Paul's Book Page O' Dooooooooom! II:

Electric Bugaloo

This is the second page of some of my favorite books. I decided to split the book page into two parts after I spent so much time blabbing on and on about The Dark Tower.

(In no particular order):

• The Works of Stephen King - Yeah, I'm a big Stephen King fan. I admit he's got a few clunkers in his portfolio, but when he's on, he's on.
  
  
  • The Stand - If it weren't for the Dark Tower series, this would be my favorite work of his. A big, sprawling epic about the end of the world, good vs. evil, and tons of characters that have their own personalities. Stu Redman may be one of the most selfless, "good guy" good guys to ever come down the turnpike. He's coolsville, daddio. Nick, the Deaf Mute, and Tom Cullen, the Retard who saves the day, are the heart of the novel and make for some of the most touching characters to ever be written. But, for me, the best thing about The Stand is Randall Flagg, the Walkin' Dude. One of the best villains, ever, Flagg is an enigma throughout the book. The ending to The Stand: Complete and Uncut makes Flagg even more mysterious. If you're interested, try to find Flagg's character in some of SK's other books. He pops up from time, always causing some trouble. Don't let the 1,153 page Uncut edition scare ya, it's a great read and worth your time.
  
  
  
  • The Shining - I consider this book one of SK's masterpieces. It's not as epic or sprawling like DT or The Stand, but that's not a bad thing. In fact, this novel is like the anti-epic. It's a claustrophobic mindfudge of a book. Set in a haunted hotel during the winter shut-down, The Shining is a first hand account of a man's descent in alcoholism, depression, and murderous possession and how that effects his wife and young son.
  
  
  
  • The Bachman Books - I'm talking about the first four of Richard Bachman's novels. Bachman was SK's pseudonym when he wanted to publish his early works or works that didn't fit in with the "SK" style. These novels are Rage, The Long Walk, Roadwork (although I didn't really like this one. It's an interesting psychological profile of a man who goes over the edge, but it's kinda boring...hence, I won't really talk about this one much), and The Running Man. There were two other books that were "written" by Richard Bachman - Thinner (which lead to the revealing of Bachman as SK's pseudonym) and The Regulators, a book that came out at the same time as SK's Desperation and was the "mirror" of SK's book. I don't really consider those two true Bachman books. The Bachman books are more down to earth, more dirty, more depressing than SK's usual fare. Thinner and The Regulators are SK books that happen to have Bachman's name on the cover. Anyway, Rage is about a mentally unstable highschooler taking over his Algebra class, killing the teacher and a few others, and making the students realize the darkness in humanity. It's a great read, especially if you were ostracized in high school (like I was). But, due to the tragedies at Columbine and Jonesboro, SK has decided to no longer allow Rage to be published in any form. My copy of the Bachman books was one of the last versions with Rage in it. The Long Walk is my favorite Bachman novel. It's such a trippy premise - in the near future, there is a contest where one hundred young men walk through New England on the highways and roadways. If a Walker drops below a 4mph pace then that Walker gets a warning. On the fourth warning, the Walker is shot to death by the troops in the tanks that accompany the Walkers. The Walkers cannot stop walking for fear of death. The last survivor is the winner of the Long Walk and wins whatever he desires. SK gets into the heads of the protagonist, one of the Walkers, and the readers have a close up view of a mind and body breaking down due to exhaustion and fear. You'll forget all about the Running Man movie with Arnold Schwarzenegger when you read the book. The book is an excercise in the gritty hunt for a man on the run from the Network. It's another futuristic contest with results as deadly as those in The Long Walk.
    
    
  • Pet Sematary -
  • Misery -
  • Insomnia -
  • Bag of Bones -
  • Different Seasons -
  • The Mist -
  • Eyes of the Dragon -

• Moby Dick by Herman Melville
- I put this on my list with some hesitation. It is considered one of the greatest American novels ever written, and it deserves that distinction. Well, half of the novel deserves it. I LOVE the story about Ahab hunting the great white whale, but I HATE all the pages dedicated to telling the reader everything they never wanted to know about the whaling industry.
• King Lear by William Shakespeare
- C'mon, it's Shakespeare! This is the most depressing, tragic, and, arguably, the most thematically tightly written of the Master's plays. Try finishing this one and not feel a little suicidal. I dare ya.
• First Blood by David Morrell
- You thought Rambo was a bad ass in the movies? Try reading this book, from which the first Rambo movie was adapted. In the film, Rambo never directly kills anyone. In this novel, Rambo goes on a rampage, racking up kills left and right. Needless to say, he's a little bit more emotionally disturbed in the book than in the film. One thing I did enjoy more about the novel was that Teasle, the sheriff hunting down Rambo, is given a much more fleshed out character. The fact that Teasle's a veteran of the Korean war gives a the reader a complex theme of the affects of different wars on different men. Also, the ending is pretty shocking if you've seen any of the movies.
• I Am Legend by Richard Matheson - Probably the best written novel about vampires I've ever read. It's also one of the most influential, proving that horror fiction could be set in the modern world instead of gothic castles. Also, the last few pages, when the central idea to the novel, and the title, is revealed is like taking a punch from Mike Tyson.

• Have a Nice Day! by Mick Foley - This is the first autobiography of Mick Foley, aka Cactus Jack, Dude Love, and Mankind. Foley, even though he's mostly retired from the business, will always be my favorite wrestler. He brings his self-deprecated, often bizarre, always hilarious sense of humor to his work, and there is also a lot of honesty about a business that is built on lies and misdirection. This book also proves that wrestlers can be pretty intelligent when the want to be, heh.

• Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck - This is a short novel, but powerfully written. The tragic story of George and Lenny is one that will stay with the reader forever.

• The Elric series of novels and stories by Michael Moorcock - I loved The Lord of the Rings films. I tried to read the books, but I just couldn't get into them. Not so with the stories dealing with Elric, the albino sorceror prince of the emotionless Melniboneans. Elric is one of the first anti-heroes in fantasy fiction. His quest is to merely survive, and the methods he uses can be brutal. Although its not all his fault. Elric happens to be bound to his sword, Stormbringer. Stormbringer is a giant black runesword that drinks the souls of those it kills. Unfortunately for Elric, Stormbringer has a habit of making Elric kill the ones he loves.

• Lord of the Flies by William Golding - I read this in high school for class. I'm pretty sure that no one else in my class even liked this book, but I loved it. It is such a jarring look at the darkness that humanity has within itself. I've always been cynical about the world as a whole, and that's one of the reasons this book got to me so much. If you're an optimist, this may not be your cup of tea, but it's still a great read.

Paul's Other Pages:

• Paul's Bio Page
• Paul's Dark Tower Page
• Paul's Horror Movie Page
• Paul's Movie Page 2
• Paul's Puro Page
• My Livejournal Blog Page

My E-Mail of DOOOOOOOM!!!

• prophet625@yahoo.com

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