoh...@aol.com> wrote
>> I don't know if SK really reads Koontz or not, but I would be interested
>> in knowing what other writers you newsgroup folks read when your not
>> reading KING. What are 5 authors you would read if you couldn't read SK?
>>
>> --
>> Remember that you are dust, and to dust you shall return.
>>
>
>book to devour:
>
> 1. Dean Koontz: yes, I like him. He's not quite horror.....but good.
> I happen to think he is a very descriptive writer. I often wonder
> what a collaboration between him and King would be like.
>
> write "chronicles" (i.e The Mayfair Family, The Vampire Chronicles)
>
>
>
>
>Also, I have become enthralled in the books that are based on the CD-ROM
>game MYST. The are coauthored by one of the Miller Brothers (who designed
>the game), and are quite good. I also have some Clive Barker on my
>bookshelf and some classics: Dante, Edgar Allan Poe, Tolkein, and nice
>leather-bound edition of The Complete Hitchhikers Guide (well, I consider
>this a classic anyway). And, of course, The X-Files books written by Kevin
>Anderson.
>
>Regards,
> The Pagan Wench
> http://www.flash.net/~trls (new! and not quite done)
>-------------------------------------------------------
>"It's no exaggeration to say the
>undecideds could go one way
>or another."
> ~~~Former Pres. George Bush
>-------------------------------------------------------
You like Tolkein? I loved The Lord of The Rings and The Hobbit.
I bought this big book that has all of Edgar Allen Poe's tales
and poems, and I've read about half of it, and so far it hasn't been
very good. Though I might be too un-edacuded to follow his old-english style. Well, I can follow his stories, it's just that they don't
"flow." There like, choppy, and there are a lot of words that nobody
uses anymore, therefore I don't know them. I don't see how anybody
could say that Poe is scary either. He doesn't scare me in the slightest bit.
Peter B.
Ivon Kok
katoh...@aol.com (KatOh9tale) wrote:
>I don't know if SK really reads Koontz or not, but I would be interested
>in knowing what other writers you newsgroup folks read when your not
>reading KING. What are 5 authors you would read if you couldn't read SK?
You might find this an odd list for a King fan, but I read:
Len Deighton (own 24)
Frederick Forsyth (8)
Robert Ludlum (14)
Together with King (15) they have written about 80% of my collection
of books.
Then John Grisham (3).
Equal 5th are Jules Deelder (Dutch poet) and Dean Koontz, 2 books
each. (Koontz: 'Whispers', which I quite liked, and 'Twilight Eyes',
which sucked in such a way that I stopped reading Koontz).
-Ivon
Pagan Wench
> "Pagan Wench" <tr...@flash.net> wrote:
> >I also have some Clive Barker on my
> >bookshelf and some classics: Dante, Edgar Allan Poe, Tolkein, and nice
> >leather-bound edition of The Complete Hitchhikers Guide (well, I
consider
> >this a classic anyway). And, of course, The X-Files books written by
Kevin
> >Anderson.
> >
Bonnie Bernstein <bern...@u.washington.edu> wrote
>
> You like Tolkein? I loved The Lord of The Rings and The Hobbit.
>
> I bought this big book that has all of Edgar Allen Poe's tales
> and poems, and I've read about half of it, and so far it hasn't been
> very good. Though I might be too un-edacuded to follow his old-english
style. Well, I can follow his stories, it's just that they don't
> "flow." There like, choppy, and there are a lot of words that nobody
> uses anymore, therefore I don't know them. I don't see how anybody
> could say that Poe is scary either. He doesn't scare me in the slightest
bit.
>
> Peter B.
I *love* Tolkein. I had this box set of his Lord of The Rings, The Hobbit,
etc., and I read and reread them until I wore the books out. I recently
went out and plunked down a pretty penny for a nice leather bound edition
of the collection. It's one of my favorite stories.
As for Edgar Allan Poe, I wouldn't really say that he is "scary". In fact,
I believe that I read somewhere that he intended for the poem "The Raven"
to be funny, but that people interpreted it as scary; the rest, as they
say, is history. (I'll dig around for that little tidbit of info....I have
it somewhere.) However, when I was a kid I read The Tale Tell Heart (or is
it Tell Tale?), and it scared the crap out of me. Oddly enough, that also
made me a fan of Poe.
But, if you think Poe is a chore to read, with all of the "old style"
language, then you haven't tried to read Nathaniel Hawthorne! Although I
like his "House of the Seven Gables", it can be sheer torture trying to
figure out the dialect at times!
Denise Panter
bi...@zeus.bris.ac.uk (Jared Head) wrote:
>saul milligan (mill...@rogerswave.ca) wrote:
>
>: I had the distinct impression that King was playing and having fun
>: throughout the interview. The 'sleeping with a nightlight' bit was one
>: clear example but I really thought that the 'read all of Koontz' stuff
>: was equally tongue in cheek.
>
>One of the many expects may have to correct me, but hasn't King spent some
>time as an English teacher? Never read the classics? No wonder he had to
>give it up.
>
graduate from college without an english lit class -- and a handful of
classics to go with it? He was funnin' us! Actually, in a voice-over, I
believe Leslie did correct (?) his comment and tell us he was just kidding.
Denise :)
Pagan Wench
Randy Flood <fl...@aps.anl.gov> wrote
> I like Koontz also. Phantoms was a damn good book. My beef with him is
> that his endings stink! "Here's a good book with a sugary fit for 5 year
> old ending". I just finished reading Intensity and, except for the
> "magical" deer I thought it was his best book. Nothing supernatural
> about it either. (Plus it had the best ending of any of his books.)
>
Yes, I liked Phantoms, but I think Lightening is my favorite Koontz book.
Although I did like Intensity also. Funny, I didn't really see the elk as
"magical" , though. I took more of a Shamanistic view point.
>
> I've read the Vampire Chronicles series and some of it was very good
> some was pretty bad. I can't seem to generate any interest in any of her
> other stuff tho'.
>
I think IWTV and TVL are the best ones in the Vampire Chronicles. The
stuff in between that and Memnoch the Devil weren't as good, but still
entertaining. And I did like Memnoch the Devil, even if I wasn't crazy
about the way it ended the whole story.
>
>
> > 3. Robin Cook: The scientist in me loves his hi-tech/medical
thrillers
>My mother-in-law loves this guy. I read Mindbend and pretty much gave up
>on him.
My favorite of Robin Cook's works is Fever. It's not a big book, but it
was a very intense read.
>
> And then there's Tom Clancy. Clancy inserts way too many facts in his
> books. Hunt for Red October was real specific in the
> pressure-temperature-reactivity relationship in a nuclear reactor. Even
> though it was accurate (I used to run reactors in the Navy) it was DULL.
>
Hmmm.......now Clancy is an author where I would rather wait for the movie
than read the book. I liked the movies Hunt for Red October, Patriot
Games, Clear and Present Danger........the books, not so much.
>
> Randy
> --
Shades:Got Milk?
How can anyone who has read more than one dean koontz book be a dean
koontz fan? have you not noticed a certain ummm similarity to his plot
lines????
A woman
A man
A small helpless creature (child, dog)
An evil (usually supernatural) force tries to eat/destroy/make love
to(ok, not, but it sounded good) the woman and/or the small creature.
I could write a dean koontz book. But i wont because id rather write a
book about my french teacher.
--
Ma prof de Francais est complet de merde.
Bev Hudema
on 20 Feb 1997 15:31:27 GMT, katoh...@aol.com (KatOh9tale) wrote:
>I don't know if SK really reads Koontz or not, but I would be interested
>in knowing what other writers you newsgroup folks read when your not
>reading KING. What are 5 authors you would read if you couldn't read SK?
1) John Varley -- there's something about his familiarity with his
characters that I find *King-like* -- very soothing when I have to go on a
King-free diet, although I wish he'd write more...there are very few books
out there,
2) Michael Slade -- can't get any better if you're into serial killers
that do really gross stuff to their victims...also too few <eg>,
3) Peter Straub -- the older stuff; I couldn't get into 'The Rose' series,
4) Anne Rice -- a bit on the gothic side, but great characters!
5) Ummm...I'll have to think about it...
Basically, when I'm faced with the dilemma of finding a book to read and I
can't find anything by the above, I scan the shelves of my nearest
bookstore and pick up a lot of stuff that is okay, but not memorable.
Bev II (not Vincent :-)
To Send me e-mail,
change .ca to .com at the end of my address.
Lady Luck
KatOh9tale wrote:
>
> I don't know if SK really reads Koontz or not, but I would be interested
> in knowing what other writers you newsgroup folks read when your not
> reading KING. What are 5 authors you would read if you couldn't read SK?
>
> Remember that you are dust, and to dust you shall return.
Just 5?
Agatha Christie
Earl Stanley Gardner
Chelsea Quinn Yarbro
William X. Kienzle
C.S. Lewis--The Chronicles of Narnia
The Bible, Dell Shannon, Alfred Hitchcock anthologies
Pagan Wench
saul milligan <mill...@rogerswave.ca> wrote in article
<330D33...@rogerswave.ca>...
> Bonnie Bernstein wrote:
>
> > Lightning, now that was a good book. You know one of the things that
> > makes Koontz so great? He can change the genre of a book, in the middle
> > of it.
>
> Changing genre's in mid tale? Hmmm ... sounds like someone who can't
> decide what he wants to do or perhaps has a decidedly short attention
> span. A novel that changes genre in mid stream would about make me tear
> my hair out <BEG>
>
> Stevie Canuck
> --
I wouldn't say that Koontz "changes" genre in the middle of Lightening. To
me, it was more like they were all wrapped up into one and well integrated.
All in all, a well written book. It's books that change _styles_ abruptly
that make me tear my hair out. If Koontz had started out with a
wonderfully descriptive style of writing and then all of a sudden dropped
that and picked one particular theme and hammered it to death, I'm quite
certain I would have been hard pressed to finish the book. Instead, I
zipped through it in one day.
Denise Panter
jl...@cam.ac.uk (Jon Skeet) wrote:
>Argus <ar...@hotmail.com> wrote:
>
>> If you can give me the name of a P.S. Book that is as good as
>> Lightning or It and then I will read it.
>
>to get started with, but then I always find Peter's books hard...
>that's part of the interest, working out what goes where, piecing
>the whole thing together.
>
I'll second that. It's my favorite of his -- perhaps my favorite scary story
of all time.
Denise :)
Pagan Wench
KatOh9tale <katoh...@aol.com> wrote
> I don't know if SK really reads Koontz or not, but I would be interested
> in knowing what other writers you newsgroup folks read when your not
> reading KING. What are 5 authors you would read if you couldn't read SK?
>
> --
> Remember that you are dust, and to dust you shall return.
>
Okay, here are the list of authors that I read when I don't have a new King
book to devour:
1. Dean Koontz: yes, I like him. He's not quite horror.....but good.
I happen to think he is a very descriptive writer. I often wonder
what a collaboration between him and King would be like.
2. Anne Rice: I love her books.....particularly the way she seems to
write "chronicles" (i.e The Mayfair Family, The Vampire Chronicles)
3. Robin Cook: The scientist in me loves his hi-tech/medical thrillers
4. Michael Crichton: ditto......I like his science/thriller books
5. John Grisham
Also, I have become enthralled in the books that are based on the CD-ROM
game MYST. The are coauthored by one of the Miller Brothers (who designed
the game), and are quite good. I also have some Clive Barker on my
bookshelf and some classics: Dante, Edgar Allan Poe, Tolkein, and nice
leather-bound edition of The Complete Hitchhikers Guide (well, I consider
this a classic anyway). And, of course, The X-Files books written by Kevin
Anderson.
--
Darren A Peace
saul milligan <mill...@rogerswave.ca> wrote:
>Well Argus, if the last Straub you read was Floating Dragon then you may
>want to consider doing some catching up. Quick summary ... someone
>correct me if I miss something ... Straub began his career in terms of
>published novels with three of what I consider to be classic, if
>difficult horror books. These were Ghost Story, Shadowland and Floating
>Dragon.
I clarify this point mainly because I think that Stevie would
thoroughly enjoy some of Straub's earlier books. 4 published novels
predate "Ghost Story", and these are, in order of writing,
"Marriages", "Under Venus", "Julia" and "If You Could See Me Now".
The first two are interesting, but (I hope that Peter will forgive me)
significantly flawed books. The latter two are classics of their
genre; to find out more about all four, I'd suggest taking a look at
either
http://www.flat7.demon.co.uk/straub
or
http://www.net-site.com/straub
There is also "The Talisman", co-written with Stephen King, but that
goes without saying, so I won't say it.
--
Darren
dpe...@flat7.demon.co.uk
Straub FAQ : http://www.geocities.com/Athens/1916
Jeff Kreider
Jared Head wrote:
>
> saul milligan (mill...@rogerswave.ca) wrote:
>
> : I had the distinct impression that King was playing and having fun
> : throughout the interview. The 'sleeping with a nightlight' bit was one
> : clear example but I really thought that the 'read all of Koontz' stuff
> : was equally tongue in cheek.
>
> One of the many expects may have to correct me, but hasn't King spent some
> time as an English teacher? Never read the classics? No wonder he had to
> give it up.
>
>
> --
> Jared Head at the Department of Biochemistry, University of Bristol
>
> "A computer lets you make more mistakes faster than any invention in human
> history - with the possible exceptions of handguns and tequila."
> Mitch Ratliffe
Yes, he was. But the fact that he said he has not read two authors (which Lesley
may have considered among the "classics" and ask of him and which he later said he
had read on of them) does not mean he hasn't read others. With respect to having
"...had to give it [English teaching] up...." let me point out that he's a writer
and THAT career choice, and its success, ALLOWED him to give it up. I mean, geesh.
I used to be a fry cook for the Doggie Diner but I now I run my own computer
consulting business so I guess that means I couldn't cut it as a fry cook.
[Note to the PC conscious: Let me say that I mean no disrespect for the profession
of neither English Teaching nor Hamburger Flipping. Admittedly, in the above
context, it may seem that I disparage one or the other by my parallel construction.
I have all the respect in the world for the teaching profession in general and
would not be alive today if it were not for fast foods!]
--
Jeff Kreider, Consultant Computer Software Support for Your Business
210 N. Iris Ave Specializing in Alpha Micro Environments...
Rialto, CA 92376-5727 --------------------
Phone: (909) 874-6214 Books via Internet. Mysteries, Thrillers,
Fax: (909) 874-2143 Modern Firsts, Signed and Unsigned. Email
Email: jk...@ix.netcom.com for current catalogue.
Jon Skeet
Bonnie Bernstein <bern...@u.washington.edu> wrote:
> I bought this big book that has all of Edgar Allen Poe's tales and
> poems, and I've read about half of it, and so far it hasn't been
> very good. Though I might be too un-edacuded to follow his
> old-english style. Well, I can follow his stories, it's just that
> they don't "flow." There like, choppy, and there are a lot of words
> that nobody uses anymore, therefore I don't know them.
> I don't see how anybody could say that Poe is scary either. He
> doesn't scare me in the slightest bit.
Just 'cos he doesn't scare you doesn't mean he won't scare other
people...
I suspect that it's (at least partly) *because* you find him hard to
understand that you don't find him scary. If you keep having to
break out of the story to think about what a sentence means, it's
likely to have less effect... similarly it's hard to find
Shakespeare funny until you see it and don't have to worry about
what every word means.
--
Jon Skeet
When 900 years old *you* reach, look as good *you* will not, hmm?
Yoda - http://yoda.trin.cam.ac.uk. Geek code:
d- s:- a-- C++ UL++ P+ L++ W+++ N++ w--- M-- t- 5 X+ tv b+++ D+ G h* r++
Jeff Kreider
The short answer is yes.
First of all, assuming for the moment that Dean's plot lines may be repetative,
there are other qualities in a book that that appeal to "fans" or even outside
the book that draws them back to further readings. In my case, I like his style.
He has a very well constructed prose which I find appealing and "rare" in the
off-main-stream genre.
Second of all, if you could write a Dean Koontz book, why don't you? I'd like
to read it and maybe it would fund your biography on your French Teacher.
Kim Murrell
> I bought this big book that has all of Edgar Allen Poe's tales
> and poems, and I've read about half of it, and so far it hasn't been
> very good. Though I might be too un-edacuded to follow his old-english style.
> Well, I can follow his stories, it's just that they don't
> "flow." There like, choppy, and there are a lot of words that nobody
> uses anymore, therefore I don't know them. I don't see how anybody
> could say that Poe is scary either. He doesn't scare me in the slightest bit.
I have a collection of Poe like the one you mentioned. I absolutely *love* it!
I don't see Poe as "scary" either...I think, perhaps, "tense" is a better
word to describe his tales.
Kim
--
"Love is a snowmobile racing across the tundra,
and then suddenly it flips over, pinning you underneath.
At night, the ice weasels come." -Matt Groening
Kim Murrell
In article <01bc1fb0$64f03420$22ed...@olympus.cig.mot.com> "Pagan Wench" <tr...@flash.net> writes:
>
>
> But, if you think Poe is a chore to read, with all of the "old style"
> language, then you haven't tried to read Nathaniel Hawthorne! Although I
> like his "House of the Seven Gables", it can be sheer torture trying to
> figure out the dialect at times!
Tell me about it! I've been trying to read that book for *years!* It
seems very interesting, but I keep getting bogged down in his style.
I *will* make it throught it someday, though.
The only book that has ever caused me more problems is Frankenstein.
Whew! That one was a hard read...good, but a hard read.
Bill MacDonald
> > in knowing what other writers you newsgroup folks read when your not
> > reading KING. What are 5 authors you would read if you couldn't read SK?
Here are 5 authors I would read over King anyday:
Dan Simmons - Carrion Comfort especially!
Clive Barker (I gotta meet this guy)
Thomas Harris (still waiting patiently...)
Philip Kerr - "A Philosophical Investigation" is one of the creepiest
serial killer novels I've read.
Poppy Z. Brite - I've only read her short story collection, but I'm
quite impressed.
Bill
saul milligan
Hi Jan, you wrote:
> 1. Tom Robbins (my spiritual advisor!)
>
> 2. J. A. Jance (these two are mystery writers who live in Seattle,
> 3. Earl Emerson and place their detectives in the Seattle area.)
>
> 4. Lillian Jackson-Braun (mystery writers whose cats solve the
> 5. Rita Mae and Sneaky-Pie Brown mysteries 'cause the humans are too
> dumb)
I knew as I read down this thread I would remember authors I should have
included in my five ;)
Tom Robbins!! Absolutely!! There is no other writer like him and IMO
Jitterbug Perfume is the top of his heap ;)
BTW ... have you read any of Rita Mae Brown's earlier fiction? Rubyfruit
Jungle is one of my definite picks for 'most underrated' novel of the
twentieth century.
Stevie Canuck
--
So we make stories of our own,
in fevered and envious imitation of our Maker,
hoping that we'll tell, by chance, what God left untold.
And finishing our tale, come to understand why we were born.
Clive Barker
BluesnJazz
I couldn't resist responding to this thread even though off topic and it's
being beaten into the ground....
Vegard points out:
>And all I have to say to that is that from what I've heard about Koontz,
his
>staff seems to have a very uniform style and stories that are amazingly
alike.
I've noticed that too. I've read about 8 or so of his books. One thing
that kind of annoys me about his books is that you can't tell what the
story line is from the title. I mean, there's rarely even any clue. King
takes an ambiguous word such as "It" and attaches a powerful meaning to
it, so when you go back to re-read a book of King's you can say, "Oh,
yeah, IT, that's about that thing in the SEWER!!!" Whereas with Koontz,
when you're considering re-reading one of his books, you're like,
"Watchers? What the hell was that about???"
His plotlines seem to be very similar too:
Lonely, handsome moustachioed man meets up with beautiful woman on the run
with a powerful secret. Mix in supernatural forces or other wackiness
(such as genetic experimentation). Engage in cross-country chase with
government or other powerful organization. Throw in a good screw along
the way. Not-so-lonely- anymore handsome moustachioed man and beautiful
woman just barely win the race and save the world, or their family, or
whatever.
I'm not saying it's not entertaining.... it just gets a little tiresome
after a while. :)
Don't flame me, just my $.02.
Hugs n kisses,
-- BnJ
Jeff Kreider
Pagan Wench wrote:
>
> KatOh9tale <katoh...@aol.com> wrote
>
> > I don't know if SK really reads Koontz or not, but I would be interested
> > reading KING. What are 5 authors you would read if you couldn't read SK?
> >
Woops, I could I forget Crichton? Him, too. I've done all the fiction
except Lost World.
Jeff Kreider
KatOh9tale wrote:
>
> I don't know if SK really reads Koontz or not, but I would be interested
> in knowing what other writers you newsgroup folks read when your not
> reading KING. What are 5 authors you would read if you couldn't read SK?
>
> Remember that you are dust, and to dust you shall return.
Right now I'm going through a period where I want to read as many different authors
as possible. But try as I might, there are a few to whom I keep coming back. Stephen
King is one of them. Others that I'd also like to return are:
Michael Connelly (I've done all of them)
Dean Koontz (I've done nine)
James Lee Burke (I've done the first three Robicheaux novels)
Robert Crais (I've done just the first one)
Janet Evanovich (ditto)
Dennis Lehane (ditto)
Ridley Pearson (I've done just one so far)
saul milligan
Darren A Peace wrote:
>
> saul milligan <mill...@rogerswave.ca> wrote:
>
>>Well Argus, if the last Straub you read was Floating Dragon then you >>may want to consider doing some catching up. Quick summary ... someone
>>correct me if I miss something
> thoroughly enjoy some of Straub's earlier books. 4 published novels
> predate "Ghost Story", and these are, in order of writing,
> "Marriages", "Under Venus", "Julia" and "If You Could See Me Now".
> The first two are interesting, but (I hope that Peter will forgive me)
> significantly flawed books. The latter two are classics of their
> genre; to find out more about all four, I'd suggest taking a look at
> either
Thanks Darren. You know, I was aware of those books on some level. Guess
that's what I get for making posts in the latter part of the evening too
close to bedtime. ;)
Thanks Again
Stevie Canuck
--
Do you know how cruel your god can be?
How fantastically cruel?
Sometimes he makes us live.
Johnny Marinville
saul milligan
Jon Skeet wrote:
> I'm happy to grant all of that... but what on earth does it have to
> do with my doubts about the validity of your logic?
Come on Jon ... you said in an earlier post you like to look for the
hidden meanings didn't you? ;)
Stevie Canuck
--
DS+ BB- TH-- FP+ NS+ SC+½ ND+ SL DZ++ !CJ DH½ NT ST+ D1 D2 D3 ED½ IT+
IN++ CA-¼
CH MI+ TK-½ TA+ SH-- FI+ !CY GG++½ PS DC++ RM++++ DE+ RG+½ GM+
P++ R++ OT F N+ DK++ sk+½ ps+ dk- ar+ C++½ I++ GO-- VI+++++ OR- ot++
saul milligan
KatOh9tale wrote:
>
>I don't know if SK really reads Koontz or not, but I would be interested
>in knowing what other writers you newsgroup folks read when your not
>reading KING. What are 5 authors you would read if you couldn't read SK?
Hi ...
Well here are five authors I _do_ read in addition to King ... no doubt
I would also read them if I could not read King. ;)
(the order is alphabetical)
Clive Barker
James Lee Burke
Pat Conroy
Mark Helprin
W. P. Kinsella
I am being good and stopping after 5, I could easily go on and I will
prolly kick myself in an hour 'cause I forgot someone I really should
have included ... <shrug>
Stevie Canuck
--
Living and dying, we feed the fire.
Jacob Steep
Jeff Kreider
I've taken the liberty of cross posting this to the Dean Koontz newsgroup.
I agree that a title should be significant to a book. In fact, I think they
should be symbolic of the book. I like to see titles that, all by themselves,
are intriguing. Out of the roughly 35 King titles, I can only think of about
eight that fall into this catagory (The Shining, The Stand, Firestarter, The
Dead Zone, Different Seasons, Needful Things, Geralds Game, and Deperation).
I haven't read all of these, but at least they're intriguing titles. But it
is certainly true that given the name of a King title, you are quickly drawn
back to the story and know pretty much which one it was.
The only title of Koontz I can think of that fills this requirement is Intensity.
But even that was what the book was LIKE, not what it was ABOUT. Dark Rivers of
the Heart comes close, but I think it may have been a better title for Sole
Survivor. Dragon Tears was originally supposed to be Tick Tock and that would have
been appropriate. The title was changed at the request of the publisher (I don't
know why, nor do I completely understand why Dean agreed).
It might be fun to pick a book from one of these authors and come up with what
would be a better title. Any takers?
BluesnJazz wrote:
>
> I couldn't resist responding to this thread even though off topic and it's
> being beaten into the ground....
>
> Vegard points out:
>
> >And all I have to say to that is that from what I've heard about Koontz,
> his
> >staff seems to have a very uniform style and stories that are amazingly
> alike.
>
> I've noticed that too. I've read about 8 or so of his books. One thing
> that kind of annoys me about his books is that you can't tell what the
> story line is from the title. I mean, there's rarely even any clue. King
> takes an ambiguous word such as "It" and attaches a powerful meaning to
> it, so when you go back to re-read a book of King's you can say, "Oh,
> yeah, IT, that's about that thing in the SEWER!!!" Whereas with Koontz,
> when you're considering re-reading one of his books, you're like,
> "Watchers? What the hell was that about???"
<snipped plot line discussion>
Jan Junod
On Fri, 21 Feb 1997, saul milligan wrote:
> I knew as I read down this thread I would remember authors I should have
> included in my five ;)
>
> Tom Robbins!! Absolutely!! There is no other writer like him and IMO
> Jitterbug Perfume is the top of his heap ;)
Jitterbug Perfume is my Bible! My copy is autographed by him and I
read it about every 4 months or so.
> BTW ... have you read any of Rita Mae Brown's earlier fiction? Rubyfruit
> Jungle is one of my definite picks for 'most underrated' novel of the
> twentieth century.
Yes, I love all of her work. I got hooked with the Sneaky Pie series, and
then tried the others. AND, my ex-coworker's ex-roommate is her uhmm...
ex.
Jan
Jan Junod ju...@u.washington.edu
***************************************************************************
absk geek code:
IT++++ ST+++ TA++
P+ R++ OT+ F N+ DK++++
sk+++ ps+ dk ep++ ar- ac+++
C++ I++ GO---- V++++ OR- ot+++
***********************************
Scribbler
Bernard J. Farber wrote:
>
> While I can understand why some authors don't do this, both for time's
> shake
Choc or strawberry?
Scrib
Vegard
LOL! It actually took me 20 seconds to figure this one out...
Vegard
Vegard
My favorite writers change constantly, depending who I've read (and
liked) the past two or three months. Right now that would be:
Simon Maginn (Virgins and Martyrs)
Stephen R. Donaldson (Gap Cycle)
Joyce Carol Oates (Zombie)
H. P. Lovecraft
Joe R. Lansdale
Vegard
NightSerf
Argus (ar...@hotmail.com) wrote:
: O.K.
: I've read about 4 books by P.S. The only one that comes to
: mind is the last one "Floating Dragon." And I sorry I was not
: pleased with the story. It was a chore to finish. And when I
: was done I asked myself "Why did I read it?"
: If you can give me the name of a P.S. Book that is as good as
: Lightning or It and then I will read it.
: A.
Lightning was a fun read, but as far as I could tell, it was
written on only one level--not worth a second read. I think of
it as throw-away reading--good for an afternoon's
entertainment, but of no lasting value--kind of like most TV
shows. You might benefit from widening the scope of your
reading rather than looking for more of the same.
--
Serf tomb nor stone nor grave for me
(andy sims) just a bier up in a tree
ac...@virginia.edu to let the cold wind take me in
Anasazi
>KatOh9tale <katoh...@aol.com> wrote
>> I don't know if SK really reads Koontz or not, but I would be interested
>> in knowing what other writers you newsgroup folks read when your not
>> reading KING. What are 5 authors you would read if you couldn't read SK?
In addition to Tolkein, Anne Rice, Robin Cook, John Grisham from Pagan
Wench's list, here's some more:
1. John Updike
2. Issac Asimov
3. Robert Heinlein
(I like both fiction and non-fiction of the above)
4. John D. McDonald
and..........
5. X-Files fan-fic.........There's a lot of EXCELLENTstuff at
alt.tv.x-files.creative.
**Anasazi**
(who's been reading some REALLY weird stuff <like "Revelation X The
Bob Apocryphon> since my daughter's fiancé moved in)
absk geek code: ST+++ DE+ TA++ DT1,2,3+++ P- R+++ OT++ F- N DK++ sk+++ ar+ C+++>+ I++>+++ GO++++ OR-- ot+++
--Lord, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot
change, the courage to change the the things I can,
and the wisdom to hide the bodies of those people I had
to kill because they pissed me off.
Jared Head
Scribbler (scri...@istar.ca) wrote:
: Actually, he really is. You just have to be a dog to hear it...
What sort of dog are we talking about? A sort of super-intelligent
Golden Retriever that's escaped from a laboratory?
Jared Head
Distribution:
Jan Junod (ju...@u.washington.edu) wrote:
: Jitterbug Perfume is my Bible! My copy is autographed by him and I
: read it about every 4 months or so.
I was just wondering if anybody else has got one book like that, that they
re-read religiously (not including the real Bible!).
With me it's "The Hustler" by Walter Tevis, with it's wonderful
pronouncements on the nature of success (which I always follow with "The
Color of Money" because I can't leave poor old Fast Eddie under Bert's
thumb).
Bennie Smith
NightSerf wrote:
>
> Argus (ar...@hotmail.com) wrote:
> : O.K.
>
> : I've read about 4 books by P.S. The only one that comes to
> : mind is the last one "Floating Dragon." And I sorry I was not
> : pleased with the story. It was a chore to finish. And when I
> : was done I asked myself "Why did I read it?"
>
> : If you can give me the name of a P.S. Book that is as good as
> : Lightning or It and then I will read it.
Ghost Story is classic; it's got so many levels I re-read it every
couple of years. Shadowlands is also good, textured; it reads almost
like a dream. On the more "realistic" side, Mystery and Koko are both
very well written and engaging. I've heard that the Hellfire Club is
good, but have not read it yet (waiting for paperback).
The Floating Dragon was BAD. Try any of the above to restore your
faith in ol' Pete.
Scribbler
Argus wrote:
>
> Stein wrote:
> > >
> > > Uh... Which country is that?
> > >
> > > Vegard
> >
> > Must be North Korea.
> >
> > Stein.
>
> Ha Ha.
>
> You are so funny.
>
> A.
Actually, he really is. You just have to be a dog to hear it...
Scrib
Denise Smith
>Ghost Story is classic; it's got so many levels I re-read it every
>couple of years. Shadowlands is also good, textured; it reads almost
>like a dream. On the more "realistic" side, Mystery and Koko are both
>very well written and engaging. I've heard that the Hellfire Club is
>good, but have not read it yet (waiting for paperback).
I managed to make it all the way through Shadowlands once - every time I
try to re-read, I lose interest... curious phenomenon for me...
I think it was Mystery that I read a few years back & *LOVED* - I would
recommend to anyone.
Will have to look up some of the others, when I go through my next
reading binge.
- denni
"We can laugh / we can cry / and never see the strong hand of love hidden
in the shadows" - Mark Heard
Laurelin
Pagan Wench <tr...@flash.net> wrote in article
<01bc1fb0$64f03420$22ed...@olympus.cig.mot.com>...
> I *love* Tolkein. I had this box set of his Lord of The Rings, The
Hobbit,
> etc., and I read and reread them until I wore the books out. I recently
> went out and plunked down a pretty penny for a nice leather bound edition
> of the collection. It's one of my favorite stories.
Ditto here. I first read the trilogy in high school and now have to reread
it at least once a year. Have you tried the Silmarillion (pretty dry but a
lot of great mytho-historical background to LOTR and the Hobbit) or the
HoME series? All excellent resources about Middle-Earth. I also like his
non-hobbit stories, like _Adventures of Tom Bombadil_. In fact, the two
other ng's that I visit are alt.fan.tolkien, and rec.arts.books.tolkien.
Nice to see someone with the same literary tastes!
My other favorites would be (in no order)
C.S. Lewis (Screwtape Letters)
Anne Rice (The Mayfair Witches series)
Faulkner (I just reread _As I Lay Dying_, oooh!)
Zola (just finished a short story of his, L'Inondation, all about this
family and their horrible experience with a devastating flood. Reminds me a
little of King, in that he can be grotesque and macabre, but Zola's works
deal more with man's struggle against nature than against "supernatural"
forces)
Not always fun reads, but definitely worth the time.
--Laurelin
Laurelin
Jared Head <bi...@zeus.bris.ac.uk> wrote in article
<E60IA...@fsa.bris.ac.uk>...
> Distribution:
>
> Jan Junod (ju...@u.washington.edu) wrote:
>
> : Jitterbug Perfume is my Bible! My copy is autographed by him and I
> : read it about every 4 months or so.
>
> I was just wondering if anybody else has got one book like that, that
they
> re-read religiously (not including the real Bible!).
Well, I mentioned this elsewhere, but for me it's Tolkien's _Hobbit_ and
_Lord of the Rings_ (in that order). I have to reread them at least once a
year for my own enjoyment.
--Laurelin
Jon Skeet
Jared Head <bi...@zeus.bris.ac.uk> wrote:
> Jan Junod (ju...@u.washington.edu) wrote:
>
> : Jitterbug Perfume is my Bible! My copy is autographed by him and I
> : read it about every 4 months or so.
>
> I was just wondering if anybody else has got one book like that, that they
> re-read religiously (not including the real Bible!).
Well, not yet. However, when I've managed to finish it once, I
suspect Godel, Escher, Bach (Douglas Hofstadter) will become like
that. Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance (Robert Pirsig) I've
read twice, and nealy understood most of it the second time: there
were several moments of "this is *so* true" - I'm sure I'll come
back to it often.
--
Jon Skeet
When 900 years old *you* reach, look as good *you* will not, hmm?
Yoda - http://yoda.trin.cam.ac.uk. Geek code:
d- s:- a-- C++ UL++ P+ L++ W+++ N++ w--- M-- t- 5 X+ tv b+++ D+ G h* r++
Andrew M. Raibeck
KatOh9tale wrote:
>
> I don't know if SK really reads Koontz or not, but I would be interested
> in knowing what other writers you newsgroup folks read when your not
> reading KING. What are 5 authors you would read if you couldn't read SK?
1. Peter Straub
2. T.E.D. Klein (dang it! we need more than one novel and one novella
collection!)
3. Dan Simmons
4. Jack Vance
5. Mark Twain
Andy
Tayan
katoh...@aol.com (KatOh9tale) wrote:
>I don't know if SK really reads Koontz or not, but I would be interested
>in knowing what other writers you newsgroup folks read when your not
>reading KING. What are 5 authors you would read if you couldn't read SK?
(1) Richard Laymon
(2) Dan Simmons
(3) John Skipp and Craig Spector
(4) John Farris
(5) Clive Barker
It's horror, or nothing! (I read Woody Allen too... ah well, I guess
there are some who'd consider what he writes horror, heh-heh...)
Tayan
--
"The lion and the calf shall lie down together but the calf
won't get much sleep." - Woody Allen
TGFTXF! at http://www.singnet.com.sg/~liviafyk/xfiles.html
Randy Flood
Mirror Systems wrote:
>
> I've been reading the responses to this thread for quite some time
> and I'm puzzled.
>
> The operative word in this hypothetical is "COULDN'T". Well, I
> bet that if I _could not_ read KING, I _would not_ be able
> to read anything else (either). I'll put it plainly, if one
> suffers some mental impairment such that you lose the
> ability to read (by whatever means you're used to) you
> can't very likely read anything.
Unless this is an alternate Earth like in sliders and Stephen King never
became a writer. If he never wrote anything, we couldn't very well read
it, could we?
>
> Or is it meant in a context similar to that of Quitters Inc. where
> big brother is clandestinely (sp?) following you about to see if you try to
> sneak a few pages in the outhouse on grandpa's farm, they amputate
> your significant other's little finger?
See, now your getting it.
>
> Or do those who have sold their soul to the
> Devil (and the price to pay was "Thou shalt not gaze upon
> the tomes of King") have a personal terminator assigned them,
> an ice pick at the ready, with instructions
> to shove it in your ear if you pick up a copy of
> Night Shift and start thumbing throught it?
And you were doing so well. The people that have sold their souls
already have signed limited editions of Dark Tower IV (and V)
>
> honestly, I don't understand you people sometimes.
It's all just an inside joke. In fact, it's so inside, the people on
the inside don't even know who they are.
> actually, i'm just bored with surveys
Well, share some high intensity garage sale stories with us to distract
us from the surveys.
>
> posting when you're drunk is such fun.
It's like a party. Watching the drunks is such fun.
Randy
--
You have to create a track record of breaking your
own mold, or at least other people's idea of that mold.
--William Hurt
ABSK geek code:ST++++ P++ R+++ OT++ F--- !N DK+++ sk+++(sk---)
C+++ I++ GO----- ot+++++
Bracken MacLeod
> I was just wondering if anybody else has got one book like that, that they
> re-read religiously (not including the real Bible!).
You know, whenever I'm at a loss for something to read, I re-read Dalton
Trumbo's Johnny Got His Gun. I've never read anything else of his, but
this is one seriously powerful book. As a matter of fact, it's the only
book that I've had to put down in the middle because it was so disturbing.
I've also read Nietzsche's Beyond Good & Evil about a hundred times, but
I'm not sure that counts because it is related to my job (ethics teacher).
Slainte,
Bracken
--
**************************************************************************
* Convictions are more dangerous enemies of truth than lies. - Nietzsche *
**************************************************************************
Dave Millard
On 20 Feb 1997 15:31:27 GMT, katoh...@aol.com (KatOh9tale) wrote:
>I don't know if SK really reads Koontz or not, but I would be interested
>in knowing what other writers you newsgroup folks read when your not
>reading KING. What are 5 authors you would read if you couldn't read SK?
Dean Koontz
Bentley Little
Dick Francis
James Herbert
Shaun Hutson
Dave - shuddering to think what that list (apart from DF) says about
me!
--
If it's there and you can see it, it's real
If it's there and you can't see it, it's invisible
If it's not there and you can see it, it's virtual
If it's not there and you can't see it, it's GONE.
Mirror Systems
I've been reading the responses to this thread for quite some time
and I'm puzzled.
The operative word in this hypothetical is "COULDN'T". Well, I
bet that if I _could not_ read KING, I _would not_ be able
to read anything else (either). I'll put it plainly, if one
suffers some mental impairment such that you lose the
ability to read (by whatever means you're used to) you
can't very likely read anything.
Or is it meant in a context similar to that of Quitters Inc. where
big brother is clandestinely (sp?) following you about to see if you try to
sneak a few pages in the outhouse on grandpa's farm, they amputate
your significant other's little finger?
Or do those who have sold their soul to the
Devil (and the price to pay was "Thou shalt not gaze upon
the tomes of King") have a personal terminator assigned them,
an ice pick at the ready, with instructions
to shove it in your ear if you pick up a copy of
Night Shift and start thumbing throught it?
honestly, I don't understand you people sometimes.
actually, i'm just bored with surveys
posting when you're drunk is such fun.
Mirror Systems
Kim Murrell <ki...@mail.warped.com> wrote:
>In article <01bc1fb0$64f03420$22ed...@olympus.cig.mot.com> "Pagan Wench" <tr...@flash.net> writes:
>>
>>
>> But, if you think Poe is a chore to read, with all of the "old style"
>> language, then you haven't tried to read Nathaniel Hawthorne! Although I
>> like his "House of the Seven Gables", it can be sheer torture trying to
>> figure out the dialect at times!
>
>Tell me about it! I've been trying to read that book for *years!* It
>seems very interesting, but I keep getting bogged down in his style.
>I *will* make it throught it someday, though.
>
>The only book that has ever caused me more problems is Frankenstein.
>Whew! That one was a hard read...good, but a hard read.
>
My nemesis was The Scarlet Letter. In highschool my eyes traced over
the words in the first half of that book not digesting any of it.
Upon starting over, it clicked, but that first exposure, sheesh.
I was shocked when, (a couple of yrs later) I picked up a horror anthology
to see good ole Nat as one of the included authors. I thought to myself,
gee, how does Nathaniel Hawthorne fit into the horror genre?
I have yet to read him again. maybe I should strap myself in sometime.
Robert Shiels
Glad to see someone has mentioned Richard Laymon. I am reading my first
from him (Island) and can hardly put it down.
Robert
PS my five at the moment (ie writers who are writing currently) are
1. Terry Pratchett
2. Iain (M) Banks
3. Orson Scott Card
err...I'll have to think a bit more (as you can see I'm really an SF fan)
Tayan <livi...@singnet.com.sg> wrote in article
<5em2j8$8...@lantana.singnet.com.sg>...
> katoh...@aol.com (KatOh9tale) wrote:
>
> >I don't know if SK really reads Koontz or not, but I would be interested
> >in knowing what other writers you newsgroup folks read when your not
> >reading KING. What are 5 authors you would read if you couldn't read
SK?
>
Jon Skeet
Randy Flood <fl...@aps.anl.gov> wrote:
> > honestly, I don't understand you people sometimes.
>
> It's all just an inside joke. In fact, it's so inside, the people on
> the inside don't even know who they are.
Do you mean they don't know they're inside, or they've been inside
so long they've forgotten their true identity?
Randy Flood
Jon Skeet wrote:
>
>
> Do you mean they don't know they're inside, or they've been inside
> so long they've forgotten their true identity?
>
> --
> Jon Skeet
Well, I've changed my hairstyles so many times now, I don't know what I
look like.
But I guess it's like here, here (hear, hear) You take out of it what
you will.
Capt Kangaroo
On 20 Feb 1997 15:31:27 GMT, katoh...@aol.com (KatOh9tale) wrote:
>I don't know if SK really reads Koontz or not, but I would be interested
>in knowing what other writers you newsgroup folks read when your not
>reading KING. What are 5 authors you would read if you couldn't read SK?
>
*Only* 5!!? Oh well, here goes:-
Jack Kerouac
James Ellroy
Dashiell Hammett
Raymond Chandler
Clive Barker
Capt Kangaroo
"The authentic act of pure decision is no longer committed at random with scant regard to meaning.."
Kyleword
In the early 80s Koontz wrote a book about writing titled How to Write
Bestselling Fiction. While it's a terrific book on the subject, and a
great help to budding novelists, it has ruined his work for me. I read
his stories and they all seem to have the same plots -- as has been
mentioned here repeatedly -- and the characters are somewhat cardboard. I
think the main thing is that his novels seem plot-driven, where the people
are there just to fulfill the story requirements.
King, on the other hand, seems to be "plot-weak" (if that's a word). His
characters and effects are what I remember, and the plots -- a haunted
hotel, a haunted car, a town full of vampires, a girl who starts fires --
are all pretty simple. Of the two, I prefer King.....but my opinion
hasn't seemed to hurt Koontz's sales any. BTW, I've been reading Koontz
for many, many years.....does anybody else remember his career as a
science-fiction writer?
Jared Head
BluesnJazz (blues...@aol.com) wrote:
: His plotlines seem to be very similar too:
: Lonely, handsome moustachioed man
Don't forget he comes from a very poor unloving family, but now he's a
very rich, self-made man.