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Most Recent Posts YA Reading & 13 Reasons WhyPosted Jul-07-08 10:13:19 PDT I read a Young Adult book the other day. The first one I've read since...well...I was a young adult, but actually I started reading Stephen King, Michael Crichton, Dean Koontz, and all the classics at a really young age so I have been out of YA for a long time now. I read the book Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher. It was definitely different than books I read as a youth. I think that's why I read it. The premise was interesting. It was about a girl who committed suicide and sends out tapes explaining the 13 reasons why she did. The 13 people who contributed have to pass on the tapes like a morbid chain letter. The story was actually pretty good. It definitely reminded you of being a teenager and having that trapped feeling. That feeling that nothing will ever change. I give it credit for not simply passing the buck to other people. In society it seems that everyone blames everyone else, and even though she does blame people she still takes responsibility on herself for her own actions too, she just simply can't cope anymore. Also, if she'd only known that the main character of the story (Clay, one of the people on the list) actually does care about her she might not have done it. I think at least it gives the message of hope. Like...well....someone cares you just don't know it. Although I'm not sure that's always true in real life. I kept expecting her not to be dead as in 'surprise' that was all just a joke to get you all back and I'm alive. But it's not the case as would be in real life. And it's sad...because you get to know her after she's gone..so it succeeds in that way..that sadness that the main character must feel after learning all this after it was too late to help. Overall I thought it was good and worth a read even for adults. It's a fast read, but not as fast as in the old days. Of course I used to read R.L. Stein and Christopher Pike -- all those good Fear Street and Goosebump types of books and the YA now is a far cry from that. I guess that's why it interested me, but it made me sad. I suppose any book you can walk away from and you feel it changes you a bit (gives you some perspective) is good. So I'll leave it at that. King v. KoontzPosted Jul-02-08 20:25:46 PDT Updated Jul-02-08 20:38:07 PDT
Ahhhhhh, I know clash of the Titans. And here is the best part. I don't know who wins yet. I'll try to muddle it out as I go along. Now...now...if you don't really think about it. If you give your hunch answer...it's going to be Stephen King 98% of the time, isn't it? King is the heavyweight. I do believe he was named the best author of this century, and all that jazz. To tell you the truth, for many years I've insisted Stephen King is my favorite author..and he is good. He is very good. So how come all of my favorite books are by Dean Koontz then, Jen? How is that possible that all of your faves are by another author. Maybe Dean Koontz is my favorite author after all, and Stephen King is just a bit more trendy. It's always been cool, and fashionable, and very macabre to be a Stephen King fan. On the other hand - because there are 2 hands and in one of mine sits Stephen King in a little town in Maine and in the other sits Dean Koontz with a beautiful retriever - on the other hand...Stephen King has written some absolutely stunning works of fiction. You could call them epic. You have your 'The Stand' and you mix that with 'Insomnia' throw in a little 'The Shining' for some chills and top it with 'It' and those 4 books alone is enough to retire and be very proud. Koonz' epic books are great but they fall short in magnitude. With Koontz you have Watchers, Lightning, From the Corner of his Eye, Odd Thomas and Dark Rivers of the Heart...all very good but you have to give the edge to King in this category. So, hmm, where was I? Maybe I should compare series. King has a couple, well, if you count The Green Mile. I'm not sure I do, but I will. The Green Mile is excellent, and actually now that we're on the subject I think the fact that the movie was also excellent (as are so many of King's novel based movies) is one of the big reasons King does well. He doesn't let anyone screw up his books when doing the movies. I respect that. (Except for The Mist...grrr) The last Dean Koontz movie that I liked..hmm..um....is there one? I'm not sure. King also has The Gunslinger series which is wildly popular and epic. Koontz has the very popular Frankenstein series (which I've not read), The Odd Thomas series (which is really good), and the Christopher Snow series (which is also good and similar to Odd). I'm going to give the nod to Koontz in this because I don't like The Gunslinger series. I've tried to get into it many times and it's fallen flat. It's just weird and I don't like it. I think Koontz has better characters in his series. I'm sure many would argue this, but it's my blog! (You'd probably also argue the books I called epic, too, but I don't care) King gets the hands down nod for scariness. Killer clowns that come through your drain, roque mallet weilding psychopaths, and cell phone zombies are just a few reason I've lost so much sleep. The opening bit to Dreamcatcher was seriously one of the scariest things I've ever read and aliens shouldn't scare me, I tell myself. Then again, Dark Rivers of the Heart did get you thinking of a more real kind of fear, and although The Taking was pretty scary and creepy. Tick Tock, however, was more funny than scary to me. Koontz wins in characters and character developments. His characters are more endearing. Odd Thomas is more lovable than any King character. As for loveable monsters, sure you feel sympathy for Mr. Torrence, drunk, abusive husband and father who tries to kill his family at the will of a demon hotel. You feel bad for him at the end. You feel more bad for the monster in Watcher's though. Your heart wrenches as you find out that's all he can ever be and all he wants is to be loved and to not be a killer. As well as Koontz does characters King developes plots. Stephen King's plots and settings are as complex as any you've ever seen in any book. They are absolutely brilliant. I love how King will bring a little detail to light later and ties up all loose ends, seemlessly, geniusly, and completely. It's easy to get lost and engrossed in the plot of a Stephen King novel because the situation is often so dire. They both have those novels. You know. THOSE novels. The ones that are so good. So so so good. And then...fall short. Just...what happened there? You are left wondering if they wrote the last few chapters in an hour or they just couldn't think of an ending. Don't get me started on 'Hearts in Atlantis'. The first part is GREAT....and then I'm not sure what happens. It dies a slow and painful death and you keep hoping it'll redeem itself. It never really does. Or 'The Taking' by Dean Koontz can be used. Terrifying book. Absolutely scared the poo poo out of me when I first read it. Plot started getting weird about halfway through but was still plausible, and then the end was a big letdown. When it comes down to it, you could list and debate a million different things, and go back and forth and put a good reason why both could win every category. It comes down to personal taste. Personally, I think most of King's best books are in his past, and Koontz, great in the past, has had some stellar novels recently so maybe his best is yet to come. Time will tell. I will leave this like so many a Stephen King novel and let you judge yourself who you think is better. I started out not knowing who I'd pick, and I still don't know. I want to read some of the books that I've ignored of each author and then maybe I'll have a better answer. |
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