When I declared English as one of my majors, I think I assumed I would be reading and analyzing outdated literature. Yes, I did take Global Lit to 1500. But, curiously I have found that most of my class readings have been contemporary either from writing studies or just more recent novels (which is relieving). So over the last few semesters, I’ve been exposed to some of the blockbuster writers of our time.
Last semester, I was assigned to read Stephen King’s Misery. Totally unfair judgement, but I assumed before I had read him that he was another James Patterson: churning out books with poor writing quality (Sorry James, but I respect your hustle!). I was pleasantly surprised by the quality of his writing, the depths of his characters, and the symbols he uses within his novels. In my horror class this semester, we will be reading his classic Pet Sematary soon (the movie scarred me as a child, so I'm looking forward to reading the book). I just recently ordered one of his more contemporary books to see how it matches up to his older stuff (11/22/63). I REALLY cannot comprehend how he can come up with so many concepts, publish VERY frequently, write everything himself (I haven't heard of him using ghostwriters?), and write it well. I probably should just read his memoir On Writing to understand.
I also just finished Dean Koontz's Hideaway having never read him before. According to a report about World's Richest Authors, his net worth is a whopping 145 million. Sidenote: 90% of the authors on that list are white.
Anyways, I guess I can't judge him completely off one book, but based off what I read, can't say I was impressed. The ending was so rushed it seemed VERY obvious he had to meet a deadline. As far as thrillers go, I felt it was nothing new, I prefer something more along the lines of Gone Girl with surprises and twists.
I'm not sure what best-selling writer I'll try to read next, but I'll try my best to keep an open mind!
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