I guess I'm not the only one who sees politics in King's novels. I may (or may not) agree with his views, but I really liked ELEVATION, and I found it a nice tribute to Richard Matheson, whose novels, etc. I also like A LOT.
I also liked SLEEPING BEAUTIES, which I just read a short time ago. In fact, I almost couldn't put it down, and it's not because I spilled Crazy Glue on my fingers either.
EDIT - I do agree that LISEY'S STORY (to me) is his worst book. I can't sugarcoat it, I absolutely hated it.
I'm sure if there is intelligent life somewhere out there in the universe, they are wise enough to stay away from us.
And the people bowed and prayed, to the cell phone god they made...
Lisey’s Story was great.
You can't be aloof until you advertise.
I never picked up on the politics in UTD, but I REALLY like that book. I was caught up in the story, although I gave up on the TV series after the 3rd season. Can't win 'em all, I guess.
I just didn't like the characters in LISEY'S STORY. Especially Lisey and her husband. All the made up expressions really irritated me and I was nauseated when she ate Hamburger Helper, or whatever it was. BUT - since the book really affected me emotionally the way it did it succeeded 100% on that level.
I also liked THE REGULATORS, although I can't recall much about it, which always makes re-reads more enjoyable.
The King books I liked the least (which is a polite way of saying I didn't like them) are THE GIRL WHO LOVED TOM GORDON, THE COLORADO KID, THE SONG OF SUSANNAH and THE DARK TOWER. Oh yeah, didn't much care for FROM A BUICK 8 either.
I'm sure if there is intelligent life somewhere out there in the universe, they are wise enough to stay away from us.
And the people bowed and prayed, to the cell phone god they made...
I have an ELEVATION UK Review Copy for sale with the Review Letter from the Publisher.
If anyone is interested?
I won't comment on the politics in other works, but I also quite like Lisey's Story. Being married to a woman whose first language is not English, we have a private language full of words borrowed from - or spawned from the unnatural coupling of - both languages, which only we and our son understand. King captured that perfectly in this novel.
HBJ
“If you don't know what you want," the doorman said, "you end up with a lot you don't.”
― Chuck Palahniuk, Fight Club
Looking for SubPress Lettered::
Angel's Game and Prisoner of Heaven (Zafon)
Ilium (Simmons)
Trump is already trying to stop transgender people from serving in the military for starters.
Anyways IMO the politics in Elevation compared to UTD and Sleeping Beauties were mild beyond "Gay people are people too" which is inoffensive as you can get. It's the King equivalent of a Hallmark movie.
If people are bothered by something as soft as this I wonder how they felt about the gay hate crime chapter in "It" or all the commentary on racism with Mike and Henry.
A hound will die for you, but never lie to you. And he'll look you straight in the face.
My Collection
You pointed out a key difference between It and Elevation. It is an incredible book. And the politics fit not only the time of the story but also don’t shove some sort of agenda in your face. I understand king has every right to use politics in his book but when he shoves it in your face it’s not fun as a reader and it’s not fun as a member of the group that supposedly has all this hate and animosity towards members of the LGBTQ community. Just because some extreme right wingers say stupid shit doesn’t mean all conservatives are extremists which is what mainstream media and some liberals in general would have you believe.
Not to make this too much an overtly political discussion, but I read and enjoyed Elevation and at no point did I believe that King was painting "All conservatives as extremists". He simply told a story that contained some bigoted people, this isn't new for King nor is it an attack on Trump. Outside of the context of the story, those that follow King's social media clearly know his stance on the current POTUS, but I think you're conflating the two if you believe Elevation is overtly attacking Trump, because it isn't.
It's funny, if King happens to write about a white man who turns out to be a serial killer, there's no backlash from his readership claiming "King is painting all white men as Serial Killers!", because that isn't what he's doing, he's simply telling a story wherein a character happens to be white and a serial killer - But conversely if his story contains a visibly minority, or overtly bigoted characters, a portion of the same readership infer their own impression on what those characters represent, feel personally attacked, and are compelled to respond with; "THIS IS TOO POLITICAL, STOP CRAMMING IT DOWN OUR THROATS!" which I find patently absurd.
Why can't it simply be a story that includes some gay people, and some people who discriminate against them as a basis for a plot device?
I really need to read Elevation.
You can't be aloof until you advertise.
Indeed. It's fantastic, in line with his more literary, human interest yarns with a supernatural element to it.
I thought Liseys was as bad as a Koontz book..... but whatever floats your boat