Gilbert Cruz does yeoman’s work by ranking each of Stephen King’s 62 books and anthologies. I read through this list carefully and I generally find little to disagree with. But when you are talking 62 volumes, a little can be a lot.
The effect a particular volume has on the reader depends greatly on the reader’s particular circumstances. For instance, I read The Shining on a cold winter’s afternoon during a heavy snow. It really fit the setting of the novel and added to the enjoyment. How the reader views a particular volume also depends greatly on the order the books are read. While Cruz attempts to sterilize the process, he does acknowledge some important points and leaves room for disagreement. By way of example, he states the for parents with young children, Pet Semetary may be especially haunting.
One facet of these stories that should never be a part of any discussion of which is better or which is worse based on what has happened since the book was published. Specifically here I am speaking of movies. There have been some really lousy movies made from some terrific stories. There have been some really terrific movies made from some of these stories as well. I may rank the movie versions in a later post, but for now, the movies have no bearing on the ranking of any particular book.
I haven’t read a Stephen King novel since The Cell, which was quite some time ago. I have a stack of books in my Kindle, but I have been a bit hesitant to read them thinking that perhaps King had slipped a bit. After reviewing this ranking, I think I am sufficiently motivated to at least begin one or two in the short term. That said, I don’t think I can offer much of an opinion on any of the recent volumes published in terms of how they rank against each other or against books that I have read.
The only way I know how to do this is from the beginning of the list. If you have not yet viewed the slideshow and read the descriptions linked above, please take some time to do so. It is best if you take in the whole list before I can poison you.
Now I don’t have the time or inclination to give you my own ranking. I am only going to let you know where I come down on important works. I don’t think the non-fiction volumes Danse Macabre, Faithful and On Writing belong on this list, because, while King may offer brilliant insight into the writing process and the horror genre, it is creativity and story-telling in which I am most interested.
So here we go. Can’t argue with The Stand at number one. Probably among the greatest works of fiction in the 20th century. I know Stephen King is easily dismissed as a pulp fiction writer, but many of these volumes are brilliantly written and will stand the test of time; none more than The Stand.
Over-Rated.
It. The story is fantastic for about 80% of the way. Then it breaks down for me horribly.
Misery. Fantastic story, not all that creative. There are plenty better that this should be #6. Part of a series of what I would call self-indulgent, writer-based stories.
Gunslinger. Not a great story but overall effective as part of a larger series. Really gets picked up by the next three volumes. If I were ranking The Dark Tower series individually it would come in fourth.
Hearts In Atlantis. An anthology that has some brilliant moments, but doesn’t stack up with some of the stuff ranked below it.
Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon. I put this in the “persecuted female lead character” run of stories King put out in the 90′s. I was going to include Delores Claiborne as over-rated as well. The thing is these are finely crafted tales with wonderful characterizations, but King is so much more effective when he gets back to monsters and the unknown.
Bag of Bones and The Dark Half. The Dark Half was a bit better than Bag of Bones which is another “meh” story about a writer. King had a run of these kinds of stories, including Misery, which I mentioned above. Got a bit old.
Under-Rated.
Simply put, I can only argue for the next four.
The Shining (2) & Salem’s Lot (3). The Shining rightfully lies at the feet of The Stand at number two, with Salem’s Lot right beside.
Wizards and Glass (4). I bet you didn’t think this one could or should be ranked higher. It should. It is a fantastic tale. Probably more personal than any other King tale. I loved this story.
Pet Semetary(5). For me, the most frightening novel I have read.
How about you?
very cool to see all those. when i was in high school, i got hooked on king. first book i read was salem’s lot and i might rank that higher. firestarter lower. loved night shift and might move that up a bit closer to skeleton crew. can’t really vote because i think out of the 62 listed, i’m right around 20. might have to talk to you and pick one up from the library (yes library). less than a year ago i read just after sunset, but it really didn’t get me into the king mood.
I haven’t read nearly as much as you, but I can add a few thoughts:
The Stand – This book is brilliant and I agree it stands (haha) the test of time. The ending was also one of the biggest let downs I’ve experienced in fictional reading. Just awful. For that reason, it can’t stand (haha) at #1 for me.
The Shining & Salem’s Lot – I have both of these books as a 3-for-1 book which also includes Carrie. I’ve read Carrie but not these two. I will definitely get into these soon.
Wizards & Glass – What an amazing tale. The introduction is a letter from King in which he states he wasn’t sure if he could write a love story and he wasn’t convinced he did it really well. He did. This is one of the best books I’ve read. BUT, it has such a great effect in being anticipated for hundreds and hundreds of pages. On its own, without having read the first three stories, I’m not sure it’s as good.
Pet Semetary – I have no children, but this book was awesome. I read it when I was young and plan to go back to it in the near future.
The Dark Tower, Books 5-7 – I’m worried. I’m having trouble getting into Wolves of the Calla, and each of the last three fall pretty low on this list. I want to read to know what happens, but I’m even less excited after looking at this list.
Misery – I think people have a skewed perception of how good the book really is because of how awesome the movie was. Cathy Bates won Best Actress. I’ve seen it 10 times and she still terrifies me. I read the book for a book report 12 years ago or so. I remember skipping the text of the book the author was writing because, as the movie proved, it’s useless in effectively moving the story forward. But it’s Stephen V. King, what do you expect, his middle name is Verbose.
And last, I agree, nonfiction has no place in this list.
The ending to The Stand is awful? Disagree completely. It’s the Jesus story. Truly the ending is “The Stand” to which the title refers.
The result on a high-level and the process to get to the result were great. It was the way it was accomplished. It was building, building, building, and then it was a let down. For a supernatural/theological type of story, it’s completely believable, until the end.
i believed it.
I think Wizards and Glass stands on its own way better than any of the others. I think if it were a single volume work, there would need to be some changes at the end and the beginning, but the story of young Roland of Gilead is an excellent one.
I too skipped the Misery Chastain book Paul was writing within the story.
Books 5 – 7 are down low on the list for a couple of reasons but mainly because they were written from a different mindset. That doesn’t make them all that worse, it just makes them different. Once you dive in, you won’t care how they play out in this list of 62.