Stephen King Fans discussion

Who's reading along this month? I will be a little behind since I have yet to get my hands on the book!

creepy creepy pic angie!

WOW!!!!! Angie, you get better and better avis. I have to confess, the MJ one you had for a few days? I was confused for a minute, because I knew you planned on a Thinner one!

HA! It is more of a skeleton then me having a really thin face... but it was fun to make!

Like the picture Angie. You did a really good one of that. You can count in for the read. Especially since I started a few days ago. (I`m a slow reader!)

I didn't finish The Stand for June, but I will probably be reading Thinner for the July read whilst I still plug away at The Stand.

That's what I meant, Rob! I thought she was spoofing on his being skinny, then felt bad when I realized it was a tribute due to his death. (Am I a bad person?)

MJ was real skinny... probably didn't help with whatever gave him a heart attack.

I'll probably be starting the book soon too. I'm behind on a couple other books I'm reading, but oh well. Might as well pick it up and go... ;)

they say MJ was 112 lbs when he died and was injecting pain killers several times a day. No wonder he had a heart attack. Sad.

I'll be joining in for the first time!! got another book that i'm trying to finish off first though, so i wont get started for a day or two!

I have to say this is not my favorite King book but I did think the movie did a decent job with the story

I am also starting in a few days. I am finishing the book I am on right now.

I re-read Thinner a few years ago & Still kinda just thought it was OK..... I'm getting through the Dead Zone slowly, mostly because I still remember it from when it 1st came out..whenever that was.... and if you bother to look at my 2 Read List... those are just ones I have found & just had 2 have...................... Too Many Books, Not Enough Time....

How does this work? Will we discuss Thinner as we read, or after completion?

I'm reading as soon as I get the book. I just joined the group and placed an order for the book in the bookstore. They say two weeks, I say it better be two weeks :)

It's really quick and easy to read; I think I'll re-read it for this.

You can start discussing now. So talk about as you read. My library did order it about two weeks ago and I have been waiting to see if they are going to actually get it soon or what? I am going to give them till July 10th and then I will just go buy a copy.

I am not currently reading it, but I DO plan on it. I remember being completely blown away by the cause of the accident! I mean, who but King, would think of such a...mundane, but exciting thing to be so distracting. If anyone else had written that, I would have viewed it as dirty, but somehow, King's "sex" scenes never seem that way to me. They are so essential to the story, they never seem gratuitous.

I've just picked up my copy of Thinner from my local charity shop. Didn't really like the movie that was made but hoping the book will be better, they usually are.

I tend to go back and forth on Bachman books. I always love to read them but almost all of them are soooo dark and rarely end well. BLAZE had me in tears. Still, no matter how they end they are always satisfying.

(Possible Spoiler)




I found THINNER to be an interesting look at a typical guy's moral compass and what happens when it's a bit skewed. There should be some repercussions when we try to beat the system at the expense of others. It has been several years since I read this one so I'll go back and re-read as soon as I've finished re-reading THE REGULATORS.

I haven’t done the research but I know that Richard Bachman was discovered to be Stephen King by a reporter who recognized his style. Possibly the discussion below gave it away?

Pg. 113 Bill talking to Dr. Houston “You were starting to sound like a Stephen King novel for a while there, but it’s not like that.”

So turns out Thinner is not including in the book that has all the Bachman novels? It has Rage, The Long Walk, The Running Man and another one? Roadrunner or something.

Nope. Thinner is a novel on it's own. Those other "Bachman books" are novellas. I think they have been printed as stand alones since it came out Bachman was King and vice versa, but otherwise...nope.

Angie wrote: "So turns out Thinner is not including in the book that has all the Bachman novels? It has Rage, The Long Walk, The Running Man and another one? Roadrunner or something. "

Heh...good one....the final story is "Roadwork"....

The news broke about King being Bachman soon after Thinner was published...from what I understand, they chose to go back and reissue the older ones without Thinner, as it was still a new novel...

I have not finished The Stand--still working on that one, but I also started reading Thinner and like it so far. I saw the movie a while back and thought it was good.

I dug out my old, hardback copy of THINNER and started re-reading it last night. I'm really re-experiencing the different "styles" and themes between Bachman & King. The most interesting thing about my particular edition is the author photo. Who the heck is that guy? In the later Bachman books they usually have an old, old pic of King, but the original THINNER has someone else alltogether.

I finished THINNER last night...a very quick read. I do have a burning question though. Should I wait to ask till the end of the month when everyone has had a chance to finish?

Here's one thing I'm noticing about Thinner. I can see King's style all over it. Not like The Long Walk, where I didn't notice it so much. But in this one, his style techniques are all in place. I wonder if this was what finally got him 'caught' in the act of having the alias. Or if he knew it was coming out anyway, so reverted to form.....

Betsy,
Go ahead and ask your question, just make sure you label as ***SPOILER*** of some sort. I'm pretty sure most of us have already read it anyway.

Chris,
You know, I agree with you. This was my first go-round with Thinner and I knew it was SK even before I read it, so it sounded a lot like him to me. But, unless you are a hardcore SK fan, it would have been difficult to tell when it was first published.

Makes you wonder if he is floating around with another alias right now, huh?

I read _Thinner_ before it was known to be penned by SK. I tried to convince anyone who would listen that it REALLY really read like one of King's books. :)

I remember reading that a journalist? - someone - during research, found SK's name listed somewhere regarding _Thinner_ and that's how he was found out.

MJ was mentioned earlier in this post.
Following article may interest some.

The devil makes him do it. (a new short film 'Ghosts,' starring Michael Jackson, is now in theaters with 'Stephen King's Thinner')(Brief Article).Owen Gleiberman. Entertainment Weekly n352 (Nov 8, 1996 n352): p.p49(1). (262 words) From Academic OneFile.
Full Text:COPYRIGHT 1996 Time, Inc.
Far more unsettling than Thinner, if not always in the ways intended, is GHOSTS, the 35-minute Michael Jackson "trailer" that opened in selected Sony Theatres along with Stephen King's thriller. Set in a cheesy horror-film castle, and built around "Too Bad," one of the bottom-heavy techno-grooves off 1995's HIStory, it's essentially the "Thriller" video updated to an era of computerized special effects. Jackson's haunted-house choreography hasn't exactly advanced with the times (it looks more than ever like funky Broadway), but now, as he cavorts with a chorus line of decaying aristocratic ghosts, he gets to elevate his weirdo/demonic/am-I-black-or-white? iconography to new levels of videogame dazzle.

In Ghosts, Jackson is hounded by local townsfolk who accuse him of being a "freaky boy"; he wins them over by proving he's even freakier than they thought. See Michael morph into a scaly demon! See Michael turn into a gyrating, pelvis-thrusting, moon-walking skeleton! See Michael face off against himself playing a middle-aged White Guy who looks like a portly driver's-ed teacher! In the wittiest moment, Michael the whirling harlequin jumps into the White Guy, who proceeds to dance just like Michael. The creepy difference between the "Thriller" video and Ghosts is that what was once a living-dead tease has now become a shade too real for comfort. When Jackson transforms himself into a living skeleton, a bone-jangles who fragments right before our eyes, he seems to be winking at his own degeneration. The King of Pop? Michael Jackson has become the Norma Desmond of pop. He had a face once; now he has only a mask.

Named Works: Ghosts (Motion picture) Criticism and interpretation

Source Citation:Gleiberman, Owen. "The devil makes him do it." Entertainment Weekly n352 (Nov 8, 1996 n352): 49(1). Academic OneFile. Gale. Citrus County Library System. 14 July 2009
.

Gale Document Number:A18822655

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_...

The link between King and his shadow writer became undeniable when a persistent Washington D.C. bookstore clerk, Steve Brown, couldn't believe that Bachman and King were not one and the same, and eventually located publisher's records at the Library of Congress naming King as the author of one of Bachman's novels.[2:] This led to a press release heralding Bachman's "death" — supposedly from "cancer of the pseudonym".[3:] At the time of the announcement in 1985, King was working on Misery, which he had planned to release as a Bachman book.

Thanks Josh! And speaking of SK's style I agree that THINNER is very much a King book, but it felt different to me in a way I can't explain. It was sort of like how I felt when I first read HEART SHAPED BOX by Joe Hill (his son). I had already started it before I found out they were related and I remember thinking how similar it was to SK's novels.

Anyhoo...SPOILER....



When I first read THINNER I was convinced that once Billy ate the pie (after realizing that his daughter had eaten some) the curse would be back on him & not on her & his wife. Then I read a review where someone said they would ALL be cursed...that Billy only ate it because he didn't want to live knowing his daughter was going to suffer. Does anyone think this? Were they all cursed or just Billy?

I thought they would all be cursed, not just Billy. If it was just a matter of the last person eating of the pie being cursed, he could probably have convinced his wife to eat another piece and then throw it away.

That is a good question. I honestly never thought about it before you said that. I just assumed they all died after eating the pie. Now that I think about it, I would think the first person to eat it would be the only one. Unless you think of it as the curse being the whole pie instead of the first who takes a piece. Good question! I think going I'm to stick with my original assumption that they all got the curse.

Betsy wrote: "Does anyone think this? Were they all cursed or just Billy?"

My take was he committed hari-kari via wasting away not to save his daughter, but to end it for himself and punish himself for allowing it to happen.

You make a good point Betsy. It was for that reason that I didn`t like the ending. Personally, I thought (when reading it at the time anyway) that he ate the pie because the curse was lifted & it wouldn`t harm him anyway because his wife & daughter had already taken some of it. That`s why it said: "...he still needed all the calories he could get."- because he would still be alive!

Gosh...it's so interesting that so many people have different ideas about the ending! To Kandice: My thought wasn't that "the last person to eat the pie being cursed", but that because it was HIS curse and HIS blood in the pie that the curse would revert to him upon his eating it. But when I re-read the part where the gypsy gives him the pie and he warns him to be careful about who eats it I think perhaps it is true that whoever eats the pie is cursed. Especially when the gypsy says, "Everybody pays, even for things they didn't do. No poosh."

I always assumed that whoever ate a piece of pie was screwed....that's why i always loved the ending. It's purely sinister....

Yes thay were all f----d. I liked it very much,short,good characters $ thay got what was coming to them.I did hate to see the hitman die but oh well.

Personally, I sorta hated that their daughter "ate it"

Lynsay wrote: "I'll be joining in for the first time!! got another book that i'm trying to finish off first though, so i wont get started for a day or two!"

I didn't realize they had made a movie out of Thinner.
Do you know if it is available on DVD or anything?

Terri wrote: "I have to say this is not my favorite King book but I did think the movie did a decent job with the story"

Lynsay wrote: "I'll be joining in for the first time!! got another book that i'm trying to finish off first though, so i wont get started for a day or two!"

Lonnie wrote: "I haven’t done the research but I know that Richard Bachman was discovered to be Stephen King by a reporter who recognized his style. Possibly the discussion below gave it away?

Pg. 113 Bill ta..."

Yeah there are alot of giveaways like Bar Harbor and Bagor Maine where he lives. Lots of personal hints dropped.

Betsy wrote: "I dug out my old, hardback copy of THINNER and started re-reading it last night. I'm really re-experiencing the different "styles" and themes between Bachman & King. The most interesting thing ab..."

I have that one too. I'm not sure who the heck the guy is but they were diffinately trying to cover up King.

Finally! The bookshop sent my copy on Friday so I should be getting Thinner sometime this week. I have one book to finish before starting on Thinner, though, but I'll try to be quick about it so I'll still be able to discuss the group read :)

Spoilers included in this post


I have the hardcover book of Thinner which has a picture of a man that is not Stephen King on the back jacket cover. I don’t know who this man is but the book definitely had lots of hints dropped seeming to be asking the question” who will be sleuth enough to discover Bachman is Stephen King ?” . Hints such as the setting being mostly Bar Harbor and Bangor Maine which is King’s home stomping grounds and references like “this sounds like a Stephen King Novel” just screaming at subliminal messaging. There were probably some I didn’t even catch. I especially am glad he mentioned Waldenbooks. I used to work for Waldenbooks a long time ago.
Any way the story was kept pretty much to the point without a lot of wandering off. It kind of had that eye for an eye feel to it. How many times have we heard or seen people getting off light for charges that would have been more severe if palms were not greased or they just happened to know someone with enough power to lessen the penalty?
The old gypsy seems to represent the eye for an eye kind of justice he knew he would not get from the legal system of our society. In the end the gypsy made it clear to Halleck that even though the curse would be lifted off of Halleck someone would be paying the price because it could not just go away. There was a blood debt to settle one way or another and the only way Halleck would get out of the curse was to pass it on to someone else and this was thru a Pie that the gypsy brought to their meeting. After Halleck put his own blood into the pie he was to choose who is to eat the pie and pass the curse from himself to someone else. Halleck wanted his wife, who he sees as the cause of the whole mess, and whom he seems to believe has abandoned him to eat the pie. Halleck brings the pie back home to his wife as a disguised as a peace offering. His daughter has been staying with an aunt to separate herself from all the emotional distress going on between her parents. However the daughter comes home unexpectedly the same night Halleck did after Halleck has gone to bed. When Halleck wakes up and realizes that not only did his wife eat a piece of the pie but his daughter It’s too much for him and the story ends with Halleck also eating a piece of the pie.
I could see the ending being what it was because Halleck never wanted to see his daughter hurt and he is not going to be able to live with himself and watch his daughter die from a curse originally meant for him. His daughter after all continued to believe in him all the way and did not deserve it. What I’m wondering is just how much of the curse is really supernatural and how much was really brought on by subconscious beliefs. The cursed people seem to have this preconceived notion that the gypsies have supernatural abilities and that is what gypsies do when they are crossed is cast spells and curses. I’m thinking this may have contributed their decline in health more than anything. Heidi his wife did not suffer any effects from the curse and disbelieves Halleck and thinks him crazy to believe a curse was put on him. Also the old gypsy did not seem to concerned about Halleck putting a curse on him, the gypsy just had the problem eliminated by having Ginelli killed.
So by Halleck eating a piece of the pie in the end I have no doubts he would die however I’m not so sure that his wife and daughter would suffer the same fate. Because of all this the end of the story kind leaves an uncertainty for me. But I believe that is what makes it a good story because it keeps me thinking about it.

Mary wrote: "Betsy wrote: "I dug out my old, hardback copy of THINNER and started re-reading it last night. I'm really re-experiencing the different "styles" and themes between Bachman & King. The most intere..."

I recently found a post that said the guy in the photo was a friend of SK's agent. I'll try to find the link and post it. And Mary...really liked your review! :)

Here's what I found:

http://books.google.com/books?id=bTaQ...