Issues with King's writing *please mark spoilers

[Brice]

The forshadowing "here's what's gonna' happen" thing goes back even to his earliest stuff as I recall. I think it just goes along with a king story.

[Merlin1958]

The forshadowing "here's what's gonna' happen" thing goes back even to his earliest stuff as I recall. I think it just goes along with a king story.

I agree, I always thought that King did that rather well!! Not one of my beef's

[pixiedark76]

I don't like it when he gets you to like a character and you get through the whole book with the character and then the character simply dies.
Like in Duma Key

Spoiler:

when at the end of the book it is very casually mentioned the Wireman died of a heart attack two months later! After we went through Wireman having his "brain" condition healed by Edgar and then Edgar and Wireman beating the ghosts.

then again in Dark Tower Seven when

Spoiler:

Susan tells Roland that Sheemie died of an infected foot. The news was just mentioned in passing like the characters were talking about the weather.

Does Stephen King just suddenly get an idea to just kill off a character without showing that he even gives a care?

[Merlin1958]

I don't like it when he gets you to like a character and you get through the whole book with the character and then the character simply dies.
Like in Duma Key

Spoiler:

when at the end of the book it is very casually mentioned the Wireman died of a heart attack two months later! After we went through Wireman having his "brain" condition healed by Edgar and then Edgar and Wireman beating the ghosts.

then again in Dark Tower Seven when

Spoiler:

Susan tells Roland that Sheemie died of an infected foot. The news was just mentioned in passing like the characters were talking about the weather.

Does Stephen King just suddenly get an idea to just kill off a character without showing that he even gives a care?

I sympathize with what you're saying, but to me that aspects adds a sort of "realism" to the stories that I generally like. However, not always!!! Then "King" is King!!! LOL LOL

[Jean]

The forshadowing "here's what's gonna' happen" thing goes back even to his earliest stuff as I recall. I think it just goes along with a king story.

I agree, I always thought that King did that rather well!! Not one of my beef's

ditto bears

[LadyHitchhiker]

I don't like that he makes you get attached to animals and then kills THEM off either. I guess that would fall under the category of characters but some people wouldn't say so.

[Merlin1958]

I don't like that he makes you get attached to animals and then kills THEM off either. I guess that would fall under the category of characters but some people wouldn't say so.

But "Cujo" had to go in the end, right? LOL

[BillyxRansom]

great idea for a thread

I have a lot of complaints, mainly regarding King's writing style, which - unlike the story - I often find annoying, cliched, overusing the same devices etc. What Erin said, too.

This. Times infinity. To the power of infinity.

[Merlin1958]

great idea for a thread

I have a lot of complaints, mainly regarding King's writing style, which - unlike the story - I often find annoying, cliched, overusing the same devices etc. What Erin said, too.

This. Times infinity. To the power of infinity.

That's kinda harsh for a "Fan", no?

[BillyxRansom]

great idea for a thread

I have a lot of complaints, mainly regarding King's writing style, which - unlike the story - I often find annoying, cliched, overusing the same devices etc. What Erin said, too.

THIS.

X 10,000.

[grobblewobble]

I find it a bit annoying when he writes something like "And that was that last time he saw her (or him)."

I actually agree, not that it's big beef for me, but this device is just a tad overused imho. Can spoil the surprise sometimes.

In part V, I didn't like SK referring to himself in his book, felt like a bad joke, although again just a minor annoyance.

And I haven't yet reached part VII but I fully expect an anti-climax at the end of the road. Imo the problem is that the tower is supposed to be "infinitely important", as the one thing that ties together all universes, so he is raising expectations there that are hard to fullfill.

For all the criticism I still do admire him.

[Merlin1958]

great thread idea, Merlin. You're alright, even if you do like the yankees.

However, the Yanks do rule!!!!! No Doubt, even if you're a "hater". LOL LOL 27 Championships!!!! He does tend to reinvest in the franchise!!!

[Garrell]

I have always liked that no one is safe in his stories...I hate knowing that the main/good guy or bad is gonna be there at the end. You know what I mean...you feel it sometimes in stories before the first chapter is done.

[josiahmorgan11]

I don't really have many, but I found the writing style in Dolores Claiborne ineffective and annoying, I couldn't finish Black House, and I HATE it when he references himself and his own works as books or movies. e.g. "He hadn't been scared of monster cars since he saw that movie "Christine" as a kid."

That was in Mile 81

[josiahmorgan11]

I don't really have many, but I found the writing style in Dolores Claiborne ineffective and annoying, I couldn't finish Black House, and I HATE it when he references himself and his own works as books or movies. e.g. "He hadn't been scared of monster cars since he saw that movie "Christine" as a kid."

That was in Mile 81

"OH, HEEEEELLLLL NOO"-smosh

[pathoftheturtle]

I have always liked that no one is safe in his stories...I hate knowing that the main/good guy or bad is gonna be there at the end. You know what I mean...you feel it sometimes in stories before the first chapter is done.

Yeah, like I felt that pretty sure and pretty early in Cujo the movie.

[mystima]

I didn't like what he did with the character of Alice Maxwell in Cell.

Spoiler:

Why did she have to be killed off? She was their glue, the person that kept them grounded even though she drove Clayton Riddell mad with the shoe squeezing.

[WeDealInLead]

I think foreshadowing works well half the time. It set that solemn tone of The Dead Zone fairly early on. You just simply know Johnny will end up being a tragic character and in the end, you (or at least I) are still an emotional wreck when the book's done.

My biggest issue with King was how rushed DT 7 was. Not just the action, but the writting. It's not as conscise as earlier books.

[Silenoz]

I completely agree with the issues surrounding DT7, especially with regards to Flagg, the Crimson King, and the general pacing (as long as it is, it still does feel rushed to me).

I think some of my main issues with DT7 are also reflected in 11-22-63.

Spoiler:

As much as I loved the book, I think King shies away from the Card men too much, he scarcely explains anything about them. I think a part of this is a general reluctance on his part to delve too deeply into the mythologies of his own worlds, even, and perhaps especially, in the Dark Tower novels.

[mtdman]

I'm sure this won't be a popular comment, but whatever. My biggest pet peeve about King's writing is when he injects his own political viewpoints into his works. His early stuff didn't have so much of that, but as he grew older more and more of it crept in. Whether it was anti-nuclear in Tommynockers, or his pro-abortion views in Insomnia, or pro-Gary Hart in DT, or anti-gun in Cell. I get it, you have liberal views and support democrats. That's your prerogative. But dragging stuff like that into the stories is distracting, whether I agree with them or not. Just tell a good story and leave the politics out of it.

I really couldn't get into Insomnia because of all the pro-abortion stuff. IMO it wasn't necessary to tell that story and King's bias comes through pretty clear.

[Jean]

interesting - to me Insomnia did not sound pro-abortion at all. The feminists as he describes them looked to me totally disgusting, and one of the secondary characters (a Catholic like me) delivered one of the best speculations on the dubiousness of the issue that ever read.

[Cook]

I didn't care for him writing himself into the dark tower story, it felt really weird to me.
Hard to explain, but I felt sort of embarrassed for him.... It's probably just me.

I don't really have many, but I found the writing style in Dolores Claiborne ineffective and annoying, I couldn't finish Black House, and I HATE it when he references himself and his own works as books or movies. e.g. "He hadn't been scared of monster cars since he saw that movie "Christine" as a kid."

That was in Mile 81

[Jean]

I didn't care for him writing himself into the dark tower story, it felt really weird to me.
Hard to explain, but I felt sort of embarrassed for him.... It's probably just me.

Probably. Although in a number of threads, particularly this one, people express a similar opinion for pages and pages

[Cook]

Sorry, never been to this thread.
Thanks for the update.

I didn't care for him writing himself into the dark tower story, it felt really weird to me.
Hard to explain, but I felt sort of embarrassed for him.... It's probably just me.

Probably. Although in a number of threads, particularly this one, people express a similar opinion for pages and pages

[Jean]

I really wish you would post some thoughts there too. I would love them old discussion threads to get a new life