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I agree with everyone... but if there is 'one' feel good book for me, it is IT. Children.. from all walks of life, have a strong friendship and connection. They face their fears and build upon each others strengths. And then again, as adults. IT is an inspiring book for me. They all are.. I love them all.. however if I am down, this is the book I reach for.. again and again.
Damn, I almost missed your post, that would have been a shame that's a very useful quote and a good point about humor not being limited to the good guys, I seem to remember a lot of it in Mr Mercedes now actually. Thanks WalterMaybe you're already aware of this, but if not, here it is. In Danse Macabre, the chapter IX called Horror Fiction, King writes about Ira Levin's Rosemary's Baby to make a point. On page 299 in my u.s.a. paperback copy, King writes, "Rosemary's Baby is a splendid confirmation of the idea that humor and horror lie side by side, and that to deny one is to deny the other." I'll take it a step further and say that had not...oops, forgot again...and we'd just talked about this some of us...but one of those long-dead holy Greek guys, Plato or Aristotle or both, one of them had a work or a study on comedy, and I suspect some just as long-dead unholy Greek guy...or maybe it was a barbarian, one of those guys took a dim view of the laughter and put the kibosh on that noise by getting rid of Plato's work. And since then, all the Major Statements on art and the like have relegated comedy to a lesser status than tragedy. When truth be told, they co-exist. Side by side.
And in some of King's stories, it's a hoot, because the comedic effect is not limited to "good" guys...there's Ace in Needful Things..."anyone in there want to look at some Tupperware?" Heh! He's standing outside that one building? Where Leland sent him?
As the song and dance has it, if we couldn't laugh we would go insane.
Cheers Audra, I have been reading on this forum before that it seems to be the "comfort book" to go back to again and again for many, I'll be looking for excerpts from it, thanks
Just to get the background totally correct. It was Aristotle and the work is called Poetics. It is assumed with good reason that it originally consisted of two books, Tragedy and Comedy. But the comedy part is lost. Umberto Eco has a discussion on the subject in his excellent novel In the Name of the Rose.Damn, I almost missed your post, that would have been a shame that's a very useful quote and a good point about humor not being limited to the good guys, I seem to remember a lot of it in Mr Mercedes now actually. Thanks Walter
Thanks for the detailed info Kurben, I'll use that
I haven't read beyond the Gunslinger yet, I can't seem to get past the first book but I'll keep it mind when I do get through to the second one. Cheers Muskrat
That is exactly the one I was thinking of. It starts out with being brave enough to leave an abusive spouse and then goes all Stephen King. One way or another, it's the characters that always draw me in.
For me, the reason that I get comfort from King's books/stories is that at the root of his tales is always one thing: love. It may be a twisted love, it may be a dark love, it may well indeed be a pure love, but it's always there. We wouldn't have had the grief at the end of Cujo without King showing us the parents love for that boy. We wouldn't have wrung our hands at the plight of Selena in Delores Claiborne without King showing us that there was a strong mother's love there. We wouldn't have shed tears at the end of The Body without King showing us the deep love those four boys had for each other. The same goes for It- those seven kids deeply loved each other and would have died for each other trying to conquer It. Jack Sawyer's love for his mother prompted him to go on his quest and face many dangers while in pursuit of something to save his mother. Roland's love of Susan Delgado set in motion wheels that changed his entire life as well as the lives of everyone he came across- you could go back even further to what happens between Roland and his own mother and the anguish he forever lived with afterwards. Steve may write about the everyday horrors that we all face (late on taxes, cancer, death), he may write about the supernatural horrors (vampires, evil spitits) but, for me, it all comes down to love. Simple love.I’m hoping to hear your thoughts on a subject I’m studying. I have just started training as a bibliotherapist/biblio-coach and as part of my training I need to present and discuss a selection of texts which I personally find would “hold elements resulting in psychological catharsis and rational insight towards a solution to any given problematic “.
I’m planning to base my presentation on Stephen King’s work as it’s the work I feel the strongest connection to. So that brought up many questions, I’ve been trying decipher the mechanics of why Stephen King is the only writer I can and want to read when I’m feeling depressed.
Although it’s hard to articulate the magic, I think part of it is the sense of belonging which his books provide. I know I always loved the links and references from one story to another, the fact that the characters are often related and familiar names pop up here and there in the background for example, it makes me feel like I’m in the know. It creates a palpable world that I feel part of, a constant refuge when reality becomes hard to digest.
But more than that I think it’s the voice, that same humble and honest voice which inhabits his book and forewords especially. It’s friendly and it considerately leads you into the story. You know each time you open a new Stephen King book that you’re off for a bumpy ride but you’re never alone. The Constant Reader’s experience in itself is therapeutic I find but I would need to find stand-alone titles which in themselves could be considered as healing for the reader facing any sort of difficulties.
I have thought of Carrie to begin with ,for anyone suffering from bullying or from feeling alienated, although I’m not too sure because Carrie ends up using violent ways (if supernatural) to settle the score with her bullies, and even if it’s utterly satisfying, it may not be that constructive. Anyway I will have to revisit most of his stories in the therapeutic angle to find excerpts that I can present but I would be really grateful if you could share with me which SK book have helped you through a particular hardship or circumstances and how. I know it’s closely related to a recent thread posted by Cody Briscoe (it’s been a really helpful thread actually) but I’m really interested in the how, what was it that made you connect strongly enough with that story that you could say it has helped you? Was it the identification to a particular character, not necessarily the main one, or the structure of the narration, etc…
Any thoughts would be really welcome
...yep....
I haven't read beyond the Gunslinger yet, I can't seem to get past the first book but I'll keep it mind when I do get through to the second one. Cheers Muskrat
I haven't read beyond the Gunslinger yet, I can't seem to get past the first book but I'll keep it mind when I do get through to the second one. Cheers Muskrat
Very true, thanks for sharing Kingricefan
I might just have to move on to book 2 then, hopefully it will still make sense even if I haven't read the first.
I hate to say that it isn't necessary to read The Gunslinger, but it isn't. Everything that you need to know is covered in the other books, particularly The Drawing of the Three. I had a terrible time with The Gunslinger until last year; it finally *clicked* with me.
It does make sense! And it sounds fascinating. Thanks for sharing. Can't wait to hear about your progress.Thank you very much for your encouragements Misery
To answer your question there are different types of bibliotherapies but the one I am training for would involve reading aloud and discussing specific text which relates to a particular issue someone is going through, followed by a discussion with the individual, also writing exercices sometimes. It's of course by no mean a replacement for any traditional therapy but it works very well along such therapy. We try to get people discussing issues through the prism of a story as it can help them gain a different perspective on the difficulties they're experiencing. Also as the story is only an esthetic representation of their issue a concept detached from painful emotions, it creates the distance necessary to allow a more rationnal thought process. That's one aspect, but it depends, in other cases the bibliotherapist will choose an adapted reading material in hope of triggering an emotional "electroshock" that can lead to an inner impulse of action in someone that is suffering from depression for example. it's hard to condense everything bibliotherapy involves especially in english which isn't my first language, so I hope that makes sense
