Dreamcatcher

Rating:
Summary: THE EGGMAN
Review: I read all of the other customer reviews for this book and I was appalled! All of them claimed to be King fans yet tore apart his latest masterpiece like rabid dogs! This novel, like all of his other novels, is beyond comparison to any other author! I thought that the story was strong and masterfully crafted. Every part of the story seems to be separate but it all comes together near the end.

This book was fast-paced, action filled, suspensful, and above all, sadly powerful. I'm sorry to learn that people did not appreciate this story for what it was. A story about a beautiful friendship that endures the test of time, adulthood, and even aliens!

I would recommend this book to anyone because it is simply a masterpiece that isn't even appreciated in its own time. And to those of you who have deemed this "not one of his best," maybe you should re-read Dreamcatcher and see if you can even glimpse the true story.

Rating:
Summary: UNDER KING'S STANDARD
Review: Well, compared to other Stephen King books this is between his worsts. But compared to other books this is a fair read. It's a bit long, you have to read to much and it's not that good for a Stephen King book. Dreamcatcher is a good book but the main problem is that it was written by Stephen King, you know it from the beginning, so you hope for it to be great but no, it's not.

Rating:
Summary: Richard Bachman with a hint of King
Review: Dreamcatcher is the return debut one of horrors most thrilling authors. Stephen King returns as his alter personality Richard Bachman, and unleases a deadly plague on New England in true Bachman style. When it comes to the fate of the world King has one hell of an imagination. Somewhere between aliens, crazed military personnel, and an extraterrestrial fungus, a group of four childhood friends must Stand against the odds. I admit Dreamcatcher is far cry from the Dark Tower Series or the Stand, but I could not put this book down.

Rating:
Summary: King doesn't fool me!
Review: King's latest novel gets an E for effort. I reached the dreaded 50 page mark (the point where I say "read on" or "give up") and didn't even notice it. The books starts out fast and continues to hammer away until the very end. I don't know about you, but I don't like a book that skates along at such a fast pace that after you finished you wonder what happened. The characters were pasted together with such haste that I rooted for them the way I would root for the United States water polo team: because I'm supposed to. I liked the fact that the aliens are really a second kind of alien hidding in the first alien's body (it was the only part of the book that made me stop and think). The basis of the story is about people that form a relationship at an early age and become bound by something that happens to them at that said early age (been there done that). King started out with a great idea and then rushed to get the thing finished. I can't forgive him because he is Stephen King. I am eagerly awaiting his next book "From a Buick 8" because he gave a little of the book away in "On Writing". I have to say I wasn't really dying to buy "Dreamcatcher" because I didn't really know anything about it (except for those stupid Time.com things on King's website)so I wasn't that disapointed. Is my readership in the balance if King trys to fool me with his next novel? No, even if the story is foggy and the characters sketchy, I still love the way this guy writes. If your a King fan you have to buy it (you might want to wait for the paper back though). If your not a King fan don't waste you time with this one. Unless you are one of the naysayers who don't like King and are just slobbering over yourself to find a stinker to pounce on so you can say "See I told you he stinks".

Rating:
Summary: Not his best, but....
Review: OK, let me start off by saying that I agree with many of the criticisms of this book. I kept thinking, this couldn't have been that hard to write, take a dash of 'It', a good helping of 'Tommynockers' and a seasoning of X-Files and you have 'Dreamcatcher' Not very original and plodding.

On the other hand, King's character development and ability to bring his tales to life are still strong. It was a good read to while away my spare time on a recent European vacation.

One point that I take exception with in many of the reviews is the seeming discounting of King by so many reviewers. One person comments that besides 'Dreamcatcher', 'It' is the only other book they have read or will read by King, another 'The Green Mile'. Need I remind the reviewers that this is the same writer that has brought us 'Carrie', 'Pet Semetary', 'The Stand', the Dark Tower series, amazing short story and novella collections and many other laudible tales. I agree that 'Dreamcatcher' is not one of his finest tales but we shouldn't discount King's past work and his high potential for the future.

Also, for those readers who are disgruntled by many of the post-'Insomnia' books, I think we should all realize that King underwent a transformation in his writing with that book. In the past, he brought us his spin on all the classic horror tales and scared us senseless - 'The Shining', 'Salem's Lot'. Now he does focus much more on the human experience: life, love, childhood, hopes, dreams, fears. I personally don't see this as a letdown, I see it as his growth as a writer.

Rating:
Summary: Nasty
Review: Take some good advice! Find three of your best buddies, rent a mountain cabin and replace Dreamcatcher's tainted mind infusion with wonderful memories deserving of the setting. Who wants to spend a thousand pages of time reading about extreme body gas and the "f" word (purposely not capitalized) repeated over and over again in every imaginable contortion, etc? (I will always wonder how this kind of "carrying on" gets published in the first place, regardless of who wrote it.)

Rating:
Summary: Outstanding SciFi with Huge Psychological Twist
Review: Dreamcatcher may be one of the most well written novels Stephen King has ever published. From a literary standpoint, it cannot be easily topped as a modern telling of horrors both internal and external. I've been reading him for years and can think of no other novel so perfect and stylish syntactically. He mentions that he wrote the first draft longhand and maybe that's the difference. Whatever the reason, Dreamcatcher stands as a shining example of his adept knowledge of prose.

Most people compare all Stephen King books to one of two of his previous works. They either set the plumb line at The Stand or It. There are a few fringe non-conformists who choose The Shining or Salem's Lot or (in my case) Christine. For many, his books are either better or worse than those two. I try not to do that; though, as I admitted parenthetically, no one is perfect. For those who do, I'll say that this book is no better than any I've mentioned.

That's not to say it's bad. It isn't. It's fantastic - sort of an R or NC-17 rated (depending on the MPAA's stand on flatulence) X-Files. The premise is intriguing and well thought out - though there are a few wholes in the "why didn't they just do this" category. The thematic threads and persistent patterns weave brilliantly through the novel to create a beautiful, if not slightly bloated tome that any author could be proud of. Can Stephen King? I think so. Considering he wrote the lion's share of it after his accident, he ought to be damn proud. It's a fantastic story and I'm glad he told it. It's not a story that had to be told and I don't know how important it is to the benefit of man, but it made me happy to read it. And isn't happiness - from the instant-gratifying smoker to the planning financier - what it's all about?

I'm not going to give any plot away, but I will say this book needs to be finished once it's begun. I don't know if I've ever read a more subtle twist ending than when I read the final pages of Dreamcatcher. Sort of like sailing to England and washing ashore on Mars. Truly left field, I promise.

Is it King's best work? No. I prefer to think that his best work is yet to come.

Rating:
Summary: Not one of his best
Review: Any Stephen King fan would have to admit tha his past few novels, "Green Mile", "Bag Of Bones", and "The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon" were a sort of renaissance for him. His writing and plotting were in peak form. Unfortunately, "Dreamcatcher" fails to keep the streak going. While it starts off fast and furious, it runs out of gas about halfway through. The plot threads seem to unravel at various times. Try as he might, King can't maintain the suspense. Part of the problem may be that he has returned to familiar territory with this novel, and many of his old tricks just don't trick anymore.

Rating:
Summary: NOT HIS BEST BOOK, BUT IT'S WORTH A READ
Review: I have read almost everything Stephen King has written during the last 25 years or so, and what always fascinated me about his books is his superb writing. Stephen King is arguably the best fiction writer working today . . . as far as his writing skills are concerned, he's truly a master of the craft. So that is the reason, I surmise, that he's been able to get away with few novels (IT springs immediately to mind -- beginning is good, but ending is literally horrible) whose plots range from passable to downright ridiculous. And that is, I think, also why he has always been such a terific short story and novella writer; his collections Night Shift, Different Seasons, Skeleton Crew, and Nightmares and Dreamscapes probably belong to the best works of horror/mainstream fiction ever published. As to DREAMCATCHER now -- writing is as always superb, but the plot seemed a little too familiar. Not only has he written about alien invasions and "troubled teenagers battling monster from outer space" before, the whole structure of the book reminds me of at least several earlier Stephen King books. I wouldn't go so far as to calling him self-indulgent, but he should think of new subjects to write about if he is to remain the "king of horror" in the new millenium.

Rating:
Summary: Absolutely Terrible!!
Review: As most Stephen King fans, I bought this book without following any suggestions,or reading any reviews---just because he is Stephen King. I began reading this book over 3 weeks ago, and I finally put it down yesterday because after 400 pages, I just didn't care to finish it.(I read the first 200 pages in a little over a day). Shame too, because "Dreamcatcher" began as such a promising story,written by the man who I attribute many hours of captivating reading. Not this time. Don't bother!