NYT reviews Stephen King's new epic - CrimeSpace2024-03-29T11:29:20Zhttps://crimespace.ning.com/forum/topics/nyt-reviews-stephen-kings-new?commentId=537324%3AComment%3A220082&feed=yes&xn_auth=noIt was The Stand that got me…tag:crimespace.ning.com,2012-06-25:537324:Comment:3475102012-06-25T22:11:35.434ZCelia Cummingshttps://crimespace.ning.com/profile/CeliaCummings
<p>It was The Stand that got me back into reading, as an adult. Bizarrely, I read it to help me sleep whilst I was studying for my Uni finals (see? I said I was weird). Anyway, I've had Under The Dome on my shelf of books to read for an unbelievably long time. I bought it out of loyalty to King but there seem to be so many other tempting authors out there. </p>
<p>It was The Stand that got me back into reading, as an adult. Bizarrely, I read it to help me sleep whilst I was studying for my Uni finals (see? I said I was weird). Anyway, I've had Under The Dome on my shelf of books to read for an unbelievably long time. I bought it out of loyalty to King but there seem to be so many other tempting authors out there. </p> I agree the book is way too l…tag:crimespace.ning.com,2010-09-07:537324:Comment:2491002010-09-07T00:41:15.146Zlee calecahttps://crimespace.ning.com/profile/leecaleca
I agree the book is way too long and the momentum was sometimes lost. But the 'unpleasant presents' was a bit of lyric I didn't find at all objectionable. I thought we were over having to write perfect sentences and had moved on to expression and intent. I believe genius sets its own rules.
I agree the book is way too long and the momentum was sometimes lost. But the 'unpleasant presents' was a bit of lyric I didn't find at all objectionable. I thought we were over having to write perfect sentences and had moved on to expression and intent. I believe genius sets its own rules. I feel the same way about "Cu…tag:crimespace.ning.com,2010-07-23:537324:Comment:2432252010-07-23T16:52:43.306ZJim Thomsenhttps://crimespace.ning.com/profile/JamesRobertThomsenJr
I feel the same way about "Cujo." Nothing supernatural there, and the story isn't really about the dog. It's actually a wonderfully deep, insightful examination of two crumbling families. And it especially has some penetrating things to say about marriage.
I feel the same way about "Cujo." Nothing supernatural there, and the story isn't really about the dog. It's actually a wonderfully deep, insightful examination of two crumbling families. And it especially has some penetrating things to say about marriage. I've read several Stephen Kin…tag:crimespace.ning.com,2010-07-23:537324:Comment:2431702010-07-23T14:28:45.167ZCaroline Trippehttps://crimespace.ning.com/profile/CarolineTrippe
I've read several Stephen King novels---not the epics, however. I think "The Shining" was one of his best. He does have a sense for the details of our culture---the stuff of the ordinary. Ordinary people who find themselves in the midst of a supernatural maelstrom. I liked some of the other earlier novels too- the problem I have had with the later work is just the overhwhleming <i>sturm und drang</i> of the horror. Even though the beginning of "Needful Things" was tantalizing, I had to give up…
I've read several Stephen King novels---not the epics, however. I think "The Shining" was one of his best. He does have a sense for the details of our culture---the stuff of the ordinary. Ordinary people who find themselves in the midst of a supernatural maelstrom. I liked some of the other earlier novels too- the problem I have had with the later work is just the overhwhleming <i>sturm und drang</i> of the horror. Even though the beginning of "Needful Things" was tantalizing, I had to give up on it--- way too much gore. OK, so the gore is metaphor---the nastiness in us made manifest. But I still couldn't hack it. I can't say anything about the grand epics, cause I haven't read them.<br />
Patches of awkward or purple prose aside, he really is a good storyteller, and sure knows how to generate suspense like nobody's business. But I don't go for the apocalyptic climax (as in "Bag of Bones). Yes, my problem with King is---auspicious beginnings, then I get turned off. But I think he's getting at something about our needs.... I actually do like a good ghost story, and the best tales of the supernatural are studies in psychology: about our own fears---fear of death, guilt, longing for the past, hope and fear of afterlife, etc. And considering how well an author like King sells, we crave the stuff! Shirley Jackson, one of the great writers of supernatural fiction, knew that too, and used it brilliantly in her novels and short stories. King is just one in a line of another great tradition. I note that this thread began…tag:crimespace.ning.com,2010-07-23:537324:Comment:2431632010-07-23T14:24:07.076ZJackBludishttps://crimespace.ning.com/profile/JackBludis
I note that this thread began almost a nine months ago, and it has me thinking about "Under the Dome," which I am almost finished and was published about two months after this thread began.<br />
<br />
The writing be damned, the fantasy "problem" be damned; the characterization, personal attitudes, and conflicts are as real today in my part of the country as it apparently is in Maine. Interest in King has trailed off, I believe, because many of his readers have flown of to the Vampires, ghouls, and demons…
I note that this thread began almost a nine months ago, and it has me thinking about "Under the Dome," which I am almost finished and was published about two months after this thread began.<br />
<br />
The writing be damned, the fantasy "problem" be damned; the characterization, personal attitudes, and conflicts are as real today in my part of the country as it apparently is in Maine. Interest in King has trailed off, I believe, because many of his readers have flown of to the Vampires, ghouls, and demons that were the pillar of King's earlier work. King is now tackling important stuff ... like our reactions to crisis unreal and real, and the interactions of people in that crisis.<br />
<br />
As to King's writing? He gets the feel of reality, which many fail to do with their "fine writing." I doubt that most non-writers react to "style" the way writers do. Non-writing readers react to voice, the voice of the writer and more importantly to the voices of characters. And then the writer goes craz…tag:crimespace.ning.com,2010-07-23:537324:Comment:2431092010-07-23T08:20:02.744ZJessicahttps://crimespace.ning.com/profile/Jessica
And then the writer goes crazy!
And then the writer goes crazy! I know it's weird to jump in…tag:crimespace.ning.com,2010-07-23:537324:Comment:2431062010-07-23T07:42:56.421ZJim Thomsenhttps://crimespace.ning.com/profile/JamesRobertThomsenJr
I know it's weird to jump in here nine months after this thread was impregnated, but here's a thought:<br />
<br />
One of the most perverse things about the star system in the book-publishing industry is the idea that the more successful an author gets, the more he or she is entitled to <i>less</i> stringent editing so that the author's "voice" is untrampled upon or something.<br />
<br />
In Stephen King's case, this has been taken to an unparalleled extreme in which he is allowed to routinely turn in "War And…
I know it's weird to jump in here nine months after this thread was impregnated, but here's a thought:<br />
<br />
One of the most perverse things about the star system in the book-publishing industry is the idea that the more successful an author gets, the more he or she is entitled to <i>less</i> stringent editing so that the author's "voice" is untrampled upon or something.<br />
<br />
In Stephen King's case, this has been taken to an unparalleled extreme in which he is allowed to routinely turn in "War And Peace"-length tomes and apparently his publishers can't or won't do anything more to them than run spellcheck. I love King, and believe him to be America's greatest living storyteller, but quite a few of his books — particularly when he started running slowly out of steam in the mid-90s — could have been a lot better had an editor been allowed to speak up and say, "Um ... uh ... you know ... Steve — can I call you Steve? — this section might, um, you know, work better if ... you know ... these forty pages of backstory about this secondary were cut to, oh, maybe ... ummm ... twelve? Please don't hit me."<br />
<br />
I dunno. If I ever become fortunate enough to be a bestselling author, I kind of hope I earn the right to the <i>toughest</i> editing help available. Maybe it's because I speak out of 23 years' experience as a newspaper copy editor, but I have yet to meet or read the writer who wouldn't benefit from a polish from a fresh perspective. Not even someone as apocalyptically talented as Stephen King. I've tried to read him. I get…tag:crimespace.ning.com,2009-12-09:537324:Comment:2219542009-12-09T00:54:51.390Zdoug andersonhttps://crimespace.ning.com/profile/douganderson
I've tried to read him. I get about thirty pages in and the sloppiness of the writing begins to annoy me. He wasn't always this way. I remember reading an early novella called "Cat's Eye" that was very fine, very well crafted, not a word out of place. I guess one of the dangers of becoming famous is that editors become sidelined.
I've tried to read him. I get about thirty pages in and the sloppiness of the writing begins to annoy me. He wasn't always this way. I remember reading an early novella called "Cat's Eye" that was very fine, very well crafted, not a word out of place. I guess one of the dangers of becoming famous is that editors become sidelined. Jack is right. We're off topi…tag:crimespace.ning.com,2009-11-20:537324:Comment:2203242009-11-20T14:46:24.026ZI. J. Parkerhttps://crimespace.ning.com/profile/Ingpark
Jack is right. We're off topic. Apologies.
Jack is right. We're off topic. Apologies. Getting way too academic for…tag:crimespace.ning.com,2009-11-20:537324:Comment:2202832009-11-20T01:04:33.119ZJackBludishttps://crimespace.ning.com/profile/JackBludis
Getting way too academic for me.<br />
<br />
See you guys on another topic.
Getting way too academic for me.<br />
<br />
See you guys on another topic.