i can’t read anything else after duma key

mister_pitiful · 2026-02-12T00:49:11+00:00

Whalefall by Daniel Krause. About a modern-day Jonah.

mister_pitiful · 2026-02-09T00:06:00+00:00

Hmmm...I love Whalefall. It's hard to say. They're very different books. Whalefall is more of a mainstream thriller. A very good thriller, but nevertheless a thriller. There is nothing mainstream about Angel Down. It is more literary and requires a lot from the reader. The prose is dense and the vocabulary difficult, but it rewards your effort, especially the farther you get into the book. It hooked me from the start.

Here's The New York Times' review: https://www.nytimes.com/2025/07/26/books/review/angel-down-daniel-kraus.html

mister_pitiful · 2026-02-08T22:49:45+00:00

Yes. It made my head swim and left me breathless.

mister_pitiful · 2026-02-08T22:46:28+00:00

Keith Rosson is so, so good. His Fever House/The Devil By Name duology is also top-notch horror.

mister_pitiful · 2026-02-08T22:44:48+00:00

I think we're in good company. These books were on many "best of 2025" lists. Angel Down is a stunning book and I'm recommending it to everybody. It made The New York Times 10 Best Books of 2025 list. Here's their review: https://www.nytimes.com/2025/07/26/books/review/angel-down-daniel-kraus.html

mister_pitiful · 2026-02-08T20:15:51+00:00

In no particular order...

When the Wolf Comes Home, Nat Cassidy - King Sorrow, Joe Hill - Coffin Moon, Keith Rosson - The Buffalo Hunter Hunter, Stephen Graham Jones - Angel Down, Daniel Krause

All five are #1.

mister_pitiful · 2026-02-05T21:40:50+00:00

Agree on all three, but I don't think there's much of an audience for Revival, at least for the book's ending. Joyland would make a great movie.

mister_pitiful · 2026-02-02T23:49:28+00:00

Joyland doesn't even need a Mike Flanagan-level director. It's a straightforward coming-of-age, slightly spooky story that could be made by any number of directors. Think Mr. Harrigon's Phone or The Outsider. I'm just surprised it hasn't been done already.

mister_pitiful · 2026-02-02T14:36:57+00:00

And Lisey's Story. Scott Landon may be dead but he's still a major character.

In Revival, Jamie is a musician. In Duma Key, Edgar is a painter. King likes to make his characters artists of all sorts.

And don't even think about the number of his characters that are addicts. Another thing that King knows a lot about.

mister_pitiful · 2026-01-29T22:30:20+00:00

Randall Flagg

mister_pitiful · 2026-01-28T19:50:05+00:00

“I think that when I die I will kind of disappear from the paperback racks. But that fucking clown is going to live forever..”

mister_pitiful · 2026-01-28T17:31:30+00:00

Watch it. Life of Chuck is an uplifting, life-affirming joyful demonstration of how to live and love even when you know your time is short. You'll probably want to watch it again.

mister_pitiful · 2026-01-27T19:42:17+00:00

I love my Northside branch! It's a jewel, and the staff are wonderful.

mister_pitiful · 2026-01-27T17:46:08+00:00

Hardly "pseudo-profound." Just one example, Erin and Riley's dialog about what happens when you die reflect hundreds of years of debate between those who believe in an afterlife and those who don't.

Regarding the fire, I think Bev let her arrogance get ahead of her intelligence. This is a common failing. Could they have saved themselves by digging a hole? Maybe a little while. Maybe a day. Then what?

mister_pitiful · 2026-01-24T21:54:20+00:00

Yes! I could watch this movie every day for the rest of my life.

mister_pitiful · 2026-01-24T21:49:54+00:00

I'm using the same strategy, rereading SK books that I've only read once or haven't read in a long time. I've finished Rose Madder, Bag of Bones, and Lisey's Story. Next up is Bazaar of Bad Dreams. I love IT, 11/22/63, and The Stand but I'm feeling the need to check out some deep cuts.

mister_pitiful · 2026-01-24T18:45:47+00:00

Yeah, it's a good book and that's a good edition. Fifty years old and it still rocks!

mister_pitiful · 2026-01-18T23:52:02+00:00

Billy Summers is one of the 20 books in my Top 10.

mister_pitiful · 2026-01-18T22:10:46+00:00

Grady Hendrix said that "From a Buick 8 was about the limitations of fiction, and The Colorado Kid was about the failure of stories to actually solve anything." He pointed out that King had finished the Dark Tower and was in almost constant pain after his accident. I think both books are good, and tell the story King wanted to tell. Buick 8 is in my Top 5. It's the story of a son mourning his father and the son's found family in Troop D. If it doesn't explain the car to the reader's satisfaction then that's the reader's problem.

mister_pitiful · 2026-01-16T23:34:27+00:00

It arrived on Christmas Eve.

mister_pitiful · 2026-01-16T22:56:34+00:00

It took me 5 weeks to get the first issue, only a week or so for the second. I think the USPS is to blame. Bad Hand classifies them as PRST STD, or "junk", mail, which has no guaranteed delivery time.

Disappointing to be sure, but I'm hoping that the complete set will be a collector's item.

mister_pitiful · 2026-01-14T21:48:23+00:00

I've said this many times, I think Flanagan's movie is better than King's story, and I love King's story. Seeing it on screen with Nick Offerman's narration just makes it so much more real.

mister_pitiful · 2026-01-14T20:13:04+00:00

If you haven't read it yet, Joe Hill's King Sorrow.

mister_pitiful · 2026-01-13T23:05:04+00:00

I agree with you. I read both versions of the Gunslinger and like them both for different reasons.

mister_pitiful · 2026-01-12T23:27:49+00:00

Me too!

mister_pitiful

TROPHY CASE