The Literature Thread

[Moggy]

Right, literary buffs of the forum... assemble!

I'm trying to find out the name of this short story (I thought it was by Stephen King but apparently not) about these people that go into a cornfield, get lost and find a dying dog, and they slowly go mad and there's this big sacrificial stone and they basically kill each other. The story ends with some other people walking past the cornfield and hearing someone call for help, and the cycle begins again.

Any ideas?

The Stephen King story is Children of the Corn .

I don't think that is the one you are looking for though.

[Preezy]

The Stephen King story is Children of the Corn .

I don't think that is the one you are looking for though.

Yeah my incoherent google search only managed to bring up that, isn't the one sadly.

[Moggy]

The Stephen King story is Children of the Corn .

I don't think that is the one you are looking for though.

Yeah my incoherent google search only managed to bring up that, isn't the one sadly.

The dog and the cornfield are killing my search as all I am finding are things about Children of the Corn and real life dead dogs.

Sorry Preezy, you're on your own with this one.

[Preezy]

Harder to find than a dying dog in a cornfield full of sacrificial stones, it would seem

Thanks for trying.

[Rex Kramer]

My initial thought was Children of the Corn as well but I don't remember any reference to a dog. Any idea what the period of the piece was? The structure of the story and the loop does scream Stephen King so I wonder if it's another of his short stories (though it's maybe too similar to CotC).

[Cuttooth]

One of the top results in trying to find this is an article from the New York Public Library titled 'Finding a Book When You've Forgotten Its Title'.

[Memento Mori]

Right, literary buffs of the forum... assemble!

I'm trying to find out the name of this short story (I thought it was by Stephen King but apparently not) about these people that go into a cornfield, get lost and find a dying dog, and they slowly go mad and there's this big sacrificial stone and they basically kill each other. The story ends with some other people walking past the cornfield and hearing someone call for help, and the cycle begins again.

Any ideas?

I think it's In the Tall Grass by King and his son Joe Hill.

[Preezy]

Right, literary buffs of the forum... assemble!

I'm trying to find out the name of this short story (I thought it was by Stephen King but apparently not) about these people that go into a cornfield, get lost and find a dying dog, and they slowly go mad and there's this big sacrificial stone and they basically kill each other. The story ends with some other people walking past the cornfield and hearing someone call for help, and the cycle begins again.

Any ideas?

I think it's In the Tall Grass by King and his son Joe Hill.

You hero, that's the one

[Memento Mori]

My pointlessly encyclopedic King bibliography knowledge wins again.

[Tafdolphin]

That's really impressive! I wish I could enjoy King's writing more. The stories he comes up with are endlessly inventive but I just can't read more than a few pages of his prose without getting bored.

On the opposite end of the scale I'm reading David Copperfield (for the first time, to my great shame) and could read Dickens write about anything.

[Memento Mori]

When does The Wheel of Time drop off? I've finished book four and I love it.

[Moggy]

When does The Wheel of Time drop off? I've finished book four and I love it.

I read it a decade or more ago and dropped out around book 6 or 7.

I started again a year or two ago and loved it from beginning to end.

So early 00s Moggy would say book 7, late 10s Moggy would say it doesn’t drop off.

[Tafdolphin]

I tired around book 5 when I realised Jordan simply cannot write women. I do need to try again though.

Finished David Copperfield (magnificent) now reading Ann Leckie's Ancillary Justice

[Memento Mori]

Nynaeve tugs her braid.

[Errkal]

Not long finished Brendon Sanderson - Skyward Claim the Stars

Really enjoyed it, will deffo be getting the next in the series when it comes out.

Have now started Hugh Howey - Wool, so far so good, nothing particularly remarkable so far, kind of liking the FallOut Vault vibe though.

[Rex Kramer]

Not long finished Brendon Sanderson - Skyward Claim the Stars

Really enjoyed it, will deffo be getting the next in the series when it comes out.

Have now started Hugh Howey - Wool, so far so good, nothing particularly remarkable so far, kind of liking the FallOut Vault vibe though.

Those are a good series of book, nothing earth shattering but rollicks along at a good pace.

Just started The City and The City by China Mieville. Really enjoyed the first two in the Bas-Lag trilogy, less so with the third. TC&TC is intriguing, didn't see the BBC adaptation so going in completely fresh.

[Rex Kramer]

The City and The City is a pretty tremendous book. About 25% of the way through according to my kindle and the setting is probably one of the most original I've ever read. Essentially the story takes place in an eastern European city that is in exactly the same place as another city. Sections of these cities overlap but the residents of each city are not allowed to acknowledge the presence of the other. Anyone breaking this gets snagged by something called Breach. It's really quite fascinating. I'm reticent to recommend it yet without finishing it but I'd check it out if the premise interests you.

[Rex Kramer]

One final thing about The City and The City. The closest comparison I can make is Fatherland by Robert Harris where a murder is the main plot device but the setting is the most interesting thing.

[OrangeRKN]

The City and The City is fantastic. The BBC adaptation is also really good (don't read this until you finish the book) and completely different because it's unambiguously supernatural

[Gemini73]

Currently reading Blood Song by Anthony Ryan. Typical fantasy medieval affair, but quite good so far.