Stephen King on J.D. Salinger

[Bremen Cole]

I think discussing bands and authors is a bit like discussing politics and religion. The possibility exist that there might be a wee bit of disagreement.

[WT Sharpe]

Deleted (Post got doubled--see following post.)

[WT Sharpe]

Originally Posted by BillSmithBooks

Wow...such unreasonable venom directed towards Stephen King.

Stephen King is a regular columnist for EW and so it was appropriate for him to comment on the passing of a literary legend.

The comparison to Britney Spears is quite demeaning...given the dark tone of his work and his considerable commercial and literary recognition, perhaps calling him Trent Reznor would have been more appropriate. You may not like Trent, but he has talent.

My take on it is that Mr. King was trying to express that it was a shame to lose such a distinctive voice. He was acknowledging that it was a shame that someone who had made such a mark on culture with such a small body of work had not chosen to share more of his work with the world (since there are suggestions that he did quite possibly continue to write after he withdrew from publishing).

King was also tipping his hat towards other authors whom we lost far younger, with a smaller body of work but who seemed destined for a tremendous legacy had we not lost them so young.

Not that Stephen King needs to be defended. He is one of the best-selling authors of the 20th and 21st centuries.

And as everyone knows, Entertainment Weekly is right up there with The New York Review of Books as a standard of intelligent journalistic commentary.

[Bremen Cole]

Originally Posted by WT Sharpe

And as everyone knows, Entertainment Weekly is right up there with The New York Review of Books as a standard of intelligent journalistic commentary.

lol..... but I would imagine more widely read in pop culture.

King is a fine author, I have read several of his books and while not a fan, like them okay. (of course I'm a fan of Rush and Trent, so what would I know... ) It's hard to compare any author to one of the classics. To the mainstream culture Salinger would be considered a "one hit wonder" compared to the string of hits by Mr. King. Really two different things and two different worlds.

[zacheryjensen]

Originally Posted by Bremen Cole

lol..... but I would imagine more widely read in pop culture.

King is a fine author, I have read several of his books and while not a fan, like them okay. (of course I'm a fan of Rush and Trent, so what would I know... ) It's hard to compare any author to one of the classics. To the mainstream culture Salinger would be considered a "one hit wonder" compared to the string of hits by Mr. King. Really two different things and two different worlds.

Hey then you should appreciate the sarcastic comedy of calling Rush music "formulaic" considering it's widely termed "math rock!"