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Stephen King

SFG75 said:
Interestingly enough, he mentioned Rita Hayworth & Shawshank redemption to a fan who asked if it was true that horror is all he wrote. Upon mentioning shawshank, the lady said-" No, no, I saw the movie and you didn't write that.":D :rolleyes: Interesting commentary as well regarding drinking in his past, and how he thought his works would've been better had he kicked the habit sooner.
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I haven't seen that movie in years, but isn't King's name mentioned in the opening credits? Maybe she was just in denial that Mr. King actually writes non-horror pieces from time to time.

In other news, has anyone started his new book yet? I'd love to purchase it, but I'm cheap and don't want to purchase the hardcover for full price.
 
Unfortuantly for Stephen King--and many other writers--his best works were when he was influenced by alcohol, on drugs, and snorting cocaine:

Misery, Cujo, The Shining, Night Shift

All his recent novels pale in comparison--are pretty much crap.
 
eyez0nme said:
Unfortuantly for Stephen King--and many other writers--his best works were when he was influenced by alcohol, on drugs, and snorting cocaine:

Misery, Cujo, The Shining, Night Shift

All his recent novels pale in comparison--are pretty much crap.
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I dont know what his state of mind was when he penned Apt Pupil, but I really enjoyed it. I'm about to start The Body this week.
 
Stephen King is my absolute favorite writer. There are only a handful of his books I haven't read. I am a Dark Tower fanatic, I have read the whole series three times and counting. So the Tower books are by far my favorite, but other than the Tower books:

The Green Mile - the movie is good, but the book is great.
The Jack Sawer novels - Talisman and Black House - there is suppose to be a third and I can't wait. Love the tie ins to the Dark Tower in Black House.
The Stand - Read the summer of my sixteenth year, that was a good summer.
Pet Semetary - Never have I been so damned scared
It - ever since then I have found clowns creepy
Desperation & The Regulators - seperately they are great together they are a masterpiece
 
lethaldose said:
It - ever since then I have found clowns creepy
Desperation & The Regulators - seperately they are great together they are a masterpiece
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Just what I was looking for. A friend loaned me Desperation and The Regulators and said it was King's best books. Cant wait to read them. I personally was wondering about It. I figured I would like it, so thanks on the heads up.
 
There are those that say that Stephen King (my favorite author) is a hack, a clod, a clumsey and shallow blender of pure pulpy tripe.
That's nonsense!
He's a literary genius!

"See the TURTLE of enormous girth!
On his shell he holds the earth.
His thought is slow but always kind;
He holds us all within his mind.
On his back all vows are made;
He sees the truth but mayn't aid.
He loves the land and loves the sea,
And even loves a child like me."
Stephen King - The Dark Tower

Do you not see the way the lines flow, and swirl, and stay in the mind. It's so infectious - I can't get this verse out of my mind.
Notice how the meter is perfect, except in the first line. Is that a mistake? NO!

He could easily have written:
See the TURTLE of great girth

But he did not.
That imperfect meter in the first line is the HOOK for the whole poem.
It's pure genius. Do you not see it? What a flair for language.
He's GREAT!

I couldn't believe King wrote this, I figured he "borrowed" it from some ancient myth or rhyme.
WRONG!
It's KING all the way, if google is any kind of reference.
If this is tripe, than so is James Joyce and Rudyard Kipling.
Yes, I believe King is on their level.
 
Libre said:
I couldn't believe King wrote this
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My feelings were along this line too. Truly King is the strutting cockerel of doggerel.

Nice satirical slant Libre - you should write for the Onion!
 
Compare King to Joyce?!

I hardly hear the purlieu cry
Or a Tommy talk as I pass one by
Before my thoughts begin to run
On F. M'Curdy Atkinson,
The same that had the wooden leg
And that filibustering fillibeg
That never dared slake his drouth,
Magee that had the chinless mouth.
Being afraid to marry on earth
They masturbated for all they were worth.


James Joyce Ulysses

Best satirical post ever Libre!
 
As much as I like the Dark Tower series - and I do - the verse about the turtle is a decent children's rhyme; nothing more. King is great at what he does best - crank out horror/thrillers with good characterizations and interesting themes. I'm glad he didn't try his hand at poetry more often. Everytime I read that I want to quote Eddie's exasperated sigh.

See the turtle, ain't he keen.
All things serve the fucking beam.
 
ions said:
I hardly hear the purlieu cry
Or a Tommy talk as I pass one by
Before my thoughts begin to run
On F. M'Curdy Atkinson,
The same that had the wooden leg
And that filibustering fillibeg
That never dared slake his drouth,
Magee that had the chinless mouth.
Being afraid to marry on earth
They masturbated for all they were worth.


James Joyce Ulysses

Best satirical post ever Libre!
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Well, thanks for the compliment.
Now, let me ask you something - if you can answer this as objectively as possible, that will help to demonstrate my point.
You're walking alone in a forest, and you find a COMPOSITION notebook. You open the book, and find the KING poem, unsigned. You flip the page, and see the JOYCE poem, also unsigned. You've never heard of either poem before this, and there is nobody around to ask.
Could you tell which was written by the "GENIUS" and which by the "HACK"?
I couldn't. At least I could understand one of them.

I don't equate obscurity with brilliance, and simple beauty with childishness.

Now, how about this "child's" verse:
Tyger! Tyger! burning bright
In the forests of the night,
What immortal hand or eye
Could frame thy fearful symmetry?

and so on...

ever hear of that one?
 
You presume I'm conditioned to say Joyce is genius King is a hack. You're wrong. To be honest I don't find the Joyce poem above particularly great. Although the last 2 lines do more for me than all of the King poem that may have more to do with me than the intellect of either writer. To say that King writes on the level of Joyce is just incorrect. Stevie would tell you so himself. Joyce doesn't have the reputation he does due to cerebral and academic snobbery. What makes this true is something I can't quantify, but I never said I was a great writer. ;) It appears to me that this lesson is something you learn as you grow as a reader. If you choose to grow as a reader. Some get in a groove where King impressed them at fourteen and still does at thirty. That's fine, just don't dismiss everything else, especially work of much larger scope.

If I'm walking through a forest and I come across poetry it's impact relies on the context I can put it in. Because the Joyce passage is obscure to you does not mean it's poor. Also, because something is obscure does not make it genius. And I never said so. Don't kid yourself, Joyce is not obscure. If you don't get it it doesn't make something poor or less than the things you get. Either learn about them or get over the fact that there are bright and good things you don't get. I think I become a better person when I take the time to learn something new that's challenging. That's one reason I occasionally take on challenging reads.

Accept King for the type of writer he is.
 
ions-
I haven't read much (hardly any) Joyce, but I do believe him to be obscure. That's the impression that I have from reading the exerpts that I have read, (for example the one you posted) and because I must have heard it said a million times. I can accept King for the writer he is, but you may as well take your own advice and accept Joyce for the writer HE is. Huge reputation, but totally inaccessible to probably 99.9% of the world's readers. I don't say he got his rep by snobbery. But, well, I don't get it. Maybe I'm just too dense, or I lack the "sensibilities" to enjoy this. I like the ring of it, but I don't get it. I realize it's out of context. But well, what's the "purlieu"? What's a "filibustering fillibeg"? I don't say it has no value just because I don't get it at first read. But yes, Joyce IS obscure.
And so, WOW, he used the word "masturbated". I'm sure he ruffled feathers and rattled cages back then by saying it, but now, it has very little charm or power over me.
If I found a CD of Bach's Goldberg Variations in the forest, and assuming I'd never heard it already a million times, and also assuming I had some device like a diskman to play it in, I'd KNOW it was great.
 
Hey, AguaBlue, you want to borrow my avatar? :) I may be just about ready to retire it. (Not to change the subject or anything.)
 
I thought you meant Joyce was an obscure author not that he wrote obscurely. Well I see what you're getting at but while I don't think it's a misuse of 'obscure' it's not how I would word it. You mentioned accessibility, I think that's a better term.

Purlieu | Pur"lieu |
n. Corrupted (by influence of lieu place)
fr. OF. pural'ee, poral'ee (equiv. to LL. perambulatio a
survey of boundaries, originally, a going through); por (L.
pro, confused, however, with L. per through) + al'ee. See
Pro-, and Alley. Written also pourlieu.

1. Originally, the ground near a royal forest, which, having
been unlawfully added to the forest, was afterwards
severed from it, and disafforested so as to remit to the
former owners their rights.
1913 Webster

Then as a tiger, who by chance hath spied
In some purlieu two gentle fawns at play. --Milton.
1913 Webster

2. Hence, the outer portion of any place; an adjacent
district; environs; neighborhood. "The purlieus of St.
James."
1913 Webster

brokers had been incessantly plying for custom in
the purlieus of the court. --Macaulay.
1913 Webster Purlin
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Fillibeg | Fil"li*beg |
n.
A kilt. See Filibeg.
1913 Webster
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Filibuster | Fil"i*bus*ter |
v. i. imp. & p. p. Fillibustered;
p. pr. & vb. n. Filibustering.

1. To act as a filibuster, or military freebooter.
--Bartlett.
1913 Webster

2. To delay legislation, by dilatory motions or other
artifices. political cant or slang, U.S. --Bartlett.
1913 Webster
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I had no difficulties using the dictionary.

The forest find analogy doesn't work. It's not a proper comparison and there are other flaws in it but I don't care enough to spell em out. Without attempting to explain every little thing here's my opinion: You are making a invalid comparison. Stephen King is not on the same level as James Joyce. He's just not. Saying so is akin to saying "I don't know me no litrature but Stevie King sure does as good as anybody else." He's just not on the same level.
 
Sorry...my error. In Song of Susannah(DT VI), it goes like this:

"See the TURTLE of enormous girth!
On his shell he holds the earth.
His thought is slow but always kind;
He holds us all within his mind
On his back the truth is carried,
And there are the love and duty married.
He loves the earth and loves the sea,
And even loves a child like me."
 
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