Last week, I finished reading The Dead Zone by Stephen King.
It was is one of the Masterpieces of Science Fiction Series from Easton Press, and though I have my serious doubts as to whether it qualifies even remotely as SF, that's something I won't be looking at now. The series creators justify it by way of saying that the ESP / psychic powers (purest fantasy) evinced by the main character have a scientific explanation. I don't quite buy it (I think the inclusion probably has more to do with the series needing books by Stephen King in there somewhere!).
But as I said, we can discuss genre boundaries at some other time; I want to talk about something else today.
Specifically: why do Stephen King's books sell so well? We've all seen and read the gripes. His writing isn't bad in a sparkly vampire kind of way, but it won't be winning him a Nobel any time soon, and even though his plots are pretty good, there's nothing to indicate that they are any better or worse than plots by less successful writers. And yet, his sales go through the roof, and he is always present at Wal-Mart.
That leaves his characters. They must be lovable, right? People must be falling in love with them by the millions. It must be that.
Well, no.
His characters are a bit of a caricature - but not the usual genre caricature. They are not particularly noble, not particularly sypathetic, and the kind of people who, if you met them in real life, would bore you to tears or cause you to vent about how the country (wherever it might be) is full of people whose definition of "different" is that strange newspaper in the next town over. To these people, China might be on another planet.
His characters are not people who question life. They are not great philosophers. They don't have moral dilemnas. They know what's wrong, they know what's right, and they see no need to modify these views, even if the world is changing around them.
In short, both heroes, villains and victims (this is a man who writes horror stories, remember) are characters who most of the population can see themselves reflected in. And the bad characters are that nosy old codger down the street or the waitress at the truck stop, that tramp.
And while this might cause people who are more interested in intellectual or philosophical pursuits to cringe a little (I read King mainly to understand why he does so well - call it research if you want. I certainly don't enjoy his work. My guilty pleasure seems to be Sidney Sheldon!) I think it is here that King's genius lies.
Yes, I said genius. This man does what he sets out to do extremely well. In The Dead Zone, for example, he works details of everyday life into his plot, not in a general way, but very specifically, with names of political figures as well as brand names for products. It's obvious if you have a bit of a critical mind, but casual readers will never notice it - and King's are the most casual of readers. But as I've said before, anything that makes the Wal-Masses pick up a book is good news in my opinion.
So, not something that I'll ever enjoy reading, but very educational overall. I'm glad I read this one (the book isn't bad, BTW, but other writers will be distracted by this kind of thing, same as I was).
So, any Stephen King moments among my flisters? Or any comments on other best-sellers who need to be understood?
It was is one of the Masterpieces of Science Fiction Series from Easton Press, and though I have my serious doubts as to whether it qualifies even remotely as SF, that's something I won't be looking at now. The series creators justify it by way of saying that the ESP / psychic powers (purest fantasy) evinced by the main character have a scientific explanation. I don't quite buy it (I think the inclusion probably has more to do with the series needing books by Stephen King in there somewhere!).
But as I said, we can discuss genre boundaries at some other time; I want to talk about something else today.
Specifically: why do Stephen King's books sell so well? We've all seen and read the gripes. His writing isn't bad in a sparkly vampire kind of way, but it won't be winning him a Nobel any time soon, and even though his plots are pretty good, there's nothing to indicate that they are any better or worse than plots by less successful writers. And yet, his sales go through the roof, and he is always present at Wal-Mart.
That leaves his characters. They must be lovable, right? People must be falling in love with them by the millions. It must be that.
Well, no.
His characters are a bit of a caricature - but not the usual genre caricature. They are not particularly noble, not particularly sypathetic, and the kind of people who, if you met them in real life, would bore you to tears or cause you to vent about how the country (wherever it might be) is full of people whose definition of "different" is that strange newspaper in the next town over. To these people, China might be on another planet.
His characters are not people who question life. They are not great philosophers. They don't have moral dilemnas. They know what's wrong, they know what's right, and they see no need to modify these views, even if the world is changing around them.
In short, both heroes, villains and victims (this is a man who writes horror stories, remember) are characters who most of the population can see themselves reflected in. And the bad characters are that nosy old codger down the street or the waitress at the truck stop, that tramp.
And while this might cause people who are more interested in intellectual or philosophical pursuits to cringe a little (I read King mainly to understand why he does so well - call it research if you want. I certainly don't enjoy his work. My guilty pleasure seems to be Sidney Sheldon!) I think it is here that King's genius lies.
Yes, I said genius. This man does what he sets out to do extremely well. In The Dead Zone, for example, he works details of everyday life into his plot, not in a general way, but very specifically, with names of political figures as well as brand names for products. It's obvious if you have a bit of a critical mind, but casual readers will never notice it - and King's are the most casual of readers. But as I've said before, anything that makes the Wal-Masses pick up a book is good news in my opinion.
So, not something that I'll ever enjoy reading, but very educational overall. I'm glad I read this one (the book isn't bad, BTW, but other writers will be distracted by this kind of thing, same as I was).
So, any Stephen King moments among my flisters? Or any comments on other best-sellers who need to be understood?
Writing: put 500 extra words into The Malakiad on Friday. Not ideal, but not bad.
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