Skeleton Crew (Stephen King)

It took me a few weeks to get through the 600-odd pages of this collection of short stories, giving me the time to chew on some of the stories. I usually have two books on the go at the same time- the one that I carry around in my bag for when I have to wait for class to start or a bus or any time that I am outside of the house and am alone. Then there is the book at home. The book in my bag can take weeks to finish reading, depending on how much time I have to fill outside of the house. This is what happened with Skeleton Crew.

I have an odd relationship with Stephen King. While I love his earlier work, The Long Walk, The Stand, Insomnia, Misery, etc., I am not all that much on love with his newer works. I find his arrogance distasteful. It isn't the same sort of self importance that you will find in Kurt Vonnegut's work or even Alfred Hitchcock's films. It's a self righteousness that has only gotten worse over time. Of course, every author has to have a little of this in them.
It is clearly evident in this collection. King has something against fat people, lazy people and stupid people. Mostly fat people. You can pity them and even forgive them if you really want to, but he seems to find it impossible to move past it. He has an opinion and isn't afraid to say it. Over and over again.
That doesn't mean that his stories aren't good. He can paint a pretty picture (or pretty gruesome). He has some pretty damn good stories in there. And it is all horror all the time.
The Mist was one of my favourites for its ambiguity and it physical strength. It was 80's horror at its best, which includes ridiculous monsters that wouldn't seem out of place in a John Carpenter film. The Monkey almost terrified me. Mrs. Todd's Shortcut entertained me (I however, am one of those people who likes to know the quickest way, but will however take a different route each time to enjoy the scenery and literally smell the roses). The protagonist in The Raft pissed me off (which generally boils down to good writing). Morning Deliveries was confusing. Survivor type was though provoking. The Reach was predictable.
All in all it was a fun trip to take over a few weeks. Some of it is King at his best and some of it is King at his corniest. He wasn't always a self righteous twat. And despite my gripe that he should get out of the horror rut once in a while, he is adept at it. Unfortunately most of it is forgettable.

41 Down, 11 to Go

Selected Stories (Anton Chekov)

I have a selection of Stand-by Books, ones that sit on the shelf waiting for the day that I have nothing else to read. Mostly they are classics and authors that I consider must reads, or books that I have bought and just couldn't get into but intend on finishing. This is one of the classics that I thought was necessary. It would be impossible not to be able to get into the stories, because few of them are more than a few pages long and are over before you have the chance to really become engaged, or disinterested.
As far as I can tell, Chekov is an art for arts sake sort of man, writing the truth rather than trying to subtly add some sort of hidden meaning or moral into his word. But that doesn't stop you from stopping and thinking about the characters in the character driven stories, stories that are written almost entirely in conversation form.
There isn't really much to say, the stories were interesting but they didn't have the sort of depth that I love.