I can't believe some people have never read Stephen King...

**AngelZ** · August 13th, 2009

I guess I just took it for granted that everyone has read at least one Stephen King book during their lifetime. Just because he's so prolific, well-known, and of course so many of his books have been made into movies. Anyway, I got into a discussion at the gym with someone and we got to talking about books and this messageboard and he admitted he never read a Stephen King book. My jaw fell to the floor. I asked why and he said that he is not into horror. Well, I'm not that into poetry but I've read Shakespeare's sonnets. Maybe people are not into reading in general nowadays???

**Mr Nobody** · August 13th, 2009

Well, general lack of interest in reading is one thing, but reading novels has never been all that popular among men, if certain sources are to be believed, as at the inception of the form, the perception among men was that fiction was frivolous, reading it was 'unmanly', and they were best left for the ladies of leisure to read.
Tbh, I don't think there ever was a 'Golden Age' when everyone read. People now blame the internet and TV, but before that they had cinema and radio, before that, concert halls and illiteracy.

But pretty clearly this guy does read; he's just fallen into the trap of seeing SK as 'just' a genre writer.
On the other side of it, I quite like gothic/vampire stuff...but I won't go near a certain Ms Meyer with a barge-pole (I read an extract from Twilight and swear I almost went blind through sheer will). So...
And in this guy's defence, SK's reputation can work against him. All that 'Master of Horror' stuff - as though there's nothing more to him as a writer than 'ooga-booga' - turns people off, especially as horror now has modern connotations that immediately make people think of loads of gore, no character development, no story, and no real point besides making people feel sick to their stomachs. Plus, the film adaptations are always that clever (usually because of budget - or lack of it; 'Here's two tin cans and an elastic band. Do what you can' seems to be the logic on some of them).

I guess all you can do is try to convince him to give SK a go.

**Bad Bear** · August 13th, 2009

There is a huge gap between "us" and "them".

There are literary peiople who would not touch Stephen King with a barge pole because he is not part of the literary canon. They consider him populist and vulgar. Then there are those who never read a book, but are happy to peruse tabloid newspapers and trashy magazines, but think that books are for "those intelectual types". The problem with both sets is, that they are missing out on great stories. They are prejudiced and severely lacking, IMO.

**Tombrun** · August 14th, 2009

So there's basically five kinds of people in the world:

1. People who don't read books at all

2. People who don't read SK because he's not part of the literary canon. They consider him populist and vulgar (to quote Bad Bear)

3. People who read a lot of books, but don't read SK because they believe he only writes gory horror

4. People who read a lot of books, including SK

5. People who only read SK

I'm in group 5. Where are you?

**Haunted** · August 14th, 2009

Originally Posted by Tombrun

So there's basically five kinds of people in the world:

1. People who don't read books at all

2. People who don't read SK because he's not part of the literary canon. They consider him populist and vulgar (to quote Bad Bear)

3. People who read a lot of books, but don't read SK because they believe he only writes gory horror

4. People who read a lot of books, including SK

5. People who only read SK

I'm in group 5. Where are you?

I'm in group 4. BUT Mr. King is my absolute favorite.

**mstay** · August 14th, 2009

I'm in group 4 also. But, unfortunately, I know a lot of people in groups 1 and 3.

Their loss.

**Spideyman** · August 14th, 2009

Group four for me with Sai King taking priority.

**michal** · August 14th, 2009

Now you can probabely judge from me being on this forum that I love Mr. King's books. He is my favorite. But COME ON - there are numwrous writers in hundreds of languages out there and bilions of people with different preferences, tastes and reading habbits. I love many writers and it just makes sense to me that my father enjoys biographies that make me yawn, my mother like soft romantic tales that chear her up and I enjoy fantasy, horror, and basically any other kind of book that happens to fall into my hands.
It's just taste. There is no Right or Wrong in books.

The only thing that is beyond comprehention to me is people who don't read at all...

**JohnDalglish** · August 14th, 2009

Originally Posted by Haunted

I'm in group 4. BUT Mr. King is my absolute favorite.

Hi,

I'm with Haunted.

Long days and pleasant nights

**thymeoperator** · August 14th, 2009

i keep meeting people who've never heard of him, which i find truly strange. i guess it's like bands who have been around for decades and have a huge following and were incredibly influential, but the modern generation seem not to have heard of them.