My Long Walk Through Stephen King's Lot

Over the last couple of years, as I’ve looked at various lists and rankings of Stephen King’s top books, I kept seeing a certain, somewhat surprising title popping up: Hearts in Atlantis .   I call it surprising because many such lists placed this one in the top ten, and at least one reviewer I saw on YouTube selected it as the very best King book of them all.   Increasingly, it became obvious that I needed to read this one. As I say, for a long time, this book was never on my radar.   I remember the film version being released and seeming generally well received, but nothing about it grabbed my attention.   Maybe it was the film’s poster, or even the book’s cover design, both of which struck me as mildly bland and hard to interpret.   The title seemed odd and somewhat unappealing, and I just wasn’t hearing enough about it from other people to be intrigued.   Lots of people talk about The Shining, The Shawshank Redemption, IT, Carrie, Pet Sematary ...

It took me longer to get through the second half of Rose Madder than I anticipated.   This is not so much a criticism of the book as it is a reflection of my busy life at the current time.   Lately, I’ve had to put reading on the back burner more than I like to.   My hope is that once my internship is finished in May, I’ll be able to dive back into reading to the extent that I really enjoy.     That said, while my schedule was the primary hindrance, I confess that I did lose a bit of interest in the book as it progressed.   The funny thing is, at least in its broad strokes, the story actually evolved the way I hoped it would.   The supernatural elements of the novel don’t play (quite) as big a part as I suspected they might, and the suspense/thriller aspects essentially drive most of the latter part of the book.   I very much liked the grounded nature of the early sections of the novel, and I was pleased that a lot of that is r...

    Confession: I was pretty excited to pick up a copy of “The Dark Tower” blu-ray on Black Friday.   I saw the film during its theatrical run, liked it, and planned to add it to my collection when it made its way to video.   Plus, it certainly didn’t hurt that I could snag it for such a good deal! I know, I know.   There are, of course, many who do not share my enthusiasm for this particular movie.   Some are casual moviegoers, others are critics.   Some, of course, are Stephen King fanatics who apparently find this film version of his most complex and expansive literary work to be a failure.   Some of this backlash seems to be rooted in the feeling that the filmmakers have changed too much of King’s source material.   For one thing, the entry point into this story is Jake, rather than Roland.   I’ll admit that I was disappointed that the movie did not begin as The Gunslinger does, with King’s excellent opening l...

I came across a couple of YouTube videos where fans were making recommendations as to what would be a great first read for the King uninitiated.   That got me thinking: what would I recommend? Without confirming the precise number, Stephen King has written approximately 60 novels and something like 200 short stories.   That’s an incredible body of work, and a huge task in determining where to begin.   There are at least a few novels that I think would be a less than ideal place to start.   For me, those would be Dreamcatcher , Gerald’s Game , and Mr. Mercedes .   The first two titles are, for my money, not particularly well written books.   The third is perfectly adequate, and features some good characters, but is, on the whole, fairly “by-the-numbers” plot-wise, and therefore not a good representation of King’s writing and creativity overall.    I also think the Dark Tower books are probably not the right entry point either. ...

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. ...

So, no, I'm not really referring to making my way through Stephen King's  Dark Tower series.  I've already completed that.  The title of this post is just a lame Stephen King reference, much like the name of my blog. I simply want to write something at the outset that gives a little of my history as a Stephen King fan.  I haven't read all of his work, but I am on a determined course to do so.  In the last ten or so years, I've come across more and more of King's writing that continues to persuade me that he is more gifted, and capable of deeper, more eloquent writing, than he is frequently given credit for. This post will highlight what I've read up until now, and hopefully express a little about why I value his writing so much.  I consider myself an avid fan of Stephen King’s books, but my journey began with his movies.  I was a young adolescent when I first encountered the frightful, gory, and depressing “Pet Se...