The 4 things I like best about Mr King's writing:

[Alistair_C]

I guess I first read Stephen King's stories over 25 years ago. I remember reading the one about the toy monkey — when I was about 12 or 13, I guess — and that it scared the heck out of me.

I've been reading on and off since, but have really got back into his writing in the last 5 or 6 years. These days I have that great feeling that all fans of anything must have, of waiting for the next book, album, show, or match to arrive.

I would say the four things I like best about Stephen's books are:

1. He writes page turners: you always want to know what happened next; even if you know you should be doing something else, you've got to get back to the book.
2. Characters: we connect with the people, and they are memorable. Kermit Hodges in Mr. Mercedes and Danny Torrance in Doctor Sleep, to mention a couple.
3. The way he has chronicled sections of late 20th and early 21st century America.
4. This is the main one, for me; I always feel he enjoys his writing. I read Stephen King and think: here's a guy who is having a lot of fun writing. I don't have that feeling with any other writer to the same extent.

 

[Moderator]

Welcome to the Board!

 

[king family fan]

 

[TheKaijuProphet89]

Those 4 things are pretty much exactly what I love about his writing. I'm no literary expert, but I've read my fair share of books outside of King and rarely do authors seem to be able to create living, breathing people King can so effortlessly. It's a knack that borders on superhuman imo. That sounds silly, but I think it's true. He has this uncanny way of just "getting" people. How they think, how they feel, their fears. They way he injects sudden thoughts and feelings in the prose is genius and always well executed. I've rarely ever read a character of his that felt like they were just a character. Whether it's a massive brick of text like IT, The Stand, 11/22/63, Under the Dome, Bag of Bones, Duma Key etc or a slimmer more "regular sized books like Carrie, The Girl Who loved Tom Gordon, Firestarter, Cujo or various short stories....King writes people amazingly well. Hell, Cujo is one of the rare books of his I don't care for, but I can't deny that his character work wasn't splendid.

I love you touched on the way he kind of chronicles America with his writing. When discussing his work with a naysayer or just in general, I always bring up the point that his writing feels distinctly American, and not in a hokey way. He has a firm grip on American fears and troubles and mindsets that never feel inorganic or gimmicky. I honestly believe he belongs with Steinbeck, Hemingway, Twain, Fitzgerald, Poe etc as a quintessential American author.

And your last point is another one I've always felt. He does always seem like he's enjoying what he is writing. Again, even with the rare misfire I may not like, I never get the sense King is phoning it in or trying to meet a deadline.

Good post man.

 

[FlakeNoir]

Hi Alistair, good to have you here. I like his writing for those same reasons.

 

[blunthead]

• He writes page turners: you always want to know what happened next; even if you know you should be doing something else, you've got to get back to the book.

• Characters: we connect with the people, and they are memorable. Kermit Hodges in Mr. Mercedes and Danny Torrance in Doctor Sleep, to mention a couple.

• The way he has chronicled sections of late 20th and early 21st century America.

• This is the main one, for me; I always feel he enjoys his writing. I read Stephen King and think: here's a guy who is having a lot of fun writing. I don't have that feeling with any other writer to the same extent.

Welcome to the SKMB! I like everything on your list.

 

[Sigmund]

Keep posting!​

 

[GNTLGNT]

 

[VultureLvr45]

 

[notebookgirl]

Welcome!

 

[doowopgirl]

Welcome. I especially like your 4th reason for liking SK.

 

[skimom2]

YOU'RE GONNA D… Oh wait. No you won't. This is just a website full of goofy people WELCOME ANYWAY!

 

[Christine62]

Holy Crap! I love the monkey story! I personally don't believe in demon possessed objects but the way Mr. King made the father reacting to the monkey from hell instead of the boy---it scared the bejesus out of me and that was six months ago!

 

[Wulfman]

Welcome to the Board Mate, Skeleton Crew has the storey of the da** monkey and ever since then I do not look at those toys the same as I once had before.
Your list is great, and I agree with you. There is some in the Dark Tower, could not put the books down and the last book had me in tears. Now, I waited out the years between the last four books and have came close to the characters. I shared this journey with my adoptive mom so in some ways, it means a lot to me.

 

[blunthead]

Four reasons...

1. I like the unpredictable: As an almost absolute rule I never know where sK is coming from, nor where he is going, nor wtf. I like asking "wtf?".
2. I like his voice: As I read I'm drawn to him; a fact which has nothing necessarily to do with subject matter and everything to do with common appeal.
3. I like wonder and suspense: an author needn't be scary to retain my attention.
4. I like being scared: For whatever reason, since birth I've I've always loved "horror" stories.

 

[Neesy]

I guess I first read Stephen King's stories over 25 years ago. I remember reading the one about the toy monkey — when I was about 12 or 13, I guess — and that it scared the heck out of me.

I've been reading on and off since, but have really got back into his writing in the last 5 or 6 years. These days I have that great feeling that all fans of anything must have, of waiting for the next book, album, show, or match to arrive.

I would say the four things I like best about Stephen's books are:

1. He writes page turners: you always want to know what happened next; even if you know you should be doing something else, you've got to get back to the book.
2. Characters: we connect with the people, and they are memorable. Kermit Hodges in Mr. Mercedes and Danny Torrance in Doctor Sleep, to mention a couple.
3. The way he has chronicled sections of late 20th and early 21st century America.
4. This is the main one, for me; I always feel he enjoys his writing. I read Stephen King and think: here's a guy who is having a lot of fun writing. I don't have that feeling with any other writer to the same extent.

Welcome to the SKMB Alistair_C!