How good is Stephen King as a writer?

[lou.mor432]

The Dark Tower I: The Gunslinger (1982)
The Dark Tower II: The Drawing of the Three (1987)
The Dark Tower III: The Waste Lands (1991)
The Dark Tower IV: Wizard and Glass (1997)
The Dark Tower V: Woves of the Calla (2003)
The Dark Tower VI: Song of Susannah (2004)
The Dark Tower VII: The Dark Tower (2004)

The total is 7. The only problem with reading 1 is you have to continue on 2 the next. The books do get a little way-laid half way through and you can't help thinking "What am I reading this for?" The ending just leaves you wanting more. I think since the accident he has become more self-aware that he isn't invicible like some of the characters in his books, (the ones that you can picture him playing). I think that is why he has become more "involved" in his books. Self-sacraficing, if you will.

 

[nightsavior]

It's hard debating such an issue. Often times if one admits to liking a particular authour it puts them at odds with the people that don't like him or her so the ugly "fan-baby\anti-fan baby" wars begin. lol. For the record I have liked what I've read of Stephen king especially IT and The Stand. I personally enjoy how some endings are open ended but I sympathize how the people that want a complete resolution can easily get aggravated with King's writing.

 

[HoopyFrood]

I definitely agree with you there...as I've previously said around this place, I do love SK's open endings. Sometimes I get tired of "Oh, everything's sorted and we're all so happy!" that occurs in other books. Of course we want to see our favourite characters have a happy ending, but with SK, his characters are often ambiguous, you're not quite sure if you like them or not, and his endings are more realistic (if you can look past ideas such as giant clown spiders, being blasted off into space, being sucked into a picture etc!...but even these events have a great feeling of realism to them...I think that's what makes SK's book so brilliant and chilling, because it seems like these events could actually occur).

Well, needless to say, I'm a big fan of the guy and all of his books!

 

[nightsavior]

I think the only book I didn't get into was "Christine" but I liked "Carrie" and even the somewhat poorly written "Skeleton Crew". I agree King's characters are ambigous at times but are also down to earth and realistic. It's more or less normal people such us us "forced" into being heroic instead of some guy or girl with latent magic powers becoming a super hero with a glowy sword. lol. King has written so much not everything cranked out is golden but if anything he entertains me HoopyFrood.

 

[ravenus]

I think the only book I didn't get into was "Christine" but I liked "Carrie" and even the somewhat poorly written "Skeleton Crew".

When you say Skeleton Crew are you referring to his short story collection that also includes the novella The Mist and that superb twist on cannibalism Survivor Type? That's one of my favorite books to re-read.

 

[jackokent]

Enjoyed Skeleton Crew a lot but only for the plots. I don't actually like SK as a writer. I find his characters really samey. I think you could import his strong manly (but sometimes self doubting but ultimately fair) men and his dependable strong women (not too beautiful so terribly girl next door) from one book to another. That drives me mad.

I read the first two Dark Tower books and found that I didn't care enough to but book 3.

I read Pet Semetary as a kid however and it terrified me which is a sign of a good yarn.

 

[sci-fi girl]

When I was about 12, I read my first SK's book, IT. After that, I devoured every book or series ot that author I could find, read and re-read over and over each of them. Stephen King gave me some of my most memorable nightmares, and though he's no longer my favourite author (c'est la vie ), he's still on my top ten.

 

[Allegra]

I think Stephen King is a quite debatable author. Some say he's a master storyteller, a literature phenomenon of 20 century; some say his novels are merely fast-food. Once in a while I'd like to read a King book. The books that I liked are The Green Mile, Misery, The Dark Half, It, The Stand. The question is what are the criteria of high literature merit? Some prize-winning books can be downright boring. Are there any common criteria? How much have literature criteria changed over the decades, and centuries?

 

[Marvolo]

I mentioned on another thread about how I found his novels tend to be incomplete, with endings that seem more open-ended than all issues rounded completed.

Yet his characters are fairly engaging - even if they do tend to be early middle-age Bob Dylan & soft rock fans.

How does Stephen King compare as a writer in general? What would you say are his strengths, and which are his weaknesses?

It depends on which books as his career spans quite the time period now. Early books like Carrie and Salem's Lot are good reads, but exactly as you state: Good characters, improvised plot and endings.

We all have to remember that Stephen King is fanatical about NOT OUTLINING stories. His exact quote is: An outline is a bad fiction writer's last resort.

I don't adhere to this statement. Was Tolkien a bad fiction writer? Someone say yeah, I dare you. Anyway, King doesn't believe in outlines. He lets the story come out onto the page and then does a heavy re-draft to attempt to weed out the inconsistencies and errors. Early in his career, this made the books less than stellar. They are still quite entertaining because, despite his self depricating statements, he has an insane amount of talent at holding the reader's attention.

Now that he has written most of his life and done a lot of good stories in the process (and good drugs), King has even stated himself... he takes more time. He still does 2000 words a day, but instead of doing those 2000 words from 7 to 9:30 or 10 in the morning, it takes him until late afternoon, nearly supper sometimes. This is good for us. Those 2000 words are better.

The quality of his books steadily goes up and culminates with great reads like Cell, The Dark Tower V, VI, and VII, Bag of Bones, and even On Writing is very good whether or not you're interesting in being a writer (I am, coincidentally). He still doesn't outline, or even do a lot of notes I understand. But his mind seems to grasp whole pictures better. Cell is amazing. Wolves of the Calla is great. The Dark Tower (Book VI) made me cry four times (I counted).

Plus, he loves Harry Potter. That gives him ten points for Gryffindor right there.

 

[Marvolo]

The total is 7. The only problem with reading 1 is you have to continue on 2 the next. The books do get a little way-laid half way through and you can't help thinking "What am I reading this for?" The ending just leaves you wanting more. I think since the accident he has become more self-aware that he isn't invicible like some of the characters in his books, (the ones that you can picture him playing). I think that is why he has become more "involved" in his books. Self-sacraficing, if you will.

Aye, Book IV was slow for me. Looking at the series as a whole, it is hard to find a better done character arc than Roland's. Eddie, Jake, and Susannah all have very good progressions as well. Hell, even the Man in Black gets his fifteen minutes.

 

[deathwizard]

I'm surprised to see so many neutral-to-negative comments. To me, King is an outstanding writer whose works will stand the test of time. In some regards, he is one of the best writers of the past thirty-plus years. And not just in popularity but in style and substance.

 

[tangaloomababe]

Stephen King I think like all authors produces some outstanding books, The Stand being one. This was a book I could not put down, loved the characters, the story, but gosh there have been some bad ones also.
I found Needful Things slow and boring.
Maybe it comes down to a personal preference for book styles and even what sort of mood we are in when we pick up a book, for me the book has to capture me from the first word. Stephen King is capable of doing this but dosnt always deliver the goods.

 

[IrishWriter]

Ok somebody above said something about people changing from neutral to negative to postive comments- or something along the lines- but you really have to base his ability down to this: he is the best selling writer that ever lived after only a few people( actually I think it's only one-Agatha Christie I think). He is currently best selling writer on the planet and whether or not we(the fans...or the pure curious people) believe or think it, 500 million sales can't all be wrong.He's doing something right.And you have to like the guy anyway, if you ever listen to him talk you'll see he's just a regular Joe who doesn't give a damn about the fame, he just wants to write some good stories; which is what he does.And without him making that effort everyday I think I(and millions more) would have a lot more boring hours in their daily lives.

 

[IrishWriter]

Hey I was just reading through the other pages and saw that someone said that they loved the fourth volume of the Dark Tower series but I really didn't enjoy that one at all. I thought there was only two possibilities for that: 1) That it seemed to go on forever... 2)I had enjoyed the first three so much and because of that I was so anxious to get back to the main journey and because of that anxiety the fourth one just felt too long. Anyone else feel like that and what did you make of the fourth yourselves having read the three previous ones. Did anyone feel anything along the lines of that?

 

[Marvolo]

Hey I was just reading through the other pages and saw that someone said that they loved the fourth volume of the Dark Tower series but I really didn't enjoy that one at all. I thought there was only two possibilities for that: 1) That it seemed to go on forever... 2)I had enjoyed the first three so much and because of that I was so anxious to get back to the main journey and because of that anxiety the fourth one just felt too long. Anyone else feel like that and what did you make of the fourth yourselves having read the three previous ones. Did anyone feel anything along the lines of that?

Wolves of the Calla for me. I loved the build-up. I loved seeing Roland relaxing with a new woman, giving us a glimpse of what Roland might have been like if life hadn't steered him into another direction. I loved the final payoff, Seven Samurai/Magnifiscent Seven style. I loved that book.

 

[thatollie]

I've enjoyed the 20-ish books I've read, but I've noticed some annoying things.

1. He takes a long time to grab me. Although, when he's got a hold, he rarely lets you go.

2. The endings are sometimes disappointing (but not Dark Tower, liked that ending).

3. I don't get the point of Insomnia.

 

[biodroid]

3. I don't get the point of Insomnia.

I also got a bit confused about the ending but I reckon it's about the fact that Ralph sacrificed a lot for strangers and gave the ultimate sacrifice at the end.

 

[thatollie]

I also got a bit confused about the ending but I reckon it's about the fact that Ralph sacrificed a lot for strangers and gave the ultimate sacrifice at the end.

Maybe, it just feels a bit disconnected and trippy.

 

[SKfan]

I have read nearly 20 now if i include short story compilations and I would have to say that some of it is truly brilliant such as the stand and pet semetary some are slightly weaker like liseys story and cycle of the werewolf but still quite good i have nothing bad to say about him.

 

[Connavar]

He isnt a good writer writing wise but he is a good storyteller. He is decent enough writer not bother you when he is able to tell some good stories.

He isnt a hack that sells cause of his story type being popular fiction like Dan Brown.