Stephen King's Best Novel?

Just thinking about this, I've read The Stand (both the original publication and restored version) quite a few times over the years, and have always regarded it as his finest novel. However, I've also read The Mist nearly as many times and, although it's often classed as a novella (and is by Stephen King's usual standards) is a pretty substantial piece of work and, in terms of its original publication date (1980) certainly qualifies as a novel.
 
It is the Long Walk for me. That book stuck with me like nothing else. Harrowing and beautiful.
 
SevenStars said:
Hello, have you read Doctor Sleep? I know it's his latest but it's reeeeeally good :D
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For anyone who hasn't read it it is $1.99 on both Amazon and Barnes today. I just picked it up. I'll start it after I finish the 3rd book of the Coldfire Trilogy.
 
I only have his short story collections (which I love) but his long work is too long and I have a short attention span for overly detailed work. Sorry.
 
springs said:
Not all his stuff is long - Carrie, Firestarter, Dead Zone, Cujo and Pet Sematery are all normal length books. There may well be others. :)
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Thanks for the reply. I think I made I made a mistake when I jumped from his short fiction to the 1000 pager IT. 0.0 I bought it 4 years ago or more and i'm still trying to read it.
 
Hi, I'm new here...

I've read a lot of Stephen's books and I can say my 5 favorites are

1. Desperation
2. It
3. The Stand
4. The Green Mile
5. Insomnia

I didn't include any of The Dark Tower books... I'm currently reading The Waste Lands....
 
The Stand was the one book that had the most effect on me. Horror usually doesn't effect me when i read but with the Stand the horror i felt was in the ''what ifs'' of a world that had destroyed itself and the idea that society would very quickly make the same mistakes again. Oh and the Walkin' dude!
 
I have not yet read the Stand but enjoyed the film(s) greatly. The Shining was the only book I have ever read that really gave me a case of the creepers so I have to go with that. Different Seasons is really a great set of novellas, containing some of his best writing.
 
S.K. has written so many good books that I find impossible to chose just one.
So I will list some those that I've read more then once:
"The Shining" (my 1st and still a big favourite), "The Stand" (extended edition),"Needful Things" (now where did I put that baseball card?), "Insomnia" (stayed up all night with this one), "Duma Key" (very creepy), "It" (who's are these big shoes?), "The Tommyknockers" (now where did I park my flying saucer?).
Then on top of all this there are so many of his short stories I like to read again & again!
 
Tough choice but of the novels ve read by him The Stand.:)
 
It's hard to choose another novel over The Stand, the writing as well as the breadth of the book is tough to beat.
 
In my opinion, the original Gunslinger (Dark Tower Book One) before any revisions were made. I had loaned my copy out and never got it back. I was grateful to find an original first edition in a used book store. I thought it was perfect as it was, I was disappointed with the changes he made later on.
Other than that, I would consider The Stand his masterwork. In the case of The Stand the revised and expanded edition was an improvement.
 
I'm a big Dark Tower fan as you can probably guess :)

Other than that...

Insomnia
The Stand
The Long Walk
The Talisman / Black House
 
I thought Firestarter was very exciting at the time

The dark half also

Loved many of the short stories in Nightmares and Dreamscapes
 
ratsy said:
Who knows? He has so many and I have not read them all. Here is a list of the ones I know I have read

Eye of the Dragon (too many years ago to really remember)
Gunslinger
Dark Tower II
Duma Key
The Dead Zone
The Mist
Cell
Under the Dome
11/22/63
The Long Walk
Desperation
Needful Things
Dreamcatcher

I have also read a couple of his short story compilations which are great.

I am not even sure which would be my favorite out of these...

I do have IT, The Stand, and Bag of Bones to read

I want to read his new one Doctor Sleep..do I need to read the Shining first ( I know the story and have seen a couple adaptations of it)

11/22/63 was a great read and one of my favorites...I will also agree that The Dead Zone was a great book.
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Dr Sleep can be read as a standalone, but it's more interesting if you read the Shining

His early cocaine-fueled novels are amazing

Post-accident, things seem off.
 
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