I would have to agree with SupaNova, about his short stories being some of the best reads.
Skeleton Crew was great, as was Four Past Midnight. I feel that sometimes in his novels the story is so long that he starts struggling for ideas near the end. I already mentioned Dreamcatcher, but Insomnia is another example. The first half of the book was excellent, full of character development, full of intrigue. The second half relied much more on the supernatural and fantasy.
Some of the short stories I really enjoyed were The Long Walk, Sun Dog, The Library Policeman and The Body (the movie was good also). Of the long novels, I really enjoyed The Talisman (co-authored), Bag of Bones and Pet Cemetary.
I will continue to read King, as in general I love his storytelling abilities. The gripes I have with his writing style are I guess just something ingrained in the way he develops his stories.
I agree that SJ is a great storyteller, and he does better when he doesn’t write about the supernatural. I would love to buy the movie rights to Rose Madder, and have the movie end with Rose (Demi Moore) kicking Norman’s (Bruce Willis’s) ass.
My favorites of his are Misery and the Green Mile. Two books that were made into wonderful movies. Misery could actually happen, and the Green Mile does have some supernatural, but not much.
As an aside, much of the criticism aimed against SK is also used against my favorite composer Andrew Lloyd Webber. Too big a body of work, appeals to the masses, brain candy, etc. I always ask people have much of his music have you actually heard? Most people don’t know he has written 15 shows and some amazing stuff.
King is at his best in the short story form. His first 2 short story collections were very impressive. His earlier novels were very inventive. King’s strength lies in the power of his imagination more then the style of his writing. His later stuff is not as good, but that’s often true for many authors.
have u guys read skeleton crew? The shor story on it “the raft” is the most terrifying story i have ever read.
And yeah, he is a very good writer. Unorthodox and informal.