In Defense of Becoming a "Constant Reader"

Stephen King is not just an author who churns out a ton of stories—although, yes, he certainly does do that.  King is an author who has created (and is still creating) a vast, interconnected literary universe.  One of the greatest pleasures in being a devoted fan is in finding how often King references, and connects to, characters, story elements, and locales found throughout his literary canon.

 
King often refers to his most ardent fans as “Constant Readers.”  It is a term he uses to regard those readers who’ve put a lot of money into his pockets and faithfully stayed the course with him over numerous decades, reading everything he’s published.  I imagine King is flattered by such commitment from his audience, and counts himself blessed.  But the truth is, he gives his most faithful readers a lot to enjoy on the other end, and rewards their diligence with special insight into his fictional landscape that many casual readers are not privy to.
 
Certainly most of King’s novels can be viewed as standalone works, and enjoyed as such.  But there is another level King seems to be going for, one that proves the extent to which he is world-building.  Nowhere in the landscape of his work is this more clearly seen than in the Dark Tower series, which is ridiculously engaging in terms of how King makes connections to previous works.  But King does it elsewhere too, whether it’s through his Castle Rock stuff, or his tendency to revisit Derry, or even the way certain specific supernatural elements pop up in various kinds of stories.  King has written numerous short stories that connect to his larger, more prominent works, and discovering how those stories tie in is a unique pleasure for a dedicated fan.

In the afterword to Wizard and Glass, King himself talks about how the Dark Tower, or Mid-World more specifically, increasingly became not just prominent among the works he had created, but central to them.  “I have come to understand that Roland’s world (or worlds) actually contains all the others of my making,” King writes, going on to suggest that it encompasses the fates of many other seemingly unrelated characters. 

Upon reading the Dark Tower series, the way I viewed King's work changed; I became more obsessed with pondering the vastness of King’s creation, and the way everything seemed to be inextricably bound in one way or another.  I was more open to—and intrigued by---the supernatural leanings in King’s work, however bizarre or fantastic.  Some of his books may seem odd or misguided taken on their own (and some of them probably are), but when considered as a part of a larger whole, things start to take on a different shape.

I know there are people who feel that King sometimes injects his stories with supernatural elements when none are needed.  I can see why someone might feel that way, since it’s nice to read something like a straightforward mystery, suspense thriller, or even a human drama.  But some of the concepts and underlying mythology of the Dark Tower series lead me to suspect that supernatural underpinnings are a kind of deeper, fundamental reality in the King-verse; hence why they come into view so often.

The more stuff you read by King, the more likely you are to be flat-out impressed by how seamlessly he is able to draw connections and establish surprisingly vivid, textured milieus. Many believe that one of King’s chief virtues is his skill with creating great characters.  I agree.  One primary reason is that it is not easy to have such a firm grasp on a character that you can revisit them, time and again, and have their personalities, motivations, and behavior seem consistent.  Yet King has proven himself to be quite good at this.  We see this with characters like Alan Pangborn, Ace Merrill, Father Callahan, Randall Flagg.  And I would certainly argue that King makes locations such as Castle Rock and Derry feel real, accessible, and as if they have evolved with a definite sense of history.

The universe King has established and shared with us is a deep, layered, exciting place to explore.  Being a “Constant Reader” is a hefty investment of time (not to mention money!) but I’d argue it is a rewarding endeavor.  The more I read by King, the more I seem to appreciate his work overall.  King’s skill as a storyteller can be evidenced just by reading a small sample of what he’s published.  But to grasp the true depth of his imagination and creativity, you’ve got to read a lot of it.  In the end, I’m sure you’ll find, as I have, that the whole is somehow even greater than the sum of its parts.