4 ms·

That's why Stephen King is so highly regarded. He has a short story about a kid's first day at college, he goes up to his room with a sniper rifle and starts s

That's why Stephen King is so highly regarded. He has a short story about a kid's first day at college, he goes up to his room with a sniper rifle and starts shooting people.

fsckboy 4y ago
But Stephen King is not highly regarded, and in fact he's somewhat bitter about it. I don't have a quote at the ready but he wants to be taken seriously and the elites of literature do not take him seriously. He achieves popularity by writing page turners at an 8th grade reading level because there's a large population who can read them None of his works have been considered for anything like a Pulitzer Prize, National Book Award, Man Booker Prize, PEN award or Nobel Prize for Literature. He has gotten some "lifetime achievement" recognitions, but that's more to use his celebrity to get attention for the organizations that gave them than vice versa. the late Harold Bloom (died recently) is a notable literary scholar, here's what he had to say https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MEPDLFSUPe0 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MEPDLFSUPe0 (listening to Harold Bloom on many other serious topics is quite a treat, this for example https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s2HpDhTIIxs https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s2HpDhTIIxs )
- astura 4y ago
  This is 100% true. Stephen King's writing is extremely popular, but definitely not "highly regarded." His novels are widely considered to be low quality pop fiction by literary critics. This isn't meant dis, selling massive amounts of books makes more money then pleasing literary critics.
- P5fRxh5kUvp2th 4y ago
  I think Orson Scott Card summed it up pretty well. > Let me assure you that King's work most definitely is literature, because it was written to be published and is read with admiration. What Snyder really means is that it is not the literature preferred by the academic-literary elite. Your post drips of some odd dislike for Stephen King. I can't speak to that, but just like many of us don't understand paying millions for a white canvas with 3 lines on it, we also don't understand calling someone who is as obviously talented as Stephen King a hack, or spending the time trying to denigrate him (his awards are purely political, but the awards he hasn't gotten somehow aren't?). Either way I'm out. I think I'll go read The Long Walk again.
  - Bakary 4y ago
    I think it's unfortunate that there is all this mutual venom between the literary and genre fiction worlds. It's about as unnecessary as the cultural animosity between the hard sciences and the humanities. Anti-intellectualism makes some people miss out on what makes literature so compelling, and elitism prevents others from seeing the ideas about life that genre fiction can impart. That's why I love authors who attempt to blend both, such as Kim Stanley Robinson or Ursula K. Le Guin.
    - P5fRxh5kUvp2th 4y ago
      I feel the same way about people who won't read Orson Scott Card because of his religious views (for example). There's just a lot they're missing out on.
      - amanaplanacanal 4y ago
        I can see both sides of this argument. One the one hand, I try to separate the artist from the art. A lot of terrible people have made a lot of great art over the centuries. On the other hand, if someone is actively trying to harm my friends and family, I’m sure as hell not going to support them by giving them money.
  - fsckboy 4y ago
    >What Snyder really means is that it is not the literature preferred by the academic-literary elite yes, just like the academic elite in computer science don't have high regard for BASIC or FORTRAN IV and many here don't have high regard for C. We shouldn't listen to them? We should cling to our FORTRAN pride and seethe with resentment at those who know more than we do? there is substance at the foundation of elitism

That's why Stephen King is so highly regarded. He has a short story about a kid's first day at college, he goes up to his room with a sniper rifle and starts shooting people.

fsckboy 4y ago

But Stephen King is not highly regarded, and in fact he's somewhat bitter about it. I don't have a quote at the ready but he wants to be taken seriously and the elites of literature do not take him seriously. He achieves popularity by writing page turners at an 8th grade reading level because there's a large population who can read them None of his works have been considered for anything like a Pulitzer Prize, National Book Award, Man Booker Prize, PEN award or Nobel Prize for Literature. He has gotten some "lifetime achievement" recognitions, but that's more to use his celebrity to get attention for the organizations that gave them than vice versa. the late Harold Bloom (died recently) is a notable literary scholar, here's what he had to say https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MEPDLFSUPe0 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MEPDLFSUPe0 (listening to Harold Bloom on many other serious topics is quite a treat, this for example https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s2HpDhTIIxs https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s2HpDhTIIxs )

astura 4y ago
This is 100% true. Stephen King's writing is extremely popular, but definitely not "highly regarded." His novels are widely considered to be low quality pop fiction by literary critics. This isn't meant dis, selling massive amounts of books makes more money then pleasing literary critics.
P5fRxh5kUvp2th 4y ago
I think Orson Scott Card summed it up pretty well. > Let me assure you that King's work most definitely is literature, because it was written to be published and is read with admiration. What Snyder really means is that it is not the literature preferred by the academic-literary elite. Your post drips of some odd dislike for Stephen King. I can't speak to that, but just like many of us don't understand paying millions for a white canvas with 3 lines on it, we also don't understand calling someone who is as obviously talented as Stephen King a hack, or spending the time trying to denigrate him (his awards are purely political, but the awards he hasn't gotten somehow aren't?). Either way I'm out. I think I'll go read The Long Walk again.
- Bakary 4y ago
  I think it's unfortunate that there is all this mutual venom between the literary and genre fiction worlds. It's about as unnecessary as the cultural animosity between the hard sciences and the humanities. Anti-intellectualism makes some people miss out on what makes literature so compelling, and elitism prevents others from seeing the ideas about life that genre fiction can impart. That's why I love authors who attempt to blend both, such as Kim Stanley Robinson or Ursula K. Le Guin.
  - P5fRxh5kUvp2th 4y ago
    I feel the same way about people who won't read Orson Scott Card because of his religious views (for example). There's just a lot they're missing out on.
    - amanaplanacanal 4y ago
      I can see both sides of this argument. One the one hand, I try to separate the artist from the art. A lot of terrible people have made a lot of great art over the centuries. On the other hand, if someone is actively trying to harm my friends and family, I’m sure as hell not going to support them by giving them money.
- fsckboy 4y ago
  >What Snyder really means is that it is not the literature preferred by the academic-literary elite yes, just like the academic elite in computer science don't have high regard for BASIC or FORTRAN IV and many here don't have high regard for C. We shouldn't listen to them? We should cling to our FORTRAN pride and seethe with resentment at those who know more than we do? there is substance at the foundation of elitism