By Forris Day JR
I have read several Stephen King books but not enough to say I am any kind of expert on his writing. He is innovative in what he does. He has created some of the best horror writing of all time. Many of his books have been turned into popular movies; “The Shining”, “Carrie”, “Salem’s Lot” among others. Much is said of his writing and books from the 70’s – mid 90’s, but most people are unfamiliar with his more recent work. When I say recent I mean from the past twenty years. Yes the man has been pumping out horror for over 40 years.
Book publisher Rowman & Littlefield has just released an extraordinary hardcover tome that delves deeply into several of King’s lesser known works particularly from 2009 – 2013. It’s called…deep breath…“Stephen King’s Contemporary Classics; Reflections on the Modern Master of Horror”. It is a collection of essays written by various authors and examines books such as Dr. Sleep, Duma Key, The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon, Joyland, Under the Dome and others. The essays are scholarly and thought provoking. Each author takes on the project with a great deal of passion which comes through in their writing.
I am stunned at how in depth these essays dig into the various scenes of the books. The scenes are broken down into their tiniest parts. The characters are analyzed under a microscope. Even the locations are dissected and examined to a point I would have never thought to do. Hey, I’m just a simple guy who reads books, I don’t necessarily look for all the hidden meanings and such.
The book is broken down into three parts. Part one is a collection of essays on 5 of his novels. Fans of the TV show “The Dome” will want to check out essay #3, “There’s No Place Like Dome”. Part two goes inside King’s mind to break down and understand his unique style of horror that his fans have come to love. Part three wraps with some insight into his process. An example is some discussion as to why he wrote under the pseudonym Richard Bachman for a few years even after it was discovered that Bachman was indeed King. Read the book to learn more about this subject.
The book will surely be of interest to fans of King, especially hardcore fans. These essays are not light reading. They will interest people who like to tear a story apart and see how and why it works. The casual reader will probably find reading this a bit heavy. If you must own all things King then you must add this hardcover book to your collection. I dare say even Mr. King will be astonished when he sees how his stories have been inspected, dissected and examined. Who knows, he may even learn a bit about himself and what must be going on inside his mind!
All kidding aside this is an insightful set of essays to read and discuss with your fellow King fans. “Stephen King’s Contemporary Classics” will get you thinking. You may agree or disagree with some of the analyzation, but that is the fun part of reading books, your allowed to open your mind to all the possibilities of what the story is about on the surface and what lies beneath.
Rating: 7.5/10 – A scholarly romp with King
Purchase “Stephen King’s Contemporary Classics”
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