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I prefer King's early work. I've read little that he wrote after the early 1990s - a major exception is the brilliant non-fiction On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft.
But I can't bring myself to think that just because someone else subjectively rates King higher than do I, that they are therefore overrating him. Someone else's preference for an author isn't about me, and I do not think that my level of preference for an author is the right preference for everyone - it's just right for me.
I agree. I am a great fan of his early work. His use of language and description lends depth and verisimilitude and depth to what could be relegated to "genre writing".
As with any prolific writer, his work varies, some is better than others.
"On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft" is a standard textbook in many masters in creative writing programs.
I've noticed people who don't like authors like Patterson and King are often the types who love the purple prose naval-gazers, authors who go on and on ad nauseum about the color of the flowers on the tabletop, and leave their characters in perpetual, angsty introspection. They spend all their time thinking up beautiful ways of describing things at the cost of actually having their characters DO something. If I'm looking for weepy poetry, I read a poem.
But that's just me.
It must be. James Patterson is a hack. He is nothing like Stephen King.
I liked most of the King books I have read (and I have read most of them). Some I hated. But love or hate, I always consider them well written. Mr. Mercedes is on my short list of next reads.
I probably won't get much respect for stating this, but one of my all time favorite books is "Hearts in Atlantis".
Hearts in Atlantis was the last SK book I read and I loved it.
You have to accept SK for who he is--a storyteller with a mind full of stories he's anxious to tell. Some of them turn out better than others and he's never going to wow you with a turn of phrase. But if you're in the mood to lie on the couch and read for a couple of hours, you can almost always do that to great satisfaction with one of his books.
He lost me with Pet Sematary. Haven't read anything of his since, though I liked his earlier stuff well enough.
I stopped reading at Pet Sematary too and didn't pick up another of his until the last couple of years. He went through a long period of cocaine addiction in his mid-career and has acknowledged that his writing suffered. He's come through that now and he has written some good books since then.
I stopped reading at Pet Sematary too and didn't pick up another of his until the last couple of years. He went through a long period of cocaine addiction in his mid-career and has acknowledged that his writing suffered. He's come through that now and he has written some good books since then.
Didn't know about the coke thing. Would explain the sloppiness that resulted in me throwing Pet Sematary against the wall.
Mebbe I'll check out one of his more recent ones. Because he sure possesses the ability to spin a good yarn.
I've loved SK since I first read him...and I can't even remember what I read first. I haven't kept up with some of his recent stuff 'cause I rarely pay full price for a new book. I'll get to it.
I've been sitting on The Dark Tower series for awhile. I read the first three or four in the series and liked them, then it took so long for the others to come out and life got busy. Now I have all of them and am waiting to start the series again.
Reading for me is first and foremost entertainment. That's what I expect from SK and he delivers. I like the tempo and style of his writing and many of his characters seem real enough to me (if a little...strange).
Is he overrated? I think in some ways he re-invented a genre for modern readers and there are MANY out there who are having success because of him. He's prolific which increases his popularity and may push him more to the "overrated" side.
I've loved SK since I first read him...and I can't even remember what I read first. I haven't kept up with some of his recent stuff 'cause I rarely pay full price for a new book. I'll get to it.
I've been sitting on The Dark Tower series for awhile. I read the first three or four in the series and liked them, then it took so long for the others to come out and life got busy. Now I have all of them and am waiting to start the series again.
Reading for me is first and foremost entertainment. That's what I expect from SK and he delivers. I like the tempo and style of his writing and many of his characters seem real enough to me (if a little...strange).
Is he overrated? I think in some ways he re-invented a genre for modern readers and there are MANY out there who are having success because of him. He's prolific which increases his popularity and may push him more to the "overrated" side.
I loved his Dark Tower series and think it contains some of the best of his writing. He lost his mind in writing the last, maybe one, two ? books in that series. I think I still had hope in the second-to-last book but the last one was horrible. That was a terrible disappointment to me since I had loved the series up until the accident we hear about in every single book since.
Location: Lakewood NJ/Murrells Inlet SC/ N. Naples FL/Swainton NJ
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Quote:
Originally Posted by lunetunelover
I've loved SK since I first read him...and I can't even remember what I read first. I haven't kept up with some of his recent stuff 'cause I rarely pay full price for a new book. I'll get to it.
I've been sitting on The Dark Tower series for awhile. I read the first three or four in the series and liked them, then it took so long for the others to come out and life got busy. Now I have all of them and am waiting to start the series again.
Reading for me is first and foremost entertainment. That's what I expect from SK and he delivers. I like the tempo and style of his writing and many of his characters seem real enough to me (if a little...strange).
Is he overrated? I think in some ways he re-invented a genre for modern readers and there are MANY out there who are having success because of him. He's prolific which increases his popularity and may push him more to the "overrated" side.
Make sure you have read Hearts in Atlantis before you start the Dark Tower series again.
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