50 years after he's dead?

[Danny McG]

I struggle to imagine someone with Stephen King's literary stature not being read in 50 years time. It's not just his writings - film adaptations of his works have ensured he's been a huge influence on popular culture.

Yay! Nice 'dead thread' revival

 

[BAYLOR]

Yay! Nice 'dead thread' revival

Indeed !

 

[Brian G Turner]

It was less than 50 years.

Besides, I spotted a few interesting threads while tagging the author boards...

Perhaps a more obtuse question would be to guess how long it would take for Stephen King to fade from popular culture? After all, this thread is more than 10 years old, yet he's still been knocking out those bestsellers, and seen further big screen adaptations released - not least the Dark Tower as the Gunslinger, and a remake of IT.

 

[Randy M.]

The ghost stories of Edith Wharton and The Turn of the Screw by Henry James remain among the most read writings by those authors. Robert W. Chambers was prolific but is primarily remembered for his weird writings. Dracula remains popular, in part because of films and the stage play while other works by Stoker mostly languish.

Which is to say that King will probably be read 50+ years from now, but right now it's a crap shoot to choose which ones. My guess is Salem's Lot, The Shining and Pet Semetary. These three held the most visceral impact on their first audience, some of which is communicated in tha audience's writings -- fiction, reviews, commentary, critiques -- and the first two had successful filming. If the second IT movie is successful -- the first one was monetarily, I think; artistically, so-so in spite of good performances all around -- then it, too, may hang on to the long-term public imagination.

Baylor, I get your point, but since Dracula, The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde and others have been adapted to various later formats (radio, movie, tv, ...) , I don't see a reason to suppose at least some of King's work won't make that transition.


Randy M.

 

[Vladd67]

and yet when i got the dvd recently, i realised i shud've left it as a childhood memory, cos watchin it again embarassed me. the book was still scary as hell tho. maybe they made the film for the kids (nobody cares about the age ratings these days) and the book for us grownups...

Well IT with Curry was a tv mini series not a film so maybe that’s why it seems aimed at a younger audience?

 

[BAYLOR]

Will he be read in 50 years ?

Some of his books might fall in neglect . But many of them might still be read in the future.

 

[philzilla]

probably not

 

[The Unhappy Prince]

I hadn’t read anything by him until about 30 days ago but I knew he was insanely popular and the popular stuff has a tendency to survive.

Dickens was really popular with the masses and so was Shakespeare. Also in an interview SK said that for example Somerset Maugham was forgotten. Yes I’d agree forgotten but there’s a difference between being forgotten and being out of print because Maugham is in fact in print in the vintage classics series.

At the very worst SK could still be in print and almost completely forgotten.

 

[Karn's Return]

Honestly I'd say that he'll still be read fifty years from now, though I have to say that I don't think his work stands up to the quality of the likes of Lovecraft or Poe.

 

[The Unhappy Prince]

Honestly I'd say that he'll still be read fifty years from now, though I have to say that I don't think his work stands up to the quality of the likes of Lovecraft or Poe.

Poe is fantastic but I don’t like Lovecraft at all.

He has great ideas but I think the actual writing ability just isn’t there. Reminds me a bit of PKD in that sense.

 

[Karn's Return]

Lovecraft was simply a product of his time, and as a result, his writing style can be a bit frustrating, but I think one can get past it if you have the mindset for it. I sometimes feel a bit like how you describe Lovecraft, though...but this isn't the time for that.


Honestly, Stephen King can't really hold a candle to either of them. Lovecraft's imagination far surpasses, as does Poe's command of imagery and atmospheric tension...but in Poe's case, the cost for what he's given the world was really far too high.

 

[Danny McG]

It's 44 years now since Carrie was published and people are still reading it.
Bearing in mind we could nowadays be counting from SK's 'near miss' when the truck hit him (19 years ago) I would say there's a very good chance his more popular works will still be read.

 

[Rodders]

I think that he'll still be read in 50 years. Some of his work could be considered classic. (IT, The Stand, The Shining, Salem's Lot, Christine...) Besides, 50 years isn't too long these days.

I also think that Film and TV will keep interest in his work high.

 

[BAYLOR]

I think that he'll still be read in 50 years. Some of his work could be considered classic. (IT, The Stand, The Shining, Salem's Lot, Christine...) Besides, 50 years isn't too long these days.

I also think that Film and TV will keep interest in his work high.

I think the Gunslinger series will still be around in 50 years.

 

[BAYLOR]

It is possible even a well regarded and celebrated writer to become forgotten in time.

 

[KGeo777]

I think Richard Matheson stands a better chance of longevity than King.

King writes to sell words so he pads his stuff and that means lots of digressions and references to recent events which will date his work.
There have been a number of books (and songs) that have been vanished down the memory hole. Was reading about songs from the 1920s that were top hits and not one of them has survived.

And best-selling authors like
Warwick Deeping
Hugh Walpole

Edgar Wallace was a big seller but only seems to remain so in Germany. I didn't even know he did science fiction. I thought he only did mysteries.


I challenge you to read every Barbara Cartland novel!

 

[Astro Pen]

I fancy that Bradbury's work will survive longer. It's about the humanity and about change. 5O's sci-fi for example felt set in stone when I was young but it has (predominantly) aged badly.
Writers like King and Koontz are still popular flavours but whether they have the profundity to become 'classics' I'm not so sure. What would I personally regard as enduring classics? Dandelion Wine, 2001 and The Drowned World perhaps. Christine not so much.
Time will, as always, be my judge

 

[JJewel]

If you put a time and a feel / trend in your work it remains trapped in that time. Sometimes it will last because it captures a moment perfectly like Lovecraft / Poe or Bradbury as mentioned but Asimov and King to quote two examples I suspect will not last beyond the die hards.

 

[BAYLOR]

If you put a time and a feel / trend in your work it remains trapped in that time. Sometimes it will last because it captures a moment perfectly like Lovecraft / Poe or Bradbury as mentioned but Asimov and King to quote two examples I suspect will not last beyond the die hards.

Asimov Robot and Foundation series might stand the test of time and few Steven king works like thew Gunslinger might.

 

[JJewel]

Not convinced, people will remember and a few will read but their will be no widespread interest is my gut feeling. Asimov is quite a stilted author and King I have always felt is a very bland author.

Besides, Bradbury, Poe, Lovecraft and even PKD created something with their work that even now we can see hidden amongst the jewels of their words.