I think he's the bomb. I like his writing. But what do you think it is about Stephen King that has given him such great name recognition for SO LONG, even among those who are not that interested in literature?
It's not complicated. He was one of the best horror writers of the 70s-80s, and horror as a genre was more relevant in those Cold War days. Because King's novels were unusually filmable, his stories were introduced to massive audiences via the silver screen. That's all.
I think he's the bomb. I like his writing. But what do you think it is about Stephen King that has given him such great name recognition for SO LONG, even among those who are not that interested in literature?
1. He writes damned good stories that lots of people want to read. Consistently. For many years.
2. He has name recognition not only for his books, but for his work in movies, TV, awards, controversy, getting hit by a van and surviving, etc. Translated, he's made the inter/national news often enough that even if you don't read that much, you've run into his name.
In this regard, he reminds me of another prolific "celebrity author" of the 1980s- Jackie Collins.
Not that their work was at all similar, beyond being wildly popular, but their celebrity status was similar.
How much he loathes Stephenie Meyer's writing...1. He writes damned good stories that lots of people want to read. Consistently. For many years.
2. He has name recognition not only for his books, but for his work in movies, TV, awards, controversy, getting hit by a van and surviving, etc. Translated, he's made the inter/national news often enough that even if you don't read that much, you've run into his name.
I think he's the bomb. I like his writing. But what do you think it is about Stephen King that has given him such great name recognition for SO LONG, even among those who are not that interested in literature?
1. He writes damned good stories that lots of people want to read. Consistently. For many years.
2. He has name recognition not only for his books, but for his work in movies, TV, awards, controversy, getting hit by a van and surviving, etc. Translated, he's made the inter/national news often enough that even if you don't read that much, you've run into his name.
You know, I've been thinking of reading some of his books as I've never read any of them before. I always assumed that he was like a lot of the authors that put out dozens of books a year, and that the quality suffered for the quantity. What would you guys recommend as his best works? I'm not big into horror per se, but I have liked the movies of his work I've seen like Creepshow 2, Misery, Shawshank Redemption, the Shining, and Nightmares and Dreamscapes... I was thinking of picking up The Gunslinger.
1. He writes damned good stories that lots of people want to read. Consistently. For many years.
2. He has name recognition not only for his books, but for his work in movies, TV, awards, controversy, getting hit by a van and surviving, etc. Translated, he's made the inter/national news often enough that even if you don't read that much, you've run into his name.
For anyone interested, there's a King interview at the Paris Review site. Might be worth a read even for those who aren't a fan. It's always interesting to hear someone like King talk about his writing career.
http://www.theparisreview.org/interviews/5653/the-art-of-fiction-no-189-stephen-king
I'm not a fan of his work (not really a fan of horror books, in general), but I think understand the appeal because it's so relateable: the family car, the family dog,the little girl down the lanethe girl next door, clowns, a Good Samaritan. Many things that might seem harmless and taken for granted are suddenly the basis of our fears and turned inside out (sometimes literally?). True fear and horror can be easily disguised and will strike when we least expect it. Easily filmable is just a by-product of the popularlity of his work; I don't think the publishers had that in mind when they first picked up Carrie.