On Feb 16, 2:44 pm, Elko T  wrote:   
   >    And, of course, the annoying presence of the supernatural in almost all of   
   > his works (but it comes with the package, so has to lived with).   
   Actually, I've always been struck by how *few* of King's books are   
   actually horror.  His first published book, "Carrie" had no   
   supernatural elements at all.  Carrie White's abilities were the   
   result of a genetic mutation, not magic.  The book was arguably   
   science fiction.  (The movie was a different matter, but that wasn't   
   King.)  Before he sold "Carrie", King had written several other   
   novels, some of which were eventually revised and published under hsi   
   "Richard Bachman" pseudonym.  "Rage" was about a hostage-taking at a   
   suburban high school.  "The Long Walk" was another SF story set in a   
   dystopian future.   
   Of his first six published novels, only two, "Salem's 'Lot", a   
   concious reworking of the "Dracula" theme, and "The Shinging", King's   
   take on The Bad Place, involve either horror or the supernatural.  Of   
   the first eight or nine complete novels King wrote nearly half were   
   speculative fiction and two, "Rage" and "Cujo", were straight dramatic   
   novels.   
   I like King's stuff, by and large.  "Misery", "Gerald's Game" and   
   "Dolores Claiborne" are all good stories, well told, without a ghost   
   or a vampire or a speck of magic in any of them.   I really enjoyed   
   "Carrie", which reminded me of "The Andromeda Strain" with its   
   documentary interludes and twin timelines, one showing the unfolding   
   events, the other the retrospective investigation.  I think it is one   
   of the most impressive debut novels I've ever read.  King is a story   
   teller first and foremost, and he'll subordinate tone, style and other   
   literary elements to moving the story along when he thinks he needs   
   to, but he's created some very vivid characters and managed some great   
   lines, as well as passages of real beauty.   
   Early on in King's career, Harlan Ellison called his stuff the   
   literary equivalent of a buger and fries from McDonald's.  And he   
   didn't mean it as an insult.  That burger and fries can be pretty   
   tasty and filling, and sometimes it is just the thing you want,   
   instead of the filet mignon or the lobster tail. or that fancy French   
   dish at that new place down the street.  "Stephen writes a pretty good   
   stick", wrote Ellison.  You knew what you were going to get when you   
   picked up one of his books,  Like the Big Mac or Quarter Pounder, they   
   were consistent, and they rarely dropped below a given level of   
   quality,  Maybe nobody was going to mistake him for John Updike, but   
   he was a heck of a lot better than many of his contemproaries, and   
   certainly had a broader range.  (The author of "It" and "The Stand"   
   also gave us the stories and novellas that became "Stand by Me", "The   
   Green Miile" and "The Shawshank Redemption".  Let's see Updike beat   
   that.  )   
   Regards,   
   Joe   
   --- SBBSecho 2.12-Win32   
    * Origin: Time Warp of the Future BBS - Home of League 10 (1:14/400)