Everything's Eventual

The last King book I read before this, was ‘Bag of Bones', which I absolutely loved. But this...the opening story, ‘Autopsy Room Four', was quite funny; the next one, ‘The Man in the Black Suit', could have been so much more, but still delivered a few chills. The title story was somewhat interesting, and ‘That Feeling, You Can Only Say What It Is In French' had an interesting idea...but none of them quite delivered the punch. I didn't read ‘The Little Sisters of Eluria', since I never gave a hoot about King's Dark Tower-series, and I read ‘Riding the Bullet' a couple of yeas ago, and couldn't bear going through it again...it's utter crap! Mr King has written a good deal of great books, but if you wanna read his short stories, go for ‘Night Shift' or ‘Skeleton Crew'. This one doesn't do him - or the readers - any justice.

Overall, a gripping and enjoyable experience which reminded my why I consider SK the best English language writer I have ever read (in the realistic lane, in the poetic there s Gene Wolfe). The stories:
Autopsy room four - perfectly written, but totally unoriginal. The weakest in the book, by far 2/5
The man in the black suit – also an all-round story, but not original, just a reboot of Pennywise from It 3/5
All that you love will be carried away – very realistic and full of believable small-time sorrow, but not much going on 3/5
The death of Jack Hamilton – good story about 30s gangsters, but that is all, no horror, no twist, not anything extraordinary 3/5
In the deathroom – very good story, it could have been perfect if only it ended when the dog woke up.... after that it loses a point 4/5
The little sisters of Eluria – though I am not a Dark Tower fan (on the contrary), this is a very very good Roland story I enjoyed thoroughly. The only thing that bugged me (pun intended) is the ”Why did she do it?” 5/5
Everything is eventual – this is the old-times SK I love and consider the best writer ever: realistic, painstanking attention to details, relevant or not, hints revealed at the perfect time, perfect pacing, questions always arising, unexpected twists and a perfect circle brought about by the end. Perfect. 5+/5
LT s theory of pets – good, funny and surprising. Not memorable, though 5/5
The Road virus heads north - good escalating horror, but I kept expecting a twist. There was none, the story is too straight forward 4/5
Lunch at the gotham cafe – perfectly describing thinking/feeling in a ruined marriage, but too much unnecessary gore 3/5
That feeling, you can only say what it is in French – unexpected twist, but not worth the wait 2/5
1408 - also another perfect story in the typical SK style, and scary too, but not bringing anything new 4/5
Riding the bulet – what starts as a very lame ”seen it before in a 1000 B movies” horror turns into a very mind-boggling moral dilemma and brings a non-spectacular, but good twist 5/5
Luckey quarter – a good way to bring forward a moral message, but not much more, it feels undeveloped 3/5

Stories Ranked:

- Everything's Eventual
- The Man in the Black Suit
- 1408
- Autopsy Room Four
- The Road Virus Heads North
- Lunch at the Gotham Cafe
- That Feeling, You Can Only Say What It Is In French
- Lucky Quarter
- LT's Theory of Pets
- All That You Love Will Be Carried away
- In the Death Room
- The Death of Jack Hamilton
- The Little Sisters of Eluria

I thought Ride the Bullet was probably one of the better ones, but none of these stories are bad. I also really enjoyed 1408.

Comes close to the old school King that I remember reading voraciously as a kid. I think King's best form is the short story or maybe even expanding to a novella (The Mist and 4 seasons are great).