Mystery/Thriller Reading Friends discussion

ready, set, post

Authors have a reason, or reasons for writing the books they do and Stephen King is no exception. I am glad he waited to write it in 2010 rather than 1972, when the wounds of the assassination were still too fresh for him to consider it. The conspiracy theorists have had plenty of time for speculation and conjecture. With this book, I think we were gifted with a stunning look at what might have been, from a perspective that is unique and intriguing. The premise and results are hard to forget even now, several weeks since I finished the book.

I enjoyed this article about Stephen King. It includes extensive commentary on 11/22/63 and should probably best be read after finishing the book.
You Can't Always Get What You Want: On Stephen King
Charles Taylor December 21, 2011 | This article appeared in the January 9-16, 2012 edition of The Nation.
Is there any other living novelist who calls for a perpetual re-evaluation as much as Stephen King? Thirty-seven years after the publication of his first novel, Carrie, King still seems not just underrated but uncomprehended.
http://www.thenation.com/article/1653...

Of course I read both 'A Sound of Thunder' (back in school daze) and 'Somewhere in Time', which I believe was more than one book. Both well done, and both made to make you think. Neither, of course, put the world in to physical cataclysm like King did, but the lesson is the same, and the card men were far from able to do the job they were somehow appointed to.

I loved the movie Somewhere in Time with Christopher Reeve. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0081534/

I saw that too, though I always knew Superman could go back in time.

well superman can do anything.
i haven't read a king book in years but am so glad i read this one. very well done! nice to start the year with a book that will definitely make my top 10 of the year!

Ann wrote: "I loved the movie Somewhere in Time with Christopher Reeve. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0081534/"

One I enjoy pulling out and watching every now and then, too. I think it showed that Christopher Reeve was definitely capable of more than Superman.

I am too, Ann, and I've got to believe the book is better for his waiting and letting the emotions sit.
His afterword was fascinating, and in the audio version read in his own voice. It was interesting to note all the research he did on the assassination, and hear him comment on books like The Death of a President, which I could never bring myself to read.

Ann wrote: "Authors have a reason, or reasons for writing the books they do and Stephen King is no exception. I am glad he waited to write it in 2010 rather than 1972, when the wounds of the assassination were still too fresh for him to consider it."

Ann wrote: "Thirty-seven years after the publication of his first novel, Carrie, King still seems not just underrated but uncomprehended..."

I look forward to reading this article, but I think I'll wait until I'm not so worn out from watching the Super Bowl. At the moment I'm wishing I could go back to the past and change THAT baby.

I haven't read extensively a lot of the other authors of our time (Updike, Mailer, Irving, etc.) but I do think King is one of our finest storytellers.

Sorry about the game, Carol. It was such a close finish. We Titans fans know the pain of coming up just short in the big game.

I have read much of Irving, and think you would like him. Garp was just masterful. We went to sea (on a submarine) with 1 copy, and it was so popular, that whoever held it had to pass it off to somebody else when they went to sleep or took the watch. The only other time that happened was with the Winds of War (Wouk). Sadly, it is hard to get a book when you spend several months beneath the North Atlantic (among other inhospitable places)

Barry wrote: "I have read much of Irving, and think you would like him. Garp was just masterful. We went to sea (on a submarine) with 1 copy, and it was so popular, that whoever held it had to pass it off to s..."

I remember your telling this story. I did read Garp, didn't think I would like it, and got completely drawn in. Also read The Hotel New Hampshire, and The Cider House Rules but didn't like them quite so much.

I read Garp decades ago, and loved it. I haven't read much John Irving since though, not sure why. I love the story of the book being passed around, Barry!
There was a MASH episode regarding a book being passed around like that I think...

Ann wrote: "
There was a MASH episode regarding a book being passed around like that I think... .."

I think you're right, Ann....