Serious critics and specialists in literature for a long time did not recognize the merits of King. They considered him to be a popular but second-rate fiction writer, whose works can only please the bored passengers of subway trains and airplanes. Stephen King’s first novel was released back in 1974, but since then his books never seem to have left the bestseller lists. King’s work is so deep, extensive and difficult that it would be incorrect to reduce it to short elementary definitions that clearly indicate genre affiliation. Therefore, we invite you to view a list of his best books here https://www.bestadvisor.com/stephen-king-books, and in the meantime, we will describe the reasons why it is necessary to read and analyze his literary work.
King Makes the Reader Develop the Right Values
Of course, he does this by avoiding direct and obsessive calls for morality. Probably, this idea will seem strange to all parents who hide the books of the “king of horrors” from the children, but King will rather teach the child good things than bad things. Having got through the terrible and often vile scenes, the reader always comes to simple and therefore eternal truths about the all-conquering power of kindness, love, friendship. For example, a teenager who read “Carrie” is unlikely to scoff at weak peers, as the heroes of the book did.
King Skillfully Relates the Horror and Plausibility
In a world filled with fear, writing really creepy is a certain skill. When we watch a movie, long-thought-out “screamers” work there – dramatic changes in the frame, screams, disturbing sounds and expensive special effects. There is no such thing in books.
The most frightening thing about King’s books are not killers, ghosts and monsters, but people themselves. And in “It”, “Cemetery of Pets”, “Karrie”, and in other books, the horror is achieved by displaying very real things: human cruelty and stupidity, envy and madness. And everything else is just a metaphor. None of the modern writers can cope with the creation of such an atmosphere better than King. Let’s think logically: hundreds of books about killers, ghosts, infiltrating demons, vampires and similar horror appear on the market every year. But they do not become successful, popular and in demand. Only King’s books fall into people’s hearts.
King Has Something to Tell Children and Teens
Stephen King suffered from poverty, alcoholism, drug addiction, creative failures and crazy fans. When he talks about all this in his books, he knows what he is talking about. King’s experience will be useful to all, and especially to young people. Even if any horrors in his works usually find a human (or not quite) incarnation, they are not always worth taking literally. Although maybe all these frightening metaphors of various threats, addictions and weaknesses in animate form impress the reader only more strongly.
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