Stephen King is one of those guys whom many critics, snobbish readers and some writers love to hate. He's certainly had his ups and downs when it comes to his literary output but no one can deny that he's often produced some very good work. Have you ever wondered what his favorite ten books are?
1. The Golden Argsoy – edited by Van H. Campbell & Charles GraysonFrom: The Top Ten (J. Peder Zane, editor)
2. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn – Mark Twain
3. The Satanic Verses – Salman Rushdie
4. McTeague – Frank Norris
5. Lord of the Flies – William Golding
6. Bleak House – Charles Dickens
7. 1984 – George Orwell
8. The Raj Quartet – Paul Scott
9. Light in August – William Faulkner
10. Blood Meridian – Cormac McCarthy
I've read a few Stephen King books. Love him or hate him, I think he has some pretty good taste in books. It is an interesting selection for a writer of horror stories.
ReplyDeleteI like a lot of King's work, but I find some of it very self indulgent.
ReplyDeleteHaving said that, I really enjoyed "The Stand" "Christine" "Salem's Lot" and others...pure enjoyable escapism.
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2. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn – Mark Twain
5. Lord of the Flies – William Golding
6. Bleak House – Charles Dickens
7. 1984 – George Orwell
8. The Raj Quartet – Paul Scott
The books above are the only books on the list I have read. I tried "Satanic Verses" but gave up after about 50 pages.
So many books so little time to read them. If we make it to heaven I sure hope there is a good library up there because I need eternity to read all the books on my list :)
Danielle, I agree that it's an interesting list for an author who is perceived to be a "horror" writer. I think that classification bothers King sometimes because he seems to have a little bit of a chip on his shoulder about the lack of respect that he seems to get from his peers.
ReplyDeleteNick, I've read those same ones plus Light in August and Blood Meridian. Like you, I tried Satanic Verses (and still have a copy on the shelves) but I lost interest in it pretty quickly. Of King's work, I most enjoy his novellas and short stories, but I still remember how excited I was when I read Salem's Lot cold, not having heard of Stephen King before I picked that one when it was first released in paperback. Scary stuff.
Some of these were surprises. King likes Faulkner? Others were not, especially Bleak House. His Black House was inspired by that wasn't it? I was surprise not to see Clive Barker on his list, as I remember his praising up his work (and laying the hate down on John Saul while he was at it!)
ReplyDeleteI have a bit of a soft spot for King. I admit, just as Metallica got me into music, King got me into literature. I still read occasional King books even though my tastes have changed dramatically.
John, I've read most of what King has written, the biggest exceptions being his "gunslinger" series (I think that's what it's called)and one or two of his recent books. He was certainly a trend setter in his day and probably saved a lot of book stores when they needed a big best seller to get folks in the door.
ReplyDeleteI don't read him much at all nowadays but I appreciate him for pretty much jump-starting that whole horror genre that was pretty dead, from what I recall, before King came along.