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:
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:
- 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.