Short bio about my favorite novelist
Stephen King was born in Maine on September 21, 1947. He was very active in politics in his college days, and always was involved in protests. Early on in his life he discovered books, and they distracted him from his life of poverty. He would sit all day with his nose in a book, or in a movie theater watching the newest horror movie. Of course this led him to his true calling in life. His first published novel was Carrie in 1974.
Analysis of his work
Stephen King has an eclectic mix of stories ranging from shape-shifting aliens to a little girl lost in the woods. While he is most famous for his horror stories, he also has a good amount of non-horror related material. He has a short story about a man in prison dealing with the corruption, and his eventual escape. That was turned into a major motion picture starring Morgan Freeman and Tim Robbins. Another story was about a group of friends on a journey to locate a dead body. The story was called The Body, then when it made it onto the silver screen was changed to Stand by Me. Another non horror related work of his is titled The Long Walk. That story was about a group of kids in a competition sponsored by the military to find out who can walk non-stop. Penalty for losing is the military tears them apart with their carbine rifles.
About one of his best, and my favorite novel
The Shining is one of his most well-known and renowned novels. The main character, Jack Torrance, was a writer who struggled with writer’s block causing him to seek solace in the bottom of a bottle. The atmosphere in the book was tense, and had a sense of having to walk on eggshells around Jack due to him having a hair trigger connected to his anger. The supernatural forces involved in the story only heighten the atmosphere of imminent danger and isolation from the outside world. Jack eventually loses all control, and succumbs to the evil influences around him and attempts to murder his family. The namesake of the novel comes in the form of a telepathic link that Jack’s son Danny has with the groundskeeper who ultimately comes to their rescue.
Why he is my favorite novelist
He weaves a web of horror, the macabre, as well as doing a wonderful job of bringing together a group of strangers and uniting them against a common enemy. He is an excellent character developer, and his stories are always suspenseful, and creepy. He includes gore, and often times sexual situations, but they are well done and intriguing.