In Which I Talk About Stephen King

I am here to talk about Stephen King. A true juggernaut in the literary field, with unparalleled consistency in his professional field and a life story which has had its myriad of ups and downs, which ultimately, King managed to conquer, he remains, at the very least, in my eyes, one of the true masters of writing, not because of all the success he has had over the years, but because of all the failures he has had, and how he always manages to bounce back. He makes errors, he learns, and he makes sure that he never repeats them.

King has, by all means, an extraordinary career. He is, an extraordinary author. Ever since his first novel, Carrie, he has managed to create a unique niche just for himself, in the metaphorical dark corner of a room, which he manages to illuminate, via his writing, his words, and his stories. Authors are architects who create worlds with words, and King does exactly that. He manages to create worlds, worlds where his imagination runs amok.

'Salem's Lot, King's second published book, was the first book I read. It was about a vampire in a small town, and how he slowly establishes his control over that town, while the protagonist does all he can to prevent it from happening. It was a nice read, not the best book by King that I had read, but still, a good way to begin my King bibliographic journey. There are only so many ways a vampire can be represented and shown, so I wasn't hugely excited after reading 'Salem's Lot. It was neither here, nor there. But that was all right, because I liked the way it was written. I looked forward to reading some of his other works.

Then I managed to acquire perhaps his most famous work, 'It'. A huge, sprawling work about a creature which terrorises a town, it is about childhood, about fear and about friendship. It, the creature, mainly manifested itself as Pennywise the Dancing Clown, and arguably began the term "evil clown", and popularised the coulrophobia, the fear of clowns. Pennywise resided in the sewer system of the town named Derry, and lured children and ate them. Many consider the Dark Tower series to be King's magnum opus. But it was It which truly etched his name as one of the best writers in the business.

King has had duds as well. 'Rage',about a high school shooting, was touted as an inspiration for many high school shooting during the 80's and 90's, due to which King decided to let it go out of print. 'Christine', about a car possessed by a vengeful spirit, was not met well by critics. An there were a few more. But that was, again, all right, for you can only criticise a page filled with words. You cannot criticise a blank page.

King's personal life was no smooth sailing, either. he acquired a drinking problem which would go on to be his bane for nearly a decade, during the 70's. He managed to recover from that. On June 19, 1999, he was part of a horrific car crash which nearly led to an amputated leg, and which made him announce his retirement form writing in 2002. He did go on to write, thankfully. His book for writers, 'On Writing', which was published after his car crash, remains one of the better books to read, if you do aim to write one day.

King's books and stories have spawned various adaptations. Misery, The Shining, Dolores Clairbone, 11.22.63, It, Dark Tower, Under the Dome, and the list goes on. He remains one of the go to writers for movie fodder, and one of the few people who say what they think is right, without thinking about its repercussions. But then, King does not have to worry about repercussions. He has earned that right, at the very least. Long may he last.