#SKweek Reading King (by Simon)
Reading King
A guest post kindly provided by Simon
As a youngster, as soon as I turned to the first page of Stephen King’s The Shining and found myself transported into the lives of the Torrance family and subsequently the Overlook Hotel, I have been hooked on King. In fact, I can honestly say that there has not been a book that King has written that I have not enjoyed, albeit in an uncomfortable and often terrified way.
What always pulls me, nee hauls me, into any kind of story that King has written are the rich and colourful characters whether they happen to be good or bad. He writes with such a pace that it is impossible not to want to keep turning page after page long after your eyes are weary and in need of sleep.
His novel IT terrified me both as a teenager and as an adult. It terrified me for the simple reason that everything was so normal; a small town, group of kids going through everyday issues at school and at home, and then BAM! He introduces Pennywise the Clown. It is classic good versus evil at its best. At the same time one of his recent novels, Under The Dome, terrified me but for different reasons. Maybe the claustrophobic nature of an invisible barrier preventing you from leaving a certain area and holding you prisoner with all that is good and bad about human nature was the reason. It seems no matter what the subject; Stephen King can inject terror and fear into any scenario.
But it is also the human condition that he portrays in all his books that I find really pulls me in, squeezes me tight and then usually gives me the biggest fright later on. You feel for his characters, you want the good ones to survive, to win whilst you are willing on the villains to get their comeuppance, no matter what,
It’s amazing to think that in 2014 it will be forty years since the publication of Carrie. Stephen King has been publishing books longer than I have been alive. The man is simply a machine when it comes to writing, having written over fifty novels without even mentioning his collaborative efforts, short stories, novellas and eBooks. His choices of subject matter are never tiring and he always seems to be able to come up with ideas that people want to read. Whether old fan or new, I defy anyone not to have a good time when they pick up a Stephen King book.
The horror genre has moved on and so has Stephen King. Whilst his books still keep that thrilling and horrifying edge, they are simply excitingly good stories that will keep you entertained from the start of the first page until the very last.
Stephen King has documented the last forty years within the pages of his books. His talent for sifting beneath the innocence of small town America and releasing the hurt, angst and fear in a mixture of real life harm and supernatural terror is one that cannot be ignored.
He is soon to release the follow up to The Shining, entitled Doctor Sleep and I am already looking forward to the sleepless nights that the book is likely to bring.
‹ #SKweek Top 10 Favourite King Books (by Amber) Review: The Best Book in the World by Peter Stjernstrom ›