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King was my favorite writer growing up. I read "Firestarter" in 6th grade, and then continued working through about 20 or so more of his works until graduation
by sudosteph 8y ago
King was my favorite writer growing up. I read "Firestarter" in 6th grade, and then continued working through about 20 or so more of his works until graduation from HS. I was "that kid", always had my nose buried in a paperback from the library, usually one of his. His works were like familiar friends to me. I could step into nearly any library or bookstore and find myself absorbed into some small town in Maine, or perhaps a more fantastical setting in some cases. Some books I remember better than others, some left me frustrated at the end (looking at you "Cell"), but mostly I just felt like I was a hanger-on, privileged to be hitching a ride into King's imagination. It wasn't just his imagination though, it was his experience as a human that I think I really craved. It sounds sort of funny to say I learned a lot about human nature and society from reading his books (and reading them in the 2000's no less, 20+ years after many of them were written), but I did. His characters were never stupid or shallow or boring just because they were female. His characters had flaws and issues, motivations and fears, and the world around them was not often a nice or sensible place. I can relate to that, and I needed to relate to that growing up.
I don't read his books as often now, but I do love the man and his works for how much they mean to me. I never regretted reading any of them (even ones I may not have finished). I'm glad he doesn't regret writing them either.
Favorite quote from that piece that I think applies to many of us, in any creative field:
> But I also understand that life is short, and that in the end, none of us is prolific. The creative spark dims, and then death puts it out. William Shakespeare, for instance, hasn’t produced a new play for 400 years. That, my friends, is a long dry spell.
- yawz 8y agoI read them when I was around the same age, but a decade earlier than you. They pretty much had the same effect on me. Did you read anybody else at the same period? Koontz, maybe?
- kbenson 8y agoI read a few of each in High school. Koontz was fun but to me felt a bit more targeted for mass appeal (as weird as that feels to say in comparison to King). Then again, for King I was reading stuff like The Stand and The Dark Tower series, which may or may not be indicative of the rest of his work (which I mostly know through the movies made from them)?
- sudosteph 8y agoI recommend checking out one of King's novella or short-story collections for a different perspective. Some of those are actually some of my all time favorites.
- saltycraig 8y ago"Different Seasons" is my favourite collection, and out of the 4 total stories in it, 3 became movies (The Body became Stand By Me, Apt Pupil, and The Shawshank Redemption). Can't recommend this collection highly enough.
- sudosteph 8y agoNever gave Koontz a try. Frank Herbert and Ray Bradbury were my other favorites. I tried a few other "popular" writers (Grisham, Agatha Christie) but thet didn't really make an impact. Do you recommend Koontz?
- saudioger 8y agoI read some Koontz around the same time period, but honestly King had so much work that I didn't find a good reason to continue doing so.
- BurningCycles 8y agoI read King and Koontz during my teens, my two favourite books of each author are 'It' by King and 'Phantoms' by Koontz, I actually read 'It' first and thought Koontz had been inspired by King given how they were quite similar, however I learned later that Koontz Phantoms was published in 1983, while It was published in 1986, so I guess that if anyone was inspired by the other it was King.