What authors write as well as SK?

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Lord Tyrion

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Oct 24, 2013
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Since I have been reading SK's latest work, I have come to appreciate how easy it is to follow along with his writing. His writing is a breeze to go through, and from the few authors I have read, his writing abilities are unmatched. I'm not the greatest writer myself, but my education has given me the ability to recognize the best. The only other writer I can pinpoint with the smooth touch is David McCullough who writes historical works as though they were fiction. Bill Simmons is a solid writer, though he's a sports writer. Other than that, I can't think of anyone else on SK's level.

My question to the more experienced readers and writers, what other authors write as well as SK?
 

Aloysius Nell

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Apr 1, 2014
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It depends on what you value; I'll address some of the best I can think of for a given characteristic:

---No one matches Mr. King's attention to the "unnecessary" detail in his characters' lives. Even 2-page characters are given some development that makes them forever live in the reader's memory. (Remember George Meara, the farting postman in Cujo? Yes, I knew you would!)

---For historical fiction, you could try Bernard Cornwell. He's been around forever so you may already know him. Unparalleled researcher; I checked with a friend who is a PhD in History at a prestigious university, specializing in England, and Cornwell gets everything right (unless he admits an intentional boo boo).

---Dialogue.... good dialogue is hard. One of the best I've seen is kind of a surprise entry, Gregory McDonald. His work never got a great lot of highbrow respect but won a couple of Edgar awards. He is the author of the Fletch series, which (surprise, surprise) is a lot better than the Chevy Chase movies made from it. Although the movie is pretty good too.

---Straight suspense (non-supernatural, non-military, etc.) Unfortunately, his output is small (and staying that way since he died years ago), but Joseph Garber wrote a heck of a good yarn. When I first read Lee Child, who I love, I thought, "Jack Reacher is just a slacker version of Dave Elliott from Vertical Run." I wanted so bad for Dave to get a sequel, or at least a movie, but no dice.

---Humor...I grew up in the 80s, so I'm going to date myself here, but Patrick McManus was a heck of a funny writer for Field and Stream, and collected years of columns in several volumes. I mean, true laugh out loud funny! Then nothing much for a long time, and now he's writing droll, fun detective novels. Check them out.

---More horror... a lot of us love Dean Koontz. I suppose I like him pretty well since I've been reading him since the mid 80s and still do. That said, I don't feel the need to read every one, and he sometimes gets so pompous I can't finish the thing. He has an admittedly better vocabulary than I do, and loves to show it off. He never uses a 10-cent word when a fifty-cent one will do. Odd Thomas excepted, his best work was decades ago.

---Slasher comedy/mystery (?)...Yes, it's a category. So there. If you watched Dexter on TV, do yourself a favor and read them as well. Jeff Lindsey has a remarkable gift for writing that inner dialogue of characters that Mr. King does so well. And he's absolutely hysterical at the most unexpected moments. Another standout in this category is Tim Dorsey, who writes a series about an ADHD-type serial killer who loves Florida history. It's unexplainable; just try it. I recommend Atomic Lobster, Nuclear Jellyfish, or Gator A-Go-Go if you want to just dip in.

It's bedtime, but if I think of anybody else I love, I will add them in.
 

blunthead

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Aug 2, 2006
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Atlanta GA
I've not read any author who writes quite like him. William Goldman (not Golding) comes kind of close, I think, though not in terms of subject matter. Authors have their own "voice", and that voice draws their fans, is recognizable to them, much as an auteur is recognizable visually to their movie fans.

It's difficult for me to answer the question of who writes as well as sK or better. I have my favorites and sK is one of them, and of them I feel none writes better or worse than another, though some have written stories which aren't my favorites.
 

Samantha_

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Aug 9, 2007
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I've not read any author who writes quite like him. William Goldman (not Golding) comes kind of close, I think, though not in terms of subject matter. Authors have their own "voice", and that voice draws their fans, is recognizable to them, much as an auteur is recognizable visually to their movie fans.

It's difficult for me to answer the question of who writes as well as sK or better. I have my favorites and sK is one of them, and of them I feel none writes better or worse than another, though some have written stories which aren't my favorites.


Different but Patterson, Clancy, Ford, Anne River Siddons, Patrick Conroy, Anne Rice, Anne Bishop, Mitch Album. But yeah, he might be way up there. :) I had the chance to meet Mitch Album flat signature of Tuesday's With Morrie; he spoke in front of my mother at a Health Care Conference. AHCA

I gave the book to my Dad. Mitch Album is a darn good speaker.
 

skimom2

Just moseyin' through...
Oct 9, 2013
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Elmore Leonard, John Steinbeck, John Irving, Margaret Atwood, early Larry McMurtry...all of these are damned good writers. Mr. King is often dismissed, I think because of his conversational writing style, but those dismissers aren't looking deep enough. The man is an absolute bear of talent--there isn't a type of writing he can't do, and that's incredibly rare. A poet isn't a novelist isn't a reporter isn't an essayist...except in very rare instances. Mr. King is one of those instances.
 

Lord Tyrion

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Oct 24, 2013
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---More horror... a lot of us love Dean Koontz. I suppose I like him pretty well since I've been reading him since the mid 80s and still do. That said, I don't feel the need to read every one, and he sometimes gets so pompous I can't finish the thing. He has an admittedly better vocabulary than I do, and loves to show it off. He never uses a 10-cent word when a fifty-cent one will do. Odd Thomas excepted, his best work was decades ago.

I've heard mixed stuff about him. I remember there was a thread about him and the feelings about him were mixed.

---Slasher comedy/mystery (?)...Yes, it's a category. So there. If you watched Dexter on TV, do yourself a favor and read them as well. Jeff Lindsey has a remarkable gift for writing that inner dialogue of characters that Mr. King does so well. And he's absolutely hysterical at the most unexpected moments.

I read the first book, but I stopped since it was identical to the first season. I may give it another try, since I've heard the books and TV go on different tangents.
 

Ashcrash

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Jun 10, 2015
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Hey that is a good question. I want to know too. I don't like Dean koontz I picked out five books at random from the book store that were his because he has so many I thought he must be good. I can't get into because I feel like I spend seven pages finding out what a room looks like and the font size of an alarm clock and then like 2 pages of story. BUT I know people that do like him a lot. But I want to know if there is any books that are epic too? other the grisham, sanford, and child novels. I read those they are great. Addictive but not so much so I cant put it down.
 

doowopgirl

very avid fan
Aug 7, 2009
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I have to say I'm not a fan of Koontz apart from a few. I find his characters, one dimensional. Either all good or all bad. No one is like that. All of Kings characters are incredibly real. The first three Dexter books were amazing. Very dark and twisted and scary. After that I thing the characters, especially Rita turned into ciphers. The stories just got sillier. So, for consistentcy, I think King is in a category of his own.
 

RichardX

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Sep 26, 2006
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That's a tough question since the answer is mostly subjective. I think Robert McCammon is about as close to King's style and plot as it gets. Particularly books like "Swan Song" and "They Thirst." Michal Faber is another good one, but his books are a little different. It's more a like or hate thing with him. Books like "Under the Skin" and "The Book of Strange New Things" might appeal to the sci fi crowd although these are not traditional sci fi. I really enjoyed "Under the Skin" along the same lines of "The Man Who Fell to Earth." For the more literary types, they might enjoy Haruki Murakami. He has written some strange but enjoyable books like "1Q84", "Kafka on the Shore" and "The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle." These are not for those looking for breezy bestsellers but still enjoyable reads if you want a bigger challenge.
 

Ashcrash

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Jun 10, 2015
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Wutsittoyu
I read catcher in the rye. THe only reason I read it was I kept hearing all these people read that book before going crazy. Maybe it was because of my age but when I read it I thought "thats is?" so my question is are there two different version a kid one and an adult one and maybe I got the kid one? There just wasn't anything in there that seemed that bad. But maybe if I had read it when I was younger and my emotions were crazy I might have felt different I dont know?
 

RichardX

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Sep 26, 2006
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I read catcher in the rye. THe only reason I read it was I kept hearing all these people read that book before going crazy. Maybe it was because of my age but when I read it I thought "thats is?" so my question is are there two different version a kid one and an adult one and maybe I got the kid one? There just wasn't anything in there that seemed that bad. But maybe if I had read it when I was younger and my emotions were crazy I might have felt different I dont know?

I don't think there are different versions. Salinger would have stroked out if someone messed with it. It was written back in the 50's and so the reputation of it being an "objectionable" book is based on that value system. The objectionable nature of the book seemed to relate more to its anti-social themes than use of profanity or sex (although it does have some of that). In the age of cable TV and the Internet though it probably does seem tame in comparison. It does seem to appeal to folks of a certain age. Usually high school or early college who feel like they are outsiders. A favorite book of many assassins like the nuts who shot Lennon and Reagan. They were even obsessed with it.
 

Aloysius Nell

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Apr 1, 2014
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That's a tough question since the answer is mostly subjective. I think Robert McCammon is about as close to King's style and plot as it gets. Particularly books like "Swan Song" and "They Thirst." .

A friend recently described McCammon as "superior to King." I just finished Boy's Life and was not all that impressed. I want to try Swan Song before judging, b/c he said it was similar to The Stand but a far better book. Personally, I can't see that being possible!
 

Aloysius Nell

Well-Known Member
Apr 1, 2014
309
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I read catcher in the rye. THe only reason I read it was I kept hearing all these people read that book before going crazy. Maybe it was because of my age but when I read it I thought "thats is?" so my question is are there two different version a kid one and an adult one and maybe I got the kid one? There just wasn't anything in there that seemed that bad. But maybe if I had read it when I was younger and my emotions were crazy I might have felt different I dont know?

Ashcrash, there is only one version, I'm sure. Probably what happened is that you went crazy without knowing it, and therefore can't judge it fairly. Don't feel bad; there are lots of crazy folken here!

Psst...I was not incredibly impressed with Catcher, either. It was daring for its day, but pretty tame these days.
 

Ashcrash

Well-Known Member
Jun 10, 2015
1,326
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Wutsittoyu
Ashcrash, there is only one version, I'm sure. Probably what happened is that you went crazy without knowing it, and therefore can't judge it fairly. Don't feel bad; there are lots of crazy folken here!

Psst...I was not incredibly impressed with Catcher, either. It was daring for its day, but pretty tame these days.
:rofl::rofl::rofl::upside:

It is quite possible I turned crazy after being haunted through out my childhood by a wicked clown that would only come out when everyone else was a sleep or when I had to use the bathroom when everyone else was a sleep. I can't argue that because if I was crazy how would I know.
 

Rrty

Well-Known Member
Jun 4, 2007
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Great question.

Aloysius, you brought up an excellent point about King writing detailed characters. And although you put the term unnecessary in quotes, I think some of the details are actually unnecessary. Although they are oftentimes fun, I find, as I get older, that maybe I don't want too many details, as reading large books is, to some extent, a younger man's game. When I was younger, that sort of what I termed in my mind anecdotal writing style, was extremely attractive and compelling. It still is in some sense, but I am starting to favor plot and pace over three-dimensional characters these days, as I want to be exposed to as many ideas as possible.

Lord Tyrion, I think Bentley Little and Thomas Harris are King-like in their page-turning abilities.
 

GNTLGNT

The idiot is IN
Jun 15, 2007
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....his son Joe certainly qualifies....for sheer dimension in characters and locales, genres and plots-I don't think King has any rivals....I would rank Ray Bradbury, Harlan Ellison, Poe at his best, McCammon certainly, Skipp & Spector, Joe R. Lansdale and a handful of others that have mesmerized me over the decades...and I still love Dean Koontz, he's just a "flavor" I enjoy-overwrought at times or no....Clive Barker is another that gets it done...
 

mstay

Older than most, not as old as some.
Oct 13, 2007
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A friend recently described McCammon as "superior to King." I just finished Boy's Life and was not all that impressed. I want to try Swan Song before judging, b/c he said it was similar to The Stand but a far better book. Personally, I can't see that being possible!

Swan Song is definitely similar to The Stand but I did not think it was better. I think King's characters were much more interesting and the storyline was better too.