So I’ve read Gwendy book 1, and literally about to start DT book 7. Should I be finishing the Gwendy books first? I’m sure I read somewhere that it was important to read Gwendy book 3 before DT book 7. Or doesn’t it really matter?
It's very important to read book 3 after that is correct. And even though king didn't write book 2 I still think it's very important to overall lore. Chizmar did a great job in book 2 tying up some loose ends in castle rock. But yes book 3 after DT7
No you can read book 2 before DT. You'll only be lost if you haven't read any newer castle rock books like needful things. But it's easy to connect.
And youre quite welcome.
I have a personal theory king is going to revisit and if he did have a sequel to black house that has been rumored that will completely be dark tower related
I read a theory not too long ago that he's already written/revisited the DT series, but the book will be released posthumously, and that will form part of the tale given SK's presence in the latter volumes of the DT.
Do you know, I've not really read a huge amount of Castle Rock books - I seem to have dodged them! Is it worth reading Needful Things (I've already got that on the shelf) before Gwendy 2? I'm working my way through You Like it Darker, but I'm happy to detour and read other books along the way. I swore I would never do any extended DT reading order, but that's exactly what I've done so far and I'm really pleased I have (not getting Salem's Lot in, for instance, would have totally changed my understanding of characters and events)!
You won't be lost but when you read DT 5 - 7 you'll get a lot of castle rock mentions and books. To be honest it's all connected. If you want a full picture I would suggest any castle rock book, regulators and desperation, hearts in Atlantis, and probably even talisman and blackhouse to get a full dark tower grasp
The dark tower is one of those series that after you’ve listened and know what you’re getting it, you just can’t help doing it to yourself again and again! Hail Roland of Gilead of the line of Eld!
I feel like if you're a good enough author, you can have several masterpieces, and I'd say SK is. They're both masterpieces and not similar enough to really pick a superior novel.
The Dark Tower is his magnum opus.
The Stand is most certainly his masterpiece as one singluar book.
And IT (my personal favorite) is a beautiful tribute to childhood and fear.
I'm rereading pet sematary as I'm on a Stephen King bunge at the minute, (the stand, Christine, misery, the Long Walk and and cujo all read in the past 2months). My sister/brother/some family member "borrowed IT" and have yet to return it, and I am dying to reread it next.
The Shining carries the unfair disadvantage of being compared to the completely different Kubrick film. I prefer the book. But the discussion gets in the way.
Honestly The Stand fell a little flat for
me after IT, and although I don’t see any real reason for criticism, I think we could point to more flaws in The Stand if we wished.
IT is undoubtedly a masterpiece and manages to carry some real depth of meaning and far transcend the perception of it being “horror”. it was my first King and set a very high standard, getting me very excited to read The Stand, that many said is even better.
I did think The Stand was very good, I loved it for the most part and it is a marvellous work of character building, but I don’t feel like it shows anything special beyond that, and it feels a little more jagged in execution.
The Dark Tower as a whole seems by far to be King’s masterpiece as it is just such an incredibly unique work of imagination, so wonderfully woven in its intertext, surprisingly well-balanced in its metafiction, a clever commentary on writings/creation/storytelling, and also
manages to just be an amazing journey with bits of almost everything there seems to be to love in a King book. but that’s 7 books, not 1, and IT still stands higher to
me as a single work while I cannot imagine it being surpassed; and The Stand didn’t really even come close.
I do understand why people would
prefer a book like The Stand over something like IT as it’s a very different kind of journey, a more spacious spread of
emotion.. it’s more like taking a long trip while IT is more like immersing into the characters town in a more compact way. but I also wonder if The Stand also speaks
more to US Americans, so I’m interested how many foreigners prefer or see one as better over the other.
Both books feel very American (whatever that means to the European writing this) but in some ways the cultural and locational elements seem stronger in The Stand and maybe that makes it a little more special for people over there?
Agreed there. IT is too close to the heart to speak for anything else but The dark tower takes the cake for me.
The stand was a drag for hundreds of pages.
great point. i think the stand is pretty specific to the american experience, seeing as the characters' journey sort of takes them through the heart of america, whereas it is about the more universal experience of growing up and losing the magic of childhood (and then, after it all, recognizing that doing so is natural and okay). i'd never thought about that before since i'm american, but it's kind of a no-brainer that non-americans might have a harder time fully connecting and relating to the stand.
I honestly believe King considers this his masterpiece, even if it’s not his most popular creation. If you read his afterword from the book, he treated this book very differently and even seemed to consider himself lacking the skill to write it properly. It had been an idea of his for a very long time before he chose to write it and the research that went into it is unlike anything else he’s done.
I agree that it is a masterpiece. I loved it.
Definitely respect his commitment to this one. He said similar things in the afterword of Under the Dome. Had it partially written and stashed away because he didn't feel capable of writing about how the dome would affect weather
Both are masterpieces in their field, in my opinion they are incomparable, although in my case The Dark Tower would still be above, but if I hade to choice one between The Stand or It I would go for It.....You know....We all float down here 🎈
I think that all of them are but if I had to choose one book above all then it would be IT. IT is genuinely frightening and Pennywise is the most iconic character.
Many of King's books are what I consider to be masterpieces. Salem's Lot is one for me and yes, The Stand is too. But IT is on a whole other level to me and Pennywise as a villain is too.
I feel really bad that IT wasn't frightening to me at all :/ I wanted it to be scary but mummies and stuff are just not working. Maybe the issue is that I read it as an adult, and also translated version which can result in some loss of tension, I guess.
I find that books I'm not really eager to read in English go much better in another language, for me, French. I may tackle King that way, too, although someone here said the French translation (at least Christine) has omissions.
I was looking for this comment. It may be because the book resonates with me so well but I think this is his best for me. It’s just a slightly shinier stone in a pile of gems.
The self references make such a powerful story about a man struggling and his family trapped with him in the nightmare. The Overlook is burned into my brain as though it’s a place I’ve actually visited. The way this incredible hotel is isolated in a whirl of snow among the peaks makes such great imagery. The cast of characters is stellar.
The movie is enjoyable and it has great scenes. I love Jack Nicholson doing just about anything. The rest of the cast was about as good as it gets too. But it’s missing too much of what makes the book great. It’s impossible to surpass the written story. It stands well on its own, but on a necessarily lower dais.
The Shining is peak King for me. The Stand is Epic. The Dark Tower is an amazing achievement for any author. But only one can be the best, and that’s probably going to be a personal choice for any King fan.
The scariest part of the book was that Jack was mostly a good man who loved his family and was trying his best, but the hotel was able to get its hooks into him slowly through the parts of him that weren’t good.
In the movie he’s the villain
yep. the movie is good in its own right, but comparing it to the book will always make it fall flat. it does little to no real character-building, whereas in the novel the vivid portraits king paints of the characters before they even step foot into the hotel is what makes it shine (no pun intended).
agreed. i struggle between pet sematary and the shining as my absolute favorite, and i think it's ultimately because both are similarly concise and cut down on the detours to character-build that he usually is tempted by in other works. i am a big fan of character-driven stories, though (which is why his detours don't often bother me), so i think the shining ultimately wins me over because it's a more character-centric work based on the premise alone. i think he struck the perfect balance between character-building to just about the fullest extent possible while still moving the plot along at a brisk pace (which is something he can struggle with in some of his other work).
I did for years. It was a recent watching/reading that made me realize that Kubrick doesn’t create decent women characters in his film. His (frankly) sexist portrayal of Wendy is no exception. The movie is better at suspense. King aced Kubrick when it came to character.
I personally believe his masterpiece is The Stand. For me it's his best work because he creates not just his little world of characters but creates a larger empty world around him. How society remakes itself around the characters foreshadows its survival or downfall. How do you fill in that void when everything disappears around you?
It's the ultimate setup of good, evil and everything in between. Take a look at his characters (if we don't take mother Abigail and Randall Flagg into account) it's still a story of good versus evil. The good aren't perfect people, it's a collective of good leaning people who survive a world changing event and how they keep their humanity intact. The evil isn't the darkness of Flagg but people who let their darker impulses override their decency towards others.
The Stand allows us to imagine a world thrust in chaos, where all societal norms are gone, where your values and morals are put to the test. It's very fitting for today's chaotic world, what are you made of and how will you make your stand?
I feel like the most important and most universal king is Salems Lot. I think it really is just a great story that really exemplifies his style, even very early on. The shining too. The stand and It are his great coke stories, but I feel suffer from his going on a bit much. I think the opening line of the gunslinger is one of the greatest and most beautiful stories ever told. So, after all that, I guess I don't know... 🙃
If those are his great "coke" stories then the coke did him wonders, cause those are some of his most influential stories. But I'm convinced by now that people who rag on King's past drug use have never experienced drug use a single day in their lives.
I like those stories to and didn't think I was ragging on him at all, but you can tell a little when he tends toward rattling on. He famously says he doesn't remember writing most of "It". But It and the Stand are many peoples favorites for a reason. They're great.
IT, The Stand, and 11/22/63 are my top three in no particular order, as everytime I revisit any of them they’ll be my current favorite until I revisit the next one.
IT is the Great American Horror Novel (stole that from Will Erickson of Paperbacks from Hell but I’m adopting it for my own) yet I think Wizard and Glass is still my favorite of his works. The only book where I audibly said “Fuck!” out loud when the plot took a turn.
The Stand has an amazing setting and premise. It kind of loses the plot though with the literal battle between literally good and literally evil in the biblical sense.
I agree with this and that’s why I would choose It. It stays strong throughout while The Stand’s best parts are the first few hundred pages where society is breaking down.
I read through "It" a few years ago for the first time and the thing that struck me was that there was very little filler. Every chapter had something interesting happening. Where as the Stand has some really good sections, but some of it just felt a bit flat. I enjoyed it, I wouldn't have read all 1200 or so pages if I didn't, but I preferred "It".
I actually tried reading The Stand many years ago as a teenager, but couldn't get into it and stopped reading. Back then I couldn't really get into Kings style of writing. I thought he went far too much into character development, and used to think he'd spend 100s of pages without going anywhere. I was clearly a moron as a youth with very little attention span, and i'm glad I gave him another chance as an adult. I've now read 35 of his novels.
The Shining, Green Mile and Misery are all great books as well, the Shining in particular could quite well be classified as his "Masterpiece" as well, particularly as its one of his most famous novels.
Both are great, however the cosmic turtle in IT kind of took away the pure horror aspect. This is my opinion I’m sure other will disagree and that’s totally fine . Love the book but for me The Stand is classic horror masterpiece.
It is great, but I also think it’s a mess. You can read the cocaine.
I think that The Shining is his masterpiece. Longer and more ambitious doesn’t always mean better.
agreed. the shining and pet sematary are his two greatest, in my opinion. they're both fairly minimal on the meandering he tends to do, and as a result their paces are fairly quick and ceaseless (pet sematary more than the shining, i'd say, but i think what tends to pull king off-course is any opportunity to character-build to the fullest extent, which the shining has more of based on its premise alone). the writing is concise and 99% of what made the final cut feels purposeful and intentional, which isn't something you can say about all of his work.
Dark Tower. The threading of all sorts of characters, scenes, and plot points from other books appearing. Is a non-stop treat for long-time readers.
Personal favorite though, Hearts in Atlantis
King appeals to such a wide range of readers that he doesn’t have ONE masterpiece. He has produced, I would guess, maybe 10 great books and 40 pretty good books.
Aye, the age old debate.
The stand feels epic from page 1. IT is nostalgic and amazing on every page.
I will go with IT, something for everyone. The loser's club have a way of getting to you much like the ka tet.
The stand has a sudden ending which makes me hate it.
Now, his true epic is the dark tower. Its king's tale through and through. He uses every skill he has got and the dark tower is his true epic.
"Heart and soul on paper"
I say true you say thank you.
A lot of us are stuck in the cycle with Roland of Gilead.
"And The gunslinger followed".
The Stand is my choice, but I admittedly have a hard time reading works that include any child violence so I probably can’t give a fair review of It.
Side note - am I the only one who thinks The Green Mile is the greatest thing King has ever written? It changed name as a reader. Blew my socks off. The movie was lovely but the story was art.
I’ve probably read IT three times. It is brilliant, an ode to childhood.
I have probably read The Stand a dozen times. I feel like I find something new every time I read it. Maybe because I identify so much with one of the characters? They all feel like actual people, especially after re-reading that book over and over again for +30 years. There is something special about that novel. Something weirdly optimistic. It’s my favorite novel, and I keep coming back to it.
Best Books:
IT (Steven Weber should win an award for his audiobook)
The Dead Zone (John Smith is the goat)
The Long Walk (I cry every time)
Different Seasons (Rita and Apt Pupil are god tier)
The Stand (horrible ending, great build up)
I know I'll get downvoted for this, but I like "It" over "The Stand" personally. I'm 3/4s of my first run through of "The Stand" and it suffers from King's meandering, long-winded writing style a bit too much for my taste.
Both books have interwoven storylines with multiple characters, but "It" was so much more compelling and downright terrifying. I'm partial to cosmic horror though.
I prefer The Shining, Pet Sematary, Misery.
400 pages for me is the perfect length for King.
Once SK goes over 500 pages you are in the dragging zone. I think both It and The Stand do a better job than most at keeping the energy going but nonetheless they didn't have me flicking through the latter half with quite as much breathless enthusiasm as those aforementioned texts. First half is far stronger in both
I think my thing is.. I prefer sci-fi horror to supernatural horror. Even though The Stand had some supernatural elements to it, it was mostly sci-fi, which is why it's always been my favorite King novel.
If there were ever an author prolific and relevant enough to warrant multiple masterpieces, it'd be King.
Personally, I find the character development (the children coming of age, the town of Derry, IT itself) to be superior to The Stand, who's characters were harder for me to relate with.
But, with all beams leading to the Tower, I'd say a strong case could be made that the Series of Seven is his magnum opus.
I think they’re masterpieces that do different things. The Stand is a testament to his ability to write vast, sprawling epics. And It shows his skill at taking characters in a scenario (kids in a town predated upon by a fear-eating creature) and exploring those characters deeply, showing who they are and what makes them tick and how they develop. Both of them do different things and are fantastic at the things they do.
Comes down to personal taste, but for me it's IT, even though IT is the very definition of a flawed masterpiece (we all know what flaw I'm talking about). I love the Stand, but can't get past that Hand o' God ending.
“It” is definitely “peak” King in that it puts all of his themes into one big indulgent novel about small rural Maine towns, supernatural evil and human evil each acting in tandem, Boomer 1950s unsupervised childhood exploration, etc., and published when his fame and popularity was probably at an all-time high.
“The Stand” is probably a better novel/story though!
I personally think It is his masterpiece and best book. There is a realism and scope that is unmatched by any of his other novels IMO. The Dark Tower rivals it in some ways, but honestly I feel It is deeper and gets more done in fewer pages.
I always thought King himself considered the Dark Tower series as his Magnum Opus. IIRC in the foreword, he talks about 19, and says he always wanted to write his own “LOTR” but he didn’t want to just make a clone. But one day saw Cli t Eastwood in either The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly or High Plains Drifter and the Roland seed was planted in his head.
I always say The Stand but I read IT as a young teen and have a lifelong fear of clowns because of it. I should say IT because one book has had such a profound impact on my life.
I thought the Stand when I was younger, but when I read IT and then reread the Stand as an adult, IT came out on top. But that’s not an objective thing and if The Stand had a stronger third act, it would be close for me.
I think Stephen King wants The Stand to be his masterpiece, but to paraphrase the King himself - In 100 years when I’m dead and gone, I’ll be remembered for that fucking clown.
I feel ya. It's a hard call. IT sort of speaks to our childhood fears and The Stand sort of speaks to our fears for humanity. My heart tends to lean towards IT but if you asked on a different day, it could change.
The Stand is better purely because it doesn’t contain *that* scene. Plus it’s a bigger story. Pennywise ain’t doing shit to you if you’re in Montana. Superflu still gonna get you.
"IT" reaches out and grabs you. It's the title that I think the average person would say if asked to name a Stephen King book. But an argument could be made for a lot of King books. The fact is, King has written a great many fantastic works that have cut across the consciousness of modern civilization. Everybody knows the Killer Clown, the Haunted Hotel, the Killer Car, the Dark Man. His ideas have transcended from stories to archetypal concepts people understand without even reading a single word he's written.
Dark tower series is my personal favorite from Stephen King. But looking at his master works I would say it is between “It”, “The Stand”, or “11/22/63” out of these three I would personally argue for “11/22/63” followed by “It” and unfortunately even though I like it a lot “The Stand” is the last. “11/22/63” is the best overall story, it is the tightest of the three, and the themes are the best. But everyone will have different opinions things, just my two cents.
It might be in my top ten of King’s work. For me, Salem’s Lot, Misery, The Shining, The Green Mile, Different Seasons, Dolores Claiborne are all superior.
It
The Stand has a lot of problems... It starts well, bottoms out and drags it's ass over the line, however by this point it's just stomach lining, the council, The kid and moon man can be deleted mostly at make something far more coherent
It like the book I just finished has a train, however Blaine is infinitely more welcome to my ears than that catastrophe
I'm trying to do the shortest extended with things only close to the Tower being part of the journey, my last I'd imagine
Fun fact on It: the most recent interaction of It came about 27 years after the first It movie came out. For those of us who read the book, that timeframe though..
I like the stand better personally. A few years ago I think I would have said it. I think the thing I loved about it so much was all the dark stories and history of Derry. Yes, I like that main characters, but I really liked learning the fucked up history of Derry and it.
For me, the weak point of the book, as much as it has one, is the ending both in the kids and adults timelines. For the kids, there is that one scene. Now when I first read it, I was a younger teenager so I didn't really care that they are kids having sex. What I thought then and still do now, was that it just seemed unnecessary and somewhat out of character for like all of the characters. I know people have made detailed explanations of why it happened but i still don't really buy it.
For the adults, Henry Bowers coming back just seemed like a weak antagonist. Young Henry was bigger, stronger, with a bit of a gang and posed more of a real threat...
The stand on the other hand poses some pretty deep theological questions and is quite brutal. I guess at the end of the day, I'd rather read a few random chapters of it then the stand but I like the stand more if I'm reading the entire novel. It's highs are better but the stand is on average better. Imo.
King himself regarded The Dark Tower as his magnum opus. Saying he'd never write anything as good as that ever again, and I believe him. he poured his heart & soul into that book, while nearly dying along the way!!
In terms of King's overall writing? Probably "The Stand." In terms of the enduring pop culture image of Steven King (iconic horror writer renowned for providing the basis of several seminal horror films), probably "It."
Hard preference for It over The Stand. Partially because of Stand’s ending, and partially because it kind of feels like two disjointed and loosely related stories.
This does, however, assume we can only pick one book. If it’s one story, then Dark Tower becomes the magnum opus very quickly.
I love love love the dark tower, and I have read the stand half a dozen times and adore it as well... but IT is absolutely phenomenal. It's his best in my opinion. A top 5 list is almost impossible and I could sub out half a dozen others in the 4th and 5th spots and be just as happy, but here is mine (right now)
1. IT
2. Wizard and glass
3. The stand
4. 11/22/63
5. Revival
I feel like a minority here but I really like Dr.Sleep, as someone who watched someone struggle with alcohol and pick up their life after I resonate with it
Both are great books. Both are masterpieces I would say. Love The Dark Tower also. Wish he would revisit that series.
Do you mean full return to that world? Because the gwendy trilogy is completely dark tower related
Every King book is dark tower related
Yes!
I'm a big Dark tower fan. Are these worth a read?
So I’ve read Gwendy book 1, and literally about to start DT book 7. Should I be finishing the Gwendy books first? I’m sure I read somewhere that it was important to read Gwendy book 3 before DT book 7. Or doesn’t it really matter?
It's very important to read book 3 after that is correct. And even though king didn't write book 2 I still think it's very important to overall lore. Chizmar did a great job in book 2 tying up some loose ends in castle rock. But yes book 3 after DT7
Awesome thank you! I’ll read book 2 as well (before 3rd course) - should that also wait until after DT7?
No you can read book 2 before DT. You'll only be lost if you haven't read any newer castle rock books like needful things. But it's easy to connect. And youre quite welcome. I have a personal theory king is going to revisit and if he did have a sequel to black house that has been rumored that will completely be dark tower related
I read a theory not too long ago that he's already written/revisited the DT series, but the book will be released posthumously, and that will form part of the tale given SK's presence in the latter volumes of the DT.
I dont want to think of posthumous work yet. But it makes sense
Hoo boy that would be a wild ride
Do you know, I've not really read a huge amount of Castle Rock books - I seem to have dodged them! Is it worth reading Needful Things (I've already got that on the shelf) before Gwendy 2? I'm working my way through You Like it Darker, but I'm happy to detour and read other books along the way. I swore I would never do any extended DT reading order, but that's exactly what I've done so far and I'm really pleased I have (not getting Salem's Lot in, for instance, would have totally changed my understanding of characters and events)!
You won't be lost but when you read DT 5 - 7 you'll get a lot of castle rock mentions and books. To be honest it's all connected. If you want a full picture I would suggest any castle rock book, regulators and desperation, hearts in Atlantis, and probably even talisman and blackhouse to get a full dark tower grasp
Talisman black house for sure Insomnia too The stand/eyes of the dragon are solid choices but the best time to read them within DT, is anyone’s guess
#AFTER! Read it AFTER for the love of Man Jesus. Those that read it before book 7 have forgotten the face of their father!
Don't even know who he is so 100% don't remember his face
The dark tower is one of those series that after you’ve listened and know what you’re getting it, you just can’t help doing it to yourself again and again! Hail Roland of Gilead of the line of Eld!
True. I just got all the graphic novel omnibuses. Looking forward to reading them.
Oh man! The one that cover Mejis is fucking rough! Prepare yourself!
I bet we get one more book that ties together the dark tower and the talisman, Black house series. Rip Straub
I'd like to see them fight. Sort of a Godzilla vs Kong scenario. The Man in Black with a plague bomb wrestling a fear eating demigod...
…FROM SPACE!
We're all from space
I feel like if you're a good enough author, you can have several masterpieces, and I'd say SK is. They're both masterpieces and not similar enough to really pick a superior novel.
I’m a sucker for coming-of-age, so that combined with horror makes It a clear favorite for me. Still love The Stand though. Horror epics are the best!
The Dark Tower is his magnum opus. The Stand is most certainly his masterpiece as one singluar book. And IT (my personal favorite) is a beautiful tribute to childhood and fear.
These are sort of the obvious picks. But I think Pet Sematary is what he's remembered for 100 years from now.
I'm rereading pet sematary as I'm on a Stephen King bunge at the minute, (the stand, Christine, misery, the Long Walk and and cujo all read in the past 2months). My sister/brother/some family member "borrowed IT" and have yet to return it, and I am dying to reread it next.
My vote is The Shining
The Shining carries the unfair disadvantage of being compared to the completely different Kubrick film. I prefer the book. But the discussion gets in the way.
‘Salem’s Lot is his best by far.
No hate here. I'm [a big fan.](https://www.reddit.com/r/stephenking/comments/1crt1g7/what_are_your_thoughts_on_salems_lot/l405ast/)
I agree with this. Superb.
Honestly The Stand fell a little flat for me after IT, and although I don’t see any real reason for criticism, I think we could point to more flaws in The Stand if we wished. IT is undoubtedly a masterpiece and manages to carry some real depth of meaning and far transcend the perception of it being “horror”. it was my first King and set a very high standard, getting me very excited to read The Stand, that many said is even better. I did think The Stand was very good, I loved it for the most part and it is a marvellous work of character building, but I don’t feel like it shows anything special beyond that, and it feels a little more jagged in execution. The Dark Tower as a whole seems by far to be King’s masterpiece as it is just such an incredibly unique work of imagination, so wonderfully woven in its intertext, surprisingly well-balanced in its metafiction, a clever commentary on writings/creation/storytelling, and also manages to just be an amazing journey with bits of almost everything there seems to be to love in a King book. but that’s 7 books, not 1, and IT still stands higher to me as a single work while I cannot imagine it being surpassed; and The Stand didn’t really even come close. I do understand why people would prefer a book like The Stand over something like IT as it’s a very different kind of journey, a more spacious spread of emotion.. it’s more like taking a long trip while IT is more like immersing into the characters town in a more compact way. but I also wonder if The Stand also speaks more to US Americans, so I’m interested how many foreigners prefer or see one as better over the other. Both books feel very American (whatever that means to the European writing this) but in some ways the cultural and locational elements seem stronger in The Stand and maybe that makes it a little more special for people over there?
Agreed there. IT is too close to the heart to speak for anything else but The dark tower takes the cake for me. The stand was a drag for hundreds of pages.
great point. i think the stand is pretty specific to the american experience, seeing as the characters' journey sort of takes them through the heart of america, whereas it is about the more universal experience of growing up and losing the magic of childhood (and then, after it all, recognizing that doing so is natural and okay). i'd never thought about that before since i'm american, but it's kind of a no-brainer that non-americans might have a harder time fully connecting and relating to the stand.
The Stand will forever be my favorite book, so it gets my vote.
I don't know what qualifies as a masterpiece, but in my opinion Pet Semetary is his best written, and probably my favorite horror story.
It's the best horror novel since Dracula and Frankenstein.
11.22.63 is my favourite
I honestly believe King considers this his masterpiece, even if it’s not his most popular creation. If you read his afterword from the book, he treated this book very differently and even seemed to consider himself lacking the skill to write it properly. It had been an idea of his for a very long time before he chose to write it and the research that went into it is unlike anything else he’s done. I agree that it is a masterpiece. I loved it.
Definitely respect his commitment to this one. He said similar things in the afterword of Under the Dome. Had it partially written and stashed away because he didn't feel capable of writing about how the dome would affect weather
Same
Both are masterpieces in their field, in my opinion they are incomparable, although in my case The Dark Tower would still be above, but if I hade to choice one between The Stand or It I would go for It.....You know....We all float down here 🎈
I think that all of them are but if I had to choose one book above all then it would be IT. IT is genuinely frightening and Pennywise is the most iconic character. Many of King's books are what I consider to be masterpieces. Salem's Lot is one for me and yes, The Stand is too. But IT is on a whole other level to me and Pennywise as a villain is too.
I feel really bad that IT wasn't frightening to me at all :/ I wanted it to be scary but mummies and stuff are just not working. Maybe the issue is that I read it as an adult, and also translated version which can result in some loss of tension, I guess.
I find that books I'm not really eager to read in English go much better in another language, for me, French. I may tackle King that way, too, although someone here said the French translation (at least Christine) has omissions.
I prefer The Stand by a wide margin.
IMO it’s the shining. It’s unfortunate that the movie has overshadowed the book which is very different and much better
I was looking for this comment. It may be because the book resonates with me so well but I think this is his best for me. It’s just a slightly shinier stone in a pile of gems. The self references make such a powerful story about a man struggling and his family trapped with him in the nightmare. The Overlook is burned into my brain as though it’s a place I’ve actually visited. The way this incredible hotel is isolated in a whirl of snow among the peaks makes such great imagery. The cast of characters is stellar. The movie is enjoyable and it has great scenes. I love Jack Nicholson doing just about anything. The rest of the cast was about as good as it gets too. But it’s missing too much of what makes the book great. It’s impossible to surpass the written story. It stands well on its own, but on a necessarily lower dais. The Shining is peak King for me. The Stand is Epic. The Dark Tower is an amazing achievement for any author. But only one can be the best, and that’s probably going to be a personal choice for any King fan.
The scariest part of the book was that Jack was mostly a good man who loved his family and was trying his best, but the hotel was able to get its hooks into him slowly through the parts of him that weren’t good. In the movie he’s the villain
yep. the movie is good in its own right, but comparing it to the book will always make it fall flat. it does little to no real character-building, whereas in the novel the vivid portraits king paints of the characters before they even step foot into the hotel is what makes it shine (no pun intended).
agreed. i struggle between pet sematary and the shining as my absolute favorite, and i think it's ultimately because both are similarly concise and cut down on the detours to character-build that he usually is tempted by in other works. i am a big fan of character-driven stories, though (which is why his detours don't often bother me), so i think the shining ultimately wins me over because it's a more character-centric work based on the premise alone. i think he struck the perfect balance between character-building to just about the fullest extent possible while still moving the plot along at a brisk pace (which is something he can struggle with in some of his other work).
I think the movie is actually better than the book.
I did for years. It was a recent watching/reading that made me realize that Kubrick doesn’t create decent women characters in his film. His (frankly) sexist portrayal of Wendy is no exception. The movie is better at suspense. King aced Kubrick when it came to character.
This is Stephen's best "lean and mean" book. No extraneous exposition.
I personally believe his masterpiece is The Stand. For me it's his best work because he creates not just his little world of characters but creates a larger empty world around him. How society remakes itself around the characters foreshadows its survival or downfall. How do you fill in that void when everything disappears around you? It's the ultimate setup of good, evil and everything in between. Take a look at his characters (if we don't take mother Abigail and Randall Flagg into account) it's still a story of good versus evil. The good aren't perfect people, it's a collective of good leaning people who survive a world changing event and how they keep their humanity intact. The evil isn't the darkness of Flagg but people who let their darker impulses override their decency towards others. The Stand allows us to imagine a world thrust in chaos, where all societal norms are gone, where your values and morals are put to the test. It's very fitting for today's chaotic world, what are you made of and how will you make your stand?
The dark tower is his magnum opus i guess. He says so himself on multiple occasions throughout the books.
I feel like the most important and most universal king is Salems Lot. I think it really is just a great story that really exemplifies his style, even very early on. The shining too. The stand and It are his great coke stories, but I feel suffer from his going on a bit much. I think the opening line of the gunslinger is one of the greatest and most beautiful stories ever told. So, after all that, I guess I don't know... 🙃
IT and The Stand are too fucking LONG. Salem's Lot is a long as it needs to be, which gives it the edge, imo.
If those are his great "coke" stories then the coke did him wonders, cause those are some of his most influential stories. But I'm convinced by now that people who rag on King's past drug use have never experienced drug use a single day in their lives.
I like those stories to and didn't think I was ragging on him at all, but you can tell a little when he tends toward rattling on. He famously says he doesn't remember writing most of "It". But It and the Stand are many peoples favorites for a reason. They're great.
I have a very special place in my heart for IT and all the things that it represents. So to me, that will always be his masterpiece.
At least for me, that last 20% of It brings it down a few pegs
IT, The Stand, and 11/22/63 are my top three in no particular order, as everytime I revisit any of them they’ll be my current favorite until I revisit the next one.
It's ***IT*** for me. No question, it ticks all my boxes. But that's just my subjective taste. It's my second fave book / book series.
Honestly it might be 11/22/63 now.
IT is the Great American Horror Novel (stole that from Will Erickson of Paperbacks from Hell but I’m adopting it for my own) yet I think Wizard and Glass is still my favorite of his works. The only book where I audibly said “Fuck!” out loud when the plot took a turn.
Yeah it’s Wizard & Glass that puts The Dark Tower in the running.
The Stand has an amazing setting and premise. It kind of loses the plot though with the literal battle between literally good and literally evil in the biblical sense.
I agree with this and that’s why I would choose It. It stays strong throughout while The Stand’s best parts are the first few hundred pages where society is breaking down.
The Stand is my favorite book of all time. It's actually a toss-up between It and Revival for number two.
I read through "It" a few years ago for the first time and the thing that struck me was that there was very little filler. Every chapter had something interesting happening. Where as the Stand has some really good sections, but some of it just felt a bit flat. I enjoyed it, I wouldn't have read all 1200 or so pages if I didn't, but I preferred "It". I actually tried reading The Stand many years ago as a teenager, but couldn't get into it and stopped reading. Back then I couldn't really get into Kings style of writing. I thought he went far too much into character development, and used to think he'd spend 100s of pages without going anywhere. I was clearly a moron as a youth with very little attention span, and i'm glad I gave him another chance as an adult. I've now read 35 of his novels. The Shining, Green Mile and Misery are all great books as well, the Shining in particular could quite well be classified as his "Masterpiece" as well, particularly as its one of his most famous novels.
Both are great, however the cosmic turtle in IT kind of took away the pure horror aspect. This is my opinion I’m sure other will disagree and that’s totally fine . Love the book but for me The Stand is classic horror masterpiece.
They are both fantastic books. The answer, however, is The Stand.
IT, Dark Tower, then Stand
i wouldn’t pick either of these 💀
It's always going to be a tie between those two. Both his longest and best works.
The stand isn't just my favorite king novel but my favorite book ever. It's the stand. It might even be my favorite work of fiction period
For me it's the dark tower series,
It is great, but I also think it’s a mess. You can read the cocaine. I think that The Shining is his masterpiece. Longer and more ambitious doesn’t always mean better.
agreed. the shining and pet sematary are his two greatest, in my opinion. they're both fairly minimal on the meandering he tends to do, and as a result their paces are fairly quick and ceaseless (pet sematary more than the shining, i'd say, but i think what tends to pull king off-course is any opportunity to character-build to the fullest extent, which the shining has more of based on its premise alone). the writing is concise and 99% of what made the final cut feels purposeful and intentional, which isn't something you can say about all of his work.
Dark Tower. The threading of all sorts of characters, scenes, and plot points from other books appearing. Is a non-stop treat for long-time readers. Personal favorite though, Hearts in Atlantis
I’d say both are equally great but in different ways!
King appeals to such a wide range of readers that he doesn’t have ONE masterpiece. He has produced, I would guess, maybe 10 great books and 40 pretty good books.
Aye, the age old debate. The stand feels epic from page 1. IT is nostalgic and amazing on every page. I will go with IT, something for everyone. The loser's club have a way of getting to you much like the ka tet. The stand has a sudden ending which makes me hate it. Now, his true epic is the dark tower. Its king's tale through and through. He uses every skill he has got and the dark tower is his true epic. "Heart and soul on paper" I say true you say thank you. A lot of us are stuck in the cycle with Roland of Gilead. "And The gunslinger followed".
Different Seasons is his peak, IMO.
The Stand is my choice, but I admittedly have a hard time reading works that include any child violence so I probably can’t give a fair review of It. Side note - am I the only one who thinks The Green Mile is the greatest thing King has ever written? It changed name as a reader. Blew my socks off. The movie was lovely but the story was art.
I’ve probably read IT three times. It is brilliant, an ode to childhood. I have probably read The Stand a dozen times. I feel like I find something new every time I read it. Maybe because I identify so much with one of the characters? They all feel like actual people, especially after re-reading that book over and over again for +30 years. There is something special about that novel. Something weirdly optimistic. It’s my favorite novel, and I keep coming back to it.
Dark Tower is his Magna Opus. The Stand is maybe the best book, but IT (the first King I ever read) is my favorite.
My favorites are: - The Stand - 11/22/63 - wizard and Glass - IT - Needful Things - Desperation
Best Books: IT (Steven Weber should win an award for his audiobook) The Dead Zone (John Smith is the goat) The Long Walk (I cry every time) Different Seasons (Rita and Apt Pupil are god tier) The Stand (horrible ending, great build up)
King’s best work has always been his novellas, and Different Seasons is probably the jewel in his crown.
King has three magnum opuses, screw whatever the dictionary says that term really means. It, The Stand, The Dark Tower.
I know I'll get downvoted for this, but I like "It" over "The Stand" personally. I'm 3/4s of my first run through of "The Stand" and it suffers from King's meandering, long-winded writing style a bit too much for my taste. Both books have interwoven storylines with multiple characters, but "It" was so much more compelling and downright terrifying. I'm partial to cosmic horror though.
The Stand, IT & Duma Key are his 3 masterpieces for me.
I definitely also felt that way when I was 80% through It
Hahahaha. Underrated comment. :)
I prefer The Shining, Pet Sematary, Misery. 400 pages for me is the perfect length for King. Once SK goes over 500 pages you are in the dragging zone. I think both It and The Stand do a better job than most at keeping the energy going but nonetheless they didn't have me flicking through the latter half with quite as much breathless enthusiasm as those aforementioned texts. First half is far stronger in both
I liked Christine. Seen the movie first and fell in love with the book after. True love, commitment and sacrifice.
Neither. Its Night Shift.
You misspelled The Dark Tower.
I think my thing is.. I prefer sci-fi horror to supernatural horror. Even though The Stand had some supernatural elements to it, it was mostly sci-fi, which is why it's always been my favorite King novel.
If there were ever an author prolific and relevant enough to warrant multiple masterpieces, it'd be King. Personally, I find the character development (the children coming of age, the town of Derry, IT itself) to be superior to The Stand, who's characters were harder for me to relate with. But, with all beams leading to the Tower, I'd say a strong case could be made that the Series of Seven is his magnum opus.
His most popular book of all time is THE SHINING according to most people. It’s also the one that made him break through fame into the stratosphete
Neither. The Dark Tower series is his masterpiece.
Unpopular opinion: The Stand is overrated
[Feel free to have an actual discussion.](https://www.reddit.com/r/stephenking/comments/1d6pxof/thoughts_on_the_stand_from_a_long_time_constant/)
Yeah maybe another spin off book or something
100% The Stand
I think they’re masterpieces that do different things. The Stand is a testament to his ability to write vast, sprawling epics. And It shows his skill at taking characters in a scenario (kids in a town predated upon by a fear-eating creature) and exploring those characters deeply, showing who they are and what makes them tick and how they develop. Both of them do different things and are fantastic at the things they do.
IT for me, it’s so far the only king book I’ve read AND listened to at least 4-5
Both
Maybe The Stand seems a little more mature than It even though the stand came out first. I really prefer It, though I do really love The Stand.
Yes.
I’ve read The Stand 5 times now, I loved IT but I can’t imagine reading it as many times…
The Dark Tower
DT- all the way. It is his Lord of the Rings.
I think reddit users say this because they overvalue Fantasy.
This is the only fantasy series I’ve ever read other than Lord of The Rings- fantasy is usually not my genre.
The Stand is much better because there’s no weird child sex scenes…oh wait
Yes
I must have been born too late. It never did it for meeeeee
The Dark tower hands down
while IT is my favorite… The Stand is his masterpiece
The Stand only gets better with the unabridged version. It does not. I think that’s what pushes The Stand over for me
His masterpiece is the Dark Tower But between IT and The Stand, I choose The Stand every time
I think The Stand is the book that brought in the most fans and made him the master of horror.
The Dark Tower series, It and The Stand are all masterpieces.
IT
Henry Cavill meme: “The shining!”
Obviously “From a Buick 8” is the real masterpiece. Any real king fan knows. /s.
Dark tower imo
The Stand of course!
Comes down to personal taste, but for me it's IT, even though IT is the very definition of a flawed masterpiece (we all know what flaw I'm talking about). I love the Stand, but can't get past that Hand o' God ending.
Dark Tower is the magnum opus, the masterpiece, End of story.
They're both too long. I love *Salem's Lot* and I'm enjoying *Revival*. That's about the longest I can take without losing interest.
“It” is definitely “peak” King in that it puts all of his themes into one big indulgent novel about small rural Maine towns, supernatural evil and human evil each acting in tandem, Boomer 1950s unsupervised childhood exploration, etc., and published when his fame and popularity was probably at an all-time high. “The Stand” is probably a better novel/story though!
I'm trying to re-read It now and I just...remember it being better
Um, Dark Tower is his magnum opus. The others are great, but Dark Tower is the only real answer.
It! .. 🍾 👑
I'd have to say it's The Dark Tower. I love The Stand, I just can't get through IT, I've tried over and over
The Stand
I definitely prefer The Stand. If I were going to put anything against it, maybe The Talisman.
I haven’t read the stand yet but I can’t imagine anything topping It for me. I’m excited to read the stand and find out though.
I personally think It is his masterpiece and best book. There is a realism and scope that is unmatched by any of his other novels IMO. The Dark Tower rivals it in some ways, but honestly I feel It is deeper and gets more done in fewer pages.
I always thought King himself considered the Dark Tower series as his Magnum Opus. IIRC in the foreword, he talks about 19, and says he always wanted to write his own “LOTR” but he didn’t want to just make a clone. But one day saw Cli t Eastwood in either The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly or High Plains Drifter and the Roland seed was planted in his head.
I always say The Stand but I read IT as a young teen and have a lifelong fear of clowns because of it. I should say IT because one book has had such a profound impact on my life.
I thought the Stand when I was younger, but when I read IT and then reread the Stand as an adult, IT came out on top. But that’s not an objective thing and if The Stand had a stronger third act, it would be close for me.
I think Stephen King wants The Stand to be his masterpiece, but to paraphrase the King himself - In 100 years when I’m dead and gone, I’ll be remembered for that fucking clown.
I feel ya. It's a hard call. IT sort of speaks to our childhood fears and The Stand sort of speaks to our fears for humanity. My heart tends to lean towards IT but if you asked on a different day, it could change.
The Stand is better purely because it doesn’t contain *that* scene. Plus it’s a bigger story. Pennywise ain’t doing shit to you if you’re in Montana. Superflu still gonna get you.
IT is my favorite novel of all time so I’m inclined to say yes.
No, no, it’s Insomnia
It’s It. That’s the magnum opus
"IT" reaches out and grabs you. It's the title that I think the average person would say if asked to name a Stephen King book. But an argument could be made for a lot of King books. The fact is, King has written a great many fantastic works that have cut across the consciousness of modern civilization. Everybody knows the Killer Clown, the Haunted Hotel, the Killer Car, the Dark Man. His ideas have transcended from stories to archetypal concepts people understand without even reading a single word he's written.
For me, it's 11/22/63. It totally blows away every other book he's written as far as grabbing me and not letting go.
I don’t think IT quite sticks the landing. For that reason I defer to The Stand
Wife is a huge King fan and says It is his best work
Dark tower
It is better, the Stand is great but suffers from the religious hokum for me.
I'm sorry for asking this here,but is The Stand TV show worth watching. I have not read the book either.
The Shining
In my personal opinion, I think Misery is his best work.
I'm going to say "Different Seasons". It's his anthology of four novellas, adn my introduction to his work.
The Dark Tower series, when taken as a whole, is his best work. But if we are talking about individual books, The Stand is his magnum opus.
Dark tower series is my personal favorite from Stephen King. But looking at his master works I would say it is between “It”, “The Stand”, or “11/22/63” out of these three I would personally argue for “11/22/63” followed by “It” and unfortunately even though I like it a lot “The Stand” is the last. “11/22/63” is the best overall story, it is the tightest of the three, and the themes are the best. But everyone will have different opinions things, just my two cents.
Nope. The Talisman.
Fuck it. Let’s throw 11/22/63 in the ring.
The Stand.
IT was my first SK book and the one I’ve read the most times. It will be the book I always go back to and the novel I consider his finest.
Definitely “The Stand,” in my mind. It’s prescient, and it “could” happen.
The man in black fled across the desert, and the gunslinger followed
It might be in my top ten of King’s work. For me, Salem’s Lot, Misery, The Shining, The Green Mile, Different Seasons, Dolores Claiborne are all superior.
Personally I think Salem’s Lot is one of his best. I actually quit drinking bc of that book.
It The Stand has a lot of problems... It starts well, bottoms out and drags it's ass over the line, however by this point it's just stomach lining, the council, The kid and moon man can be deleted mostly at make something far more coherent It like the book I just finished has a train, however Blaine is infinitely more welcome to my ears than that catastrophe I'm trying to do the shortest extended with things only close to the Tower being part of the journey, my last I'd imagine
The Long Walk.
Fun fact on It: the most recent interaction of It came about 27 years after the first It movie came out. For those of us who read the book, that timeframe though..
I like the stand better personally. A few years ago I think I would have said it. I think the thing I loved about it so much was all the dark stories and history of Derry. Yes, I like that main characters, but I really liked learning the fucked up history of Derry and it. For me, the weak point of the book, as much as it has one, is the ending both in the kids and adults timelines. For the kids, there is that one scene. Now when I first read it, I was a younger teenager so I didn't really care that they are kids having sex. What I thought then and still do now, was that it just seemed unnecessary and somewhat out of character for like all of the characters. I know people have made detailed explanations of why it happened but i still don't really buy it. For the adults, Henry Bowers coming back just seemed like a weak antagonist. Young Henry was bigger, stronger, with a bit of a gang and posed more of a real threat... The stand on the other hand poses some pretty deep theological questions and is quite brutal. I guess at the end of the day, I'd rather read a few random chapters of it then the stand but I like the stand more if I'm reading the entire novel. It's highs are better but the stand is on average better. Imo.
My vote is The Stand
It's close, but you're right.
IT is a great story - really great - but The Stand is his masterpiece to me. I have read it multiple times now.
King himself regarded The Dark Tower as his magnum opus. Saying he'd never write anything as good as that ever again, and I believe him. he poured his heart & soul into that book, while nearly dying along the way!!
In terms of King's overall writing? Probably "The Stand." In terms of the enduring pop culture image of Steven King (iconic horror writer renowned for providing the basis of several seminal horror films), probably "It."
The shining should also be in contention imo. I say the stand is top dog for me
Hard preference for It over The Stand. Partially because of Stand’s ending, and partially because it kind of feels like two disjointed and loosely related stories. This does, however, assume we can only pick one book. If it’s one story, then Dark Tower becomes the magnum opus very quickly.
Let's just embrace both!! Plus DT, plus PS, plus SL, plus EVERYTHING!
The Shining imo
The Stand is more of an “epic” story for me. The characters. The journey. How everyone comes together. All of it. It’s always my number one.
I love love love the dark tower, and I have read the stand half a dozen times and adore it as well... but IT is absolutely phenomenal. It's his best in my opinion. A top 5 list is almost impossible and I could sub out half a dozen others in the 4th and 5th spots and be just as happy, but here is mine (right now) 1. IT 2. Wizard and glass 3. The stand 4. 11/22/63 5. Revival
I feel like a minority here but I really like Dr.Sleep, as someone who watched someone struggle with alcohol and pick up their life after I resonate with it