Stephen King obviously needs no introduction. An amazing publishing phenomenon, King continues to produce a fairly consistent amount of work, even if he isn't quite as prolific as his 80s and 90s heyday. I have probably read just about everything he's written, with the exception of a few of the later books and the Dark Tower series. King is the source of controversy amongst literary types; his pulpy plots are a little too 'supermarket' for the snobs. Still, I count him as amongst one of the finest storytellers in literary history, and isn't that really what novels are all about? In addition, King's writing has grown richer and richer over the years as he's dabbled in many styles outside the pale of traditional horror.
The Shining was King's third or fourth novel, and arguably the best of the earliest part of his career. I won't go deep into plot details, as anyone with even a passing interest in King's work has probably read the book. Still, the creepy story of a troubled man and his family wintering as caretakers in a secluded Colorado hotel still has enough fright in its pages to keep me up at night. The book contains several hallucinatory and surreal passages and imparts a genuine sense of claustrophobia, much like what the characters in the story were experiencing. Stanley Kubrick's film version has its detractors, but I feel it holds up very well over time, even with Nicholson's over the top performance and the slightly different ending.
It is important to remember that authors like Dickens were often dismissed as hacks in their own time. I believe that King's best work will stand up over time in the same way as that of the most beloved storytellers from the past.
4 comments:
I agree with your assessment, I think King's under-rated by the literary establishment.
And the movie was Stanley Kubrick, not Robert Altman.
Aaagh! Thanks for the correction! I had Altman on the brain when I wrote that. And thanks for stopping by.
I was into King in a serious way for basically the entirety of my adolescence (12-17 years old--it came on strong and vanished suddenly). Read EVERYTHING he wrote. This one was scary, but somehow I think the scariest were "Christine" and "Salem's Lot." And "Pet Sematary." And "The Tommyknockers."
Right- that real classic stretch. I think King is a good bridge to other literature. With the multi-character arcs that many of his novels feature, you start to see how construct works for other 'big' storytellers (I'm thinking Dickens and Irving here). Plus, like Harry Potter, King's stories have lured countless people into the joy of reading a good ol' fashioned yarn.
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