I Am the Doorway: The King Binge introduction

Somewhere near October last year I decided to take an educational journey with Stephen King, the “Master of Horror,”—a title embraced by the man himself but one I can’t help but feel falls far short of describing the extent of his genius.

Stephen King’s mastery of his craft is matched by few—inside or outside his genre. I understand that may be offensive to the sensitive ears and pretentious egos of those who still insist that literary fiction is the only written work of any merit. All I can say on that topic is that though I understand and appreciate the nuance and depth of authors like Ayn Rand, Christian Keifer and Cormac McCarthy, I find their methodology and style utterly boring and unrealistic—not to mention uninspiring and counterproductive to the schooling of an aspiring writer. I always find myself asking: “Do I, or anyone I know, think or talk this way?” I always answer in the negative.

But discussions on the validity of different forms of literature aside (for now, dear friends, only for now); I enjoy Stephen King. I find his work evocative and inspirational. I also find it disgusting, obnoxious and offensive—and perhaps that more than anything else is why I find him so instructive. As a Christian, it is sometimes hard to read some of the material I have to read to educate myself on writing, but Mr. King’s work nearly always ends with me declaring with great enthusiasm: “Dear me, that was tremendously well penned.”

Thus, having recognized my Miyagi, or if you will, my Yoda, I decided to binge read the entirety of Stephen King’s works in chronological order (bar a few calculated and necessary adjustments to said chronology).

I will divide up my review of the work into approximately ten-book brackets—excluding the Dark Tower Series which I will read in its entirety during brackets four and five in order to put some extra distance between the last time I read a few of the more recent books.

In summation, my itinerary is as follows:

1. Carrie to Roadwork

2. Cujo to the Tommyknockers

3. The Dark Half to Bag of Bones

4. Black House, From a Buick 8, Colorado Kid, Cell, The Dark Tower 1-4

5. The Dark Tower 5-8, The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon, Dreamcatcher, Lisey's Story to 11/22/63

6. Joyland to Elevation

During the fourth and fifth stage I will break somewhat with chronology and read through the Dark Tower books as well. The reason for this is two-fold; firstly, there are some books I have no desire to read again and though I have to, I am at least going to avoid reading them in close succession. And secondly, I’ve read some of these novels quite recently and though I enjoyed them, I am not quite ready to read all of them in close succession either. I will however endeavor to keep chronology in mind as I attempt to gain a sense of his growth as a writer.

I will analyze his progression as an author, his style and his quirks (positive or negative). Stephen King was the first adult author I read and I’ve never stopped enjoying his stories—but now I’ve earned my right to read his work more analytically. I am particularly interested in the sixth installment since there are seven and a half books I am yet to read for the first time among the ten there (I was midway through “End of Watch” when I decided to take this journey).

After a review of each of the stages I will also analyze his worldview—not something to be done with a new author, but with someone who has been around as long as Stephen King I believe it is possible to find those little similarities all the good guys share, as well as those commonalities of the bad guys. I will also post a recommendation and an appropriate age restriction on each novel.

But this journey is more than just my opinion; I also hope to learn. To learn how to write better characters. To learn how to write honestly. To learn how to close the book on a story. To be tidy, even if the dirt is just under-rug-swept. To show that sometimes the good guys win, and sometimes they lose. Sometimes no one wins. Sometimes the good guys are bad, and the bad guys are good. All lovely things to say, but I want to learn the “but how?” of it. And I hope to share with you what I learn.

Do I believe that I will be the doorway into his work? No. But I will be a doorway into a uniquely skewed insight into Mr. King’s world. I do not know if I will bring anything new to the table but I will bring what I bring, be it fresh or foul. And if it is foul, what of it? What if it is rotting, oozing and dripping? Maybe that would do just fine… perhaps that would even be perfect.

Here’s to tired eyes and sleepless nights…