Thoughts on Stephen King???

[StewDogg11]

After not being a regular reader for probably 20 years I’ve picked it back up recently which includes a lot of King books. And while I think he’s a great writer in many aspects I think I’m done with him. He’s obviously got an obsession with torturing & killing animals and/or rape (often times involving children) that he shoehorns into every single book of his that I’ve read. There’s no way this guy hasn’t killed a puppy for enjoyment at the very least.

 

[Pittie Petey]

He's no Richard Bachman

 

[StewDogg11]

He's no Richard Bachman

I think King has a better bibliography.

 

[Copper Burner]

When I found out he was a liberal scumbag i lost respect for him. I like a few of his books and movies though.

 

[ObsoleteSoul]

He was the first non-kiddie book I read, at the behest of my grandmother. Dont care about his personal beliefs. I love his works. I think I’ve read about 35-40 or so of
his works, and I didn’t really hate any besides a few. Like “Cell” and “From a Buick 8”.

I get he is long-winded, and cannot wrap up a story to save his life. I do. Still, I have a soft spot for him, and always will.

 

[StewDogg11]

When I found out he was a liberal scumbag i lost respect for him. I like a few of his books and movies though.

Yeah what’d you expect he’s a nerdy looking former college professor from Maine. Him almost gleefully writing about a dude burning cats alive in ovens and adopting dogs from the pound to kill them so descriptively makes it seem like it’s something he may have actually done before haha.

 

[ObsoleteSoul]

Yeah what’d you expect he’s a nerdy looking former college professor from Maine. Him almost gleefully writing about a dude burning cats alive in ovens and adopting dogs from the pound to kill them so descriptively makes it seem like it’s something he may have actually done before haha.

Do you listen to rap, or metal? Many of them have much worse content, and most are actually soft as cotton. It’s just artful and intriguing, and some may harbor weird desires or fantasies, and they exaggerate to release those oddities in a cathartic, and harmless manner.

We have all at least said some far out crap. This just seems more important because it is written down. My 2 cents at least

 

[Fluffernutter]

He spends as much time on social media as George Takei

 

[Inspector 2211]

He looks like a dyke

 

[KOPPE]

Not my favorite but you can’t dispute that volume of multi decade book sales. You have to at least give him some credit for his originality and ability to reach into the deep recesses of the suburban American psyche and to find some deeply unsettling concepts.
He's entertaining and pop and therefore his work is easy to dismiss, but I think it'll stand the test of time in a way a lot of literary fiction won't.

 

[BEATDOWNS]

I had a friend named Steven King (not sure how he spelled the first name) when i was a kid and he was weird and from a very dysfunctional family turned out to be a Shizo in adulthood.

 

[Two Crows]

How did I feel about him (presumably his work) in the 80's and 90's, or after that?

In the former, he was brilliant. Possibly the greatest horror author of all-time.

After that, like many artists, his time had past and he was a shadow of what once made him great.

 

[StonedLemur]

He's a successful writer that was so coked out and drunk he barely remembers writing much of his early works.

The musings of a madman like many brilliant people.

 

[GearSolidMetal]

The most overrated author ever.

 

[Takes Two To Tango]

I think he's very talented.

 

[elreece]

When I found out he was a liberal scumbag i lost respect for him. I like a few of his books and movies though.

Genuinely curious, does his political thoughts really impact your ability to enjoy his work?

 

[TheMaster]

I read one book of his as a teen, Pet Semetary. I remember feeling disturbed at the time and thinking "this is a good book". I think after that phase I got into Dean Koontz for a while but I haven't read fiction in probably more than two decades now.

 

[Meatspin]

Some of his stuff is decent, some less so. Don’t mind picking up one of his books every once in a while

 

[Zer]

I haven't read a whole lot of his stuff.

The Bachman books were really good except The Running Man, which was kinda disappointing. The Long Walk was my fav

I read IT. I realize I'm the minority but I thought the whole Pennywise angle was lame, the more it poked into supernatural horror the less I liked it. I really enjoyed the childhood sections with Bowers as the villain however. I guess I should read Stand By Me

I have 11/22/63 bought and in the queue, I heard that's really good. That'll be my next book of his

I really like the movie adaptations of his work, including the smaller projects like Thinner and The Night Flier

 

[ObsoleteSoul]

I haven't read a whole lot of his stuff.

The Bachman books were really good except The Running Man, which was kinda disappointing. The Long Walk was my fav

I read IT. I realize I'm the minority but I thought the whole Pennywise angle was lame, the more it poked into supernatural horror the less I liked it. I really enjoyed the childhood sections with Bowers as the villain however. I guess I should read Stand By Me

I have 11/22/63 bought and in the queue, I heard that's really good. That'll be my next book of his

I really like the movie adaptations of his work, including the smaller projects like Thinner and The Night Flier

His strong suit has always been the setting. His supernatural aspects often miss something g, as he doesn’t like to have a reason for it most of the time. Just comes out of nowhere.

He does a great job of always placing you somewhere, and you actually feel a part of that time and place. It is a very hard thing to do. Take Ready Player One for example. It tried to do some King nostalgia tripping, and it falls flat. RPO takes the “ad campaign” route, and just drops references to the past for no other reason than but to do it. Different genres, but that’s the first thing that popped into my head.