Topic: Nintendo Life Book Club

@chapu2006 I re-read Catch 22 myself recently. I just picked it off the shelf and thought I'd read a few pages and suddenly I found myself a hundred pages in.

Possibly the best satire ever written. Although sometimes if I think about the book in a slightly different way I get a nagging and worrysome thought that it might actually be horror not comedy...

I’m now reading Pet Sematary and The Shining. For that double whammy of dysfunctional family goodness. Still early into both stories, but I t’s all wonderfully gloomy already.

I’ll probably need to add something breezier into the mix. Just to neutralize it out a bit.

@Eel You could try 11/22/63, it's the only Stephen King book I can think of that has a happy ending.

I personally find happiness overrated and you should read Gerald's Game, Thinner and Cujo instead.

@jump I’ll stay far away from Cujo and accept the movie as the only version of that story

@Eel There's a movie of Cujo? I'm gonna see if I can stream it now, I hope it's a really cringy Stephen King adaptaion with a rubber puppet dog.

@jump it has its moments, because it’s an old movie, but I’d say it’s a good movie.

Apparently when he wrote the book, he was at his lowest worst, and even he disliked the ending. So King saw the movie as a chance to rectify that.

I haven't read a lot of King's works but hope to correct that before long. So far, I've read mostly novellas: The Body (Stand By Me is based on this), Low Men In Yellow Coats, Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption, The Mangler, 1408, and Children of the Corn (WAY less cringe than the movies).

Not sure which story I want to track down next. I'm leaning towards either 'Salem Falls, The Green Mile, or The Shining.

The Shining has been nice so far. From what I know, it’s supposed to be fairly different from the movie, but I’m not that far in yet. The establishing chapters have been giving a great deal of background and context for the characters, and how “Tony” works.

So far it all matches nicely with what I’d expect from having watched the movie. But I assume things will start changing once the Overlook takes over the story.

@Tyranexx I did mention Gerald's Game, Thinner and Cujo earlier as a joke but they are great reads.

@Eel You should check out Doctor Sleep (both the movie and book) as they are great too and a worthy follow up to The Shining

@jump I’ve seen the movie. And my brother bought the book on his kindle, which means I have that too. (Heh he also got The Da Vinci Code and Angels and Demons)

I’ll read it once I’m done with The Shining.

Other than a few clips and references here and there, I admittedly have never seen The Shining. Same with Doctor Sleep. I'm old-fashioned and often think the books are better than the movies for the most part, though some movie adaptations (LotR, Harry Potter) do their source material justice.

@jump Out of those, the only one I haven't heard of is Gerald's Game. (Read that as Geralt...Darn it pop culture. XD) I just read some of the premise, so I'm definitely intrigued now.

I like to think both books and movies scratch different itches. And when they’re based on one or the other, it’s fun to get to know both versions of the stories, and compare them.

Meh, I don't get The Da Vinci Code myself, or at least I didn't get the frenzy around it at the time. I suppose it gets people reading much the same way Twilight, Harry Potter, 50 Shades of Grey, Ready Player One did but I just wish people would read something better.

Thinking about there's been a few times where I have read a book on my lunchbreak at work or in the mornings during a lad's weekender and got a reaction of people being intimated, perhaps I should have of read something as silly as Harry Potter and 50 Shades Of Grey instead.

@jump Bit unfair to lump Harry Potter, literally a children’s book series, in with 50 Shades, Da Vinci Code and Twilight! It gets kids reading, which is pretty impressive in the modern world - and it’s not that hard to separate the art from the artist, if you find Rowling problematic.

I’m reading Killing Commendatore, which is very much an archetypal Haruki Murakami novel. Dreamlike in all the best ways.

@Tyranexx Not read Salem’s Lot, but I’d definitely pick The Shining over Green Mile. Green Mile is fine, if a bit twee, but The Shining is very much peak King. Also recommend Misery over Gerald’s Game - though the movie is as good as the book, if you prefer that option.

@Krull if it’s a kids book then why are so many adults reading it and calling it the best book ever? ;p

I read Killing Commendatore awhile ago. I thought it was too much of him being on autopilot whilst writing it which seems like too much a counter for a book about the artistic process. Then again my favourite moment from any Murakami book is when he spent pages describing the process of cooking pasta like it was a poetic ceremony so what do I know.

I re-read Harry Potter as a teenager and I still thought it was really good then. It's easy to pick holes in the world building and all that but the story and characters hold a special place in my heart. It makes me sad that Rowling has gone full TERF now, it makes it harder to look past the flaws and 'problematic' aspects of the books that people have been gleefully pointing out online for the last couple of years. But I hope one day I'll be able to enjoy them again.

Anyway, a book I read recently that I recommend is The Seven Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle (or The 7 1/2 Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle, as it's known in North America). The main character is stuck in a time loop where he wakes up in a different person's body every day, and is forced to solve a murder mystery by a sinister plague doctor. It's mad and brilliant.

I don’t particularly care about the DaVinci code series (in either book or movie form), but hey, if my brother is now interested in reading and even paying for books, that’s great.

The Seven Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle sounds fun. I’ll try to get the demo on my kindle.

@damien33ad I've heard of Apt Pupil as well, though it has never been on my radar. I do recognize that he's a very talented author, though I can't say I agree with how he lived earlier in life at times.

@Krull Duly noted, thanks for the input! I'd forgotten about Misery. I've also heard that the movie adaptation is very good, so I might look that up as well. Definitely looking into getting more King when my current unread pile shrinks a bit. Thankfully it's not near as large as my game backlog. XD

On the subject of novels vs movie adaptations I have a difficult time enjoying one if I'm already an avid fan of the other. I love the Jurassic Park movie, and really didnt like the book; I love The Road novel and can't even stomach that there was a film made of it.

@damien33ad Macbeth is a play, not a book ;p