Entertainment Quality of the Stories - Graded "A"
Entertainment Quality of the Stories - Graded "B"
Entertainment Quality of the Stories - Graded "C"
Memorability of the Stories - Graded "A"
Memorability of the Stories - Graded "B"
Memorability of the Stories - Graded "C"
Effectiveness of Plot Delivery in the Stories- Graded "A"
Effectiveness of Plot Delivery in the Stories - Graded "B"
Effectiveness of Plot Delivery in the Stories- Graded "C"
Never Read
Heng Dai
Great stuff as always! Love King's short works.
AAA
CBC and that's being very generous. I thought "N" was great. Everything else was mediocre at best, drivel at worst.
I guess I'm going to have to hurry up and finish those last couple of stories so I can vote for this one.
Only the gentle are ever really strong.
All A's
Margaret Emmie Mackey Catoe, you are, have been, and always will be my soulmate, and I love you.
Con todo mi corazon, por todo de mis dias. And I always will, in this life and into the next.
August 2, 1947 - September 24, 2010
All B's for me.
“Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.”-Mark Twain
Listen to the mustn'ts, child. Listen to the don'ts. Listen to the shouldn'ts, the impossibles, the won'ts. Listen to the never haves, then listen close to me....Anything can happen, child. Anything can be.
-Shel Silverstein
One chapter away...
B, B, C. (Don't ask - just felt I had to give it a C for something - there were a few weak (at best) stories in here (alongside some good ones, granted).)
BAB for me. to justify...I really read into what we were voting on for this book. I didn't really care for a lot of the stories in the book, but for what we were grading them on, that's what seemed right. And there were a few stories I liked.
Entertainment - I was entertained through most stories. 2 of them put me to sleep, but the rest entertained me wether I ended up liking the story or not. B
Memorability - I think if you told me the title of each of these stories, I could tell you what each was about...maybe because they were all "short stories" or I liked them/didn't like them. Or because it was the most recent book I have read. In any case, memorable. A
Effectiveness of plot - I guess this is where the if I liked it part comes in. I liked about 3 stories. The rest were so-so or not. B
Never read.
When is the paperback out again?
"People, especially children, aren't measured by their IQ. What's important about them is whether they're good or bad, and these children are bad." ~ Alan Bernard
"You needn't die happy when your day comes, but you must die satisfied, for you have lived your life from beginning to end and ka is always served." ~ Roland Deschain
Never read. I have to read this one...
I found only 3 stories I felt worth my time to read. "Stationary Bike" was s0o-so. Maybe 3.5 then.
All that's left of what we were is what we have become.
I hurried to vote "Never read", and right after that a student got me a .pdf file. Now that the ordeal is over, I will go and edit my vote, and it will be CCC. Could have been DDD, were there such an option.
For me, there were none. There were two reading which I didn't have to struggle with irresistible somnolence - Rest Stop and Mute. It would, however, be a giant stretch to say that I liked them.
Only two put you to sleep? Which two?Entertainment - I was entertained through most stories. 2 of them put me to sleep, but the rest entertained me wether I ended up liking the story or not. B
I really don't think that's what is meant by "memorability"; it should have as little as possible with your memory being good or bad, in my opinion... for example, bears are cursed with worst memory in the world: they remember everything they read or hear, provided it's verbal; the quality of the text doesn't have anything to do with it. I think "memorability" is rather the quality of staying with you, staying important for you, becoming part of your own experience. None of these story will ever be that for me, I'm afraid.Memorability - I think if you told me the title of each of these stories, I could tell you what each was about...maybe because they were all "short stories" or I liked them/didn't like them. Or because it was the most recent book I have read. In any case, memorable. A
Which three? I think the plot was deplorable everywhere, except maybe Mute, where it was marginally passable.Effectiveness of plot - I guess this is where the if I liked it part comes in. I liked about 3 stories. The rest were so-so or not. B
Ask not what bears can do for you, but what you can do for bears. (razz)
When one is in agreement with bears one is always correct. (mae)
bears are back!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Excepting "N" I largely agree with Jean. Straight D's would have been apt. Despite really not enjoying these stories, F's are a bit too harsh as I did actually finish the stories instead of dismissing them, but I had to force myself to do so.
I am reading them now, and so far ( actually reading stationary bike) I am ok with them, I liked rest stop too. Thanks Jean for sharing that file with me.
The answer is within
all matter is energy, all energy is GOD
Wow, Jean. Harsh.
But then again I'm a huge fan of King's short stories so each collection is a treat for me, and among my most treasured King books.
I love short stories, and I've liked the ones I've read so far that appear in this book. However I have not yet read all the stories, so I marked this, "Never read."
"...that Siren which called and sang and promised so much and gave, after all, so little." ~ Ray Bradbury
BCB
Jean, I understand what you're saying about everything, but I still stick with my answers. If the categories were different, I would have scored them different. It was the most recent book so how could I score memorability any other way?
The stories that I liked were N., The Gingerbread Girl, and Stationary Bike. I thought all 3 were memorable in their own way, although maybe SB could have been shorter as some have suggested. Other stories like The Cat From Hell, and A Very Tight Place, Mute, The Things the Left Behind, etc....I feel like are all very memorable, while I didn't think they were great. How could you forget being in a Portapotty like that? or A killer cat going down your throat...or being involved in 9/11? Not the best but memorable.
Maybe I'm alone in this but I was put to sleep during both Willa and Rest Stop. I skipped Rest Stop originally because I couldn't get into the beggining of it on the bus, when I returned, it was an easy read, but I don't understand why some people find that story out of the bunch to be worthwhile.
I wouldn't go that far. There aren't that many memorable or very entertaining stories, and I would definitely put this at the bottom in terms of King's short story collections, but overall it was worth reading, IMO. Not in the same category as total dreck, e.g. The Tommyknockers, Cujo, The Cell-I'm assuming, because I've never actually read Cell, etc...
If I could use any word to encapsulate this collection it would be "pedestrian."
It's very interesting to read this. And of course everyone's opinion is their own, but I find it just a little odd that this collection seems to have a lot of dislike toward it and is doing rather poorly in this round, yet other short fiction collections like Night Shift and Nightmares and Dreamscapes didn't even get into Round 2 as wildcards.
Right , I have for a time wondered when Sai King would include a member of this board into one of his stories, having now finished Stationary Bike
Spoiler:Who's next I wonder? Back on topic tho' I am enjoying the stories so far, maybe they are not his best work, but they are all imaginative, and light years ahead of anything I could articulate, so I will thus far give it B's and suggest that may improve to all A's by the time I am finished.
The answer is within
all matter is energy, all energy is GOD
Perhaps had it been short story collection versus short story collection this one would have shown its place among all the others. Instead we did it chronologically so the older short stories went up against the older books which were good and JAS went up against newer books which are not as well liked. Just a theory.