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Post by prufrock21 on Aug 23, 2019 22:35:53 GMT
This thread appeared in SKMB and I thought we could also discuss it here. The title is When Stephen King goes too far. By too far, the member gives some examples, such as
Carrie White killing everyone at her high school prom.
The question is, how far can or should an author go? My take is, I'm willing to trust the author, so pretty much anything goes.
What say you?
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Post by spideyman on Aug 24, 2019 19:47:20 GMT
This thread appeared in SKMB and I thought we could also discuss it here. The title is When Stephen King goes too far. By too far, the member gives some examples, such as
Carrie White killing everyone at her high school prom.
The question is, how far can or should an author go? My take is, I'm willing to trust the author, so pretty much anything goes.
What say you?
If SK felt Carrie was in such a rage, then yes, she well might have killed all at her prom. Only an author knows where he'll take a character. And with SK, he himself has said they often "speak to him", and that is what he writes. He feels his characters.
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Post by wolf on Aug 25, 2019 14:50:09 GMT
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Post by wolf on Aug 26, 2019 14:37:02 GMT
This thread appeared in SKMB and I thought we could also discuss it here. The title is When Stephen King goes too far. By too far, the member gives some examples, such as
Carrie White killing everyone at her high school prom.
The question is, how far can or should an author go? My take is, I'm willing to trust the author, so pretty much anything goes.
What say you? 
Mr. King sometimes writes things that are a little hard to read, that I am sure is often somewhat hard for him to write.
I didn't find Carrie's 'snap moment' particularly appalling or disturbing, considering how she had been treated all her life. It fit the story.
I wouldn't say he ever goes too far, the genre is horror and the man does deliver.
I think the hardest things for me to have read was the particular type of child abuse
(understatement there)
that we saw in "The Tommy Knockers" and "The Library Policeman", as well as the description of Pop Merrills little private photo collection ("...the bleary eyed woman engaging in.....") in "The Sundog". I believe that is the correct story that mentions Pop and his shop.
It's that type of horrific events that really hits home and tends to disturb. It's what we often see in the news in real life.
It's like this, I can watch gory movies all the time and it doesn't really bother me. It's when I see dramas involving realistic surgeries and other medical procedures, that is what bugs me, and makes me wince a little bit.
I don't think Mr. King goes too far. He writes what's necessary and does it all in good taste.
He doesn't write things simply for extreme shock value.
Now Clive Barker? He has gone REALLY far. I think.
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Post by prufrock21 on Aug 27, 2019 22:46:23 GMT
Wolf buddy, I agree with most of what you say except for Mr. King writing things for extreme shock value. Actually he does that and does it very well. It's what he calls the gross-out. If he can't get you with literary style (The Last Gunslinger), multiple characters point of view (The Stand), compelling story line (Joyland), historical speculation (11-22-63), vampires, werewolves and other fearful creatures of the night, then he'll get you where you'll feel it the most: the gut and the stomach. I believe early on he promised himself he wouldn't apologize for anything he wrote, and, as things have worked out, he was right.
Barker, on the other hand, can write equally as gross, but his prose is more literary. And the stories, gross as they are, are compelling.
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Post by prufrock21 on Aug 27, 2019 22:46:52 GMT
Wolf buddy, I agree with most of what you say except for Mr. King writing things for extreme shock value. Actually he does that and does it very well. It's what he calls the gross-out. If he can't get you with literary style (The Last Gunslinger), multiple characters point of view (The Stand), compelling story line (Joyland), historical speculation (11-22-63), vampires, werewolves and other fearful creatures of the night, then he'll get you where you'll feel it the most: the gut and the stomach. I believe early on he promised himself he wouldn't apologize for anything he wrote, and, as things have worked out, he was right.
Barker, on the other hand, can write equally as gross, but his prose is more literary. And the stories, gross as they are, are compelling. |
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Post by wolf on Aug 27, 2019 23:25:55 GMT
Wolf buddy, I agree with most of what you say except for Mr. King writing things for extreme shock value. Actually he does that and does it very well. It's what he calls the gross-out. If he can't get you with literary style (The Last Gunslinger), multiple characters point of view (The Stand), compelling story line (Joyland), historical speculation (11-22-63), vampires, werewolves and other fearful creatures of the night, then he'll get you where you'll feel it the most: the gut and the stomach. I believe early on he promised himself he wouldn't apologize for anything he wrote, and, as things have worked out, he was right.
Barker, on the other hand, can write equally as gross, but his prose is more literary. And the stories, gross as they are, are compelling.
I'm not disagreeing or arguing with you on any of this.
I just know how I feel about King's work compared to Barker's.
Barker is a fine, very talented, captivating and gripping writer. But the man has written some stories that have totally repulsed me, and I didn't even bother soldiering through them and finishing. Also (...and I really don't like to put the man down...) "Weave World" bored me so much I gave it away to a friend before I got halfway through.
And I DID keep trying to pick it up time and time again.
King's work ( that I have read thus far ) hasn't caused me to react that way.
I must say that "Candy Man" was one of the very best stories I ever read, even though it contained one of the most horrific scenes imaginable.
Keep posting your interesting posts prufrock. Liking it. |
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Post by prufrock21 on Aug 28, 2019 19:46:53 GMT
Barker is so talented he no longer needs to prove himself. Weaveworld I also didn't finish because I lost interest. As comparison, the only King book I've never finished is Hearts in Atlantis. Consider reading Barker's Cabal and the Books of Blood. I find that both for King as well as Barker, their early work is the best.
King has written one of the greatest short stories in contemporary horror. It's titled "The Man in the Black Suit."
Well worth your time, if you haven't read it. Also, as long as I'm in "greatest short story" mode, have you read
Richard Matheson's "Graveyard Shift." It's brilliant, and wickedly disturbing.
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Post by wolf on Aug 28, 2019 21:32:19 GMT
Barker is so talented he no longer needs to prove himself. Weaveworld I also didn't finish because I lost interest. As comparison, the only King book I've never finished is Hearts in Atlantis. Consider reading Barker's Cabal and the Books of Blood. I find that both for King as well as Barker, their early work is the best. King has written one of the greatest short stories in contemporary horror. It's titled "The Man in the Black Suit." Well worth your time, if you haven't read it. Also, as long as I'm in "greatest short story" mode, have you read Richard Matheson's "Graveyard Shift." It's brilliant, and wickedly disturbing.
Have read the Books of Blood, for the most part.
Need to get another copy of that. ( I lost a lot of my collection.... long story.)
Never got my hands on Cabal, but will put it on the list too. Thank you for the recommendations.
I have read Barker's: "The Damnation Game" , I REALLY enjoyed that book!
Read it? If not, READ it! I think you might like it.
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Post by prufrock21 on Aug 29, 2019 20:50:17 GMT
Haven't read Damnation Game, but will. Thanks.
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Post by Deleted on Jul 7, 2020 2:06:55 GMT
I dont think King is going too far. The one incident i remember that has been most discussed is the sex scene in IT between Beverly and the rest of the kids. That made many cringe and cry out that he had crossed a line too much but i felt it was motivated by the situation they were in and the friendship they shared.
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Post by His Majesty on Jul 9, 2020 17:18:41 GMT
IMO, if King were to say, "Gee, I'd better not write this,. it might upset some readers", then he's not being true to the story.
If someone wants safe reading, well, there's always the Hardy Boys mysteries. snicker
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Post by Steffen on Nov 8, 2020 12:47:18 GMT
There's no such thing as "going too far" when it comes to King or Barker. The day either of them decide not to do something because they think it's going too far, they won't be the writers whose works I've loved since I first discovered them in the mid-Eighties.
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Post by Deviancy on Dec 13, 2020 4:07:04 GMT
There's no such thing as "going too far" when it comes to King or Barker. The day either of them decide not to do something because they think it's going too far, they won't be the writers whose works I've loved since I first discovered them in the mid-Eighties. As much as I like IT, Doctor Sleep, the Shining, and other stories he's written, I find a lot of it to be spooky but everything King does is essential to putting the story across, I've never found his work to use graphic horror just for kicks, it always seems to add to the character or scene. Yes, Carrie killed everyone but it was hard to see it as overkill since she just snapped. The interesting thing about her snapping and unleashing powers that she did not realize were as powerful as they were until she had snapped is that the one doctor/scientist in Firestarter hinted at Charley not realizing her true powers and accidentally one day unleashing them. And speaking of Firestarter, he could have been far more graphic describing the way people died by being burned her by her but he really didn't and we're talking about King, the man will into great detail describing the texture of a wall or a lawn, I remember two full pages of just the character going on about the scenery in Salem's Lot. |
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Post by hilllover36 on Apr 5, 2021 0:28:03 GMT
This thread appeared in SKMB and I thought we could also discuss it here. The title is When Stephen King goes too far. By too far, the member gives some examples, such as
Carrie White killing everyone at her high school prom.
The question is, how far can or should an author go? My take is, I'm willing to trust the author, so pretty much anything goes.
What say you?
Mr. King sometimes writes things that are a little hard to read, that I am sure is often somewhat hard for him to write.
I didn't find Carrie's 'snap moment' particularly appalling or disturbing, considering how she had been treated all her life. It fit the story.
I wouldn't say he ever goes too far, the genre is horror and the man does deliver.
I think the hardest things for me to have read was the particular type of child abuse
(understatement there)
that we saw in "The Tommy Knockers" and "The Library Policeman", as well as the description of Pop Merrills little private photo collection ("...the bleary eyed woman engaging in.....") in "The Sundog". I believe that is the correct story that mentions Pop and his shop.
It's that type of horrific events that really hits home and tends to disturb. It's what we often see in the news in real life.
It's like this, I can watch gory movies all the time and it doesn't really bother me. It's when I see dramas involving realistic surgeries and other medical procedures, that is what bugs me, and makes me wince a little bit.
I don't think Mr. King goes too far. He writes what's necessary and does it all in good taste.
He doesn't write things simply for extreme shock value.
Now Clive Barker? He has gone REALLY far. I think.
I agree but king could cut out mentioning that a character could not go out with her boyfriend BecUse she had her period or menstruated or something. That seems a bit oddish. But oh well |
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Post by wolf on Apr 5, 2021 2:06:20 GMT
"I Trust the Author." like you said prufrock.
Mr. King sometimes writes things that are a little hard to read, that I am sure is often somewhat hard for him to write.
I didn't find Carrie's 'snap moment' particularly appalling or disturbing, considering how she had been treated all her life. It fit the story.
I wouldn't say he ever goes too far, the genre is horror and the man does deliver.
I think the hardest things for me to have read was the particular type of child abuse
(understatement there)
that we saw in "The Tommy Knockers" and "The Library Policeman", as well as the description of Pop Merrills little private photo collection ("...the bleary eyed woman engaging in.....") in "The Sundog". I believe that is the correct story that mentions Pop and his shop.
It's that type of horrific events that really hits home and tends to disturb. It's what we often see in the news in real life.
It's like this, I can watch gory movies all the time and it doesn't really bother me. It's when I see dramas involving realistic surgeries and other medical procedures, that is what bugs me, and makes me wince a little bit.
I don't think Mr. King goes too far. He writes what's necessary and does it all in good taste.
He doesn't write things simply for extreme shock value.
Now Clive Barker? He has gone REALLY far. I think.
I agree but king could cut out mentioning that a character could not go out with her boyfriend BecUse she had her period or menstruated or something. That seems a bit oddish. But oh well
When you quote someone, put your cursor down below the line/box their quote is in, and click.
Then begin writing.
You can see it where I just moved your comment to. 🙂 |
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