"Mr. King harnesses a formidable facility for originating unforgettable situations and characters. The 30 horror novels he has discharged over the 22 years since the publication of "Carrie" span a surprising variety of incident, subject and tone. His situations and characters, moreover, intersect an anxious, alienated culture with offhand authority. Mr. King is the latest (if least literary) manifestation of a Gnostic strain that has surged through American literature from Nathaniel Hawthorne an more...
"Mr. King harnesses a formidable facility for originating unforgettable situations and characters. The 30 horror novels he has discharged over the 22 years since the publication of "Carrie" span a surprising variety of incident, subject and tone. His situations and characters, moreover, intersect an anxious, alienated culture with offhand authority. Mr. King is the latest (if least literary) manifestation of a Gnostic strain that has surged through American literature from Nathaniel Hawthorne and Edgar Allan Poe to recent writers as various as James Merrill, Norman Mailer, William Burroughs and Thomas Pynchon. Mr. King's peculiar knack as a novelist is to strip away much of the complexity and nearly all of the art from a terrifying vision of an unknowable universe ruled by a limited, perhaps evil God and insinuate that Gnosticism into the rituals and commodities of everyday America. The household derangements and the matter-of-fact malevolence inside Mr. King's fiction cut across the fears behind opinion polls, televisions talk shows or any casual New York conversation: random carnage, obscure wasting illnesses, sinister technologies and the accelerating sense of a world gone wrong."less...
"The honest intent to do as well as possible--that has to stand at the base of any writing career. The object in view is to not let the money sway you from that, or the critics, or the wrath of God. Honest intent has nothing to do with art, one way or the other; art is its own master, and talent is merely its whore. Honest intent only applies to the more humble side of writing: the craft. You sit down in front of the typewriter and do the best job you can. You play fair. You keep your hands clea more...
"The honest intent to do as well as possible--that has to stand at the base of any writing career. The object in view is to not let the money sway you from that, or the critics, or the wrath of God. Honest intent has nothing to do with art, one way or the other; art is its own master, and talent is merely its whore. Honest intent only applies to the more humble side of writing: the craft. You sit down in front of the typewriter and do the best job you can. You play fair. You keep your hands clean. And then, if the money comes: "Not guilty."less...
"Lovecraft is the perfect fiction for people who are living in a state of sort of total sexual doubt, because the stories almost seem to me sort of Jungian in their imagery. They're all about gigantic disembodied vaginas and things that have teeth."
Born in 1947, Stephen King has become a household name all over the world. His mother raised him and his brother after their father deserted the family in 1950. In high school, King began to write short stories, his first published work appearing in 1968. He attended the University of Maine, graduating with a B.S. in 1970. Up until his first novel appeared, King had worked in an industrial laundry, as a janitor, as well as an English teacher. CARRIE, his debut, was met by a largely indifferent p more...
Born in 1947, Stephen King has become a household name all over the world. His mother raised him and his brother after their father deserted the family in 1950. In high school, King began to write short stories, his first published work appearing in 1968. He attended the University of Maine, graduating with a B.S. in 1970. Up until his first novel appeared, King had worked in an industrial laundry, as a janitor, as well as an English teacher. CARRIE, his debut, was met by a largely indifferent public in 1974. It wasn't until two years later, after King's second novel SALEM'S LOT and the filmed version of CARRIE, that King became a major player in the horror field. THE SHINING, his 1977 haunted hotel novel, began a litany of bestsellers, including THE STAND, THE DEAD ZONE, PET SEMETARY, DOLORES CLAIBORNE, and many others. King's work is regarded as instrumental in bringing about a resurgence of interest in horror fiction in the 1970s and '80s. An extremely high percentage of King's voluminous literary output has been filmed, with varying degrees of success, but all serving to carry the name of Stephen King far and wide. He has written nonfiction, given lectures, acted in films, and continues to produce huge novels nearly every year, all of which become instant bestsellers. As a bizarre sidenote, during the summer of 1999 while walking along a back road in Maine, King was struck and seriously injured by a minivan whose driver apparently lost control of the vehicle while being distracted by his dog--thus creating exactly the kind of news item that might have inspired several of King's own novels. In 2003, King was honored with a National Book Foundation medal for Distinguish Contribution to American Letters.less...
09/21/1947 Portland, Maine, New England, Northeastern States, United States,
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faithmbia53@yahoo.co.uk
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Jon wrote a review on KING STEPHEN : STAND (Signet)
The population of the world is decimated by a super-flu virus, this leads to strange dreams of a dodgy demon-bloke for those few survivors left on the face of the Earth...nuff said on plot. IMHO King is the master of characterization, he has a knack of depicting plausible and interesting people in every day life, then systematically destroys their lives. I think this is where the horror comes from, seeing someone you've kinda grown to like be consumed by terror and/or death - at least in this book anyhow. I found the demonic, supernatural elements are about as scary as Gordon the Gopher, incidentally. The way he describes his various characters journeys through desolate cities and landscapes littered with corpses is pretty damn spooky, though, much more so than aforementioned Satanic elements. At over 1300 pages definitely recommend this massive book on value for money alone; kept me turning the pages despite being thicker than Jade Goody.
'IT' is still the best horror book I've ever read. Love it. Scared the be-jazus out of me as a child and everytime I pick it up it drags me back. Everyone was reading 'Sweet Valley High' books and they truely sucked, then I found Mr.King and I was saved!
I have been a fan for the past 2 decades own ALL of your books (well, 90% of them) in hardcover, the rest in paperback. I even wanted to pull a "Misery" on you when it too you FOREVER and a day to get out Wizard and Glass after leaving me hanging in the Dark Tower Series.
I became a fan at the age of 12 and will be one until the last book has been written, please keep up the good work, and best of luck with the next book.
Stephen King is the King!!I have loved his books since the very first novel,Carrie.I look forward to each new one as they come out.I am amazed at his ability to keep them coming.Everytime I finish one I pray it is not his last.Keep them coming
The population of the world is decimated by a super-flu virus, this leads to strange dreams of a dodgy demon-bloke for those few survivors left on the face of the Earth...nuff said on plot. IMHO King is the master of characterization, he has a knack of depicting plausible and interesting people in every day life, then systematically destroys their lives. I think this is where the horror comes from, seeing someone you've kinda grown to like be consumed by terror and/or death - at least in this book anyhow. I found the demonic, supernatural elements are about as scary as Gordon the Gopher, incidentally. The way he describes his various characters journeys through desolate cities and landscapes littered with corpses is pretty damn spooky, though, much more so than aforementioned Satanic elements. At over 1300 pages definitely recommend this massive book on value for money alone; kept me turning the pages despite being thicker than Jade Goody.