Submitted by Wandering_Texan80 t3_yfut5w in books

Is this the worst of the Stephen King books? Started off ok, but the middle is a slog.

Kurtz is a boring character and it feels like the exciting parts were in the first third of the work. I just don’t care to read on - not a compelling story at all.

FWIW, I’ve enjoyed Misery, IT, Gerald’s Game, and other King novels. A little surprised by the lack of imagination and suspense in Dreamcatcher.

2

Comments

You must log in or register to comment.

Particular_Youth7381 t1_iu5cp15 wrote

I didn't care for Dreamcatcher, nor did I much like The Tommyknockers. Overall, though, Stephen King remains one of my favorite authors.

7

My_Name_is_Galaxy t1_iu5diqy wrote

It’s one of them for sure. Well, according to me. I didn’t like Tommyknockers or Under the Dome either. I sense a theme here.

3

TheCheeseDevil t1_iu5j0l6 wrote

King himself said he doesn't care for Dreamcatcher. He wrote it after his life threatening accident in a haze of oxy.

3

scheboida t1_iu5kw5i wrote

I thoroughly enjoyed reading both Dreamcatcher and The Tommyknockers. Sure, they're not King's best, but even a bad King novel is a pretty good one compared to so many other authors.

5

Senator_Bink t1_iu5wi3t wrote

I usually re-read books over the years. I did not re-read Dreamcatcher, Under the Dome, From a Buick 8, Revival, or Tommyknockers, though I might revisit Tommyknockers at some point after I've read those I like of King's books until I can nearly recite them.

I am grateful he's been so prolific. He virtually has something for everyone.

2

Chicachikka t1_iu64ldh wrote

I didnt like it. Some of his stuff is great some is kaka. Imo it was kaka.

2

Grouchy-Weight-4950 t1_iu6ow76 wrote

I’m one of those with the unpopular opinion that... King was merely a prolific author, he wasn’t a particularly good one. The Stephen King drinking game exists for a reason.

Those who say he writes ‘horror’, I don’t think ever payed much attention to his writing. He does suspense. He also can never seem to write a good ending, on the rare occasion he actually has an ending at all.

Honestly, I think his books are the literary equivalent of mock busters. He throws in the same old tired tropes and characters again and again, not to scare you, but to mock those tropes, to make fun of them and even himself. It’s like he’s actually making fun of us for taking them, and him, seriously.

In that respect, he’s a genius author. Though his intention is lost, which in turn makes him a bad author. When it came to good suspense, I far preferred Dean Koontz.

−4

inspork t1_iu7cvzk wrote

I’ve read all his books, and Dreamcatcher is near the bottom. Definitely one of the worst, for me.

2

HugoNebula t1_iu8bm1o wrote

He wrote Dreamcatcher long hand in notebooks after a life-threatening accident, still in a hospital bed, hopped up on painkillers. An interesting experiment, but maybe not a publishable one.

5

Wandering_Texan80 OP t1_iu8oi8s wrote

I think he writes entertaining stories - one of my favorites is The Green Mile. Not all are great (and some are very meh), which is to be expected. It’s remarkable how much creativity he has in his head.

I prefer King to Koontz, but to each his own.

1

Eeeegah t1_iu8wkk6 wrote

Tommyknockers would like to have a word with you. Guy gets knocked out of his shoes by a speeding coke vending machine.

Seriously, big King fan - some of my favorite books in his biblio - but he does have some clinkers.

2

GirlNamedTex t1_iu92p2q wrote

The other comments have nailed the book, so I'm going to go in a different direction.

Please don't watch the movie.

And I really like or love most King adaptations, but I actually spent money on this to see it in the theater back in the day and I'm still mad at the time I wasted. It. Is. So. Bad.

2

GirlNamedTex t1_iu93f2n wrote

I like his short stories and novellas (and some of the Bachman stories) better than the novels, in general, when it comes to his work. And they seem to translate to screen adaptations really well. 1922, Rita Hayworth..., The Green Mile etc., were all good to awesome.

And I also prefer him to Koontz by a long shot.

Edit to add: I really wish they would adapt The Long Walk to screen.

3

GirlNamedTex t1_iu94pq3 wrote

Oh is that really when he wrote it? I remember when this happened and it was pretty crazy. I was born in the 80s and my mom was a massive King fan. As a result I read and saw most King stuff through the late 90s and then sort or trailed off. I'll still pick him up here and there.

But that accident was terrible and Dreamcatcher makes a lot more sense now. Absolutely nutty to think what else we would have missed out on had it been fatal. He's still so massively prolific!

2

beast916 t1_iu97llp wrote

People who say he can never seem to write a good ending clearly haven't read much King. He's certainly had some stinker endings, but to say he has almost never written a good one is just ridiculous.

5

beast916 t1_iu9853b wrote

Dreamcatcher is one of my least favorite, but honestly I think King's worst is Roadwork.

1

HugoNebula t1_iucqwea wrote

Conversely, I've been reading King since 1980 and Roadwork is one of my favourites. It's a realistic story about a guy refusing to leave his home so it can be demolished for roadworks, and it's an angry, sociopolitical story that's atypical King and well worth reading.

1