Grading the King

1Anyway, apropos of only that, here's how I'd grade out approximately the first half of his published novels, nonfiction and short story collections:

9

Carrie (1974)      B

Salem's Lot   (1975)     A

The Shining    (1977)   A+

Rage  (1977, as Richard Bachman)     C

The Stand     (1978)     A+

Night Shift    (1978)     B

The Long Walk    (1979, as Richard Bachman)     B+

The Dead Zone    (1979)     B

Firestarter     (1980)      C

Roadwork      (1981, as Richard Bachman)      B

Danse Macabre    (1981)        B

Cujo      (1981)       C

Different Seasons     (1982)      B+    (The Body A+/Apt Pupil C/Shawshank A/Breathing B)

The Running Man    (1982, as Richard Bachman)     C

The Gunslinger   (1982, Dark Tower, volume I)      B+

Christine     (1983)       B

Pet Sematary     (1983)     A-

Cycle of the Werewolf     (1983)     C+

The Talisman      (1984, with Peter Straub)       A

Thinner     (1984, as Richard Bachman)      B-

Skeleton Crew     (1985)       B+

It      (1986)        A+

The Eyes of the Dragon     (1987)    B+

Misery     (1987)       B+

Drawing of the Three     (1987, Dark Tower, volume II)      B+

The Tommyknockers     (1987)       D

The Dark Half     (1989)          B

Four Past Midnight     (1990)   B-  (Langoliers D/Secret Window B/Libary B/Sun Dog B+)

The Waste Lands       (1991, Dark tower, volume III)      A

Needful Things       (1991)      B+

Gerald's Game      (1992)      B-

Dolores Claiborne     (1992)    B

Nightmares and Dreamscapes   (1993)       B

Insomnia     (1994)         C+

Rose Madder     (1995)     B-

The Green Mile      (1996)     A

Almost arbitrary.  You might ask me again on a different day, and I'd give it a different grade.  The Shining, The Stand and It are the class of the first half, with The Talisman, Green Mile and Waste Lands coming in just behind.....

I'm coming up on Desperation, which I don't recall liking much when I read it the first time, and its companion The Regulators I liked even less.  But, I've had my mind changed a couple of times in the project....I liked Dark Half more this time around than when I first read it, and Firestarter and Four Past Midnight a lot less......

We'll see.....