Holy moley. Turned out half of King's novels had starred reviews. Was I missing something? So I read the reviews and found one, 'Hearts in Atlantis', that sound up my alley. Took it out of the library and am reading it along with another novel, 'Regeneration', by Pat Barker who was on a list of books King had read.
In short, 'Atlantis' is a page turner. Smokes along, holds my interest and could be read anywhere. 'Regeneration' requires a quiet space and attention. Every so often strikes a chord, gets me to stop and think about what I've read.
King is a story teller of the first rate, no doubt about it. But two hundred pages into 'Atlantis' he has yet to stop me, get me to stare off into the distance and think about what I've read. Doesn't mean he won't and doesn't mean his tales don't function without depth. Could be he takes a meaningful thought, digs it out and spreads it into a story like peanut butter on whole wheat.
My original intent was to say Stephen King's tale simply floated along on the surface. But that may be blindness on my part. Could be some authors take depth and bring it to the surface for the reader to see. And some, like Barker, make you plunge in every so often to check out what's below the surface on your own.
Another of King's points is that the author is only half of the connection, the reader the other. The author paints the outline, the reader fills in the personal detail. I like that. And it gets me thinking about my role as reader. Maybe King seems easy to follow but in truth he's difficult and I'm not equal to the work of finding the depth. Too big to see? Forest and trees?
Gotta think about that.
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