Bibliotherapy and Stephen King

[BeverleyMarsh]

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

 

[jchanic]

Don't forget to include Dolores Claiborne in this. Talk about a true voice!

Spoiler: Subjects

Subjects are spousal abuse and incest.

John

 

[GNTLGNT]

...I can't nail it down to a single novel or story luv, but Steve's "voice" has helped me many a time, draw the blinds on reality, and allow me to diffuse my own troubles with a walk in his universe....

 

[BeverleyMarsh]

Don't forget to include Dolores Claiborne in this. Talk about a true voice!

Spoiler: Subjects

Subjects are spousal abuse and incest.

John

Yes, I have a feeling this is one I have to read again, I think there might be some gems in there for what I'm looking for. Thanks for reminding me John

 

[BeverleyMarsh]

...I can't nail it down to a single novel or story luv, but Steve's "voice" has helped me many a time, draw the blinds on reality, and allow me to diffuse my own troubles with a walk in his universe....

I know what you're saying, it's hard to pin it down to one novel or passage. Thanks anyway

 

[Maskins]

Really good thread. I agree about the voice.

For me it is also about his amazing use of character. In very little space I get the whole nature of a character, even if they are just minor bit part player. There are no uncomfortable descriptions or anything. You get them, at least a little, really quickly.

 

[BeverleyMarsh]

Really good thread. I agree about the voice.

For me it is also about his amazing use of character. In very little space I get the whole nature of a character, even if they are just minor bit part player. There are no uncomfortable descriptions or anything. You get them, at least a little, really quickly.

Thank you

And that's a good point, it's true it helps a lot in giving a sense of another "reality" as the characters are indeed so real themselves. That could even be one of the reasons why they're the only novels I reach out for when I'm feeling depressed. It's true that one of the symptoms of depression is a difficulty in concentrating, and that's why many people find it hard to read when they go through a bout of depression. But his characters being so lifelike mean that you don't need to make any real effort in imagining them, they just spring to life. Thanks Maskins, that's very helpful

 

[Walter Oobleck]

Twain wrote about Huck Finn. Tom Sawyer. Seems like I read somewhere that Twain said something about writing about...youth. I can't remember exactly how it goes, nothing new there, if I'm in the room and you need an answer you can overlook me right away and find someone who knows. Where am I going with this? The Body. It. Those stories carry me back to my home. I imagine it helped to have seen Stand By Me before I read the story. The Losers. We did so many of the same things...life was simple and hard at the same time if you know what I mean.

And too, so many of King's stories have this us/them, hive-mentality going for them. Could say, all of them. You against the world. Which is what it seems like at times. The ole Catch-22. Heh! Like, I'm having to deal with the powers-that-be, trying to get this project underway. I wait two days for a gov't official to email me a form, necessary to begin the process. I get it, print it out, fill it out, send in my ten-dollar application fee...and wait. I am one familiar with the hurry-up-and-wait. Oh, there's a shovel. Let me put a lean on it.

A week goes by. I'm antsy. Need to order things, trusses mainly...sheet metal. But too, I don't want to order because maybe the powers-that-be take a dim view of me and my shenanigans. Perhaps I'm not numbered among the faithful. Perhaps the scuttlebutt down at the coffee shop has it that such and such and so and so. Last week, Friday, I go in to the courthouse, permit application in hand, all the tee-s crossed, all the i-s dotted, the $200+ fee in hand. Lady on the 5th floor...nope, that zoning hasn't come through have you called him. I do so right there, get a woman, says he just left...ain't that always the case. Provide name and number. I'm still waiting.

Today, I call the courthouse again. Tracy. Nope, not here yet. But I did hear he was on vacation. Small summer wars.

But with King's stories, those small summer wars are amplified in such a way that though the horror is present, the humor is present there, too...in spades. No pun intended. I've no clue about puns. If I happen on one it's by accident.

So say like Needful Things...shoot, Tommyknockers...Cell...there's this them/us...me/them...Dreamcatcher, same way. The theme is prevalent. And basically, that is art mimicking life and that's what it's all about. Reading helps one to see the humor...beside the horror...that is amplified, yes...but that makes the humor all the more present and now and life is easier. And so it goes.

 

[FlakeNoir]

Rose Madder... it's a process.

 

[BeverleyMarsh]

Twain wrote about Huck Finn. Tom Sawyer. Seems like I read somewhere that Twain said something about writing about...youth. I can't remember exactly how it goes, nothing new there, if I'm in the room and you need an answer you can overlook me right away and find someone who knows. Where am I going with this? The Body. It. Those stories carry me back to my home. I imagine it helped to have seen Stand By Me before I read the story. The Losers. We did so many of the same things...life was simple and hard at the same time if you know what I mean.

And too, so many of King's stories have this us/them, hive-mentality going for them. Could say, all of them. You against the world. Which is what it seems like at times. The ole Catch-22. Heh! Like, I'm having to deal with the powers-that-be, trying to get this project underway. I wait two days for a gov't official to email me a form, necessary to begin the process. I get it, print it out, fill it out, send in my ten-dollar application fee...and wait. I am one familiar with the hurry-up-and-wait. Oh, there's a shovel. Let me put a lean on it.

A week goes by. I'm antsy. Need to order things, trusses mainly...sheet metal. But too, I don't want to order because maybe the powers-that-be take a dim view of me and my shenanigans. Perhaps I'm not numbered among the faithful. Perhaps the scuttlebutt down at the coffee shop has it that such and such and so and so. Last week, Friday, I go in to the courthouse, permit application in hand, all the tee-s crossed, all the i-s dotted, the $200+ fee in hand. Lady on the 5th floor...nope, that zoning hasn't come through have you called him. I do so right there, get a woman, says he just left...ain't that always the case. Provide name and number. I'm still waiting.

Today, I call the courthouse again. Tracy. Nope, not here yet. But I did hear he was on vacation. Small summer wars.

But with King's stories, those small summer wars are amplified in such a way that though the horror is present, the humor is present there, too...in spades. No pun intended. I've no clue about puns. If I happen on one it's by accident.

So say like Needful Things...shoot, Tommyknockers...Cell...there's this them/us...me/them...Dreamcatcher, same way. The theme is prevalent. And basically, that is art mimicking life and that's what it's all about. Reading helps one to see the humor...beside the horror...that is amplified, yes...but that makes the humor all the more present and now and life is easier. And so it goes.

Thanks Walter, that's a really good insight. And the humor beside the horror, yes, that supports my case, it does help getting some perspective on things.

I hope you get things all sorted soon for your project

 

[BeverleyMarsh]

Rose Madder... it's a process.

That's true, thanks Flake

 

[skimom2]

For me, I find Mr. King's work immediately relatable and comforting because his characters are Average Joes. They are homespun heroes, facing all kinds of darkness, but despair is rare (except in his most recent books. I find that a little troubling, TBH). The 'bad' parts of life, whether fantastic or mundane, whether they come from within or without, rarely defeat the protagonists. There's nearly always (again, I except Revival and Full Dark, No Stars here) a light, however faint, that they can follow and nourish in their hearts. There is hope. Always hope. And for someone who is struggling, knowing that there is someone out there just like you (as we all seem to feel Mr. King to be) who can see and feel and write about the darkness without sugar coating it, and still see light...man, that's encouraging. I speak as someone who has faced inner dark many times, and found hope and light in Mr. King's stories, without him blowing smoke and saying, "Heck, Sally! There is no darkness, not for realses!" Screw that! There is darkness, and I don't need to be told it's not there. The combination of escape and someone who goes, "Yep. Sometimes life sucks, and sucks hard. But there is still hope, damn it," is exactly what I need to hear/read.

For what it's worth.

 

[danie]

Hope, as skimom said, always hope.

How can one read Rita Hayworth and the Shawshank Redemption without feeling Andy's despair and recognizing that despair within our own lives?
Without understanding Red's growth from a stagnant, repetitious prison routine to a man who wanted to go back to his young self and talk to him, talk some sense into him, tell him the way things are? "Andy was the part of me they could never lock up, the part of me that will rejoice when the gates finally open for me, and I walk out in my cheap suit with my twenty dollars of mad money in my pocket."

We all grapple with difficulties, some much worse than others. But we all have that hope, the hope that things will get better, that life won't always be a dark shadow with blacker parts than we ever imagined. Mr. King shows us that, even in the most dire circumstances, one can find that hope, cling to it and pull oneself from the blackness to at least the edge of the shadow, where there is yet a little light just within our reach.

And as Maskins wrote, his characters are real to us. They ARE us. We are allowed into their thoughts, their imaginings, their horrors, and their hopes. We're allowed to see that the world, more oft than not, is cruel and unforgiving; that Mr. King's characters are depressed, scared, horrified, grief-stricken, insane and outrageously normal in this world. If they can have hope, why can't I?

Spoiler: Shawshank ending

I hope Andy is down there.
I hope I can make it across the border.
I hope to see my friend and shake his hand.
I hope the Pacific is as blue as it has been in my dreams.
I hope.

I hope.

 

[BeverleyMarsh]

Thanks skimom2 and danie these are great responses, thank you for sharing

 

[Kurben]

I think alot of how bullied characters grew stronger in their togetherness and can face their enemy like the Losers club in IT, like the boy ganf in The Body. That, i think, is one reason Carrie ultimately didn't succeed (because she went under in her rebellion with her enemies) is that she lacked that togetherness, that comradeship with others that is so important. You can see traces of it in Hearts in Atlantis too. If you have that comradeship you are ok but when you throw it away and choose something else instead, like a car as in Christine, you will ultimately lose. I don't know of any other author that can write about young people in such a utterly convincing way.

 

[Pucker]

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 “.

Wow! That's a mouthful. Are they really teaching you to talk like that? ; )

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.

It seems that what you're talking about here, and what some of us are describing as "voice" is familiarity. Comfort food. We feel we know these people both because King's characterizations tend to be concise and compelling -- he introduces us to people we feel like we already know -- but also because we (some of us) return to the stories over and over again. If I had to pare King down thematically in one sentence, that sentence would probably be: Face your fear.

What we see, over and over again, are people who don't yet know they are extraordinary dealing with extraordinary circumstances, and often that heroism is nothing more than believing in hope even when hope does not appear to be hanging around anywhere nearby.

I like to use the example of Eddie Kaspbrack, who had to wrestle with the idea that his entire world (meaning his mother) was an illusion. For a kid like that to still be able to conjure the requisite magic (Acid if I want it to be!) when he absolutely had to, is evincing a lot more than the idea that hope exists. It's telling us that hope demands its due and will not be discouraged. And if you can't find comfort in that, well . . . I shudder to think.

 

[Walter Oobleck]

Thanks Walter, that's a really good insight. And the humor beside the horror, yes, that supports my case, it does help getting some perspective on things.

I hope you get things all sorted soon for your project

Maybe 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.

 

[BeverleyMarsh]

I think alot of how bullied characters grew stronger in their togetherness and can face their enemy like the Losers club in IT, like the boy ganf in The Body. That, i think, is one reason Carrie ultimately didn't succeed (because she went under in her rebellion with her enemies) is that she lacked that togetherness, that comradeship with others that is so important. You can see traces of it in Hearts in Atlantis too. If you have that comradeship you are ok but when you throw it away and choose something else instead, like a car as in Christine, you will ultimately lose. I don't know of any other author that can write about young people in such a utterly convincing way.

Thank you very much for your input Kurben, I see what you're saying and I agree, that's another really good angle.

 

[BeverleyMarsh]

Wow! That's a mouthful. Are they really teaching you to talk like that? ; )



It seems that what you're talking about here, and what some of us are describing as "voice" is familiarity. Comfort food. We feel we know these people both because King's characterizations tend to be concise and compelling -- he introduces us to people we feel like we already know -- but also because we (some of us) return to the stories over and over again. If I had to pare King down thematically in one sentence, that sentence would probably be: Face your fear.

What we see, over and over again, are people who don't yet know they are extraordinary dealing with extraordinary circumstances, and often that heroism is nothing more than believing in hope even when hope does not appear to be hanging around anywhere nearby.

I like to use the example of Eddie Kaspbrack, who had to wrestle with the idea that his entire world (meaning his mother) was an illusion. For a kid like that to still be able to conjure the requisite magic (Acid if I want it to be!) when he absolutely had to, is evincing a lot more than the idea that hope exists. It's telling us that hope demands its due and will not be discouraged. And if you can't find comfort in that, well . . . I shudder to think.

It is a mouthful indeed and I reassure you I don't intend on talking like that, I'd feel silly

Cheers for your input and the way you pared down Sk's theme to Face your fear is just great it reassures me I'm definitely on the right track in chosing his work for my assignment.

And thanks also for the example ofEddie Kaspbrack, I can definitely work with that. Much appreciated Pucker

 

[BeverleyMarsh]

You guys rock, you really do I've got so much more to talk about now, I couldn't have hoped for better insight, I mean, I knew I asked in the right place, but still, I owe you. Cheers !