# Does Stephen King Still Have "It"?
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-stephen-king-still-have-it/234232
**Category:** Cafe Society
**Created:** [March 14, 2004, 2:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-stephen-king-still-have-it/234232 "2004-03-14T14:49:52Z")
**Posts on this page:** 15
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@TellMeI\_mNotCrazy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TellMeI_mNotCrazy)
#### Post date: [March 14, 2004, 2:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-stephen-king-still-have-it/234232/1 "2004-03-14T14:49:52Z")
š No pun intended, of course.
I was going to hijack another thread for this then realized maybe it deserves its own.
I used to be a diehard Stephen King fan - I first ādiscoveredā him when I went to a tag sale and stumbled across āChristineā and āPet Semataryā for 25 cents each - hardcover! I think I was about 14 at the time. Read each in a ridiculously short amount of time, and was hooked.
I read every book of his in the library, everything friends owned, picked up more books at yard sales, even managed to buy a few books at the bookstore. Where Stephen King was concerned, my appetite was limitless. By the time I read the Stand, I was absolutely addicted.
And so itās gone over the years, and Iāve made my way through most of his library. There are still a few that I havenāt read, but Iād say Iāve read 99% of his pre-2000 work, and a fair share of the work after.
I last read Dreamcatchers.
I thought it was horrible.
Anyone else feel that way? I just couldnāt get āintoā the book, and this comes from someone who got so into āBag of Bonesā that she read it in less than 24 hours. (No lie, that book grabbed me something fierce). I read through Dreamcatcher, but dutifullyā¦ I wanted to believe it was going to improve, make more senseā¦ But I was deeply disappointed. I found the writing disjointed, which works for me in a lot of his work, but here it didnāt seem like the typical ādisjointed deviceā, just that it was sloppily written. I did enjoy the character development - he has never lacked any brilliance in that regard. Overall I didnāt āgetā the book - and even after rereading, was still a little baffled. I watched the movie - which, as miserable as it was, at least answered a few questions for me.
Hearts in Atlantis - first half of the book was beautiful, brilliant, superbā¦ Last half of the book, totally out there. I couldnāt believe the same man had written both - in the same book no less.
And one thing that Iāve never really been able to appreciate is Kingās dialogue. Half the time itās passable, the other half Iām thinkingā¦ āPeople donāt talk like this - ever!ā And if he makes up a swear (doodlyf\*ck!) ONE MORE TIME I swear Iām going to scream. The ābad wordsā in Dreamacatcher - both book and movie - were just mindjarring everytime I read/heard them. He did the same thing in Misery - and several other books, but those are the shining examples. And every time I come across them, it literally yanks me out of the book. Drives me nuts.
Loved the Stand. Parts of it were so boring I could have cried. But absolutely loved that book.
Anyone else āgetā where Iām coming from?
Now before anyone comes swooping down on me with the āSave Saint Stephenā swor
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### Author:  [@Rubystreak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rubystreak)
#### Post date: [March 14, 2004, 4:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-stephen-king-still-have-it/234232/2 "2004-03-14T16:43:29Z")
Stephen King for me is hit or miss these days. I used to be one of those people who read every single book he wrote as it came outā¦ until _Insomnia_. See, I hadnāt read _The Dark Tower_ books yet, so _Insomnia_ made no sense to me. This made me angry, that I had slogged through a 700 page book only to have the punchline fly over my head. Didnāt read any King for several years after that. By that point, Iād already mostly forgiven him for such stinkers as _The Tommyknockers_ and _The Dark Hal_, but my patience was at an end.
However, the force of nature that is _The Dark Tower_ series has now sucked me in completely, so Iāve read all those plus _The Talisman, Black House, Hearts in Atlantis,_ and _Everythingās Eventual_, all of which I really liked. When I have time (read: summer), I will tackle \*The Regulators, Bag of Bones, Desperation \* and _From a Buick 8_. Will no doubt be posting about them when Iām through.
With the amount he cranks out, I still think King has a high hit to miss ratio. Yes, Iād say he still has it, but Iām a lifelong fan and it seems I always will be.
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### Author:  [@TellMeI\_mNotCrazy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TellMeI_mNotCrazy)
#### Post date: [March 14, 2004, 5:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-stephen-king-still-have-it/234232/3 "2004-03-14T17:12:05Z")
Just realized the end of my post went poofā¦ And canāt remember what I was going to say. š
:shrug: Oh well
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### Author:  [@Master\_Wang-Ka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Master_Wang-Ka)
#### Post date: [March 14, 2004, 5:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-stephen-king-still-have-it/234232/4 "2004-03-14T17:19:47Z")
I may be one of the few people in the world who apparently didnāt think \*The Tommyknockers \* was all that bad. I thought it was a creepy little science fiction novel, really.
I liked _Insomnia_.
I thought \*The Dark Half \* was kind of self-indulgent.
I thought _Dreamcatcher_ was awful.
Iāve liked some of the \*Dark Tower \* books more than others.
And I agree that it seems like back in the eighties in particular, the man simply could not miss. Nowadaysā¦ wellā¦
Yāknow, Mark Twain had the same problem. Wrote some brilliant stuff in the first part of his career, and then for the rest of his life, couldnāt seem to tell the difference between āexcellenceā and ācrap.ā
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### Author:  [@Avalonian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Avalonian)
#### Post date: [March 14, 2004, 6:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-stephen-king-still-have-it/234232/5 "2004-03-14T18:44:34Z")
_Dreamcatcher_ was indeed a terrible bookā¦ possibly Kingās worst book, but every author has a dud, especially if they were as prolific as King.
Based on _Everythingās Eventual_, _From a Buick 8_ (which I really liked, though I know others did not), and especially _Wolves of the Calla_, Iād say King still has āItā when he tries. He still knows how to write a good character, and he still knows how to keep us going with a solid yarn. If anything, Iād say heās matured as a writer.
And I canāt _wait_ to see how the Dark Tower series ends.
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### Author:  [@CrazyCatLady](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CrazyCatLady)
#### Post date: [March 14, 2004, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-stephen-king-still-have-it/234232/6 "2004-03-14T19:34:00Z")
Eh, I havenāt noticed that his later books contain any more stinkers than his early works. Kingās never been good at the blood and guts genre of horror; when he tries that he fails miserably, but when he sticks to the psychological horror heās unbelievable. His strength has never been his plots, itās always been his people. _Carrie_ is fabulous novel not because of the teen-slasher movie plot, but because the people are so real. _Delores Claiborn_ had really a pretty boring plot, but itās a gripping book because of the clarity and presence of the title character. I could hear that old broadās voice in my head the whole time I was reading it.
His dialogue is a lot of what makes his characters so strong, imo. A lot of his characters are small-town folks, and a lot of small-town folks talk exactly like his characters. Strange little regional sayings, bizarre made-up swear words and all. It might not be how you talk, but there are indeed plenty of people in the sorts of places heās depicting who do talk like that. Depicting someone from backwoods Maine speaking like someone from the big city makes the character flat and unreal. Itās like hearing Butterfly McQueen say, āMy goodness, I donāt know anything about delivering babies.ā That might be closer to how you talk, but itās not at all how people in that time and place and situation talk so it sucks the depth and richness out of the character.
Books where he relies on the plot to carry weak characters are his weaker efforts. _'Salemās Lot_ was a horribly disappointing read. The plot was okay, I guess, if you like slasher horror. But I very nearly didnāt bother finishing it because I realized suddenly that characters were dying like flies, and I just didnāt give a damn. Same for _Cujo_. _Dreamcatcher_ was dreadful, because the characters and the plot were both incredibly boring. And donāt even get me started on the waste of perfectly nice trees that is _The Tommyknockers_. I didnāt even bother to finish that one.
Those four are the only ones I found to be substandard, really. (I confess, I havenāt read his nonfiction works, _The Talisman_ and the related books, _The Dead Zone_, or _Pet Semetary_.) And three of them were his earlier stuff. So, yeah, Iād say heās still got it.
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### Author:  [@3trew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/3trew)
#### Post date: [March 16, 2004, 7:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-stephen-king-still-have-it/234232/7 "2004-03-16T07:06:41Z")
I find it hard to tell. I canāt quite keep up with his marketing department. I like the books, but the semi-pseudonymous 6 part web published only serial mini-series scripts with the secret decoder ring and companion multimedia poetry collection on DVD stuff got real old real fast.
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### Author:  [@Justin\_Bailey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Justin_Bailey)
#### Post date: [March 16, 2004, 8:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-stephen-king-still-have-it/234232/8 "2004-03-16T08:20:52Z")
> [@TellMeI'mNotCrazy](#):
>
> And one thing that Iāve never really been able to appreciate is Kingās dialogue. Half the time itās passable, the other half Iām thinkingā¦ āPeople donāt talk like this - ever!ā And if he makes up a swear (doodlyf\*ck!) ONE MORE TIME I swear Iām going to scream. The ābad wordsā in Dreamacatcher - both book and movie - were just mindjarring everytime I read/heard them. He did the same thing in Misery - and several other books, but those are the shining examples. And every time I come across them, it literally yanks me out of the book. Drives me nuts.
A-fucking-men!
If I had to hear Jason Lee muse on the difference between a fuckarow and a fuckaree one more time I was going to shoot myself.
No one knows what those words mean and they never explain it, I canāt think of any quicker way to piss off your audience.
---
### Author:  [@picunurse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/picunurse)
#### Post date: [March 16, 2004, 8:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-stephen-king-still-have-it/234232/9 "2004-03-16T08:23:08Z")
> [@Avalonian](#):
>
> _Dreamcatcher_ was indeed a terrible bookā¦ possibly Kingās worst book, but every author has a dud, especially if they were as prolific as King.
>
> Based on _Everythingās Eventual_, _From a Buick 8_ (which I really liked, though I know others did not), and especially _Wolves of the Calla_, Iād say King still has āItā when he tries. He still knows how to write a good character, and he still knows how to keep us going with a solid yarn. If anything, Iād say heās matured as a writer.
>
> And I canāt _wait_ to see how the Dark Tower series ends.
You mean worse than _Geraldās Game_? _Dreamcatcher_ was too unbelievable to scare me much, but GG made my skin crawl. It, for me was way out of the range I can enjoy.
I agree that his writing has matured. It has more texture. I just finished _On Writing_ He indicates that even he recognizes the changes in his prose. I think I enjoyed reading that as much as his fiction.
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### Author:  [@CrazyCatLady](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CrazyCatLady)
#### Post date: [March 16, 2004, 8:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-stephen-king-still-have-it/234232/10 "2004-03-16T08:57:51Z")
> [@Justin\_Bailey](#):
>
> A-fucking-men!
>
> If I had to hear Jason Lee muse on the difference between a fuckarow and a fuckaree one more time I was going to shoot myself.
>
> No one knows what those words mean and they never explain it, I canāt think of any quicker way to piss off your audience.
Out of curiosity, do you get all pissed off when people in the Pit call someone a cuntnugget, a twathammer, or any of the other inventive invectives commonly used there? Do you insist on someone defining twathammer for you, or can you survive on context clues? If itās not jarring and confusing in real life, whatās the big deal about it in a novel?
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### Author:  [@Dung\_Beetle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dung_Beetle)
#### Post date: [March 16, 2004, 1:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-stephen-king-still-have-it/234232/11 "2004-03-16T13:08:47Z")
Iām another lifelong fan. Iāll read everything that is published from now til the end of time that has his name on itā¦but I canāt say I donāt dread the prospect at times. Sometimes he still reads like the guy who wrote The Shining, Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption, and Misery, but those times seem to be getting fewer and farther between. (In fact, I think the crap outweighs the good stuff by now. An odd opinion to have about one of your favorite authors.)
> [@](#):
>
> When I have time (read: summer), I will tackle The Regulators, Bag of Bones, Desperation and From a Buick 8.
**Rubystreak** , youāve got precious little to look forward to there. Some people enjoyed Bag of Bones and From a Buick 8, but I think The Regulators and Desperation vy for the title of worst ever.
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### Author:  [@Justin\_Bailey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Justin_Bailey)
#### Post date: [March 16, 2004, 5:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-stephen-king-still-have-it/234232/12 "2004-03-16T17:24:53Z")
> [@CrazyCatLady](#):
>
> Out of curiosity, do you get all pissed off when people in the Pit call someone a cuntnugget, a twathammer, or any of the other inventive invectives commonly used there? Do you insist on someone defining twathammer for you, or can you survive on context clues? If itās not jarring and confusing in real life, whatās the big deal about it in a novel?
I donāt know how it is in the novel, because I was referring specifically to the movie, and in the movie we are never told the difference between a fuckarow and a fuckaree. So with Jason Lee going on for like ten minutes about thnigs that are one but not the other and not telling us what either one means gets on my nerves.
Besides that, cuntnugget, twathammer, assgoblin, etc, etc are pretty self explanatory. If you can tell me the difference between a fuckarow and a fuckaree Iād love to hear it.
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### Author:  [@BlinkingDuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BlinkingDuck)
#### Post date: [March 16, 2004, 9:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-stephen-king-still-have-it/234232/13 "2004-03-16T21:40:27Z")
I never see āItā mentioned when they talk about favorite King books. It was one of my favorites.
King isnāt an automatic buy for me anymore like he used to be. āDreamcatcherā knocked off any lingering residue of new book/automatic buy that I used to have for him.
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### Author:  [@BlinkingDuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BlinkingDuck)
#### Post date: [March 16, 2004, 9:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-stephen-king-still-have-it/234232/14 "2004-03-16T21:45:41Z")
I shouldnāt leave it off negative like that š
King is/was one of my favorite authors also. I agree with the poster who said the not-so-good stuff has outnumbered the good stuff ālatelyā as well.
However, I enjoyed āFrom a Buick8ā and āHearts of Atlantisā.
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### Author:  [@TellMeI\_mNotCrazy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TellMeI_mNotCrazy)
#### Post date: [March 16, 2004, 10:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-stephen-king-still-have-it/234232/15 "2004-03-16T22:02:36Z")
> [@BlinkingDuck](#):
>
> I never see āItā mentioned when they talk about favorite King books. It was one of my favorites.
>
> King isnāt an automatic buy for me anymore like he used to be. āDreamcatcherā knocked off any lingering residue of new book/automatic buy that I used to have for him.
Exactly. Before, I just bought, and was rarely disappointed. Now, I read the jacket, read excerptsā¦ Go home, read reviews (not by critics, critics suck), think about it, and finally give in and buy. I guess, ultimately, I always end up buying in the long run.
Just not used to the feeling of āI wish I hadnātā when it comes to King.
Thatās ok though - thereās always the old stuff to reread. š