Wow. What an author.
I have recently completed one of his newest works "Under the Dome". It's a simple story of how things can get out of hand when you're shut off from society. Echoes of Hurrican Katrina, faint shadows of 9/11, and flavored with that special, small Maine town kitsche that many have grown to love.
For me, this was the first King book I had read in about 10 years. Previously I had slogged through his book The Tommyknockers (which was a tad bit dull); and of course I am familiar with his works having seen so many of them made into TV-miniseries or feature length movies.
But what struck me was how good of a writer he was, and not because of the stories he tells, but his technique; his rhythm and pace; the way he crafted each sentence or chose certain words to convey his message - the man is a master.
And now, as I am burning through this next book I chose to read - Salem's Lot - I see not only how far he's come as an author, but how far he had already been, as Salem's Lot, written in 1975, is STILL pungent and vivid to me now.
Perhaps partially, because I am from the 70s, or perhaps because he's basically "been there" all my life, my new trip through King's work is touching me on an almost nostalgic level, while managing, somehow, to be a brand new experience simultaneously.
Wednesday, January 27, 2010
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I really liked stephen king a lot when I was younger..i read my first book of his, It, in 7th grade..or was it 6th? I got through all of the old, good books, but the later they got, the worse they got. Especially after his accident. I couldn’t read them anymore at all, and I never try to anymore. Do you like dean koontz? I think he had the same problem. Awesome books, then they suddenly got bad. And its not just because I got older. I can still look at their earlier works and really enjoy them even now.
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