Do you think that Stephen King is a good writer?

[SethMode]

So, I am a Stephen King fan. I was an English Major in college, and had multiple professors that seemed to reach almost masturbatory levels of hating King. I took a break from his stuff after the 90's, just because it started to lose my interest. Recently, however, I've started to read some of his stuff again (specifically Duma Key and 11/22/63) and I thought that both were VERY good.

My question is this: do you think King is a good writer? My professor's in college (and my understanding of most of the "literary elite" -- see also, unsuccessful writers) acted as if he was just some dude that mashed together some words and just made money off of it. It always struck me as extremely disingenuous, particularly considering King spent a part of his career under a different pen name just because he wanted to make sure people weren't buying his shit just based off of his name.

Anyway, don't mean to ramble, just curious on others thoughts as far as this is concerned, as it has always been an interesting topic to me.

[Cody]

I've read two of his books, and I enjoyed them thoroughly. I am more of a Clancy fan tho tbqh

[SuperKevin]

My mom certainly does. She has every single one of his books to include the Richard Bachman books

[NAHSTE]

Technically speaking I do believe he is a "good" writer, yes. He's an even better story teller though, which is more important in terms of commercial success. Essentially he's a good writer who tells great stories.

[JeremyHight]

He's not Hemingway or something, but he's not trying to be. I think his stories are entertaining, especially The Stand, but they need polish to be made into movies.

[SuperKevin]

I honestly haven't read a ton of his books but I hear a big criticism is he doesn't do dialogue well

[NAHSTE]

He's not Hemingway or something, but he's not trying to be. I think his stories are entertaining, especially The Stand, but they need polish to be made into movies.

Sidenote - Hemingway is overrated.

[christguz]

In my opinion yes! The Shining is by far my favorite book from Stephen King.

[SethMode]

Sidenote - Hemingway is overrated.

Hemingway is terrible IMO. One of those people we're taught to think is great despite being unreadable in most cases to me.

As far as King and dialogue, I'd say he does literary dialogue well, but his dialogue doesn't translate well to movies (the same problem that a lot of comic books have I think).

Anyway, Nahste I agree, he might not be the most gifted writer, but he is a supremely gifted storyteller. Some of his shit just blows my mind, and some of the ideas he comes up with are just astounding, especially his short stories which I think are where he really shines. I think his novels are great, but can get a little bogged down, while his short stories dodge that possibility altogether. That being said, I agree with Christguz, The Shining is a spectacular book, and I love the book so much that it has made me dislike the Kubrick film for the most part.

EDIT - verbal diarrhea post...sorry, was from my kindle.

[mgoblue2290]

The Stand is one of my favorite books. I also liked The Long Walk just because it was really cool idea which fits in with him being a great story teller. I haven't read much outside of that. Surprised you guys don't like Hemingway, I like his direct, abrupt style of writing. Different from those who try too hard to write eloquently.

[SethMode]

The Stand is one of my favorite books. I also liked The Long Walk just because it was really cool idea which fits in with him being a great story teller. I haven't read much outside of that. Surprised you guys don't like Hemingway, I like his direct, abrupt style of writing. Different from those who try too hard to write eloquently.

I have only met one other person that held my similar opinion of Hemingway. I just don't like his stories. He's like a King that doesn't tell a tale that I want to hear.

That being said, I think despite my distaste for Hemingway, I don't get why he's considered this high watermark for writers.

[NAHSTE]

The Stand is one of my favorite books. I also liked The Long Walk just because it was really cool idea which fits in with him being a great story teller. I haven't read much outside of that. Surprised you guys don't like Hemingway, I like his direct, abrupt style of writing. Different from those who try too hard to write eloquently.

I actually do like his writing style and try to write in a similar fashion, but his books are just not appealing to me. The Sun Also Rises, for example, is dreadfully boring.

[mgoblue2290]

I have only met one other person that held my similar opinion of Hemingway. I just don't like his stories. He's like a King that doesn't tell a tale that I want to hear.

That being said, I think despite my distaste for Hemingway, I don't get why he's considered this high watermark for writers.

I don't really know if anyone else can really be compared to him though because his style was so different and basically said fuck conventional rules. A Farewell to Arms is my favorite by him. I've read it twice, and even the second time the ending made me depressed.

[mgoblue2290]

I actually do like his writing style and try to write in a similar fashion, but his books are just not appealing to me. The Sun Also Rises, for example, is dreadfully boring.

I don't think it was meant to be exciting. It was basically just a glimpse into post World War 1 life in Europe from the perspective of an American. I think you could argue Hemingway as a great writer, but maybe not the best story teller. However it depends on what you're looking for in a story because King delves into the supernatural which gives him more leeway.

[SethMode]

I don't really know if anyone else can really be compared to him though because his style was so different and basically said fuck conventional rules. A Farewell to Arms is my favorite by him. I've read it twice, and even the second time the ending made me depressed.

Eh, I think a lot of writers have said "fuck conventional rules" and a lot of them have been lambasted for it (I would consider King to be one of them in a lot of ways).