On Stephen King

[Euthanasiast]

@Zsofia

Trust me. I know how you feel. I waited, what, more than a decade for the last several to come out. They will not cure your sickness.. The rest of the story that you make in your head? It’s better. Way better.

I kind of doubt it.

I mean, nothing could have lived up to the hype, and I admit there were a few stutter-steps, but overall it is worth the read.

[Euthanasiast]

@Rubystreak

I am not sure where I read this, but I believe *Pet Sematary * was written as an allegorical reaction to King’s son almost getting hit by a truck. King thought about what would have happened, how he would have reacted if his son hadn’t been pulled from the road at the last minute (in the book, when the protagonist almost but not quite grabs the kid… that’s almost what really happened, except King made it there in time). He wrote PS as a way of exploring that, and coping with his own distress at what nearly happened to him and his family. The inability to let go of the dead person, of keeping them alive, sort of zombified, in your memory, and letting that destroy you… that’s what the book is about, and that’s why it’s so creepy IMO.

I think King does this a lot, actually, takes real life feelings and reactions to horrible but mundane things and turns them into stories that take a supernatural turn, as a way of highlighting or making larger the very true human responses to everyday tragedy and horror. For instance, the events of *The Shining * are a metaphor about an alcoholic man with a rage problem self-destructing. The Overlook Hotel, with its ghosts and its pressurized boiler, are symbols for the haunting bad memories of Jack and his bad temper overcoming him.

Yeah, It’s not the way that King writes about horror that makes him great, it’s how he writes about the mundane.

[ivylass]

I think, all things considered, *Dark Tower * couldn’t have ended any other way.

[Zsofia]

My problem wasn’t the way it ended - I found that very satisfying. It’s all the crap before that.

I mean, seriously - When he fights the “level boss” at the end? Urrrrgh. I saw the pixellated video game. How could you not want to string King up by his toes for that one? Likewise I didn’t have an issue with him inserting himself like others did - that worked for me. It’s just that the plot in general read like semi-competent AU fanfic.

[NajaNivea]

@Zsofia

His general problem (one AIRC not evident in Pet Sematery) is his inability to figure out what happens at the end. I understand why it must be really hard in horror, but he’s let me down quite a few times with it. It’s a given, though, that whenever you write yourself to the end and now you have to show the monster that it’s probably not going to be as scary as when everybody was making up the monster in their own heads.

Spoilers for It and the last Dark Tower book:

A giant spider AGAIN? Jesus, man. Come on.

I was probably ten when I read It for the first time. I was practically peeing my pants the whole book long and then I got to the end and just went “…”.
I still to this day think it’s the biggest literary letdown I’ve ever had.

[RickJay]

@Anaamika

That’s his look at the book! (Sometimes I feel like no one reads my posts around here.) All of that was in his preamble.

Yes, I read your post. But it’s still your take on what King said, and I wanted to give you credit for that, and anyway, I think an artist’s take on her/his work is often only one of a number of valid interpretations.

[ShelliBean]

I couldn’t stop now if I wanted to. I’ve got Dark Tower blue balls waiting to get #5.
Is It part of the story - the literary ka-tet?

[NajaNivea]

@ShelliBean

You are the not the first to say that. But I’m gonna do it anyway! I have to know if Roland makes it. I have to know if the entire ka-tet is with him at the end. I have to know if Jake is Stephen King’s Kenny. I have to know how his childhood friends and family met their fates, or if they are there waiting.
It’s a sickness. I’m getting help. In the form of Dark Tower 5, 6, and 7!

I recently finished the series for the first time. I was stuck at 4 for years and years, even after the rest were published. I finally got around to reading it beginning to end and it’s amazing. I think 5 is maybe my favorite of them all. Rereading the series, I skip over more than half of book six entirely, but I’ll go on record and say as much as I wanted to kick King in the balls when I read it, I still couldn’t imagine a more perfect ending*.

*Except the mini-boss. That just sucked.

[Aankh]

@Little Nemo

Pet Sematary has one of King’s best endings - aankh, you might want to make room in your freezer now.

!!!

I’m at the part where he’s making his way to the Micmacs with Gage. Had to put it down again.

And if Pet Sematary was a book that was not going to be published, I’m certainly glad it was. There really isn’t that much plot. So far (plot spoilers to follow for the parts I’ve read)…

The family comes to live next to the woods. Cat dies and is resurrected after burial in the Micmac graveyard nearby. Toddler son dies and has just been buried there with the hope of resurrection. All previous resurrectees had something off about them, something not nice.

That’s not much plot. But the way it was told, the insights into the heads of the characters, the little incidents along the way, the little vignettes…Stephen King just draws you in. And somehow, along the way, makes you want to throw the book across the room because something awful is about to happen and then makes you want to walk across and pick it up. (Thanks, Euthanasiast. That was exactly the feeling.)

There seems to be a lot of conflict about the Dark Tower series. I was planning to pick that up next. Not 100% certain if I’ll enjoy it, because so far fantasy has only been equated to Tolkien for me, but we’ll see how it goes.

[Gukumatz]

@Zsofia

With regards to the Dark Tower - stay where you are. Seriously.

Ditto. You’re really not missing out on ANYTHING. You can, if you have to, read book five, but he really goes off the deep end after that and never recovers. Just trust us, you’ll be pissed at SK if you finished.

[TLDRIDKJKLOLFTW]

Anyone who thinks It was about a giant spider needs to re-read the book.

King is one of my favorite authors, and I’m one of those MFA guys that’s read Joyce and Proust and so on. The one thing that always bothers me is that nobody ever acknowledges what a great writer King is - he’s not just a great storyteller, but a true craftsman of the written word. Nobody ever gives him his due when it comes to this, and that’s a real shame.

My two major complaints about King are:

1. He writes really embarrassing swearing when it comes to dialogue; characters are uttering “whoreson” and “son of a cunt” and “whoremonger” and other embarrassing curses that nobody uses, ever.

2. His self-censoring of Rage, which he’s deliberately kept out of print since the Columbine shootings even though it bears only a superficial resemblance. Rage is about everything but a gun-wielding kid taking over a classroom, and it’s one of the finest and most insightful coming-of-age stories I’ve ever read. That sort of knee-jerk censoring should be reserved for shrill groups who want to mass-burn Harry Potter because it’s “satanic.”

[phouka]

While I’ve enjoyed reading many Stephen King novels, he does have a frequent plot problem. I believe in On Writing, he talked about unearthing his plot, like a paleontologist does with a fossil.

Well, Stephen, that’s great, but you know, sometimes things come out of the ground broken. Spare a little time to consider how your climax and denouement work, and if they don’t - as all too frequently happens in your longer stuff - then fix it!

I love the first half of The Stand. I’ve read The Shining and Eyes of the Dragon several times, but I will never, ever forgive him for The Tommyknockers.

[Hello_Again]

@ShelliBean

I couldn’t stop now if I wanted to. I’ve got Dark Tower blue balls waiting to get #5.
Is It part of the story - the literary ka-tet?

No, except there is one teensy connection that is not important.

[Cheesesteak]

Not everybody thinks the DT series is a big waste once you get past book 4. It’s not going to kill you to read it. Maybe it’s not quite the same quality as the earlier books, if you go into it expecting some stories about these characters you like, you’ll like it. If you go into it with a critical mind, and are the type to get pissed off if there are scenes and storylines you don’t think measure up to the early works, then you’ll be unhappy.

I thought there was a lot of good stuff even in the last book. Think of it as a Chinese Buffet, load up on the tasty General Tso’s, and leave the slimy Chow Mein behind. At the very least, you’ll know why there’s so much contention about the ending.

[Anaamika]

@VCO3

Anyone who thinks It was about a giant spider needs to re-read the book.

I know what it was about. I loved the book. And the ending still irritated me. No, irritated is too soft a word. It was so fucking annoying that he fell back into that trite old excuse for a terror.

RickJay, thank you for humoring my little snitfit.

[Proudest_Monkey]

@phouka

. . . but I will never, ever forgive him for The Tommyknockers.

Seconded.

I read Pet Sematary years ago and have forgotten much of it, but will check it out of the library on my next visit for a reread, thanks to this thread.

As for scary–I don’t think I’ve ever been as terrified by a book as I was by 'Salem’s Lot. Seriously, I had to sleep with the lights on for days! And even with the lights, I didn’t really “sleep”. Maybe I should revisit that one after 25 years. (Now that I’m a grownup and all )

Love The Stand, love It, love the short stories and also the nonfiction stuff. There is a piece about his son’s little league team and their unlikely but heartwarming season in one of the compilation books that I can’t seem to locate on my shelf at the moment. AFAIAC, it is his among his best. Anyone know what story I’m talking about?

[aruvqan]

@RickJay

The other King book like that is “Rose Madder.” The story of Rose fleeing her psychopathic, but very clever, husband, and his attempts to find her, are a real page-turner. Then it gets into this magical painting bullcrap with a King-standard Mystical Negro <TM> and other supernatural idiocy and goes right to shit.

King’s very hit or miss in his later stuff, but he’s written plenty of good ones - The Dead Zone is my favourite.

I was abused fairly badly, and the description of Rose just sitting there fuguing out really gave me flashback nightmares. The silent dry crying and the desperate avoidance of appearing to do anything that might trigger a beating is frightening. I didnt really read much past where she went and got into the shelter. I have problems with how real the beginning was, I am not sure that I could ever pick it up again.

I prefer obvious fantasy monsters, rose madder hits too close to home, and Misery could actually happen.

[pinkfreud]

@Proudest Monkey

There is a piece about his son’s little league team and their unlikely but heartwarming season in one of the compilation books that I can’t seem to locate on my shelf at the moment. AFAIAC, it is his among his best. Anyone know what story I’m talking about?

That sounds like “Head Down,” from Nightmares and Dreamscapes.

[Runs_With_Scissors]

Back in college I was a total SK snob. “Oh, please. I only read literature.”

Pet Sematary came out (the movie) and my friends dragged me to it. I liked it, but told my friends I still wouldn’t read SK. A friend told me to try Different Seasons. I tried, but only so I could say I tried.

Lessee…I read that in one day. I read Pet Sematary the following day.

I didn’t get much homework done until I had gone through all his books

I think he is a wonderful writer, and has gotten better with age.

I agree with what you said about PS. I think it’s probably my favorite book of his. I do think later on he got a little big for his britches with the conscientious writing and speaking to the reader, but I think a lot of that can be attributed to his drinking days.

[George_Kaplin]

IT is one of the best books I’ve ever read and definitely my favourite King book, closely followed by The Shining. Nowhere is his facility with language and character more evident, IMO. On the whole, I think King is a superb writer and, while he’s popular, I’m disappointed that he hasn’t received the critical acclaim I believe he deserves. Having said that, I agree with everyone who said that Cell sucked enormous donkey balls.