Post-apocalyptic fiction
Blair Leatherwood
post-apocalyptic fiction in general.
There seem to be two basic variants. One is the "small band of
survivors creating a new society" and the other is "sorry folks, you
really screwed the pooch and it's all over now".
Which resonates more with you? And are there preferred variants of the
variants (like the "we haven't really learned much"--see A Canticle for
Leibowitz--or "we'll do better this time")?
Any favorites? I did get a nice little thrill at the end of On the
Beach (first time I've read it; I *think* I've seen the older film
version a long, long time ago) because it seemed so inevitable.
I have read Canticle, Alas, Babylon, Earth Abides, When/After Worlds
Collide, and probably many others which could fit the definition. I'm
leaving dystopias out of this--I'm primarily interested in true
apocalypses (apocalypsi?).
Blair
lizardgirl
i find both variants enjoyable and annoying.
the recent events in haiti i think bare witness to just how horrific
and messy a mass die off is. jumping the story to 'every body's dead
except we three' feels like a bit of a cheat that white washes all the
blood and gusts (unless of course everything/one has been vaporized
during the invasion) and why movies like 'zombie land' are strangely
appealing, "so, like there was this virus and can you believe the shit
we have to deal with now.?"
g
Duggy
> I just finished reading On the Beach, and it made me think about
> post-apocalyptic fiction in general.
> There seem to be two basic variants. One is the "small band of
> survivors creating a new society" and the other is "sorry folks, you
> really screwed the pooch and it's all over now".
I have noticed I haven't read much of it, but I do have an opinion on
TV and film post-apocalpytic stuff.
Ongoing TV PA series cannot be successful because the second type you
mention is too depressing, and the first is too big,
"It's all over" is a series final, not a direction for an ongoing
series, otherwise the audience will give up. "small band of
survivors" is too big for TV. Unless you have some miracle cure for
the Earth's woes, the will be no satisfactory outcome for the
audience... it's going to seem unrelently like "it's all over, you
just haven't realised yet." Or too easily gets caught in the travel-
log "Here's mutants in the remains of Chicago, next week a simple farm
community tried to steal the women in our band." There just isn't the
"space" in a series to have a eventually happy outcome.
Films (TV specials and movies) are more successful but have the same
problems. "It's all over" is hard hitting but bleak. As such they
don't get made much, when they do they annoy half the audience. "Band
of survivors" are more common, but have the same issues as TV, usually
ending with some small, and essentially pointless "victory". Yay,
someone's found a cure for the virus and so the reminants of society
need not fear another outbreak... or the band has finally found a
good patch of ground to start again. (Unless raiders turn up and kill
them or the crops fail just once).
The line between the two types, is really very thin, I think, it's is
really about the tone of the end. Small band stuff rarely negates the
possibility of "we're screwed" it just pretends for a moment that
there is hope otherwise.
I want a film, one day to end with a guy turning to a girl and saying
"well, there's nothing left for us but to repopulate the Earth with
our inbred grandchildren."
> Which resonates more with you? And are there preferred variants of the
> variants (like the "we haven't really learned much"--see A Canticle for
> Leibowitz--or "we'll do better this time")?
Come now, this is like asking "Which of your wives do you love the
most?" The answer doesn't matter, if one of them heres the question,
you're already in trouble.
No, sorry, "Which one of you children do you love the most?"
All of them equally.
A good is good and bad is bad, and I don't think one is better than
the other, for me.
> Any favorites? I did get a nice little thrill at the end of On the
> Beach (first time I've read it; I *think* I've seen the older film
> version a long, long time ago) because it seemed so inevitable.
OTB is the only one that I recall reading ATM. Unless you count the
end of The Time Machine.
Oh, and "this weird fantasy setting is actually post-Apocalyptic
Future Earth!"
That may be a third type for you. It was long enough again that a new
stable society nothing like our own world has emerged.
> I have read Canticle, Alas, Babylon, Earth Abides, When/After Worlds
> Collide, and probably many others which could fit the definition. I'm
> leaving dystopias out of this--I'm primarily interested in true
> apocalypses (apocalypsi?).
Apocalypse seems Greek (and being biblical would suggest it is) so
probably an "i" ending... at some point in England the civil service
standised the language and "seems Greek" was end for a "i" plural.
On-topic (more or less):
For a different type of Type 1 or 3 story, see Babylon 5: "The
Deconstruction of Falling Stars" (and the potential TV series that JMS
joked about in the commentary).
And: Jeremiah... a Type 1 story that had some travel-log elements, but
a built in miracle-cure(ish), too.
===
= DUG.
===
Duggy
> the recent events in haiti i think bare witness to just how horrific
> and messy a mass die off is. jumping the story to 'every body's dead
> except we three' feels like a bit of a cheat that white washes all the
> blood and gusts (unless of course everything/one has been vaporized
> during the invasion) and why movies like 'zombie land' are strangely
> appealing, "so, like there was this virus and can you believe the shit
> we have to deal with now.?"
I think I get where you're coming from. There's always that "where
are all the bodies"/"why are there suddenly a dead-traffic jam for no
apparent reason?"/"Shouldn't there be more/less structural damage to
the city"
I've found "Life After Man" an interesting documentary to mentally
compare with all the PA films I've seen and think "yeah, I didn't
think there'd be no evidence of civilisation in only 30 years."
Is this a bad time to say that the other week I left my house to spend
the cyclone at a friend's, looked at the 4 volume set of "How Things
Work" and decide that, no, this wasn't "the end", they could wait for
that evacuation.
===
= DUG.
===
Charlie E.
Add in 'Lucifer's Hammer' as a good P-A novel, that tells the messy
story of the apocalypse itself...
Charlie
Doug Freyburger
>
>> I have read Canticle, Alas, Babylon, Earth Abides, When/After Worlds
>> Collide, and probably many others which could fit the definition. I'm
>> leaving dystopias out of this--I'm primarily interested in true
>> apocalypses (apocalypsi?).
>
> Deconstruction of Falling Stars" (and the potential TV series that JMS
> joked about in the commentary).
For more on an interstellar scale see Lensman (includes cycles on planet
in Triplanetary), Foundation, Mote in God's Eye and many more.
> And: Jeremiah... a Type 1 story that had some travel-log elements, but
> a built in miracle-cure(ish), too.
Jericho is another very good TV show produced since Babylon 5 aired in
the sub-genre.
lizardgirl
> On Feb 13, 6:09 am, lizardgirl <gab...@comcast.net> wrote:
>
> > the recent events in haiti i think bare witness to just how horrific
> > and messy a mass die off is. jumping the story to 'every body's dead
> > except we three' feels like a bit of a cheat that white washes all the
> > blood and gusts (unless of course everything/one has been vaporized
> > during the invasion) and why movies like 'zombie land' are strangely
> > appealing, "so, like there was this virus and can you believe the shit
> > we have to deal with now.?"
>
> I think I get where you're coming from. There's always that "where
> are all the bodies"/"why are there suddenly a dead-traffic jam for no
> apparent reason?"/"Shouldn't there be more/less structural damage to
> the city"
yes, like that. the end result doesn't tell you much about the cause
or affect.
world war Z is nicely done in that you get a sense of how things
happened, why people/countries reacted/responded they way they did and
what they're doing now. the personal account/documentary formate was
a good choice in that regard.
i'm curious to see given JMS' experience with Jeremiah who things will
play out if the book ever makes it to the big screen.
> I've found "Life After Man" an interesting documentary to mentally
> compare with all the PA films I've seen and think "yeah, I didn't
> think there'd be no evidence of civilisation in only 30 years."
LAM is fun, though strangely optimistic.
>
> Is this a bad time to say that the other week I left my house to spend
> the cyclone at a friend's, looked at the 4 volume set of "How Things
> Work" and decide that, no, this wasn't "the end", they could wait for
> that evacuation.
>
we accept you as you are.
lg
Joseph DeMartino
> the recent events in haiti i think bare witness to just how horrific
> and messy a mass die off is. jumping the story to 'every body's dead
> except we three' feels like a bit of a cheat that white washes all the
> blood and gusts
Stephen King's "The Stand" is actually very good on the messy mass die-
off stuff, especially Stu Redman's harrowing journey through a Lincoln
tunnel filled with wrecked vehicles and rotting corpses. Yuck!
Regards,
Joe
Duggy
> For more on an interstellar scale see Lensman (includes cycles on planet
> in Triplanetary), Foundation, Mote in God's Eye and many more.
Foundation mostly followed the planets that avoided the breakdown of
society, some they visited came close, but the foundation brought them
back. One of them reverted to amish culture, but (spoilers) and
didn't seem that possible in the timeframe. A couple of the spacer
worlds and the homeworld were completely wiped out years earlier,
though.
> > And: Jeremiah... a Type 1 story that had some travel-log elements, but
> > a built in miracle-cure(ish), too.
> Jericho is another very good TV show produced since Babylon 5 aired in
> the sub-genre.
I hated the first episode and didn't go on. Did it get better than
"What would happen to the people of Dawson's Creek if there was a
limited nuclear war"?
===
= DUG.
===
Duggy
> On Feb 13, 2:23 am, Duggy <p.allan.dug...@gmail.com> wrote:
> > I think I get where you're coming from. There's always that "where
> > are all the bodies"/"why are there suddenly a dead-traffic jam for no
> > apparent reason?"/"Shouldn't there be more/less structural damage to
> > the city"
> yes, like that. the end result doesn't tell you much about the cause
> or affect.
I keep thinking someone needs to make a series of films: apocalpyse,
post-apocalpyse, the rebuild.
The closest are the Romeo Dead films and the Resident Evil films...
Or at least start a film with a small band of survivors arriving at
the gates of the last vestages of humanity and go from there...
> world war Z is nicely done in that you get a sense of how things
> happened, why people/countries reacted/responded they way they did and
> what they're doing now. the personal account/documentary formate was
> a good choice in that regard.
> i'm curious to see given JMS' experience with Jeremiah who things will
> play out if the book ever makes it to the big screen.
We live in hope.
> > I've found "Life After Man" an interesting documentary to mentally
> > compare with all the PA films I've seen and think "yeah, I didn't
> > think there'd be no evidence of civilisation in only 30 years."
> LAM is fun, though strangely optimistic.
If it wasn't no one would watch the show.
> > Is this a bad time to say that the other week I left my house to spend
> > the cyclone at a friend's, looked at the 4 volume set of "How Things
> > Work" and decide that, no, this wasn't "the end", they could wait for
> > that evacuation.
> we accept you as you are.
Oh. Really? I'm sorry to here that about you. There are people who
can help you.
===
= DUG.
===
Doug Freyburger
> Doug Freyburger <dfrey...@yahoo.com> wrote:
>
>> Jericho is another very good TV show produced since Babylon 5 aired in
>> the sub-genre.
>
> I hated the first episode and didn't go on. Did it get better than
> "What would happen to the people of Dawson's Creek if there was a
> limited nuclear war"?
Much better. Maybe it's because I have no idea who the people of
Dawson's Creek are. I don't recall watching a single episode of that
show. Jericho only saw a short run. It got cancelled half way through
the first season, saw a fan uprising, got another half season. On a
similar scale to Jeremiah and Firefly but with a story line that
requires less supension of disbelief.
Kathryn Huxtable
Unless you live in Kansas and know there's no place where the geography
works...
-K, who lives in Kansas.
Doug Freyburger
> Doug Freyburger said:
>
>> Much better. Maybe it's because I have no idea who the people of
>> Dawson's Creek are. I don't recall watching a single episode of that
>> show. Jericho only saw a short run. It got cancelled half way through
>> the first season, saw a fan uprising, got another half season. On a
>> similar scale to Jeremiah and Firefly but with a story line that
>> requires less supension of disbelief.
>
> Unless you live in Kansas and know there's no place where the geography
> works...
Chortle! I knew that yet found it less of a stretch than a lot of the
points.
Blair Leatherwood
thereof) of Northern California.
Duggy
> > I hated the first episode and didn't go on. Did it get better than
> > "What would happen to the people of Dawson's Creek if there was a
> > limited nuclear war"?
> Much better. Maybe it's because I have no idea who the people of
> Dawson's Creek are. I don't recall watching a single episode of that
> show.
Neither did I. I saw moments of episodes and ads. But enough to know
it was an annoying teen girl drama town and I wasn't interested.
I watched the first episode of Jericho and saw it was an annoying teen
girl drama town and I wasn't interested.
> Jericho only saw a short run. It got cancelled half way through
> the first season, saw a fan uprising, got another half season. On a
> similar scale to Jeremiah and Firefly but with a story line that
> requires less supension of disbelief.
Hm. Thought by now people would have learnt not to bring up Firefly
as an example around me.
===
= DUG.
===
Joseph DeMartino
wrote:
> I have the same issue with The Mentalist and their grasp (or lack
> thereof) of Northern California.- Hide quoted text -
"Silk Stalkings", supposedly set in Palm Beach, was one of the worst
offenders in this regard. The Town of Palm Beach is a tiny enclave at
the north end of a very small island - a couple of miles long, less
than a mile across in most places. The only supermarket has valet
parking and there are no poor sections of town. (The poor people who
work there - like me not too long ago - live on the mainland side of
the bridges in places like West Palm Beach and Lake Worht.)
This whole part of the state is pooltable flat. The highest point of
elevation within 50 miles is about 30 feet high - a landfill in Ft.
Lauderdale. Yet "Silk Stalkings" always had mountains in the
background, winding hilly roads, and no shortage of run-down
neighborhoods within the jurisdiction of the (surprisingly large) Palm
Beach police department. ("Criminal Minds" also featured a
surprisingly hilly Palm Beach in one episode.)
Regards,
Joe
lizardgirl
> I keep thinking someone needs to make a series of films: apocalpyse,
> post-apocalpyse, the rebuild.
apocalypse, post-apocalpyse, apocalypse lost.
>
> The closest are the Romeo Dead films and the Resident Evil films...
>
yes, and mila has nothing to do with how appealing they are.
> > we accept you as you are.
>
> Oh. Really? I'm sorry to here that about you. There are people who
> can help you.
>
weird, we've heard that too. just not at the same
time. :^) :^( :^P
lizardgirl
not a bid stephen king fan. i want to say i read something of his a
long, long time ago but i could be wrong.
i'll at least give the title a look see on amazon. i'm bookless at
the moment.
lg
Elko T
> On Feb 14, 1:10 pm, Joseph DeMartino <jdema...@bellsouth.net> wrote:
>> On Feb 12, 3:09 pm, lizardgirl <gab...@comcast.net> wrote:
>>
>>> the recent events in haiti i think bare witness to just how horrific
>>> and messy a mass die off is. jumping the story to 'every body's dead
>>> except we three' feels like a bit of a cheat that white washes all the
>>> blood and gusts
>> Stephen King's "The Stand" is actually very good on the messy mass die-
>> off stuff, especially Stu Redman's harrowing journey through a Lincoln
>> tunnel filled with wrecked vehicles and rotting corpses. Yuck!
>>
>
> long, long time ago but i could be wrong.
> i'll at least give the title a look see on amazon. i'm bookless at
> the moment.
St. King is variable, at least to my tastes. Of the ones I've read, I liked
"Firestarter", "It", "The Stand" (the complete edition), "Insomnia" and "Rose
Madder". I didn't like Carrie, Salem's Lot, The Shining, Cujo and Pet Sematary.
I couldn't bring myself to read The Dark Tower series for some reason.
And, of course, the annoying presence of the supernatural in almost all of
his works (but it comes with the package, so has to lived with). Maybe I liked
the ones I did, because its presence in them was less annoying. In any event,
"The Stand" and "Insomnia" are powerful, even epic books.
--
No, no, you can't e-mail me with the nono.
Amy Guskin
(in article <ijh9ev$tne$1...@news.eternal-september.org>):
Let's not forget his newer stuff. I think he's going through something of a
renaissance, in fact. I'm thinking "The Cell," "Duma Key," and "Under the
Dome" (which I really LOVED, and which is rumored to be in development by HBO
as a miniseries).
Amy
--
Bah & The Humbugs
Bigger Than Santa: A 25th Anniversary Humbug Tribute
Free mp3 downloads and more at bahandthehumbugs.com
Amy Guskin
(in article
<c7deeefa-5dd3-47b7...@n16g2000prc.googlegroups.com>):
I love "The Stand." It's one of my all-time favorite books. I'd be shocked
if your local library didn't have a copy. (Hrm, I wonder if the original
version is still around, or only the version with the additional material.)
Joseph DeMartino
> And, of course, the annoying presence of the supernatural in almost all of
> his works (but it comes with the package, so has to lived with).
Actually, I've always been struck by how *few* of King's books are
actually horror. His first published book, "Carrie" had no
supernatural elements at all. Carrie White's abilities were the
result of a genetic mutation, not magic. The book was arguably
science fiction. (The movie was a different matter, but that wasn't
King.) Before he sold "Carrie", King had written several other
novels, some of which were eventually revised and published under hsi
"Richard Bachman" pseudonym. "Rage" was about a hostage-taking at a
suburban high school. "The Long Walk" was another SF story set in a
dystopian future.
Of his first six published novels, only two, "Salem's 'Lot", a
concious reworking of the "Dracula" theme, and "The Shinging", King's
take on The Bad Place, involve either horror or the supernatural. Of
the first eight or nine complete novels King wrote nearly half were
speculative fiction and two, "Rage" and "Cujo", were straight dramatic
novels.
I like King's stuff, by and large. "Misery", "Gerald's Game" and
"Dolores Claiborne" are all good stories, well told, without a ghost
or a vampire or a speck of magic in any of them. I really enjoyed
"Carrie", which reminded me of "The Andromeda Strain" with its
documentary interludes and twin timelines, one showing the unfolding
events, the other the retrospective investigation. I think it is one
of the most impressive debut novels I've ever read. King is a story
teller first and foremost, and he'll subordinate tone, style and other
literary elements to moving the story along when he thinks he needs
to, but he's created some very vivid characters and managed some great
lines, as well as passages of real beauty.
Early on in King's career, Harlan Ellison called his stuff the
literary equivalent of a buger and fries from McDonald's. And he
didn't mean it as an insult. That burger and fries can be pretty
tasty and filling, and sometimes it is just the thing you want,
instead of the filet mignon or the lobster tail. or that fancy French
dish at that new place down the street. "Stephen writes a pretty good
stick", wrote Ellison. You knew what you were going to get when you
picked up one of his books, Like the Big Mac or Quarter Pounder, they
were consistent, and they rarely dropped below a given level of
quality, Maybe nobody was going to mistake him for John Updike, but
he was a heck of a lot better than many of his contemproaries, and
certainly had a broader range. (The author of "It" and "The Stand"
also gave us the stories and novellas that became "Stand by Me", "The
Green Miile" and "The Shawshank Redemption". Let's see Updike beat
that. <g>)
Regards,
Joe
Joseph DeMartino
> And, of course, the annoying presence of the supernatural in almost all of
> his works (but it comes with the package, so has to lived with). Maybe I liked
> the ones I did, because its presence in them was less annoying. In any event,
> "The Stand" and "Insomnia" are powerful, even epic books.
Actually, surprisingly little of King's output is supernatural in
general or horror in particular.
"Carrie", his first published novel, was arguably SF. It had not
supernatural elements at all. Carrie White's powers were the result
of genetic mutation, and the novel's structure resembles that of "The
Andromeda Strain" more than a typical horror novel. There is a "real
time" narrative of events as they unfold dramatically, interspersed
with documentary material like newspaper articles, hearing testimony
and excerpts from the autobiography of a survivor of "Prom Night".
Consider his first dozen published and unpublished novels:
"Blaze" - a crime novel. (Later rewritten and published under his
"Richard Bachman" pseudonym)
"Carrie" - SF about a girl with a destructive mutant power or "wild
talent"
"'Salem's Lot" - a vampire novel. (A bounce on "Dracula" which King
was teaching at the time.)
"The Shining" - King's haunted house novel
"Rage" - a student takes hostages at a high school. (A pre-"Carrie"
manuscript published as a "Bachman" novel)
"The Stand" - epic fantasy with elements of both SF and horror
"The Long Walk" - SF (a brutal competition in a dystopian future.
King would revisit the theme in "The Running Man", also published as a
"Bachman" title.)
"The Dead Zone" - A brain injury leaves a man with the power to see
the future. Unlike the TV series, the book does not explain Johnny
Smith's precognitive abilities in supernatural terms. By all
indications they are a mysterious, but entirely natural by-product of
his brain injury, just as Carrie White and Charlie McGee's powers (see
next) are the natural result of genetic mutation.
"Firestarter" - SF. King revisits some of the themes he explored in
"Carrie", telling the story of another pair of characters with "wild
talents"
"Roadwork" (by "Bachman") A "straight" novel, this one about a man's
violent breakdown and confrontation with authority. In some ways it
anticipated the movie "Falling Down".
"Cujo" - Another "straight" novel. A pet dog is infected by rabies
and turns on his family.
"The Running Man" - SF. Another dystopian future with a vicious
contest at its heart.
Of the twelve books listed, only four have elements of the
supernatural in them, and only three of *them* can be classified as
horror. ("The Stand" is in a category of its own.) And this from the
alleged "Master of Horror". Of the remaining eight, four are
unalloyed SF, and one ("The Dead Zone") is closer to SF than to any
other genre. The other three are mainstream novels with strong crime
elements.
His later career was at least as varied. There were "Christine" and
"It", but there were also "Misery", "Gerald's Game", "Dolores
Claiborne" (a suspense novel, a woman-in-jeopardy story with a twist
and a mystery.) Then there are the novellas that reached the screen
as "Stand by Me" ("The Body", a coming-of-age story) and "The
Shawshank Redemption") None of the latter had any supernatural
elements, they were just good stories. (King unabashedly calls
himself a storyteller, and admits that he'll subordinate other
elements of the writer's art - mood, characterization, diction,
symbolism - to the primary purpose of telling a clear and interesting
story. This was especially true early in his career, when Harlan
Ellison referred to his writing as the literary equivalent of a Big
Mac and fries. Ellison didn't mean that as an insult. Sometimes
you're in the mood for a Big Mac and fries, and when you are
McDonald's produces a consistent, satisfying product that you can get
anytime in outlets almost anywhere. There are worse things to be
known for. I've tossed aside novels by "better" writers who were off
their game after reading a few dozen pages (writers who approach
greatness when they're "on".) But I don't think I've ever failed to
finish a King novel that I started.
(Damn. Now I feel like having McDonald's for dinner and re-reading
"Carrie". <g>)
Regards,
Joe
Amy Guskin
(in article
<43ef5951-48aa-4c67...@g11g2000vbq.googlegroups.com>):
In our house, as in so many others, M*A*S*H was a family tradition. But my
father who'd been in Korea used to laugh and point out how the California
geography they showed didn't look anything like actual Korea.
Joseph DeMartino
> In our house, as in so many others, M*A*S*H was a family tradition. But my
> father ‹ who'd been in Korea ‹ used to laugh and point out how the California
> geography they showed didn't look anything like actual Korea.
But according to Kim Jong-Il, Korea looks *exactly* like Southern
California. Except the women are better looking and the climate is
milder. <g>
Regards,
Joe
Duggy
> (The author of "It" and "The Stand"
> also gave us the stories and novellas that became "Stand by Me", "The
> Green Miile" and "The Shawshank Redemption". Let's see Updike beat
> that. <g>)
I always joke about film that are advertised as "From the writer of
'The Green Mile' and The Shawshank Redemption'." There's a whole
batch of films were admitting that King was the author is not allowed.
===
= DUG.
===
Joseph DeMartino
> I always joke about film that are advertised as "From the writer of
> 'The Green Mile' and The Shawshank Redemption'." There's a whole
> batch of films were admitting that King was the author is not allowed.
What "batch of films" are you talking about? I suspect any film
advertised as being "from the writer of" SHAWSHANK or GREEN MILE are
referriing to Frank Darabont, who wrote the screenplay. Othewise
they'd just say "Stephen King", onr of the most famous writers in the
world.
As for films where "admitting" King is the author is "not allowed"...
I know King kept his name off "The Running Man", because the didn't
like the adaptation. Normally he wouldn't have been able to do so,
since he sold the rights to the book, but since the novel was
published under his "Richard Bachman" pseudonym he was able to do so.
I think he also used his clout with the studios to prevent the
distributors of the later "Children of the Corn" films from prmoting
them as "Stephen King's" But that's about it. ("Stand by Me" and
"Shawshank", if I'm not mistaken, weren't *advertisted* as King films,
either, probably to avoid giving audiences the wrong expectations.
Since King is still billed as "The Master of Horror" and more people
probably associate his name with the film versions of "Carrie" and
"The Shining" than anything else, calling the former "Stephen King's
STAND BY ME" or even using the story's actual title, "The Body", would
have given people the wrong idea. Horror fans would have go to see it
opening weekend and left disappointed, while the larger mainstream
audience would probably have ingored it, thinking it was a horror
film.)
Regards,
Joe
Duggy
> What "batch of films" are you talking about? I suspect any film
> advertised as being "from the writer of" SHAWSHANK or GREEN MILE are
> referriing to Frank Darabont, who wrote the screenplay. Othewise
> they'd just say "Stephen King", onr of the most famous writers in the
> world.
Stand by Me, Shawshank Redemption, The Green Miles, Hearts in
Atlantis. All the non-horror ones.
> ("Stand by Me" and
> "Shawshank", if I'm not mistaken, weren't *advertisted* as King films,
> either, probably to avoid giving audiences the wrong expectations.
Exactly.
You forgot that he sued to get his name removed from Lawnmower Man
(nothing to do with the short story, but the short story wasn't good
anyway.)
===
= DUG.
===
lizardgirl
fire starter, that's one i know for sure i've read. and now that
you've mentioned so many of his titles it occurs to me i like SK just
fine. seems i just stopped reading his stuff and started 'watching'
it instead. don't think i'd be able to go back for a literary redo
having seen the movies.
lg
Zeb Carter
Elko T
> Elko T wrote:
>>
>> St. King is variable, at least to my tastes. Of the ones I've read, I
>> liked "Firestarter", "It", "The Stand" (the complete edition),
>> "Insomnia" and "Rose Madder". I didn't like Carrie, Salem's Lot, The
>> Shining, Cujo and Pet Sematary. I couldn't bring myself to read The Dark
>> Tower series for some reason.
>> And, of course, the annoying presence of the supernatural in almost all
>> of his works (but it comes with the package, so has to lived with).
>> Maybe I liked the ones I did, because its presence in them was less
>> annoying. In any event, "The Stand" and "Insomnia" are powerful, even
>> epic books.
>>
> What about "The Langoliers"?
Haven't read it. I saw the TV film. No idea how true to the book it is, but
the very idea of the past having to be eaten up by langoliers is, well, weird,
to say the least.