It’s easy to wonder how anyone could mistakenly believe that Stephen King isn’t capable of writing a novel that isn’t a horror story, but the fact is that there are still a lot of people that aren’t really fans of the authors no matter how far his writing career has gone over the years. His style of writing is at times kind of disturbing, to be honest since some of the stuff he writes about might make people cringe just to think of it. After all, there was a scene in the movie It that simply couldn’t be filmed considering that it would have been considered child pornography, and even in the story, it was difficult for a lot of people to think of it as necessary since it does get very descriptive and becomes a part of the ritual that allows the Losers to survive and make their way back to the surface. I would say it’s funny how stuff like that gets worked into rituals so often, but people might construe that as meaning that I agree with the idea of it. But despite all the horror-laden material that King has written, thinking that he couldn’t possibly write anything else is a bit naive to be sure. The story King had to tell, as per Screenrant, was actually kind of amusing.
“I was in a supermarket down here in Florida, and I came around the corner and there was a woman coming the other way. She pointed at me, she said, ‘I know who you are! You’re Stephen King! You write all of those horrible things. And that’s ok. That’s alright. But I like uplifting things, like that movie Shawshank Redemption.’ And I said, ‘I wrote that!’ And she said, ‘No you didn’t. No you didn’t.’”
Seeing how King has seen his career rise to such heights over the years it’s not hard to think that he laughed this off and considered it to be kind of a funny story since many of those that happen to enjoy his works would do the same. In all fairness to the individual he spoke to, the story of Rita Hayworth and The Shawshank Redemption, which was a story in the novel Different Seasons, was kind of odd to see from King, but it’s not the first story he’s ever written that wasn’t strictly dedicated to horror, since he’s stretched his writing muscles more than once over the years. To think that people know who he is and don’t understand that he’s broadened his horizons isn’t too tough since a lot of folks still go off of word of mouth and outdated information that they believed was important back in the day and still reference now. Personally, my own parents used to think King’s material was more than a little troubling until it was explained to them that horror isn’t pure evil and the stories that King writes are no worse than what’s seen on TV or in the movies.
Some of the stuff he writes does make a person think that if writers pull from their nightmares to create their stories, or from aspects of their lives that help to create inspiration, that King must have had a hell of a time in his younger years and not slept quite as much as the average person. But those of us that do write for a living or because we enjoy it likely know what this is like since crafting a compelling story takes a good deal of practice, not to mention content that will keep people riveted and willing to keep reading. No matter how disturbing a story gets, some people just want to keep reading since they don’t really want to miss out on anything, no matter if they’re disgusted by the content. But when you look at The Shawshank Redemption it’s almost as though King felt that needed a rest, a reprieve from the horror that he usually writes, and this was what tends to happen when he’s on a ‘break’. That’s kind of funny to be certain since King has been such a great writer for so many years and has entertained so many people that it’s hard to think that anyone would doubt his work when he admits to writing it. But again, not everyone knows that much about King’s work and what stories he’s written, but it feels likely that the individual might have felt a little embarrassed when looking at the credits for The Shawshank Redemption once again.
If there’s any criticism to be had about King’s writing it’s that his endings sometimes don’t come off all that great, as they either feel clipped and way too rushed, or they become so over-extended that it feels as though he’s searching for the right sentence to end on and takes the reader for a ride that never appears to end. But he’s a great writer, of that there is no doubt.
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