Needful Things

The crappy synthesizer music completely ruined this book for me. It is abrupt, distracting and in my opinion completely unprofessional compared to the regular production value of Kings books. Not to mention the prolific scratchy static that starts about 2/3 in and continues throughout. Narration was interesting, but wish King would stick to writing and let Will Patton continue to do the reading. The story may have been great, and I may read it on paper later on, but the narration and production completely killed it for me.

I will be exchanging this book because the music that is played sucks and ruins listening experience.

Stephen King is a good writer….he is a TERRIBLE narrator. Someone at Simon and Schuster needs to man up and tell him NO. I have over 100 audio books as I spend a lot of time behind the wheel and working on equipment and the books help my day fly by. Listening to him narrate makes me want to rip out my eardrums. Monotone, no sense of voice inflection, no clue how to do voices for characters….. the list goes on. There are SO MANY talented narrators out there… just pick one. Your talent as a writer is un questionable, but as a narrator you need to leave it to the professionals. Your narration is definitely Busch league and not ready for prime time.

I am a die hard Stephen King fan. I hang in every word in every book. That is why I was annoyed during this reading to hear really primitive synthesizer music playing during pivotal parts of this book. The most annoying instance was during a part in which a character was in a fugue/dream state imaging herself at an Elvis Presley concert. The music almost drowns out the narrator (a very capable Stephen King himself reads) and is so silly that there is no way to take the passage seriously. Please get rid of this insipid unnecessary distraction.

So, first off…the story itself…great classic Stephen King. Not one of my favorites, but great story just the same. Lots of characters, but if you roll with it, you figure out whos who and how theyre connected. Its not as important in most cases WHO the characters are, but whats happening to them and the effect the store owner Mr Gaunt has on them…and the effect they in turn have on the town. So dont let it stress you out too much. This actually sat in my library for months. I purchased it with one of my credits in the middle of a King binge….many of which I was re-reading, but this one I had never read.The reason I hadnt gotten around to it was because King was narrating it. I had listened to two book narrated by King. Hearts in Atlantis and Desperation. I was less than impressed with either, but after getting used it, its not too bad….but just didnt feel like having to get used to it again. But it was the only King I had left to listen to in my library, and Id never read it…so.. It was the usual seeming monotone at first, but quickly became pretty amazing. He had SO many characters to portray, and you could tell he probably REALLY likes this story, and there is a plus side to the author narrating his own book, he knew exactly how he wanted the characters to come across, and he really got into it. And of course hes got that Maine accent DOWN. I believe he did a wonderful job conveying the emotions…and there were tons of emotions….everybody in the Rock was losing their freaking minds. Maybe its because I went in with lower expectations, but it was pretty awesome. My only critique would be that his bible-thumping, fire and brimstone reverend came across sounding a little bit like a caricature of an Italian restaurant owner somehow lol….but I gave him a pass on that. For those hesitant to listen for that reason, youll be pleasantly surprised. The music added was hokey, but not a big deal….it wasnt like it was played that much. People can be so picky. I came for the story, and I got the story….well told

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