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Dale's Reviews > Bag of Bones
Bag of Bones
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I am a Stephen King junkie. I started reading him in high school and quickly tore through just about everything he'd ever written, and then started buying every new book he put out. Being a Stephen King fan is kind of like being a geek for Dragonlance or comic books - reviewing his work seems borderline pointless because non-fans will usually dismiss him out of hand and be hard to convince of any intrinsic value, and fans are already pretty hardcore about him.
Nevertheless, I wanted to add this specific Stephen King book to my "all time faves" shelf for three reasons:
1. It's amazing
2. Among King's books, this one is lesser known (hasn't been made into a movie or mini-series, isn't usually on people's Top 5 lists, etc.)
3. I think it's one of his more accessible and "mainstream" books.
Don't get me wrong, I love IT and The Stand and the Gunslinger septulogy, all the crazy outlandish horror and fantasy that is SK's bread and butter. But I adore Bag of Bones and think it is one of his absolute best. It's very intimate, very down to earth, with the supernatural downplayed. It's told from the first-person perspective of a widower writer with writer's block. I wouldn't want to give away much more than that. It's just a really solidly told story, where King writes about what he knows, doesn't try too hard or reach too far, and ends up with a perfectly polished gem.
This is not just a great Stephen King book, it's a great book.
Nevertheless, I wanted to add this specific Stephen King book to my "all time faves" shelf for three reasons:
1. It's amazing
2. Among King's books, this one is lesser known (hasn't been made into a movie or mini-series, isn't usually on people's Top 5 lists, etc.)
3. I think it's one of his more accessible and "mainstream" books.
Don't get me wrong, I love IT and The Stand and the Gunslinger septulogy, all the crazy outlandish horror and fantasy that is SK's bread and butter. But I adore Bag of Bones and think it is one of his absolute best. It's very intimate, very down to earth, with the supernatural downplayed. It's told from the first-person perspective of a widower writer with writer's block. I wouldn't want to give away much more than that. It's just a really solidly told story, where King writes about what he knows, doesn't try too hard or reach too far, and ends up with a perfectly polished gem.
This is not just a great Stephen King book, it's a great book.
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Reading Progress
Started Reading
March 1, 2000
–
Finished Reading
August 31, 2007
– Shelved
August 31, 2007
– Shelved as:
all-time-faves
August 19, 2008
– Shelved as:
stephen-king
Comments Showing 1-40 of 40 (40 new)
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message 1:
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Melody
(new)
Feb 01, 2008 08:48PM
i agree completely. either you are a Stephen King fan or you aren't. like you, i am. i have every book he's written and in the original hard back, not the newer releases of the older books. i can hardly wait for a new one to come out.
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Completely agree with you!
They are making Bag of Bones into a movie. Not sure if made for TV, but hopefully it will bring this awesome book to the attention of some readers!
Bag of Bones will be on AMC in December. Reading this now!
Lady Alice - I think this book would definitely stand up well to comparison to Salem's Lot and The Shining. Those early novels are about realistic characters in the real world brushing up against the supernatural, which I think is one of King's true strengths, and Bag of Bones is a return to form. The Gunslinger books are piled deep with utter weirdness - which I can understand is not to everyone's taste - and Full Dark, No Stars (which I assume is the "last book" to which you refer) is really focused on cold, disturbing tales of protagonists who do awful things - again, not for everyone. Bag of Bones has more heart and optimism to it.Aena/Manda - yeah, I'm looking forward to Bag of Bones on TV too! Should be interesting to see Pierce Brosnan as Mike. It's definitely made-for-TV as I believe it's going to be a four-hour miniseries.
Glad that you liked it so much :) I have had this book for over a year and I figured this was the perfect time to finally read it.
I started reading this 2 days ago and im nearly finished. Without a doubt one of my favourite of Kings novels! Loved the references to Insomnia and The Dark Tower.
Coming to A&E in December: I think I'm going to check out the novel beforehand! I'm kind of a SK newbie ... I've only read The Eyes of the Dragon and The Stand, and that was many years ago.
Does anyone have the Bag of Bone ebook they would lend me?
One of SK's best...love the tone
i love stephen king to been a fan since junior high
I'm a Stephen King-addict as well!Nice review...
Completely agree, also my favourite book of his.
It's the same with me! I grew up in Japan, came to the U.S. to study. Somehow, Stephen King is the first author I chose to read after I was able to really read English literature. And I got hooked!I saw what you said about getting into his stories and reading everything. Wanted to let you know it happened to me also
I've read seven King books, and I love him. But he's a difficult read :(
This book was always my number one until I read the Dark Tower series! I've reread it many times and still love it!
Hi Dale....First of all, I don't know do you celebrate Christmas but I wish you a very blessed Christmas. Second, I just started to read "Bag of Bones" in Croatian translation (it's very good translated) and I just read your review. I have to notice I share your opinion about this book, "Bag of Bones" and as a very great fan of Stephen King's work I've noticed this one is a little bit different than other books and yet....it's Stephen King's book and It's great ....so far.
I too am a huge fan of all thing Stephen King. I read this on my honeymoon and plowed through it. One of my favorites my far.
Funny I remember always looking at king books in the library when I was about 12, but I never read one until 1 year ago. It's so true I'm on my way to read everything i can get my hand on from king. I think you love him or hate him. To be honest your kind of need to read all the books in order to really understand the dark tower as most books contain stuff about it . Anyway I'm going to listen to this one as an audio book now.
I'm glad I picked it up hope I like it !
great review man, I'm currently in the process of accumulating all of his work: I'm getting there lol i just picked this one up the other day at a local thrift store (which is one of my favorite things to do) and its a hardcover in great condition but when I got it home and flipped through it, its previous owner had highlighted a large percentage of it's pages. I like finding novels like this, I do such a thing quite a bit myself, but I have a feeling that I'm going to have a hard time reading it in such a condition. Now I can't highlight his wonderful word weaving lol just thought id share that, I can't wait to read it
and I'm aStephen King junkie, but the book bag of bones is a big disappointment for me, as well as the 1992 movie I watched yesterday. I do not know what he is.
Been a fan since I was a kid and you’re absolutely right about you either like his work or you don’t. I listened to Bag of Bones the first time as an audiobook and it is one that is on my King favorite list, I didn’t realize in 2011 there was a mini series and with Pierce to boot! Gonna have to find that lol. Anyway, the poignancy of this book really stood out to me...a very well written prose on love and sudden loss written by IMO the master. The paranormal twist is elegantly done without detracting from the main storyline of learning how to deal with pain and loss, and learning how to go on. Excellent review!
I am a Stephen King newbie and want to ask what do you guys suggest I read first among all of his books/ best Stephen King book?
Judy wrote: "I am a Stephen King newbie and want to ask what do you guys suggest I read first among all of his books/ best Stephen King book?"Generally I tend to point to Misery as a good starting point. It's extremely well-written, King at the top of his game. And it's fairly grounded, and doesn't require you to wrap your head around any crazy fantastical or science-fictiony concept or premise. It's tense, it's a thriller, not necessarily nightmare-fuel horror. If you prefer your horror as scary as possible, or if you really love getting into the weeds of cosmic entities or vampire mythology or psychic conspiracies or whatever, there's other recommendations I could make! But assuming "newbie" means "never read Stephen King, never read anything remotely like what I assume SK is like" then Misery has a very low barrier of entry, and is one of my personal faves.
Really appreciate the suggestion, Dale. Will definitely check the book out. Thanks!
I am a Stephen King fan lol. I have almost all his books.
Wow thanks Marl for the recommendation. 💕 This is now on my to read list. ☺️
It's so hard to find a second hand copy of Misery- maybe because it's that good that nobody wants to sell hehe 😁
Haha yeah. Marami sa fb. Try porch readers. If Im not mistaken I have several copies of misery but I keep my hardcovers kasi lol
I'll check it out. Thanks for the suggestion. 😊
Judging by your review, we are exactly the same kind of King fan... am getting this book out of the library PRONTO.
I was converted to King several years ago and I haven’t looked back. I think one of the things that made me dismiss him for so long was that I assumed someone with such a HUGE body of work must be lacking in substance. I genuinely thought he would be all about the quantity and not about the quality. I was so delighted to find how completely wrong I was. The man is one of the most gripping, beautiful, haunting, atmospheric and seductive writers on the planet to ever have existed. I’m pleased to say I’ve still not read this one but I’m about to dive in head first. I pray it’s as good as you think it is.
I agree. This one is so very underrated and my favorite! I had no idea they made it for the screen will have to look it up.
Agree on all counts.
Ditto commenter above Sanja Koledin. I did not care for Bag of Bones. 1992 pulled me in but was ultimately a downer. I do love Stephen King and he is unreachable, definitely King. His latest book I found depressing. Perhaps it is in the eye of the beholder.
I would recommend Carrie as an introduction to King's works.
