Question You Would Ask Stephen King

[frik51]

But I think he's popular not because his books are so good......but because of the media and because his early books were all made into movies. Once they make an author's work into a movie, they become much more famous before the movies were made.

The movies helped.
But they are not the key to King's popularity.
His books are.

I know it sounds like I'm constantly down on King; I'm not,

Of course not!

sk

[theenormityofitall]

lol but look at what the movie The Exorcist did for William Blatty. I had never heard of him before; once you see his name in the credits, you think to yourself, this guy wrote a book like this movie?? He must be a great author. But the book isn't really close to the movie at all, but it made Blatty a household name. Or the movie Jaws for Benchley.

[theenormityofitall]

Not really a good example.

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000175/
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0465588/

Koontz doesn't really have a lot, but King does. But really what it comes down to is personal prefrance. You say Matheson is a better writer than King, but that's your opinion, many others probably think the opposite. I really don't think it has anything to do with the movies tbh. As far as writing the same books over again, that's every author who has published as many books as King. I can't think of anyone who you can't really say that about.

But those stories in the links you pasted are mainly horror, right? I didn't realize Matheson actually wrote a short story called "Duel" until I saw the movie (which was great btw). Then one night I'm watching episodes of the old TV series "Combat" with Vic Morrow, and actually saw Matheson's name on the credits; he wrote the story. I was amazed because I considered him a horror writer...I didn't think he could go from that genre, and then actually write episodes about a group of WW2 soldiers. He wrote for The "Twilight Zone" and "Night Gallery" too, didn't he? At any rate, I do think Matheson is a more talented writer than King, but King has also written some fantastic books (yes, I'm praising Stephen King!!).

[frik51]

I couldn't think of one movie that did for King what The Exorcist did for William Blatty.
Maybe one: Carrie. And that's going back some 35 years.
Most of the King adaptations didn't translate into a huge box office, nor critical successes. Those that did, most people don't even know were penned by King, like Shawshank and The Green Mile.
No, it's rather the opposite. King's movie adaptations turned many people away from his books. I mean, most were pretty lousy. Many people wouldn't touch a King book because of these crappy movies. Bad movie, bad author. right?

Wrong.

And I really like Richard Matheson. I think he's a great writer.
But could you mention some books of his you think arer better than the best of King?
I'm really curious about this.

sk

[Slee1978]

I'd ask King which movie of his he enjoyed acting in the most.

[theenormityofitall]

I couldn't think of one movie that did for King what The Exorcist did for William Blatty.
Maybe one: Carrie. And that's going back some 35 years.
Most of the King adaptations didn't translate into a huge box office, nor critical successes. Those that did, most people don't even know were penned by King, like Shawshank and The Green Mile.
No, it's rather the opposite. King's movie adaptations turned many people away from his books. I mean, most were pretty lousy. Many people wouldn't touch a King book because of these crappy movies. Bad movie, bad author. right?

Wrong.

And I really like Richard Matheson. I think he's a great writer.
But could you mention some books of his you think arer better than the best of King?
I'm really curious about this.

sk

I Am Legend surpasses anything ever written by King, and I think The Incredible Shrinking Man and Hell House are also some of his best stuff. Somewhere in Time was good too. But some guys get bigger breaks than others and I think Matheson concentrated more on scripts than novels. King is always writing stories and seems to never end, the result being that so many of his books are below average, to say the least (he's like Koontz in that department). It's also pretty well known that a lot of his early works were taken from semi-rare horror flicks. Even the book I liked the best...Pet Semetary...was taken from the movie Dead and Buried (I've been a big collector of horror films on VHS and DVD for a very long time). I'd bet anything on that; King just did a lil re-arranging with his book. And yes, the movies based on King's work were already known to the public. I would think a lot of them did poorly simply because the 80's were a time that renting videos was sot of "invented" because of the growing popularity of VCRs. A lot of people just waited until the film came out on video.

[RJK1981]

I still have to read I Am Legend (been on my TBR list since I found a copy for $1 at Half-Price books) and Hell House, and have heard they are good, but saying I am Legend it is better than King's best is all a matter of opinion. I'm sure plenty of people would agree with you, and plenty would disagree as well. I haven't read anything from Matheson yet, so can't say if he's better or not myself.

Parts of Pet Semetary were actually based on real life for King, including the very close and busy road with tankers often passing by and a near accident involving his son at a very young age, as well as an actual pet cemetery nearby with a sign that had cemetery misspelled. That and more is in his introduction to the book (at least in the pb version I have). You say it's pretty well known he got his early books from rare movies, but I've never read that anywhere myself.

As for the movies based off King's work, a lot of them were very poorly done, so I don't think the movie's have anything to do with his popularity as an author. More that his books do so well people want to make them into movies. You bring up Blatty's name, but in all honestly what is he well known for other than The Exorcist? Elsewhere was a very good story, but other than that and the Exorcist novels I am unaware of anything else he's done in the genre. He has written other books, but they are not the kind of bestsellers that The Exorcist was. Blatty may have been a household name for a while, but not so much today as far as I know. Benchley also didn't have nearly the same success following Jaws, unlike King, who has had success after success. While I don't feel every King book is a masterpiece he is still a reliable author.

[Nik Houser]

I Am Legend surpasses anything ever written by King

Well, to be fair, that's coming from your subjective standpoint. As for my own subjective opinion, I think I AM LEGEND is brilliant, but (for my money) flawed by a weak story structure. There are elements that I think are up there with the best of King (what comes to mind first and foremost is the vampires calling to him from outside the house), but story structure is incredibly important to me. Which isn't to say King's story structure is perfect, either. Hell House was fun, and the story structure was more solid, I felt, but I didn't really care for the characters as much as I do for some of King's. They were interesting, but felt less real to me, which meant I cared less for what happened to them. Hell House felt more like a really good set piece than a story.

[theenormityofitall]

Yes, it's a matter of opinion, but I was asked what novels I thought were better than King's, so I listed a few. I did forget to say I thought Misery was excellent (WAY better than the movie which is saying something since the movie was pretty good) as was The Dark Half. But I only mentioned Blatty because of what the movie did for his career...it made him famous, when I think before it ever came out, Blatty was not well known at all. I never thought he was equal to King nor was Benchley. It's hard for me to actually get into novels because I keep telling myself: "This is not real, so why am I reading it?"...but a movie is different of course, because it's visual. 99% of the books I read are non-fiction and have said before on this forum that I've never even read any of the Dark Tower books, I was just lucky and I had the opportunity to buy the last three as limited editions, along with LSOE and others. It's mainly all about collecting for me. Anyway, I never thought King was a bad author; he's written some great books, I just think he's overrated, that's all.

[fmancino]

I heard Doctor Sleep is going to be a sequel for the Talisman/Black House series; then again I may be wrong.

[frik51]

I heard Doctor Sleep is going to be a sequel for the Talisman/Black House series

No, it'll be the sequel to The Shining.

sk

[frik51]

Yes, it's a matter of opinion, but I was asked what novels I thought were better than King's, so I listed a few. I did forget to say I thought Misery was excellent (WAY better than the movie which is saying something since the movie was pretty good) I've never even read any of the Dark Tower books, I was just lucky and I had the opportunity to buy the last three as limited editions, along with LSOE and others. It's mainly all about collecting for me. Anyway, I never thought King was a bad author; he's written some great books, I just think he's overrated, that's all.

Just being curious, but which (other) books by King did you actually read?

sk

[Nik Houser]

Yes, it's a matter of opinion, but I was asked what novels I thought were better than King's, so I listed a few. I did forget to say I thought Misery was excellent (WAY better than the movie which is saying something since the movie was pretty good) as was The Dark Half. But I only mentioned Blatty because of what the movie did for his career...it made him famous, when I think before it ever came out, Blatty was not well known at all. I never thought he was equal to King nor was Benchley. It's hard for me to actually get into novels because I keep telling myself: "This is not real, so why am I reading it?"...but a movie is different of course, because it's visual. 99% of the books I read are non-fiction and have said before on this forum that I've never even read any of the Dark Tower books, I was just lucky and I had the opportunity to buy the last three as limited editions, along with LSOE and others. It's mainly all about collecting for me. Anyway, I never thought King was a bad author; he's written some great books, I just think he's overrated, that's all.

You know, I never saw Misery, but need to. I think the novel, which I read Freshman year in high school, was the first one I picked up one morning (sick from school), and didn't put down until it was done.

[theenormityofitall]

Just being curious, but which (other) books by King did you actually read?

sk

I've read all of them!
But there's many sort stories he's written I've never read before.
Actually, now that I keep thinking of it, I don't remember reading The Tommyknockers.

[theenormityofitall]

You know, I never saw Misery, but need to. I think the novel, which I read Freshman year in high school, was the first one I picked up one morning (sick from school), and didn't put down until it was done.

Yeah, it was one of my faves. You know it must be good if even I liked it lol.