Often the interesting thing abouta novel is the main characters occupation. In Grapes of Warth they were farmers. In a John Grisham novel, they are usually lawyers. I'm not sure how people got money in a Dicken's novel! Obviously Arthur Conan Doyle books are about a detective. Ken Follett books are a little bit of everything; priests, monks, peasants, pilots and so on.
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But Stephen King often falls back on one occupation: The writer. Of late he has tried to ofer us the painter, or comic book writer (Cell and Duma Key). Here's a quick, off the top of my head list of King books with a writer at the center:
1. Salem's Lot.
2. The Shining
3. The Body
4. IT
5. Misery
6. The Tommyknockers
7. The Dark Half
8. Desperation
9. Bag of Bones
10. The Dark Tower.
Of course, King is the author found in the Dark Tower.
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Notice that as King got more successful, for the most part, so did the writers in his books. Until they arrived at. . . King himself! (Surely unplanned) But in Salem's Lot, Ben is not exactly a big time bestseller. In The Shining, it's more Jack's hobby. Gordy is a writer in The Body, and in IT Bill is pretty successful. Then we come to a string of novels about authors: Misery, Tommyknockers and The Darkhalf -- but it's not until Desperation that we meet the crazy successful mega bestseller.
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I find myself wondering if this is a strength or a weakness of King's. Does relate that he's out of touch with the guy who works at Taco Bell? Does anything scary every happen to plumbers? Electricians must get spooked every now and then, right? There was, once, allegedly, a teenage grave digger -- but I don't think copies of that exist.
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Is it that King loves his work and wants to give the reader a peak inside --or could it be that a writer is a safe starting place for him.
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A few notable exceptions: I don't remember a writer in The Stand. That's significant since the cast was so huge. I guess writers weren't immune to the super flu. Pet Sematary is about a doctor. That's interesting because it was such a personal novel for King. Also don't remember one in Needful Things. Again, interesting because it has a huge cast of characters. And, Castle Rock had put out it's fair shae of authors. The Green Mile is about prison guards, and Cell comes close to an author with the comic book thing.
..
But Stephen King often falls back on one occupation: The writer. Of late he has tried to ofer us the painter, or comic book writer (Cell and Duma Key). Here's a quick, off the top of my head list of King books with a writer at the center:
1. Salem's Lot.
2. The Shining
3. The Body
4. IT
5. Misery
6. The Tommyknockers
7. The Dark Half
8. Desperation
9. Bag of Bones
10. The Dark Tower.
Of course, King is the author found in the Dark Tower.
.
Notice that as King got more successful, for the most part, so did the writers in his books. Until they arrived at. . . King himself! (Surely unplanned) But in Salem's Lot, Ben is not exactly a big time bestseller. In The Shining, it's more Jack's hobby. Gordy is a writer in The Body, and in IT Bill is pretty successful. Then we come to a string of novels about authors: Misery, Tommyknockers and The Darkhalf -- but it's not until Desperation that we meet the crazy successful mega bestseller.
.
I find myself wondering if this is a strength or a weakness of King's. Does relate that he's out of touch with the guy who works at Taco Bell? Does anything scary every happen to plumbers? Electricians must get spooked every now and then, right? There was, once, allegedly, a teenage grave digger -- but I don't think copies of that exist.
.
Is it that King loves his work and wants to give the reader a peak inside --or could it be that a writer is a safe starting place for him.
.
A few notable exceptions: I don't remember a writer in The Stand. That's significant since the cast was so huge. I guess writers weren't immune to the super flu. Pet Sematary is about a doctor. That's interesting because it was such a personal novel for King. Also don't remember one in Needful Things. Again, interesting because it has a huge cast of characters. And, Castle Rock had put out it's fair shae of authors. The Green Mile is about prison guards, and Cell comes close to an author with the comic book thing.
I guess what I'm saying is that in some of my favorite novels, King passed up the temptation to use a writer as the main character.
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Wealth also seems to be an issue. I can't think of many stories where the chracters are really poor. Money seems to be an issue King would rather not deal with -- so make the main character a successful writer! For one period as my wife and I read King books in audio form, we would look at each other with each book and say, "Another writer!"
.
Wealth also seems to be an issue. I can't think of many stories where the chracters are really poor. Money seems to be an issue King would rather not deal with -- so make the main character a successful writer! For one period as my wife and I read King books in audio form, we would look at each other with each book and say, "Another writer!"
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