I’d been looking forward to this one! Nice write up, and valid criticisms. I should note that, as much as I enjoy King, I’ve never found his books all that scary, for the most part. Maybe you had to be there, in the 70s and 80s. Mostly, it’s the humanity I appreciate, and which you mention, which he captures so well, and which makes the weirdness in his stories feel like it matters.
And if anyone is interested in the reasons for the selections in the curriculum, let me know. I can assure you they exist!
I wouldn't worry too much about wordcount, honestly. A novel needs to be the length it needs to be, and many books fall outside the 80k-100k word spectrum. It's just that's what publishers prefer.
I think his books are generally longer than publishers want now or even back then. The sweet spot for books now is between 80k and 100k words (ends up being around 300 pages, give or take) and most of his books seem quite a bit longer than that. Back in the 70s and 80s, I think there was a stronger desire for books in the 200 page range (~50k words) and so this was more than double that.
I'm no one to judge what kind of writer he typically is but I suspect he tends to go long because he's very interested in the minutiae of his characters. At least that's my impression from this book. But, again, this is my first one! I may change my mind.
Would really recommend reading some of King's short fiction as well as his novels. In my opinion, his short stories and novellas are some of his best work.
I could never quite get into King. I have read quite a few of his novels, and some of them I enjoyed very much (11.22.63 being my personal favourite), but overall I just don’t think he’s that good of a writer. He’s a good storyteller, true, but he meanders too much. He tries to fit too much into most of his books. That’s the reason I DNFed IT after about half of it. That book could easily have been 700 pages long, and much the better for it. Curious to read your next essays on King’s books.
Yeah, it'll be interesting to see how I feel about his books as I go on. I sort of assumed I would feel the way you do about his books, but I was pleasantly surprised by this one.
I’m looking forward to the rest of the essays! I love Stephen King. I devoured several of his books when I was in middle school (starting with The Stand when I was 12—my parents didn’t police my reading, thankfully). Then I went through a “too good for King” phase, same as you did. Then I got over myself—thankfully, because King is really terrific, especially in the way he values ordinary people.
I’d been looking forward to this one! Nice write up, and valid criticisms. I should note that, as much as I enjoy King, I’ve never found his books all that scary, for the most part. Maybe you had to be there, in the 70s and 80s. Mostly, it’s the humanity I appreciate, and which you mention, which he captures so well, and which makes the weirdness in his stories feel like it matters.
And if anyone is interested in the reasons for the selections in the curriculum, let me know. I can assure you they exist!
Thank you for the advice on the word count. My first attempt at a novel was below the current standard in terms of words.
Congrats on finishing a novel!
I wouldn't worry too much about wordcount, honestly. A novel needs to be the length it needs to be, and many books fall outside the 80k-100k word spectrum. It's just that's what publishers prefer.
I had assumed that he padded his novels out to fulfill word count requirements for his publisher, but obviously that's not (always) the case.
I think his books are generally longer than publishers want now or even back then. The sweet spot for books now is between 80k and 100k words (ends up being around 300 pages, give or take) and most of his books seem quite a bit longer than that. Back in the 70s and 80s, I think there was a stronger desire for books in the 200 page range (~50k words) and so this was more than double that.
I'm no one to judge what kind of writer he typically is but I suspect he tends to go long because he's very interested in the minutiae of his characters. At least that's my impression from this book. But, again, this is my first one! I may change my mind.
Would really recommend reading some of King's short fiction as well as his novels. In my opinion, his short stories and novellas are some of his best work.
Any specific ones you'd recommend?
The novella collection Different Seasons and the short story collection Skeleton Crew.
"The Girl who Loved Tom Gordon " (not on your list)is my favorite King book and I have read most of them. Also enjoyed 11/22/63.
Lots of people keep giving me more recommendations!
I could never quite get into King. I have read quite a few of his novels, and some of them I enjoyed very much (11.22.63 being my personal favourite), but overall I just don’t think he’s that good of a writer. He’s a good storyteller, true, but he meanders too much. He tries to fit too much into most of his books. That’s the reason I DNFed IT after about half of it. That book could easily have been 700 pages long, and much the better for it. Curious to read your next essays on King’s books.
Yeah, it'll be interesting to see how I feel about his books as I go on. I sort of assumed I would feel the way you do about his books, but I was pleasantly surprised by this one.
I’m looking forward to the rest of the essays! I love Stephen King. I devoured several of his books when I was in middle school (starting with The Stand when I was 12—my parents didn’t police my reading, thankfully). Then I went through a “too good for King” phase, same as you did. Then I got over myself—thankfully, because King is really terrific, especially in the way he values ordinary people.
Yeah, the focus on every day people definitely appeals to me!
So just over 40K words is still a novel? All right, then...
Most publishers would call that a novella, so if you find a publisher looking for novellas, that's perfect.
My first and third novels published were 53k words and 47k words, so it really just depends on the book and the publisher.
I know it's become passé to like Stephen King novels, but I still enjoy most of the ones that I read.
Passe shmasse!