The best books by Stephen King: list, rating, description

The title of "King of Horrors" Stephen King, whose best books are more like psychological thrillers than horror, the writer perceives quite loyal. He is the most screened and "prolific" American author, whose work pleases not only the readers, but also the audience. In many films, he is not only a screenwriter, but also an episodic actor. As Stephen King himself admits, he became a writer due to the fact that often in his childhood he was ill, so he began writing with writing from the age of 7.

short biography

Stephen King, whose best books are related to the places where he lived, often mentions the state of Maine, where he was born on September 21, 1947 in the city of Portland.

He was only 2 years old when his father left him with his mother and older brother to survive alone. Thanks to numerous relatives from both mother and father, Steven and his brother often had to spend vacations in different states and cities, which left their mark on the memory of the boy.

So, at the age of 7 years, while visiting a regular aunt, he found a whole box of books in the genre of horror and fiction. This literature made such a strong impression on Stephen that he began to write his first stories, and in 1959 even let out with his brother the newspaper "Gorilla Dave."

Child's passion for King predetermined who he wants to become. And although few of his stories were published at that time, after finishing school in 1966, he entered the University of Maine at the Faculty of English Literature.

He continued to write, but his novels were still not published, so to pay for his studies he constantly worked part time at the weaving factory, then at the university library. It was here that he met Tabitha Spruce, who became his wife in 1971. And it remains to this day.

Thanks to her, the best books of Stephen King were written. When he threw the first pages of his novel "Carrie" into the urn, Tabitha found them and insisted that the story about the notorious girl with paranormal abilities will appeal to readers.

It was this novel that brought King not only the first glory, but also the first big money. He received a fee of $ 200,000, so he was able to leave his teaching career and devote his time to writing prose. Since 1974 and to this day, the best books by Stephen King are being created. The list includes more than 50 novels, more than 200 short stories and stories, as well as scripts for films based on his works.

For his contribution to the development of American literature, Stephen King received a medal from the National Book Fund, which is usually awarded to writers of the classical genre.

"Carrie"

The years from 1974 to 1980 are the period when Stephen King's books are very intensively written and published, the list of the best of which is headed by the novel "Carrie."

"Carrie" brought the author a fabulous at the time a fee of $ 200,000 thanks to not only his literary talent, but also the unusualness of the plot. All oppressed and notorious people, whether children or adults, the horror of bullying in school, perfectly understand the feelings of a girl named Carrie White.

The desire to kill classmates or to humiliate them in response turns into Carrie's head in real action when she finds herself paranormal. This novel can not be called a work of horror in the direct sense of the word, because it does not have monsters, vampires and hostile aliens. The author conducted a psychological digression from the "beaten up" by the fanatical mother and humiliated classmates of the girl to the raging and avenging fury. This brings the novel to the category "Best Books by Stephen King" in the genre of a thriller. Not for nothing this work was filmed in 1979, 2002 and 2013. The latest version is known at the box office called "Telekinesis".

"Radiance"

The works written between 1970 and 1980 by Stephen King are books, the list of the best of which are "Shining", "Confrontation" and "Dead Zone".

"Shining" is the story of a writer who has problems with alcohol and anger management.

He brought his wife and child to a high mountain hotel, where he found the job of a seasonal caretaker. When all the staff of the hotel leave for vacation in the winter until the spring, the Torrance family stays alone with the non-harmless ghosts living there. In the first version of the film, shot in 1980 on this work, the main character was brilliantly played by Jack Nicholson.

"Dead zone"

One of the author's favorite topics is the supernatural abilities of a person, to whom the best books of Stephen King are dedicated. Top heroes, "gifted" such a gift or a curse, continues the main character of the book "The Dead Zone".

John Smith receives his gift due to an accident that led to a concussion. As a result, he is the only one who sees what the activities of a politician can do, which by any means seeks to become president.

In 1983, the role of the main character of the book was superbly played then by a beginner, and today has over 100 roles, Christopher Walken. The desire of his hero to adapt to normal life, having such abilities and applying them for the benefit of people, this is the basis of this story.

The first apocalypse from Stephen King

"Confrontation" - the first novel-catastrophe, which can be attributed to the category "The best books by Stephen King" in this genre.

A free-flowing deadly flu virus, called Captain Skorokhod for a quick death, leads to the extinction of most of America's population. The remaining people are divided into two camps - those who believe in good and create it, and those who are attracted by evil and chaos. The film, shot on this novel, consists of 4 parts, each of which is the story of the main characters and events taking place with them.

The book is built the same way. Showing the life history of each of the main characters, both good and bad, leads them to choose which camp they should be in.

Positive heroes see in their dreams a blind old Negro woman and go wherever she tells them to. Bad people are united by the Black Man, who settled in Las Vegas. Only one group of people can survive, the conflict between which is constantly growing.

This intense and full of pain, fear, doubt and treachery thriller paints pictures of how people change under the pressure of circumstances and in the struggle for survival. Someone gets better in spite of them, but someone breaks down, because it happened.

The screen version of the book occurred in 1994, 16 years after the work won the hearts of readers.

The beginning of the 80's - "Flaming with a look", "Cudjo" and "Christina"

This time period can be called one of the most fruitful, but also the most difficult in a writer's life. The fact is that Stephen King, whose best horror books were written exactly at this time, was deeply carried away by alcohol and drugs. The hobby, begun in the seventies, grew into a real dependence and lasted until 1987. Thanks to the persistence and patience of his wife, the writer managed to cope with this problem, and now he does not use alcohol and drugs at all.

As King himself admits, he does not remember how some novels came out from under his pen. This is all the more strange, since, according to his readers and critics, it was in the eighties that the best books of Stephen King were written.

• The novel "The Flaming Look" (1980), in which Stephen King returns to his favorite subject - the supernatural abilities of people, tops the list of works of this time. The novel describes the opposition of a person to the system. The main character, participating in secret experiments, gets the ability to inspire other people's thoughts. During the research, Andy McGee met with a test subject named Vicky Tomlinson. After the end of the tests they were married, and after a while they had a daughter with paranormal abilities - telekinesis and pyrokinesis. The office, having learned about the girl's abilities, wants to use it for her own mercenary purposes. The whole novel is devoted to how far the father can go in defending his child, and whether a girl with such abilities needs his help.
• The novel "Cudjo" (1981) is included in the rating "Best Books by Stephen King" in the early 80's. This thriller tells the story of the mother and her child, who became hostage to a rabid dog. A very stressful plot with a tragic end does not allow the reader to tear himself away from the book. The film about this novel, shot in 1983, was similarly strong.
• The year 1983 was marked by the appearance of two novels, well known to the public. This is "Christina" and "Cemetery of domestic animals." If the first "villain" is the old "Plymouth" named Christina, then in the second it's ancient rituals and beliefs that help bring pets back to life. Both novels were filmed and highly praised by admirers of King's work.

Subsequent work of the author became borderline at the turn of the decades. They translated King's work into a category of horrors, since their subjects, not related to monsters, tell of the terrible things people can do.

"Misery"

If you ask yourself which is the best book of Stephen King, then, of course, the "Misery" will come to mind. Not only because of the plot, dedicated to the unhealthy bigotry of the main character in relation to the cycle of the novels "Misery" of the famous writer Paul Sheldon, but also because this novel "cured" the author himself from addictions.

In the plot of the work the main character during a heavy snowfall falls into an accident near the house of his ardent fan. So that he could not escape and wrote the sequel to the adventures of Misery, the heroine he "killed" in his last book, nurse Annie Wilks breaks the writer's legs.

Prisoner in her house, crippled Paul tries to find a way out to escape. The heavy tension in which the reader is located throughout the novel, displays the book among the most striking works of the "King of Horrors" of the 1980s.

The film, shot by Bob Reiner in 1990 on the subject of this novel, became equally tense.

Novels of the 90s

Stephen King, reviews on the works of which readers in the 80's were the most enthusiastic were not only in the US, continues to keep the audience in suspense, having published 90-ies such novels:

• "The right things" - 1991.
• "The Game of Gerald" and "Dolores Claybourne" - 1992.
• "Insomnia" - 1994.
• "The Rose of Marena" - 1995.
• "Green Mile" and "Hopeless" - 1996.
• "Bag of Bones" - 1997.
• "The girl who loved Tom Gordon."

The brightest novels of this period, according to critics and readers, are the "Green Mile" and "Sack with Bones." Both stories were screened and received enthusiastic response from fans of the writer's creativity, but if you choose among them the best books by Stephen King, the rating of the 90's rightfully gives first place to the novel "The Green Mile".

"Green Mile"

In each prison, prisoners come up with their own customs and names. There was no exception to the location of the custody of the main character - John Coffey. The prison called "Cold Mountain" is a gloomy establishment that does not give hope to the best in the hearts of prisoners.

The protagonist was accused of a crime he did not commit - the murder of two small twin girls. He is waiting for the death penalty, and the green color of the floor from the death row to the place where the sentence is put into effect is called the green mile.

For many, this short corridor does seem to be a mile long, but not for the protagonist with magical healing abilities. He did not do what he was condemned to die for. The novel constantly makes readers worry about the life of this black giant and keeps them in suspense.

The film, shot in 1999 on this subject, has become one of the best screen reproductions of the works of Stephen King. He received 4 nominations for "Oscar", 3 Saturn Awards, a dozen other awards and 23 nominations.

The plot is based on the memories of the former prison guard (Tom Hanks), who lives out his years in a nursing home and shares his impressions of working in the Cold Mountain prison with his friend.

Both the novel and the film keep people in such psychological tension that they leave an indelible impression on the whole life.

Works of the new millennium

Since 2000, and to this day pleases his fans with new works by Stephen King. The best books of this period - "Dream Catcher" and "Under the Dome" - were screened. If we talk about the diversity of the author's work, we can not miss his novels, individual cycles and works published under the pseudonym of Richard Bachmann.

The most famous story of King was the adaptation of his work "Rita Hayworth and Salvation from Shawshank." According to the results of the audience survey, this film is the best work of all time and ranks first in the rating of "250 best movies by IMDb version". The plot is based on the story of a man accused of a crime he did not commit. He had to survive in prison for 19 years before being released.

Among the significant cycles of Stephen King - his long work "The Dark Tower", which combines a mixture of fantasy, horror, elements of western and fiction. He has his devoted devotees who can now not only reread their favorite chapters, but also view the screen version.

Under the pseudonym King wrote 7 novels, 2 of which, "Slimming" (1984) and "Running Man" (1982), were screened.

Today Stephen King is 67 years old, and he is not going to stop there, although every year he "frightens" his readers that his next masterpiece was the last.