Sunday, December 27, 2015
Why You Should Read 'Bazaar of Bad Dreams'
Why You Should Read 'Bazaar of Bad Dreams' and Stephen King's Other Recent Work Stephen King published nine books in the last five years, including this month’s collection The Bazaar of Bad Dreams. If you haven’t picked up any, then shame on you: you’re missing out on some killer writing. That level of productivity, while leaving his fans satiated, invites criticism from detractors. Quality not quantity is a fair enough flag to wave, but what if that maxim falls apart when you’re an author capable of both? King’s best work is not behind him. Here’s why you should dig into his newest material.
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4 comments:
Exactly right. For me King's greatest virtue is that he never stops pushing the envelope. There are many hugely successful writers--the late Robert Parker was one--who, once they've found a lucrative formula, stick with it and milk it for all it's worth. They're still entertaining reads, but they don't grow, don't change, and most of all don't challenge the reader. King's efforts don't always work--although in 39 years of reading him I have yet to find one that fails completely--but he is always working on something new, something different, something interesting and something good.
I haven't read anywhere near everything he's done, and I haven't liked a lot of things, but I keep reading one every now and then and finding something I like.
I did read Bazaar of Bad Dreams and liked it more than most other recent King works. I think (as Deb has also said) most of his best work is in shorter length. That said, The Stand remains my favorite.
I like his non-fiction so much more than his fiction. I feel the same way about Joyce Carol Oates, another prolific writer that I connect with better on the non-fiction/essay/review/memoir level than with fiction. King's characters don't act consistently or logically to me--a lot of what they do seems to be to advance the plot rather than the it advancing organically because of what the characters do.
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