Five more...

I went through to Sheffield today, to the always rewarding Oxfam bookshop and picked up five more. Needful Things, Bag of Bones, The Dark Tower I: The Gunslinger, The Dark Tower III - The Wasteland and The Dark Half.

Result.

Annoyingly, I hadn't taken my list with me and couldn't remember which four novels constitute the collected Bachman books. As a result, I didn't buy Thinner. I'm a douche.

Anyway, here's the eighteen I have so far...

Why? - Part 2

The more I think about how vast this task it, the more I think I should have a better reason for reading all of Stephen King's fiction in order of publication than 'something to do'.

The interesting thing is that, so far, only my wife Lisa has actually asked why I'd want to do such a thing. With such a huge bibliography, and as most will know, King's not one for knocking out 150-200 page novels, his are generally the size of house bricks, I'm going to be reading nothing but Stephen King for, at the very least, the next three to five years. That simple issue of the exclusion of all other authors for such a long time unsettles me a bit, never mind the fact that King is generally a 'horror writer'. It's going to be a long and disconcerting journey (something I'm counting on, otherwise what would be the point?) that may well unhinge me in some way.

But the length and intensity of this project appeals to me. The endurance factor and total immersion in his work seems to me to be the purest way of appreciating, experiencing and respecting the author and the material. It's a bit like watching the extended DVD versions of all three Lord of
the Rings films in one day. Something I've managed twice. For those 12 hours-ish, you live the story, the conflicts, the loss, the redemption and resolution and it's such a satisfying commitment to the work.
Of course, it's nothing like that at all, but you get it...don't you?

I keep mentioning stories. I love stories. Always have. I read like a bastard when I was a kid and it has stuck. I've always loved the deeply personal aspect of reading. It's just you and the book on a journey together. And I definitely don't mean in the X Factor journey from auditions to crashing out in the live finals cliche. It's almost like a virtual reality machine, but vastly cheaper and more mobile. They suck you in and take you for the ride. Unlike many, that has been my solid modus operandi for reading...let the author take you. Don't try to second guess where it's going or whodunit, let the writer lay it all out and work his magic without trying to undermine him.
Don't get me wrong, I'm not advocating completely passive readership. There has to be a level of engagement and dialogue between writer and reader.

Whatever...

I've never been a big fan of writing or reading book reviews. My love for books has always been in the moment of reading. In the midst of story lines, of chapters, of sentences I am captivated. I am held by writers and their expansion of ideas, plot turns, narrative arcs, ability to convey the purest of universal truths in the most everyday events. Jesus, a turn of phrase can take my breath.

That's part of why I love reading. And that's part of why I like Stephen King and am confident that building on my youthful encounters, I will come to love his work.

I'm racking my brain but the only book I can think of that has made me cry, aside from the Bill Hicks biography by Cynthia True is The Long Walk by King writing as Richard Bachman. If that isn't a reason to order more drinks from his bar, I'm not sure what is.

Why? - Part 1

One of the main catalysts in my decision to read all of Stephen King from start to finish was Ryan McKenney from Trap Them and his blog http://insomnialways.blogspot.com/

For anyone who doesn't know of the band, they are tremendous. If you have a palate for hardcore punk/grind/d-beat, you're in heaven. If you also get wood at the idea of a guy who writes lyrics set in and about a fictional ghost town, then meet your new favourite band.

Anyway, the guy's compelling and here are two King related bits from his blog.
The first is a feature on the Decibel Magazine website where he was asked to pick his Top 5 King works.
http://decibelmagazine.com/Content.aspx?ncid=336222

And the second is an essay on reading and Stephen King.
http://insomnialways.blogspot.com/2009/01/constant-reader.html

Clearing the decks

I feel a bit like I've shown you my morning wood the day before there's any chance of us getting it on. Peaked too soon might be deemed to be on the grandiose side, but the fact is that I've put the wheels in motion on an admittedly ludicrous project and, as I've said I won't be starting until the new year, this blog is a bit like one of those "In Construction" pages people put on the pages of their sites they haven't got around/couldn't be arsed to do.

Shit.

So, I'm left with two options.

1. Let it go stagnant for the next month or so, only updating the bibliography as and when I find the books lurking in charity shops or jumble sales etc.
Or
2. I could do a bit of background on why I've decided to set myself this project/mission/"spirit walk" as some sort of prologue to the blog proper, more about why I've chosen Stephen King and tell the tale of acquiring the books.

Now, I am acutely aware that blogs are the most self-aggrandising, piss in the wind, auto-fellatory, faux-significant entities in the cosmos. So don't ever think that I think this has any real importance. It is merely the best way for a few friends who think this is an ok/terrible idea to keep tabs on my deteriorating grasp on reality and see how I write, or just which new words I've learned recently, but haven't figured out yet how to use properly.

So, I'm going with option two. I'm going to offer some prologue or introduction before I get my head down for the long haul.

The sole reason for not having launched straight into Carrie the moment I dreamt up this project is twofold, and yet really the same thing twice.

I had a couple of books out from the library that I'd already renewed twice and thought I'd better just read (Battle Royale and Sin City Vol. 2 - A Dame to Kill For) and I've also bought a few books recently that I'm really looking forward to reading. It's all just clearing the decks. I'm always buying books, in the hope that I'll find the time to read them. Some can more patiently stare at me from the shelves for the next few years, but there are a couple that I insist on reading before I begin my King affair.

Here they are















American Gods - Neil Gaiman
2666 - Roberto Bolano (if any one knows how to get the ~ over the n on here, please let me know. I hate to be rude.)
The Devil in Amber - Mark Gatiss
Twenty Thousand Streets Under the Sky

The first two are books that I'd wanted to check out after seeing Ryan McKenney, singer for the band Trap Them mention them on his blog - http://insomnialways.blogspot.com/. There's a shred of correlation here, as reading McKenney's blog was one of the catalysts for me starting this project. More on that in the next post.

In the throes of my fledgling excursion into reading graphic novels, I had a go at Sandman. I failed. Considering the boundless praise on the back of the volumes they had in my local library at the time, I was a bit perplexed to not make it past the first ten or so pages (I'm sure I'll give it another go). As always, when I read an author new to me, I go down the wikipedia route and find a bit more about the person who has just taken me on that wild ride. In this case, it was a search to see what I had missed. I reasonably concluded that I must have something wrong with me if I don't like Neil Gaiman. So I bought American Gods to allow him to convince me.

I'm not sure about 2666... From the heft of the tome and the comments I've read about it's readability, it may cause cracks in my skull and, considering how I'm hoping to motor through these before I start into King, I've a feeling I'm echoing the implausibilty of the project as a whole in thinking I'm going to get through it in a month, nevermind the other three.

Mark Gatiss' second book should be a steady jaunt. I've a strange fondness for him from his League of Gentlemen days and his turn in the middle episode of Psychoville was sublime. He can also write an erudite, crafty and gentle tale.

I've had designs on reading some Patrick Hamilton after reading Dan Rhodes - http://www.danrhodes.co.uk/, one of my favourite authors opine, on his greatness. All these years later, I buy the book and then come up with a plan to exclude him from my consciousness for another 3-5 years. Brilliant.

So, after all that thinking out loud, I'll leave 2666 for the time being. Maybe my mind will be so fucked when Stephen King's had his way with me, it'll be like reading a Ladybird book...

Oh, I'm also only 1/5 of the way through The Book Thief by Markus Zusak.

Double shit.

The sooner I wrap this up, the sooner I can knock these off and clear the decks.
Luckily, I know that no one is waiting with baited breath for this blog...

I've had an idea...

Starting in the new year, I'm going to start a Stephen King ultra-marathon reading project.
I've read quite a few of his books, but not enough. After a quick look, it would seem I've read eleven, the latest being 'Gerald's Game', published in 1992. Jesus, that's 17 years ago.

So for the sake of righting that wrong and (for something to do) I'm going to read him from beginning to end.
I intend this blog to bear witness to the gradual and inevitable destruction and blackening of my psyche. I can't promise reviews of each book as I'm shit at writing them. I'm sure I'll have something to say about each book, though.

I'm also appealing for the donation/extended loan of any King books you've got gathering dust. I've already started what will no doubt be a mammoth trawl of charity shops in the hope of building the library for the absolute minimum expense. I am tight and also buying seventy-plus books, when I need to keep my kids in shoes and pencils, is a bit reckless.

The blog isn't intended to be particularly interesting or world changing, and I certainly don't envisage it to be all that worth reading. I imagine it will be more of a mission status updater and a way to keep up the momentum and avoid abandoning it after the first three books. It will also be a way for anyone with a passing interest to keep updated on my mental decline and laugh.

I had the fleeting idea of doing it in a year. Haaaaaaaaaaaaaa!!
I've got two kids and a needy wife. That shit's not happening. So, instead, I'll just be hammering them out as and when i can.

Building the Library

There's probably an easier way to do this, but here's the list of Stephen King books I'm going to be working from.
If they're bold, it means some kind soul has lent me it or I found it in Help the Aged. For trivia's sake I'm going to put where I got the book next to the title.



Bollocks, I've just seen that the emboldening tactic does shit all when the fonts that tiny. We'll have to see how underlining works out...

1974 Carrie (Barnsley Hospice Shop - Mum)

1975 Salem's Lot (Lisa - US)

1977 Rage - Bachman (Amazon - The Bachman Books)

1977 The Shining (Lisa - US)

1978 Night Shift - Short Stories - (Amazon)
"Jerusalem's Lot", "Graveyard Shift", "Night Surf", "I Am the Doorway", "The Mangler", "The Boogeyman", "Gray Matter", "Battleground", "Trucks", "Sometimes They Come Back", "Strawberry Spring", "The Ledge", "The Lawnmower Man", "Quitters, Inc.", "I Know What You Need", "Children of the Corn", "The Last Rung on the Ladder", "The Man Who Loved Flowers", "One for the Road", "The Woman in the Room"

1978 The Stand or 1990 (Uncut version) (British Heart Foundation - Rotherham)

 1979 The Long Walk - Bachman (Amazon - The Bachman Books)

1979 The Dead Zone (Oxfam Bookshop - Sheffield)


1980 Firestarter - (Mexborough Market) 

1981 Roadwork - Bachman (Amazon - The Bachman Books)


1981 Cujo (Birthday present from my sister)


1982 The Running Man - Bachman (Birthday present from my sister)

1981 Danse Macabre

1982 The Dark Tower I: The Gunslinger or 2003 (Revised edition ) (Oxfam Bookshop - Sheffield)

1982 Different Seasons - Short stories (Barnsley Hospice Shop - Mum)
Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption: Hope Springs Eternal, Apt Pupil: Summer of Corruption, The Body: Fall From Innocence, The Breathing Method: A Winter's Tale

1983 Christine (Mum - Barnsley Charity shop, not sure which)

1983 Pet Sematary

1983 Cycle of the Werewolf

1984 The Talisman - co-author Peter Straub (Mum - Oxfam Bookshop - York)
1984 - Thinner - Bachman (Birthday present from my sister)

1985 - Skeleton Crew - Short stories
The Mist, "Here There Be Tygers", "The Monkey", "Cain Rose Up", "Mrs. Todd's Shortcut", "The Jaunt", "The Wedding Gig", "Paranoid: A Chant", "The Raft", "Word Processor of the Gods", "The Man Who Would Not Shake Hands", "Beachworld", "Nona", "For Owen", "Survivor Type", "Uncle Otto's Truck", "Morning Deliveries (Milkman #1)", "Big Wheels: A Tale of The Laundry Game (Milkman #2)", "Gramma", The Ballad of The Flexible Bullet, "The Reach"

 1986 It (Lisa - US birthday present)

 1987 The Eyes of the Dragon - (Oxfam Bookshop, Whitby)

 1987 The Dark Tower II: The Drawing of the Three

1987 Misery

1988 The Tommyknockers (Lisa - US)

1989 Dolan's Cadillac

1989 The Dark Half (Oxfam Bookshop - Sheffield)

1989 My Pretty Pony

1990 Four Past Midnight -Short stories
The Langoliers, Secret Window, Secret Garden, The Library Policeman, The Sun Dog

1991 Needful Things (Oxfam Bookshop - Sheffield)

1991 The Dark Tower III: The Waste Lands (Oxfam Bookshop - Sheffield)

1992 Gerald's Game (Oxfam bookshop - Sheffield)

1993 Dolores Claiborne (British Heart Foundation - Rotherham)
1993 Nightmares &Dreamscapes - Short stories
"Dolan's Cadillac", "The End of the Whole Mess", "Suffer the Little Children", "The Night Flier", "Popsy", "It Grows on You", "Chattery Teeth", "Dedication", "The Moving Finger", "Sneakers", "You Know They Got a Hell of a Band", "Home Delivery", "Rainy Season", "My Pretty Pony", "Sorry, Right Number", "The Ten O'Clock People", "Crouch End", "The House on Maple Street", "The Fifth Quarter", "The Doctor's Case", "Umney's Last Case", "Head Down", "Brooklyn August", "The Beggar and the Diamond"

1994 Insomnia (Mum - Oxfam Bookshop, York)

1995 Rose Madder (Mum - Oxfam Bookshop, York)

1995 Umney's Last Case

1996 The Green Mile (British Heart Foundation - Rotherham)

1996 Desperation (British Heart Foundation - Rotherham)

1996 The Regulators - Bachman

1997 Six Stories 1997 - Short stories
Lunch at the Gotham Cafe, L. T.'s Theory of Pets, Luckey Quarter, Autopsy Room Four, Blind Willie, The Man in the Black Suit

1997 The Dark Tower IV: Wizard and Glass (Help the Aged bookshop - Sheffield)

1998 Bag of Bones (Oxfam Bookshop - Sheffield)

1999 Storm of the Century

1999 The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon (Barnsley Hospice Shop - Mum)

1999 The New Lieutenant's Rap

1999 Hearts in Atlantis (Barnsley Hospice Shop - Mum)
"Low Men in Yellow Coats", "Hearts in Atlantis", "Blind Willie", "Why We're in Vietnam", "Heavenly Shades of Night are Falling"

2001 Dreamcatcher (Oxfam Bookshop - Sheffield)

2001 Black House- Sequel to The Talisman (Barnsley Hospice Shop - Mum)
Written with Peter Straub

2002 From a Buick 8 (Mum - Oxfam Bookshop, York)

2002 Everything's Eventual: 14 Dark Tales - Short stories (British Heart Foundation - Rotherham)
Autopsy Room Four, The Man in the Black Suit, All That You Love Will Be Carried Away, The Death of Jack Hamilton, In the Deathroom, The Little Sisters of Eluria, Everything's Eventual, L. T.'s Theory of Pets, The Road Virus Heads North, Lunch at the Gotham Café, That Feeling, You Can Only Say What It Is in French, 1408, Riding the Bullet, Luckey Quarter

2003 The Dark Tower V: Wolves of the Calla (Maz)
2004 The Dark Tower VI: Song of Susannah

2004 The Dark Tower VII: The Dark Tower

2005 The Colorado Kid

2006 Cell - (Barnsley Hospice Shop - Mexborough)

2006 Lisey's Story - (Mexborough Market)

2007 Blaze - Bachman

2008 Duma Key (Barnsley Hospice Shop - Mum)


2008 Just After Sunset - Short storiesWilla, The Gingerbread Girl, Harvey’s Dream, Rest Stop, Stationary Bike, The Things They Left Behind, Graduation Afternoon, N., The Cat from Hell, The New York Times at Special Bargain Rates,Mute, Ayana, A Very Tight Place - (Tesco - Wath)
2009 Ur

 2009 Under the Dome (Birthday Present - Lisa's mum)

2010 Blockade Billy

2010 Full Dark, No Stars