Comments on Deathday Letters: What I Learned From Stephen King

Matthew: Sauron, yes. But even he was just the u...

2011-12-15T14:04:43.330-05:00

Matthew: Sauron, yes. But even he was just the unnamed evil...the real bad guys were the Nazgul and Saruman–both of whom were totally superior baddies because they were fractured characters. The Nazgul were human once, but were seduced by the power of the Ring, and Saruman was a victim of his lust for power and penchant for making bad decisions.

Which is why people outgrow authors like Stephen King and move on to books with multifaceted, complicated characters.

Actually, that hits it right on the head. My problem with King's antagonist was that he was one-dimensional. He was a cartoon bad guy. Hell, I've seen bad guys on Captain Planet with more depth. In the end, King's bad guy was tragically uncomplicated, and it detracted from the story for me.

I never read King as a kid. In fact, the first book I read of his was a book called Eyes of the Dragon or some nonsense and I read it in 6th grade. I didn't read another until college when a professor assigned Salem's Lot. And I woudln't have read UTD either except that I had a gift card and needed a long audio book to fill the time.

Eh, I haven't read a new King novel in a decad...

2011-12-15T13:36:34.250-05:00

Eh, I haven't read a new King novel in a decade, but I used to be a fanatic fan. I have Duma Key on my shelf, but I have no idea when I'll get around to it.

I don't really have a problem with super bad bad guys, like Sauron, as long as it's built into the world, that there is a reason.

HERE THAR BE SPOILERS!!! LOL. That's another...

2011-12-14T15:06:29.581-05:00

HERE THAR BE SPOILERS!!!

LOL. That's another good lesson: The things that some find problematic, others won't. Books are so subjective.

Between you and me, I hated the Rennie character. He wasn't just a dirty politician who embezzled funds and tried to make money on the side selling drugs...he was the biggest meth distributor in the country. I think King went way overboard. In my opinion, keeping him a big fish in a small pond, a legend in his own mind, would have made him more dangerous. But I failed to accept that the Rennie we saw, was running the largest drug operation in the country. It sat wrong with me, and made him too over the top.

On the ending: I agree. I actually wish King hadn't gone the alien route. I wish he'd simply left the origin of the dome an enigma...something that appeared suddenly and disappeared just as suddenly. The addition of the aliens and the way in which they left, was an attempt to create a moral message that didn't quite work for me.

Overall though, there was SO much going on in the book. I loved a lot of it, hated some, and it made an entire month of my commute totally bearable.

Great post, Shaun. It's funny, but I didn'...

2011-12-14T14:49:02.175-05:00

Great post, Shaun. It's funny, but I didn't hate the book for all the things you mention (even though I agree with you, thinking back over it all). No, the thing that bothered me the most was the abrupt ending and the way King ended it. It just felt cheap, juvenile, and made absolutely no sense in the grand scheme of things. At that point, it felt like King had just gotten tired of writing the story so he just ended it. You are right though; there is a lot you can learn NOT to do in that book.