I confess that I cannot read the bulk of Stephen King's cannon - too scary, too real, too visceral for me to handle because I am a giant 'fraidy cat. However, my inability to read his work has never hindered my ability to give him credit as a great writer. How do I know this, having only read Carrie? Because he tells stories that captivate readers so much that they keep coming back for more - for more than thirty years. And that, in my estimation, makes him exceptional.
He's written a stellar article for Entertainment Weekly about the Deathly Hallows and the Potter phenomenon in general, and I think it's a smart review and a generous hat-tip to Rowling's mastery. He's one of the few to try to scratch beneath the hype and give Rowling credit for an unbelievable talent with plot, which I think has been glossed over by most reviewers. He also points out that Rowling's writing grew with the books, that her choice in language and her rendering of emotional moments was far more flawless by the last page of Deathly Hallows than it was when we began our journey with the Boy Who Lived.
My favorite line from the article?
"But reading was never dead with the kids. Au contraire, right now it's probably healthier than the adult version, which has to cope with what seems like at least 400 boring and pretentious 'literary novels' each year."
Sometimes it does my heart good to see The Establishment taken one upside the head.
I was so happy to read that article the other day...he's actually been writing smart reviews of the Harry Potter books all along. It sort of warms my heart to think that my first favorite author reads and loves my second.
I started the series again from the beginning two weeks ago, and am now back in Deathly Hallows. Next stop, Stephen King's IT, which bears a number of similarities to the HP story.
I'm hoping to write about the connections when I'm done.
Too bad SK didn't happen onto this blog, though. We've scratched below the surface!
one starving musician came by to say: i've just plunged into Pottermania. Book 3. I'm a bit behind the times on everything it seems.
j.e.
i read the book as soon as i got it, which since i'm usually like every other hp fan, at Barnes and
Noble. took me seven hours. so around eight i fell asleep after mourning the loss of a series and excellent characters. i felt that the epilogue, although it did tie up ends, i felt like it was more of a tied up knot.