If Stephen King had not written it, we would never have read it

[woodysnell]

The Colorado Kid was a novel which was not a novel. King should know that, had this been his first book/novel, he would never have been published. He developed the characters well and it was interesting reading until the last chapter when any discriminating reader had to react "what a waste of time this was because there is no ending". Anybody who thinks this novel contains any "brilliance" in writing hasn't read much. Sorry, Mr. King, your Afterword was a sorry excuse for not having written a capturing novel.

[Moderator]

Perhaps you are not familiar with that genre (hardboiled crime) which is why it seems off to you. It is not typical of Steve's other works, but he was writing specifically to that genre.

[Spideyman]

Hi and welcome to the SKMB. Sorry to hear you did not like The Colorado Kid. Are you aware it was done in the style of pulp fiction writing? Hardboiled crime fiction is a literary style, most commonly associated with detective stories, distinguished by the unsentimental portrayal of violence and sex. The style was pioneered by Carroll John Daly in the mid-1920s, popularized by Dashiell Hammett over the course of the decade, and refined by Raymond Chandler beginning in the late 1930s.

From its earliest days, hardboiled fiction was published in and closely associated with so-called pulp magazines, most famously Black Mask. In its earliest uses in the late 1920s, "hardboiled" didn't refer exclusively to a type of crime fiction; it meant any tough and violent fiction, which also included adventure and western stories. The exclusive reference to crime fiction probably became fixed in the early 1930s, although it's impossible to pin down with precision. Later, many hardboiled novels were published by houses specializing in paperback originals, also colloquially known as "pulps." Consequently, "pulp fiction" is often used as a synonym for hardboiled crime fiction. In the United States, the original hardboiled style has been emulated by innumerable writers, including Chester Himes, Mickey Spillane, Ross Macdonald, John D. MacDonald, Robert B. Parker, Sara Paretsky, Sue Grafton, and Walter Mosley.

The term comes from a colloquial phrase of understatement. For an egg, to be hardboiled is to be comparatively tough. The hardboiled detective—originated by Daly's Terry Mack and Race Williams and epitomized by Hammett's Sam Spade and Chandler's Philip Marlowe—not only solves mysteries, like his "softer" counterparts, he (and often these days, she) confronts danger and engages in violence on a regular basis. The hardboiled detective also has a characteristically tough attitude—in fact, Spade and Marlowe are two of the primary fictional models for the attitude that has come to be known as "attitude": cool, cocky, flippant. For extensive detail on the identifying marks of the style, see the history of American hardboiled fiction. . IMO it wasn't meant to have an ending per say. It was open ended, true to the style of many pulp fiction books. Perhaps you can share with us some of SK novels that you did enjoy.

[JohnDalglish]

Hi,

Welcome to the MB, and keep posting!

Oh well, I enjoyed it.

Have you see the TV series 'Haven'?

Long days and pleasant nights

[GNTLGNT]

May the wrath of Mickey Spillane fall upon ye....

[Timmy]

Just gotta throw my two cents in here (You know how it goes). My first reaction was similar to woodysnell's - I didn't like it. The story was great, don't get me wrong, but the ending really pissed me off.

With that said, the objective of art - as I understand it - is to duplicate life. The writer reveals the human condition. From that perspective, you see this story every day in the news. A murder mystery goes unsolved. A year ago a model was found smoldering in a dumpster behind a night club in Miami. The murderer is still free to kill again. This is just one example, but dozens - maybe hundreds - of violent crime play out the same way. This is our life experience.

From that perspective, I think that is where you will find the Brilliance in King's "Colorado Kid." If it pissed you off - as it should have - that is good. But, remember the victim in that story is not real. The victim - countless victims - in our society are.

Not all stories have a happy ending and some don't have an ending at all.

[guido tkp]

spideyman & timmy (now...isn't that a grand title for a book, eh ?) got it right...

i, too, was left both entertained by the book, but ever-so-lightly frustrated by the (non)ending.

but, as they both pointed out: unfortunatley, that is exactly what life is often like

[jellydonut25]

i much prefer "Umney's Last Case" for a Stephen King take on the hard-boiled genre...Colorado Kid didn't do a whole lot for me, either, but it was actually perfect for a flight, because it's such a fast read.

[prufrock21]

Those who disparage any SK work will be visited in their dreams by a fiend with a spade-claw hand.

[larchi]

i agree with timmy (well done on that post by the way-lol), i think The Colorado Kid did a really good job at being real. sometime that's how the stuff lands and sometimes you don't get the answers you want. All in all i really enjoyed Colorado Kid and it inspired me to check into a new genre. Stll having fun...