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I never knew that Koko, Mystery and The Throat were considered a trilogy. I have read all three of them several times the same way I usually read any books by favorite authors, in the order in which they were published. There is another book with the character of Tim Underhill that I read a couple of years ago. I must have gotten it from the library because I don't seem to have it here and I cannot remember the title right now. In that one the actual main character is a nephew of Underhill's and the story takes place in Tim's home town and involves a haunted house. If anyone can come up with the title so I can look for the book, I'd appreciate it. I really want to reread that one.
I think it was Lost Boy Lost Girl. (http://www.mysteryone.com/PeterStraubInterview.htm - broken link)
I enjoyed that book, but perhaps not as much as Straub's other works.
I got The Throat at the library, began it yesterday, and am engrossed in it.
I did not reread Koko, but it's coming together okay for me. I remember one Koko character, Dengler, from Koko.
Straub's work is so much more than the genre it usually gets stuck in--horror. It's also more than just crime thriller stuff.
I think it was Lost Boy Lost Girl. (http://www.mysteryone.com/PeterStraubInterview.htm - broken link)
Yes! That's the one. Think I'll look for it on Ebay.
Quote:
Originally Posted by BlueWillowPlate
I enjoyed that book, but perhaps not as much as Straub's other works.
I got The Throat at the library, began it yesterday, and am engrossed in it.
I did not reread Koko, but it's coming together okay for me. I remember one Koko character, Dengler, from Koko.
Straub's work is so much more than the genre it usually gets stuck in--horror. It's also more than just crime thriller stuff.
Someone - I think it was one of my sons; or maybe my brother - recently told me he wasn't interested in trying to read Straub because they found him to be "too wordy". I actually find that to be one of the reasons I DO like to read his books - his 'wordiness' is what gives such vivid detail and thus adds so much for the imagination to work with in giving a 'mind-picture' of the story.
Yes! That's the one. Think I'll look for it on Ebay.Someone - I think it was one of my sons; or maybe my brother - recently told me he wasn't interested in trying to read Straub because they found him to be "too wordy". I actually find that to be one of the reasons I DO like to read his books - his 'wordiness' is what gives such vivid detail and thus adds so much for the imagination to work with in giving a 'mind-picture' of the story.
Yes!
Straub books are dense, you don't rush through them.
Sometimes I have a blonde moment and need to go back and reread a paragraph.
But it sure beats the heck out of stuff like the Da Vinci Code, where the material reads like a comic book aimed at 6th graders.
Years ago, I read several of Peter Straub's books, including Mystery, and that's what this question is about. I remember as I was reading Mystery, it occurred to me that one of the situations the characters solved--being a murder at a ritzy lake resort where the upper class took their vacations--was very familiar to me, and I recalled reading a separate novel about that mystery only.
Recently, in researching Straub books for re-reading purposes, I can't seem to locate any of his books that have the Eagle Lake murder as the only subject matter. I can only find reference to it in the book Mystery.
Does anyone know if I am correct in that or could there possibly be a novel by a different author about the same murder, or: is my memory faulty?
No, I read that book; I hardly remember it, but I think some of the same characters from Blue Rose, Koko, and maybe even some of his other books are in it. He likes to reuse characters.
I thought Koko was his best book, but I also loved some of his very early work: Shadowland, Ghost Story, If You Could See Me Now. Also some of his early short stories, like "The Juniper Tree" (some of those stories also, interestingly enough, involved this same cast of characters from Koko, Mystery, Blue Rose, etc.... except they were all children at the time.
I always thought that between Stephen King and Peter Straub, Straub was the superior talent, although of course King has enjoyed greater commercial success. Stephen King, incidentally, concurs with this.
I liked The Talisman, the book they did together back in the early 80s, and I feel that that book was mostly Straub's work (although the character Jack Sawyer in that book was very similar to the boy "Jake" in King's later Gunslinger series. He's virtually the same character).
It's interesting that the two writers were roommates in college, and later grew up to be two of the biggest names in contemporary horror fiction. What are the odds that both would be successful to that extent? I'll bet they never would've foreseen that in a million years.
No, I read that book; I hardly remember it, but I think some of the same characters from Blue Rose, Koko, and maybe even some of his other books are in it. He likes to reuse characters.
I thought Koko was his best book, but I also loved some of his very early work: Shadowland, Ghost Story, If You Could See Me Now. Also some of his early short stories, like "The Juniper Tree" (some of those stories also, interestingly enough, involved this same cast of characters from Koko, Mystery, Blue Rose, etc.... except they were all children at the time.
I always thought that between Stephen King and Peter Straub, Straub was the superior talent, although of course King has enjoyed greater commercial success. Stephen King, incidentally, concurs with this.
I liked The Talisman, the book they did together back in the early 80s, and I feel that that book was mostly Straub's work (although the character Jack Sawyer in that book was very similar to the boy "Jake" in King's later Gunslinger series. He's virtually the same character).
It's interesting that the two writers were roommates in college, and later grew up to be two of the biggest names in contemporary horror fiction. What are the odds that both would be successful to that extent? I'll bet they never would've foreseen that in a million years.
Actually, "The Gunslinger" is not a 'later' story than "The Talisman" - it came first. And based on the forwards and afterwords King did for all of the Dark Tower books, most of the first book (the Gunslinger) was actually written in the late sixties and early seventies.
Actually, "The Gunslinger" is not a 'later' story than "The Talisman" - it came first. And based on the forwards and afterwords King did for all of the Dark Tower books, most of the first book (the Gunslinger) was actually written in the late sixties and early seventies.
Yes, but "Jake" didn't really take shape as a character until book 3.
Book 3 was also rather derivative of "It". There is a part where they all go into some creepy abandoned house and the description which follows is exactly the same as an abandoned creepy house scene in "It". The wallpaper with the pictures of elves on it, etc.
There's also all those "turtle" references in Book 3 of the Gunslinger series, reminiscent of the turtle stuff in "It" ("see the TURTLE of enormous girth/upon his shell he holds the earth...").
It makes me wonder whether King was doing that because he thought his readers would enjoy revisiting old places, characters, references... or whether he was on a tight deadline and just couldn't come up with any original material.
Yes, but "Jake" didn't really take shape as a character until book 3.
Book 3 was also rather derivative of "It". There is a part where they all go into some creepy abandoned house and the description which follows is exactly the same as an abandoned creepy house scene in "It". The wallpaper with the pictures of elves on it, etc.
There's also all those "turtle" references in Book 3 of the Gunslinger series, reminiscent of the turtle stuff in "It" ("see the TURTLE of enormous girth/upon his shell he holds the earth...").
It makes me wonder whether King was doing that because he thought his readers would enjoy revisiting old places, characters, references... or whether he was on a tight deadline and just couldn't come up with any original material.
Thing is, with the "Dark Tower" series, even when he wasn't actually working on it, he says it was always on his mind. There are many of his novels that contain subtle (and sometimes not so subtle) references and nuances to and from the series. The final volume of the series lists 15 additional books 'related' to the series, including one he wrote as 'Richard Bachman'. "The Talisman" and "Black House" are on that list. And I've seen similar themes in some of his later novels as well. (Some of the ones he's written since finishing the series) The way he puts it is that the Dark Tower and its characters 'haunted' him - and I'd say they still do!
Since this thread is supposed to be about Peter Straub, this is my last post about Stephen King here.
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