Anyway. Maya wrote a post about Stephen King which was interesting. You can find it here.I love Stephen King. I think the publishing community has done this incredibly talented author a huge disservice by relegating him to the position of "America's Schlockmeister" or just a horror story hack. I think he's a pefect example of the schizophrenic state of the publishing industry.
I sat in on a presentation with author Jodi Picault when she came to Winchester and she mentioned that American publishers decide that authors are 'literary' or 'popular.' You can be one or the other. Not both.
I think this is a ridiculous idea. Not just ridiculous, but exclusionary. Authors like Stephen King are never taken seriously because their books happen to appeal to a large audience and they make movies out of them. But some of his books in particular are incredibly complex. Take my favourite ones, the Dark Tower series. I mean, here we have a series of genre-busting books featuring a fantastical gunslinger called Roland (yeah!) travelling through a multitude of New Yorks (yeah!) while encountering characters from Stephen King's books (including himself) and other fictional characters. Oh, and did I mention the whole book is based on on Childe Roland to the Dark Tower came.
I think the critical community have a serious issue when it comes to looking at books. Instead of deeming one stream of writers 'literary' and the other stream 'populist' they should just look at each title on it's own merits.
After all, the world's most acclaimed author, Shakespeare, was a populist writer who churned out works of undeniable genius to eager crowds. Back in the day, his plays were equivilant to today's Spielburg blockbusters.
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NORTH KOREA -- RUMSFELD SAT ON BOARD OF COMPANY THAT SOLD REACTORS TO NORTH KOREA: Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld was the only American to sit on the board of a company which six years ago sold two light water reactors to North Korea. "Rumsfeld was a non-executive director of ABB, a European engineering giant based in Zurich, when it won a $200m contract to provide the design and key components for the reactors. The current defense secretary sat on the board from 1990 to 2001, earning $190,000 a year." While conservatives now fault President Clinton for selling the light water reactors to North Korea under the previous Agreed Framework, few cite Rumsfeld's role in the deal. Rumsfeld has never acknowledged that he knew the company was competing for the nuclear contract. In response to questions about his role in the reactor deal, the Defense Secretary's former spokeswoman Victoria Clarke told Newsweek in February 2003 that "there was no vote on this" and that her boss "does not recall it being brought before the board at any time." ABB spokesman Bjoern Edlund told Fortune magazine at the time that "board members were informed about this project." One former director who sat with Rumsfeld on the board said they were told about the contract. "This was a major thing for ABB," the former director said, "and extensive political lobbying was done." The director recalled being told that Rumsfeld was asked "to lobby in Washington" on ABB's behalf. A few years after participating in the deal, Rumsfeld attacked the concept of selling reactors to North Korea. In a speech at the Heritage Foundation, Rusmfeld said, "Our present nuclear agreement with North Korea unfortunately does not end its nuclear menace. It merely postpones the reckoning, with no assurance that we will know how much bomb-capable material North Korea has."
Stephen King is one of the most brilliant authors to ever live. He has a was of creating a whole picture. Love him. Have you read his book,"On Writing"? It's fascinating.
Gee Roland, I didn't know you were a ginger.
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