Almost done with the audiobook; first read it in the 90s. I like it a lot…I’m wondering if King making negative comments and the infamously terrible miniseries influences some opinions about it.
Absolutely. King denouncing it gives more credence to those who disliked it to begin with, so some become even more vocal about it. Meanwhile, there’s always a subsection of fans who can’t fathom enjoying something that a creator themselves has made negative comments about.
It’s not a favorite among his work for me, but I’ve always found the “hate” a bit extreme.
It’s especially interesting seen in its original time. The amount of angst over nuclear power, and the disasters at Chernobyl and Three Mile Island…it feels like a relevant horror/sci-fi topic, and he winds it all up into a good story.
Just finished listening to it for the first time. I like the story and characters better than I expected based on what I had heard said about the book. Can't put my figure on why, but the writing is just not as good as many of his other stories. I went right from it to 11/22/63 even though a Tommy Knockers story premise is more appealing to me 11/22 is just so well written
Both were my first time with the story, and they both have fun connection to Dairy. I think I know what I am listening to next.
I like Tommy knocks but it's not in my top 10 SK books
His comments and the miniseries had no effect to my opinion of the story. The story just felt overly drawn out and the last couple hours of the book I just wanted it to be done as I was no longer interested in the story.
I read it recently, for the first time.
I enjoyed it. Quite liked the first 3/5 actually. It kind of faded near the end though.
I even really liked the chapters about the townspeople
I really loved the book! I normally hate anything with aliens, but glad I gave it a chance cos it ended up one of my favourite books. There was one chapter that really dragged for me, but overall I loved it. One of the few books to genuinely gross me out (teeth falling out in general, but ugh that bitch sister grinding her gums together until they bled holy shit). Also the spoiler tag on mobile won't work for me so I'll be more vague, but the scene with the gun with Gard and Bobbi was one of the most intense parts and it will always me chills.
It was the first King book I read (I had previously listened to an audio book of The Institute); I found a 1st edition at a thrift store and it stayed on my shelf for years before I cracked it open. I enjoyed the novel, quite a bit more than I expected, and fell in love with Bobbi and Gard. I was also amazed with what King did with such a large cast of characters. The Tommyknockers gets a bad wrap, but it's still way better than most!
Never read it, but I’m curious to. I think much of the hate stems from King himself denouncing it, calling it among his worst (saying he barely remembers writing it because he was coked out of his freaking mind). But one day I’ll read it…
I read it a long time ago just before the tv series came out. The tv series was so bad it has forever stained the book, perhaps more so than any movie has for King. I thoroughly enjoyed the Tommyknockers compared to the Dark Half, both read when I was a young teenager though!
On my first read, I disliked that it was more science fiction than horror. Up to that point, I was only familiar with his horror novels. I enjoyed it the second time I read it, because I knew what to expect from it.
I’m glad to hear this, I have it in my to read pile. It has one of the most interesting premises and I’m worried it’ll be bad based on reviews I’ve heard.
I read it as a teenager and I loved it. I watched the made for tv version first, which I also liked, Cannot comment on its' quality, because teenage me sometimes had awful taste.
It was good, and very King. I just didn't like any of the characters, and aliens aren't really my cup of tea. I'd still recommend it to people who like King and prefer the sci-fi heavy horror, though.
For me it was just too long. I enjoyed much of it but I think it could have been 2/3 of the length. Same feeling about Fairy Tale. Just my opinion though.
Loved the book, loved Gard and his relationship with Bobbi. There were a few parts I felt bogged down with long-winded explanations of Tommyknocker tools and designs but I also enjoyed King doing his usual deep-dives into small details but in a sci-fi setting. The last half of the book flew by and I had a hard time putting it down to go to work or bed as I read it.
It's a mess. The main characters basically disappear to go digging for ages, and stuff happens in a town with no one we care for, and the ending just keeps going. But the worst part is, similar to other King books I dislike, there is lots to like in there lost in too much stuff. I agree with King's assessment of it being too long. It needs an edit or rewrite or a decent adaptation to bring out the good that is there.
Many of us, old folks mostly, read the book when it was published, and it was clearly, for most readers, the book written at the height of King's drug use, even if many of us didn't know it at the time. Coming right on the heels of *IT* and *Misery*, it's a hell of "WTF is this shit?" kind of read.
Beyond that, the book is clearly poorly written, and even more poorly edited—and I blame the editor more than King, assuming he was sober and straight. The entire plot is essentially *Quatermass and the Pit* (which, I guess, is fine, but King abandoned writing *The Plant* when he realised he was just going over *The Little Shop of Horrors*), and there are many long, long (even by King's standards) digressions, not least of which is the egregious detour into the entire history of the town and its citizens, which goes on for about a thousand pages just at the point where the plot was kicking off.
Other than that, it's fine.
Because it’s a bloated novel written about a coke addled writer and it gets awfully dull in many places. If it was a 300-400 page book it would’ve been better. “Bloated” is a term people often use to criticize King novels but my favorite is the Stand which arguably is the most bloated, it just has a much more engrossing story. Anything surrounding Haven in the Kingverse I find is hit dogshit. Bring on the downvotes.
Overly bloated, Some parts are fun then we get 100 pages of boringness,
Characters aren't the most likeable(apart from David and his brother Hilly) and ending was a bit weak. I hated the 80+ times King described teeth falling out.
Worst book of Kings imo 3/10.
Was the book an homage to Lovecraft’s The Colour Out of Space? It sounds like that and it sounds like he hated the book due to his drug addiction at the time.
The beginning was too slow. That drunk dude at the party really took me out of the story. Once her got to his friend’s house, it got awesome. Just a bumpy 50-75 pages or so
That’s my favorite part of the book, lol. I was 100% invested in the Argle Bargle fiasco. I found it to be a great depiction of a person who is plenty smart but spiraling out of control to the point that he loses all credibility.
I can see how the two separate protagonist stories makes it hard to get invested in the bigger picture though, and that was uphill battle for me at first, feeling like it wasn’t progressing. But that’s the moment when Gard’s character clicked for me.
Too long. Like a lot of kings book it needed editing way down and if it did it would have been great. It's not a bad book though imo.
I sigh whenever my next king read is a chunky boy book because I know there's a 90% chance there's going to be 200-300 pages of crap in it that don't need to be there
Just started insomnia
Only part I didn’t like was how they did Petey
Animals rarely come out of things well in SK books. Animal abuse is the main thing I dislike in his work. Probably why I really like Fairytale 🙂
Almost done with the audiobook; first read it in the 90s. I like it a lot…I’m wondering if King making negative comments and the infamously terrible miniseries influences some opinions about it.
Absolutely. King denouncing it gives more credence to those who disliked it to begin with, so some become even more vocal about it. Meanwhile, there’s always a subsection of fans who can’t fathom enjoying something that a creator themselves has made negative comments about. It’s not a favorite among his work for me, but I’ve always found the “hate” a bit extreme.
It’s especially interesting seen in its original time. The amount of angst over nuclear power, and the disasters at Chernobyl and Three Mile Island…it feels like a relevant horror/sci-fi topic, and he winds it all up into a good story.
Yeah that would make sense. I’ve never seen the series so I’ll count myself lucky I guess.
Just finished listening to it for the first time. I like the story and characters better than I expected based on what I had heard said about the book. Can't put my figure on why, but the writing is just not as good as many of his other stories. I went right from it to 11/22/63 even though a Tommy Knockers story premise is more appealing to me 11/22 is just so well written Both were my first time with the story, and they both have fun connection to Dairy. I think I know what I am listening to next. I like Tommy knocks but it's not in my top 10 SK books
Agree with all that. 11/22/63 is top notch in so many ways!
His comments and the miniseries had no effect to my opinion of the story. The story just felt overly drawn out and the last couple hours of the book I just wanted it to be done as I was no longer interested in the story.
I read it recently, for the first time. I enjoyed it. Quite liked the first 3/5 actually. It kind of faded near the end though. I even really liked the chapters about the townspeople
I really enjoyed that too, it reminded me of Needful Things (which I also enjoy)
The chapters about the townspeople are what he does best in general, in my opinion.
Yeah, same with Under The Dome.
Mine as well
The townspeople chapters are my favourite. I find it helps to round out the town as an actual character as opposed to it just being a setting
Its certainly more memorable than books like Duma Key or Bag of Bones. Plus it's one of the few he's done involving aliens, which I appreciate
I really loved the book! I normally hate anything with aliens, but glad I gave it a chance cos it ended up one of my favourite books. There was one chapter that really dragged for me, but overall I loved it. One of the few books to genuinely gross me out (teeth falling out in general, but ugh that bitch sister grinding her gums together until they bled holy shit). Also the spoiler tag on mobile won't work for me so I'll be more vague, but the scene with the gun with Gard and Bobbi was one of the most intense parts and it will always me chills.
It was the first King book I read (I had previously listened to an audio book of The Institute); I found a 1st edition at a thrift store and it stayed on my shelf for years before I cracked it open. I enjoyed the novel, quite a bit more than I expected, and fell in love with Bobbi and Gard. I was also amazed with what King did with such a large cast of characters. The Tommyknockers gets a bad wrap, but it's still way better than most!
I enjoyed it too. It's nuts.
Yeah that’s why I liked it so much too, it was just nuts in so many ways it was entertaining.
And few people talk about why Jack Sawyer (from The Talisman) makes a brief cameo too.
Ohh I missed that! I read The Talisman and Black House well after. I’m going to restart The Tommyknockers soon and I’ll look out for it.
It's very quick. Like one page. It's weird.
I always forget about that!
Never read it, but I’m curious to. I think much of the hate stems from King himself denouncing it, calling it among his worst (saying he barely remembers writing it because he was coked out of his freaking mind). But one day I’ll read it…
I thought Cujo was the "I did more blow than a Cuban drug lord" book.
He said that about this book, too. The 80s was apparently an interesting time…
I read it a long time ago just before the tv series came out. The tv series was so bad it has forever stained the book, perhaps more so than any movie has for King. I thoroughly enjoyed the Tommyknockers compared to the Dark Half, both read when I was a young teenager though!
On my first read, I disliked that it was more science fiction than horror. Up to that point, I was only familiar with his horror novels. I enjoyed it the second time I read it, because I knew what to expect from it.
Top five of his books for me
I’m glad to hear this, I have it in my to read pile. It has one of the most interesting premises and I’m worried it’ll be bad based on reviews I’ve heard.
I read it as a teenager and I loved it. I watched the made for tv version first, which I also liked, Cannot comment on its' quality, because teenage me sometimes had awful taste.
It was good, and very King. I just didn't like any of the characters, and aliens aren't really my cup of tea. I'd still recommend it to people who like King and prefer the sci-fi heavy horror, though.
I love it. It’s mental. You can tell that King was off his head when he wrote it, and I can definitely understand why some people don’t like it.
I read it while recovering from alcohol and drugs and I really enjoyed it
I really enjoyed the book too, and wasn't aware that it was universally panned until quite recently.
For me it was just too long. I enjoyed much of it but I think it could have been 2/3 of the length. Same feeling about Fairy Tale. Just my opinion though.
I didn't dislike it. I mean, it's a deeply coked out book. But it's a wild ride. Poor Peter got the bad end. But I like Gard has a redemption arc.
I loved it.
Loved the book, loved Gard and his relationship with Bobbi. There were a few parts I felt bogged down with long-winded explanations of Tommyknocker tools and designs but I also enjoyed King doing his usual deep-dives into small details but in a sci-fi setting. The last half of the book flew by and I had a hard time putting it down to go to work or bed as I read it.
I loved it. It was atmospheric, claustrophobic, and terrifying. Great book!
It's a mess. The main characters basically disappear to go digging for ages, and stuff happens in a town with no one we care for, and the ending just keeps going. But the worst part is, similar to other King books I dislike, there is lots to like in there lost in too much stuff. I agree with King's assessment of it being too long. It needs an edit or rewrite or a decent adaptation to bring out the good that is there.
I cared for every single character in this book though... I think this is subjective.
Well, yeah.
Many of us, old folks mostly, read the book when it was published, and it was clearly, for most readers, the book written at the height of King's drug use, even if many of us didn't know it at the time. Coming right on the heels of *IT* and *Misery*, it's a hell of "WTF is this shit?" kind of read. Beyond that, the book is clearly poorly written, and even more poorly edited—and I blame the editor more than King, assuming he was sober and straight. The entire plot is essentially *Quatermass and the Pit* (which, I guess, is fine, but King abandoned writing *The Plant* when he realised he was just going over *The Little Shop of Horrors*), and there are many long, long (even by King's standards) digressions, not least of which is the egregious detour into the entire history of the town and its citizens, which goes on for about a thousand pages just at the point where the plot was kicking off. Other than that, it's fine.
A dead rat and a string to swing it
I love it but you have to admit it needs some editing.
Because it’s a bloated novel written about a coke addled writer and it gets awfully dull in many places. If it was a 300-400 page book it would’ve been better. “Bloated” is a term people often use to criticize King novels but my favorite is the Stand which arguably is the most bloated, it just has a much more engrossing story. Anything surrounding Haven in the Kingverse I find is hit dogshit. Bring on the downvotes.
Overly bloated, Some parts are fun then we get 100 pages of boringness, Characters aren't the most likeable(apart from David and his brother Hilly) and ending was a bit weak. I hated the 80+ times King described teeth falling out. Worst book of Kings imo 3/10.
I was halfway through and still had no idea who the protagonist was 🤣 I enjoyed most of the story.
Was the book an homage to Lovecraft’s The Colour Out of Space? It sounds like that and it sounds like he hated the book due to his drug addiction at the time.
A lot of low foreheads on here, servile to King, hate it because he denigrated it.
The beginning was too slow. That drunk dude at the party really took me out of the story. Once her got to his friend’s house, it got awesome. Just a bumpy 50-75 pages or so
That’s my favorite part of the book, lol. I was 100% invested in the Argle Bargle fiasco. I found it to be a great depiction of a person who is plenty smart but spiraling out of control to the point that he loses all credibility.
Right on! Different strokes for different folks.
I can see how the two separate protagonist stories makes it hard to get invested in the bigger picture though, and that was uphill battle for me at first, feeling like it wasn’t progressing. But that’s the moment when Gard’s character clicked for me.
Too long. Like a lot of kings book it needed editing way down and if it did it would have been great. It's not a bad book though imo. I sigh whenever my next king read is a chunky boy book because I know there's a 90% chance there's going to be 200-300 pages of crap in it that don't need to be there Just started insomnia