Stephen King Crap/Not Crap?

[IC3D]

No one rates James Herbert hes like our royal family of pulp horror, I rate Steve, an IT was a very scary book to read as young un, but its all trash really

 

[100% masahiko]

The last book I read of his - Cell - that was well crap.

But his stuff from the 80s were amazing - The Dead Zone, Cycle of the Werewolf, Salem's Lot... or was it cos I was 12 at the time?

 

[bluestreak]

Fucking shit writer who has great ideas.

 

[Shippou-Sensei]

i rated him crap as all the books of his i have read are crap

or at least so mediocre that by the time you finish the inevitably weighty tome you feel you have lost precious hours of your life

especially the dark tower series i got as far as the seven samurai knock off and then decided that when i lie dieing and count the moments of my life i will rate the time spent watching tentcle porn more enjoyable that the time i spent wading through that fucking series

 

[danny la rouge]

Anyone who says he is crap in a literary snob, i reckon.

Or, just doesn't like his books.

 

[BlackArab]

Literary labels? I'll stick to fiction and non-fiction, anything makes me confused. I voted excellent for King's work as for me once I start reading his books I've always found them difficult to put down, even at 3am when my eyes are begging for sleep but my brain has 'one more chapter and that's it' syndrome.

Tommyknockers, IT, The Green Mile, Christine all did this for me. Possibly the only author I can think of also where the films are as good as the book.

 

[Orang Utan]

The last book I read of his - Cell - that was well crap.

But his stuff from the 80s were amazing - The Dead Zone, Cycle of the Werewolf, Salem's Lot... or was it cos I was 12 at the time?

cycle of the werewolf? wut?

 

[upsidedownwalrus]

I'm not that fussed about his books, but some of my favourite films were based on his books (even if one was so wildly different that King hated it (the Shining)) so definitely not crap.

 

[DotCommunist]

I'm not that fussed about his books, but some of my favourite films were based on his books (even if one was so wildly different that King hated it (the Shining)) so definitely not crap.

what an arrogant cock

that film was ace

 

[upsidedownwalrus]

what an arrogant cock

that film was ace

Have you seen the one that was approved by him? It's fucking awful!

 

[girasol]

Never really got into it, I prefered Clive Barker when I was younger.

but there's no 'meh' option

 

[gnoriac]

or at least so mediocre that by the time you finish the inevitably weighty tome you feel you have lost precious hours of your life

Yep. None of his stuff I've ever read had a real horror 'feel'.

 

[Stoat Boy]

Really liked his early stuff with 'The Stand' being one of my favourite novels ever and then thing that cemented my love of all post-apoc fiction.

Still read his books but would say that he has not lived up to his earlier works.

Would rate him as one of the great story tellers of the age rather than a novelist but in my eyes thats a compliment.

 

[Shippou-Sensei]

Yep. None of his stuff I've ever read had a real horror 'feel'.

some of it is intresting

but thats not the same as good


but i can see how they make decent movies if you pick the right actors

it's very much the uncanny vally type of horror

 

[ChrisC]

Barker blurs the line- His fantasies are as horrific as they are fantastical.

The reason I'd define him as horror is because he often lacks fantasy tropes like the Quest, the defeated monster etc

What about The Great and Secret Show. Everville. That's fantasy, kind of horror. Not scary though.

 

[Grandma Death]

So not crap. Infact some of his works are excellent. He's a master storyteller with a window into the american way of life. I think he's superb.

 

[Johnny Canuck3]

When he's on, he's quite entertaining, like Salem's Lot, The Stand.

 

[butchersapron]

SK's top films of 2008:

1. The Dark Knight - “The best superhero movie ever.”
2. Slumdog Millionaire
3. WALL-E - “It certainly deserves to be nominated.”
4. Tropic Thunder
5. Funny Games - “A savage parody of the snuff-porn”
6. The Bank Job
7. Lakeview Terrace
8. The Ruins
9. Redbelt - “Not your father’s Karate Kid.”
10. Death Race

Look at me smashing your smug liberal pretentions!

 

[Johnny Canuck3]

SK's top films of 2008:



Look at me smashing your smug liberal pretentions!

Go easy on him: he's never been the same since the car accident.

 

[Grandma Death]

what an arrogant cock

that film was ace

Its a great film but its more a Kubrick film than a film from a King novel if you know what I mean. Ive read some interviews with King and some of his criticisms of the film are IMO justified. He once described the film as a big shiny car with no engine. I think its an accurate description IMO.

 

[In Bloom]

I like him, myself. It's nice and easy to read, doesn't tax the brain too much but keeps you engaged, perfect for when you can't be arsed thinking about shit. Frankly, if you expect any more from King you deserve to be dissapointed.

 

[T & P]

His character development has always been very comprehensive- too much, some might say. While sometimes I can find it a tad boring (he just went on and on about Abagail Freemantle's personal history in The Stand, for instance), his characters always come across as believable and human.

 

[Roadkill]

Perhaps it was a bit harsh to vote 'crap,' but I've never got on with his writing style. I don't find him very enjoyable reading.

 

[mentalchik]

Love him !

 

[Dillinger4]

I like him, myself. It's nice and easy to read, doesn't tax the brain too much but keeps you engaged, perfect for when you can't be arsed thinking about shit. Frankly, if you expect any more from King you deserve to be dissapointed.

He is a little bit like the ITV, or maybe Sky One of the book world.

 

[Dillinger4]

dillinger has voted really shit but then his tastes stray to the very worthy booker-sucking london lit review gaurdianista snob-lit

Piss off.

 

[Gromit]

His body of work is so big that he covers three of those options.

He has done some truly excelent work that deserves serious critical aclaim.
He has also done some good (not crap) entertaining reads. Lots and and lots of it.
But he has also done some utter crap.

Basically he churns stuff out like a machine, so much of it that he substantially contributes to every level of quality from high to low.

 

[DotCommunist]

His work on horror writing (Danse Macarbe) has good info that applies across the board of genre fiction

 

[bluestreak]

I can understand people saying that he's a good storyteller, cos that's just kind of personal taste innit, and some great films have come out of his books, but to say he's a good writer? I guess you lot must judge good writing on different factors than me. Like elegant prose, and believeable characters and dialogue. *shrug* clearly in a tiny minority, so there we go.

 

[Dillinger4]

I can understand people saying that he's a good storyteller, cos that's just kind of personal taste innit, and some great films have come out of his books, but to say he's a good writer? I guess you lot must judge good writing on different factors than me. Like elegant prose, and believeable characters and dialogue. *shrug* clearly in a tiny minority, so there we go.

^