What book should I read first by Stephen King?

Question

It what order?

Those he have serious or there are just alone novels?

Who has read cell by stephen King

Answer 1

The Green Mile was great.

Answer 2

Everyone gave great answers!

Since what we read is so personal, we all have our favorites, and you will get many answers. Find the online site of a bookstore to get a brief idea of what each book is about or go to a bookstore in person & read the back (or inside the cover) of each book. You might find out no one suggested the book you chose to read. You can also check out the site about Stephen King and see if he says what his favorite book is.

My husband, a huge Stephen King fan (he has every book since Carrie, except maybe the last one or two, and owns most of the Stephen King movies that have been made) says any that interests you is the 1st one you should read, but that if you start with the 1st book he wrote, that's a good place too.

My son says Christine. The Green Mile and Misery were my favorites.

Hope this helps!

Answer 3

It depends. You can start with his earliest novels (Carrie, Cujo) and work up to the most recent ones (Cell, Lisey's Story), but if you're anything like me, you want to read the best ones first. I would suggest starting with the cream of the crop, which is The Stand; in my opinion, it's his best book. The Green Mile and The Shining are good as well. I recommend reading these before you move on to some of the stranger ones.

As a footnote to your other question, these and most of the books stand alone; The Dark Tower Series has 7 books, and there are two books that go together (Black House and another one...I forget the name.) I think that's it, though.

Answer 4

Try Nightshift...a collection of short stories...that will give you a taste of the author's writing style and range...and then use the stories you like as a way to gauge what you want to read next...
then you can come back on to yahoo answers and ask everyone "I really dug the Boogeyman or Last Rung, can anyone tell me other stories or novels he has written that have a similar theme/monster/ending ?".
King has one ongoing series...The Dark Tower. Pretty much everything else is novel, novella or a collection of his short stories.
The order you read King should depend on your experience with King...and not on my experience with King. But I can tellyou I loved Carrie, Firestarter, Dead Zone, Night Shift, The Long Walk as Richard Bachman...a simply outstanding piece of non traditional horror..."Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption" the novella from Different Seasons...The Mist, The Monkey, and the oustanding "Mrs Todd's Shortcut" and the totally gruesome "Survivor Type" from Skeleton Key....and The Running Man written under King's pseudonym Richard Bachman.
Enjoy.

Answer 5

That's actually a pretty tough question... I think it kinda depends upon the kind of format you like. His short stories are a good way to ease into his works... -But if you REALLY want to get your feet "wet" -his big novels are the way to go. If you're not intimidated by BIG books, -read the unabridged version of THE STAND. It's my favorite King book- & it's totally AWESOME. You get SO wrapped up in the story & the characters- you don't want the thing to end (and the book is over 11 hundred pages long!!!).

Answer 6

Carry was the first book. Doesn't matter what order you read them. I read 'Salem's Lot first and it scared the daylights out of me. Read it in one day, first during breaks at work, came home and really bit into it and, before I knew it, it was 4:30 a.m. and I had to be at work by 7, and I was too scared to sleep. LOL. By all means read it, plus The Stand, and IT. Stand by Me (The Body) is also great. And don't forget his short stories. I'm not a short story reader, by and large, but I really did enjoy The Mist and The Raft. I've got to read them both again soon.

Answer 7

I enjoyed the earlier novels. My favorites are The Stand, The Shining and Carrie. Not many of his books were turned into movies that were any good, but the best one was either Shawshank Redemption or Stand by Me which was a short story called "The Body." Try one of them as a starter.

Answer 8

Start with Carrie. Move then to cujo, the shining, the talisman, misery, skeleton crew, IT, dreamcatcher, CELL, Needful Things, 'Salems lot, Desperation, the tommyknockers, THE STAND, Thinner, Black House, the dead zone, Firestarter, Dolores Claiborne, Everythings Eventual, Hearts of Atlantis, Bag of bones, Gerald's gameNight Shift, etc.

Answer 9

The Green Mile
Delores Claybourne

Answer 10

The Girl Who Loved Tom Jordan

Answer 11

Shawshank Redemption, Stand By Me (The Body), or The Green Mile.