Literary Criticisms

Stephen King is known for his innovative horror writing and unique twist on already existing horror tropes, but critics still form opinions on his writing technique and storytelling abilities.

Stephen King's IT

One of his books is the 1980’s phenomenon IT, which struck older teens and young adults with an eerie and grotesque ambiance. The book doesn’t focus on a singular scary monster, but a shapeshifting entity that takes the form of already existing fears. The innovative style of IT truly makes the book one of its own. Furthermore, it is different from other books because despite its in-depth writing and length, “is a story told well, and it doesn’t have to be an allegory for socio-anything.” Most fiction writers usually hide metaphors within their writings, but King simply creates a world without social allegories.

Conversely, the book does have its controversies and questionable plot elements. One of the largest problems people will have with the book is its scene that depicts the main characters, all eleven or twelve, traumatized after the encounter of a beast, ultimately leading to having sexual intercourse with the protagonist, Beverly. The scene did not age well, but most believe that it did not perform well in the 80’s either. Although it is deemed grotesque by many critics, King argues that it shows a harsh reality of children experimenting after trauma has been inflicted. Furthermore, King has mentioned that his harsh and controversial writing is a signature to his writing, as it makes it unique, but he has come forward saying that he regrets “the way IT demonizes women.”

Stephen King's Carrie

One of King’s first successful works is Carrie, which took off nearly immediately after writing. Carrie was arguably the kick start to his career, but still leaves King’s writing style vulnerable to criticism. Although King’s descriptive writing intrigues readers in the rhetoric, some that are not immediately interested state that, “I should have flown through as it is just under 250 pages but for some reason, it seemed to take me forever to finish it.” King’s technique is a curse and a blessing, as the description of his scenes can truly paint a beautiful picture, but may bore a reader by taking too long to get to the action. Furthermore, his writing style includes a lot of parentheses and internal asides. Some critics state that the amount of these could be, “at times distracting and frustrating for me as a reader.” It is true that these descriptions can help create an intricate scene, but ultimately hurt the experience of the majority of readers by distracting them from the main focus of the book.

Stephen King's The Shining

Because of its popularity, King’s The Shining is widely criticized and analyzed. The Shining is often praised for its unconventional writing style. This innovative style is seen throughout the book in its dialogue. One famous monologue is “The white rabbit had been on his way to a croquet party… storks for mallets hedgehogs for balls OFF WITH HIS HEAD! OFF WITH HIS HEAD!…Straight through the wicket.” The capitalization and rambling without proper punctuation presents the dialogue as feeling real and intense, which separates it from other novels. King’s writing mirrors that of a poem when writing his dialogue, because every punctuation and capitalization matters. Furthermore, the entire book is accepted as symbolic to many poems by Edgar Allen Poe, especially the phrase, “The Red Death will sway over all,” which explains the poetic technique utilized within the novel.

Stephen King's General Writing

Stephen King’s writing style often takes on ideas of small towns, horror, and in-depth detail in his novels. Unfortunately, his writing style is often used against him by literary critics. Many professional writers and readers criticize King’s writing as, “the shocking process of dumbing down our cultural life.” It is true that King’s novels have sold many millions of copies, but some believe that is the problem; Stephen King tries to write for everyone.

King is often known for being a bestselling author, but not many actually know his writings well enough to grade them. One critic, Harold Bloom, spoke out after King was given the National Book Foundation’s Medal of Distinguished Contribution to American Letters in 2003, “They do little more for humanity than keep the publishing world afloat.” Bloom argues that King’s books are dated, and no longer innovative like they were in the 80’s. King had an amazing start to his literary career, but many argue that people are afraid to criticize him now because he is so well-known. This is why critics say King will not be remembered as a writer, “King will be remembered as a sociological phenomenon.” Nonetheless, critics and fans of King’s work can agree that his novels have positively impacted society by entertaining, inspiring, and frightening the world. Although the opinions are mixed, it is undeniably true that millions of people found Stephen King’s works meaningful in some shape or form.

Sources

Sheppard, Elena, et al. “Where ‘It’ Was: Rereading Stephen King’s ‘It’ on Its 30th Anniversary.” Los Angeles Review of Books, 11 Sept. 2016, lareviewofbooks.org/article/where-it-was-rereading-stephen-kings-it-on-its-30th-anniversary/.

Mendez, Anne. “Review: Carrie by Stephen King.” The Lit Bitch, Anne Mendez, 13 Oct. 2020, thelitbitch.com/2020/10/31/review-carrie-by-stephen-king/.

Tell, Mira. “The Shining – Analysis.” Parchment, Pepper, and Paperbacks, 1 July 2016, parchmentpepperandpaperbacks.wordpress.com/2016/07/01/the-shining-analysis/.

Cowan, Douglas        June E. “Stephen King: Master of Almost All the Genres except ‘Literary.’” Literary Hub, 3 Apr. 2019, lithub.com/stephen-king-master-of-almost-all-the-genres-except-literary/#:~:text=Writing%20in%20the%20Boston%20Globe,concluded%20that%20the%20only%20reason.

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