Actually the only book I've ever read by Stephen King is his "On Writing." It's a really interesting book & I'd recommend it. He's a wonderful teacher, I think; I thinkt he book grew out of the classroom.
He IS in fact a stylist. It's just that it's a certain style! It's fascinating where he describes "& then I had to make this or that decision: what would happen in a situation like this?" and invariable makes the OPPOSITE structural decision to what I'd have made. He seems to go for blocking off avenues of subtlety, he likes things cut & dried. I guess that's how you build up suspense.
(Of course the tragedy of art, the reason nothing can ever come out the way it was in your head, because every time you solve a technical problem or even have a character say something, you are blocking off all the other potentials (life & Art both finite).) Any piece of writing or any other created object can only be itself: it can't be everything.
Well, this is off the track slightly. I just wanted to say that although he is a crass man, I think King is a stylist.
KEB
|