The claws are out and Stephen King is not holding back at all.
He has read Stephanie Meyer’s Twilight series and though he finds her contemporary JK Rowling to be terrific, but that Meyers can’t write at all.
Oh, no he dinnit!! Catfight!!
Here’s what King had to say about Meyer and Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling to USA Weekend,
“Both Rowling and Meyer, they’re speaking directly to young people… The real difference is that Jo Rowling is a terrific writer and Stephenie Meyer can’t write worth a darn. She’s not very good.”
He goes on to explain why young girls are fascinated with her use of words and how she captures those moments of sexual tension with a descriptive that nails the emotional struggle of young girls feelings they are “not ready to deal with yet”
I don’t know. If you can make that observation about her writing it sounds to me like she understands her demographic and is in touch with their emotional turmoil and can appeal to that. Sounds like she’s doing a bang up job to me!
And you can compare all the technical issues of her writing, but you cant discount its value. If it was a Ziggy comic and it has the majority of a demographic tearing through the pages, that sounds like a good writer to me. That someone can put words to page and really connect on an emotional level like that is the very definition of a writer as far as I am concerned.
People like to bag on Twilight because its popular. I am not sucked into the craze, but I can still recognize its popularity and understand why some people are.
“He has read Stephanie Meyer’s Twilight series and though he finds her contemporary JK Rowling to be terrific, but that Meyers can’t write at all.”
She’s not the only one.
Stephen King’s type of writing is very different from Meyer. Meyer is a first time author and I am sure when King started out he wasn’t that good either. I love some of his stories but others I found boring and didn’t like the topic. What started most of the hoopla about Meyer is because the vampire’s skin sparkles in the sunlight. It is a rather arbitrary reason to dislike her work after all she is writing about a fictional vampire that can be anything the writer wants it to be. I don’t consider it for teens because osme of it is very graphic and violent. There is a love story but they have been writing vampires who searched for their loved ones either in another lifetime or who survived them. There is a love theme in Underworld and people didn’t go on like this. In the 60s show Dark Shadows there was unrequited love of the vampire. She has soared into extreme popularity and I can tell you that all this stuff was going on with JK Rowling when she became popular concerning her writing ability. People have always liked vampire stories and there have always been all types of them but people just weren’t so connected like they are with the internet. Now they are reading things that were written many years before about vampires because there are a myriad of them. I don’t understand so much debate about this series of books. I hope Stephanie is laughing all the way to the bank. I think people should stop insulting her.
So is the Movie Blog just going to die off then??
I will still be writing daily at The Stub where I will be continuing the same thing I did here!
SMeyer is a horibble writer, but hasn’t really been in the writing scene as long as SKing.
SKing has more experience, writing fantastic books and having some made into movies.
Twilight is a horrible book and downright says: “Get pregnant by a dead lunatic who stares at you at night while you sleep!”
SMeyer practically described herself when she wrote the saga and the adverbs BURN MY EYES. [well.. not literally anyways]
SKing has the right to comment and so do we.
Pornography “connects” with its audience, but that doesn’t mean it’s good writing. Good writing doesn’t stroke selfish, primitive autonomic responses or punch egotism-generation buttons. They might as well just put mirrors on the covers of Meyer’s books, because they are only about reinforcing egotism — an army of MarySues. Bad writing just leaves its victim/audience stuck in their own heads and their own addictive obsessions and delusions. Good writing gets people out of their own ruts and assumptions, and into a place where they have to reflect on their lives, and — more importantly — other people’s lives, and so to risk being challenged and surprised.
Well, I am no teeny bopper (31 yr old here) and I have read the Twilight Series- and loved them all! I just don’t see how you can critize someone like Meyer when she’s just begun doing this. She had no intention of even publishing Twilight, she was writing it for herself. She wasn’t trying to bust out some monumental novels…she was creating something that came to her in her dreams and just built on it, per the request of her family, and the publisher.
I think it was rude of King to say what he did- we all know he is this great, well known writer and all, so why make yourself look like an ass and make a comment so harsh?
Not needed.
There is a reason millions of ppl love her books. And don’t say it’s just tweens because I know that is simply not the case!
what got you into writing that book its the best
book ever thanks for that i just cant stop reading it this is my 3rd time ive read it im a fast reader
the matter of this is that stephanie meyer is writing books that appeal to the young semi-young and old and king’s books appeal to the old hes really just showing jelousy toward a great all time american writer everyone has their opinion but should no when to use it instead of pulling it out when the little green eyed monster comes to visit i write and i never have the courage to show them to alot of people but steph shares her great ideas with the world stephen king be careful what you wished for you’ve started a frenzy and it doesn’t help the young people to like your books when you critizize the books the love nice move king i bet you wished you would have controlled your anger
ugh!! Can’t everyone just get along! Stephen King can have his own opinion although, I do love Stephanie Meyer’s books. I think they are both good writers though I tried to read one of king’s vampire books and could not get in to it at all, but I can see that many people would like that style of writing. I agree that king should have his own opinion, but he did not have to say that Meyer can’t write, she just has a different writing style. She must have done something right to have such a big fan base. Meyer does not go around saying bad things about other writers. They are just books people and everyone is aloud to like different styles of writing!
Okay so heres the deal. I am an avid stephen king fan and truly appreciate his writing but i believe hhe has overstepped his bounds here. Yes Meyers writing is simple, but thats the point. these novels are written for young teenagers and thats the reading level they written for. I actually enjoy the simplicity of the stories. Yes the vampire werewolf charade is played out but she has come up with original stories for both creatures and has done it in a way that also allows for a romance novel that focuses on the human in the story not the mythical creatures. This has never been seen before. The only author that has any roome to bash another author about a vampire story is ann rice and thats onoly because she created the greatest story on them. leave it alone people, if your dont like it then dont read it.
Stephenie Meyer can’t write for shit. She’s spewing out badly-written “popular” fiction that the masses are just eating up.
Stephen King has written some bad books throughout his career, I’ll admit, but he has also produced many amazing ones – the same cannot be said for Meyer. “Breaking Dawn” was one of the biggest pieces of shit I have ever read – the writing was terrible, the story boring, and the ending anti-climactic. On the plus side, the book is so fucking huge that it makes a great paper weight.
We need to forget about the “Twilight” series and move on. Go read “The Shining” – you’ll never look back.
Could someone inform me how the vast majority of Stephen King’s novels are considered classics? To be honest he isn’t as prolific or interesting as some of you posters want people to think. That’s just my point of view. He’s just full of himself, and he obviously likes to hear himself talk, even when he’s spouting utter nonsense. I’ve read a few of his books, and I wasn’t impressed in the least. Actually I’d rather watch the movies based on his novels; less filler, less nonsense. I’m not a person who shies away from large tomes; however there has been numerous times when I have put down several of King’s books, and never looked back. The Great Gatsby is considered a classic, I don’t know why; it is offensive with its use of racially charged language, however to society it’s still a classic. By the way Kate…go burn a bra or something, you are Feminism at its worst. How you can cast the character of “Bella” as a wussie is beyond me. Have you even read the series? To be specific have you read New Moon or Breaking Dawn? GMAB
>Just because the stories are popular and they connect with certain people doesn’t mean they are written well. It just means they connect with certain people and are popular.<
Yeah, well, one can say the same thing about Stephen King’s work. Stephen King has written reams of trash along with some good books peppered in there. After all, Harold Bloom, a far superior writer to King had nothing positive to say about King’s work and now King is doing the same crap to another writer. He really should shut his mouth because he comes off as a jealous, insecure writer. It irritates me when writers denigrate one another. It’s unprofessional.
“He really should shut his mouth because he comes off as a jealous, insecure writer. It irritates me when writers denigrate one another. It’s unprofessional.”
How is he coming off as jealous? He’s merely stating his opinion. He think J.K. Rowling is a great writer and that Meyer is a terrible writing (which is true IMO). He’s just like any other writer; he doesn’t care who likes him or who doesn’t.
Do you like the books? Good for you. But that doesn’t mean another author who doesn’t agree is being “unprofessional.”
Have you even read any Meyer’s book? Don’t think so. So IMO is not the word you should use. Just because a bunch of other people says she’s bad doesn’t mean she is bad.
Do you know why I don’t comment in any of Harry Potter related post’s? ‘Cause I think it’s junk. But I keep my mouth shut because the franchise is [very]famous. I watched 2 HP movies and thought they were pure piece of trash[this is the first time I am expressing my feeling’s]. I never read those books but I think [judging by the movies] I won’t like’em either.
So my point is, just because I don’t like them doesn’t mean that they are bad, if they are bad then why the franchise is so famous?
Just because the stories are popular and they connect with certain people doesn’t mean they are written well. It just means they connect with certain people and are popular.
King is right in the fact that Twilight is poorly written. Judging by the excerpts I’ve read, Twilight has some pretty bad (maybe not horrible, but very basic) writing. I think that’s what he was commenting on. Sure, you can gain a following by connecting to a core audience (The Sex Pistols weren’t the best musicians were they?). I still agree with King on a technical level.
I’m not a Stephen King Fan…but now I fucking love him!
Romance novels are pretty popular and have their demographic of old lonely ladies tearing through the pages… but that does not mean that they are well written. Harry Potter has the possiblity of becoming timeless children literature….Twilight, sadly, is a trashy romance novel for tweens.
Different strokes for different folks, is what I say. Honestly, I think King is ragging on Meyer, because she is popular. Which seems to be the thing to do. Either like something or call it crap. I haven’t read the series yet, so I can’t throw my two cents on it just yet.
I’ll probably be crucified for saying it, but frankly I have the same opinion of Rowling as King does about Meyer. I think she has an unbelievable imagination, but she’s an extremely immature writer. I enjoyed the first book in the Potter series well enough but it was nothing special. And honestly, each book seemed repetitive of the last. I wanted to like them, but I gave up after the fourth book. I had much better books waiting on the shelf.
I bag on ‘Twilight’ because it’s the worst written book I’ve ever read and it’s infuriating to listen to people talk about how they’re wonderful books for girls. We’re always whores, bitches, wussies, or mothers in the media and to encourage this is frustrating beyond words. To say “you just don’t like it because it’s popular” is no different than saying “you just don’t like her because you’re jealous”. It’s petty and really frustrating to blow off people who enjoy books and don’t like ‘Twilight’. Some of us have legit reasons. It’s bad writing and what bothers me is that I cannot understand why it’s popular. I just don’t get it.
what?
i love writing….and the only reason why im spelling shakespeares name right is because my firefox has spell check…
i wrote a story and a shitload of poems but i dont use the same vocab here…i dont care about making my comment on TMB nice..hence i keep putting up comments with crap like “lol” and “idk”…but i dont do that when i really write…you on the other hand might have a web site which requires typing or reviewing movies or w.e…so you dont go around leaving comments like “its prolly gonna rain 2morrow…idk..”
and for those who are handicapped at writing:
you can love good writing and not be good at it…people can love some good cooking (who doesnt? ) and be horrible at it…i dont see where youre going with that dude
What stands out to me is that in the comments thus far everyone seems to say they love good writing, but then proceed to misspell Shakespeare…it’s a blog, I know, but don’t invoke the names of the greats and then misspell their names. I usually don’t hack on the international friends for grammar, but this time I must make an exception.
I think someone asked King a question, and he gave his opinion. Nothing more. I don’t see it as jealousy (it is King, after all, he has little to be jealous of) and I had a English 101 instructor in ’88 who didn’t understand why King sold as many books as he did. But that was my former instructor’s opinion. (Side note: I flunked his class)
I don’t like the writing of either King or Meyer. King is too long winded for me (I prefer his stories translated into movies for me), while Meyer’s seems teenage girl wish fulfillment for the the low self esteem… which puts my teeth on edge.
you understand NOTHING. I read the darn thing and it literally melted my brain. By the end of the book I was wishing all the characters would die and put everyone out of their misery, and that was just the FIRST book. Her characters have nothing to offer except that girls want that exact life…to me, thats a wasted life! The guy tells her to stay away every paragraph but is glued to her side. Shes a backwards writer and like Mr. King said “…Meyers can’t write at all.”
nothing to offer? what- was it too complex for you?
theres werewolves and vampires and like 99% of all stories (i cant say 100 because of fucking master and commander and pinocchio which have no romance) it has romance
whats there to get mixed up dude?
“twilight melted my brain”
thats not good. and i didnt think i would ever hear that
Reading all these comments makes me think back to my own time in HighSchool during the early 90’s.
I remember one of the guys in my Junior or Senior English got into a debate with the teacher over whether Steven King was a good author or not.
My memory is that the teacher made much the same arguments about King that King seems to be making about Meyer; namely that he could hit a certain beat,and was able to reach his audience, but that didn’t make him a really talented writer.
Personally I didn’t think that much of the Twilight series; the writing seemed unrefined. I haven’t read much in the way of YA fiction though, so I don’t know if her style is common for that market.
Honestly, a lot of the YA books that would fall under the same category as Twilight are similar in style. House of Night series, Morganville Vampire series, Vampire Academy series, and Blue Blood series are a few examples. The only reason that the Twilight series is constantly in the spotlight is because it has garnished such a large audience. When I feel like a quick a simple read, I usually go for the YA vampire books. These I listed are pretty much all on par with each other in my opinion.
ive read stephne king books…and ive read everything by stephani meyer…EVEN the host which is not in the twilight series…and ive read all the harry potters and the books that were in harry potter (quidditch a history, and the fictional creatures one)
so i can say that stephen king is being a total dumbass.
x files. WOW. what a piece of shit…ION MY OPINION! you are entitled to your own opinion! but the shining is stupid stupid stupid
i know people like his work..and whatever…
and someone said above me..dont know who..”hes jealous someones stealing the spotlight” dude, thats not it..the guys nuts..read his books and youll understand
i mean this is the guy that wrote that stupid dark tower book…which i didnt finish, my god was it awful….
im not sayign meyer is better….im saying in my opinion i like her books better…and rowlings…idk…sue me
The shinning is stupid? WTF, i know its your own opinion but honestly the shining is a classic, and i dont care for vampire novels b/c im not emo and b/c they are all the same, a vampire falls in love w/ a mortal, the only time that has been done right in my opinion was the underworld films.
I’ve read BOTH series (all 7 HP books and all 4 Twilight books) and he is right…
She can sort of tell a story, but she can’t write worth shit…
The first two Twilight books were.. okay, they have MANY grammatical errors but the story is entertaining… but dear lord, the other two books are just horrific… bad storytelling and bad writing… The way she ended both of those books was so lazy and idiotic. She really needs a better editor.
Yes, with a better editor the books could have been better and trimmed off some of the fat because the pacing in New Moon and Breaking Dawn were pretty awful.
I wholeheartedly agree. Meyer is one of the worst writers for any medium I have ever seen.
I agree that there are no “good writers” because it all personal taste.
I am a writer, I am just. uh.. likee.. shakespeer! I will be riting my book soon. I am sure som one out there will like it!!
My mom will think my book is much better than Twilight, The Stand, even King Lear.
Haha, wow! Jeremy seems to be on a role! Sure the idea of good and bad is a subjective idea just as much as your idea that judgment based on opinion should be limited to personal introspection, and yes that is what your tirade suggests, or that is how it was taken. My comment:
“Meyer’s books are poorly written drivel that plays on an emotionally dependent, sexually frustrated audience. I teach High School English, so yes I am allowed to say that.”
Is directed at the AUDIENCE, not the books themselves, as a teacher I work with these kids every day and they are the ones that I am suggesting are “emotionally dependent and sexually frustrated.” Take a walk down the halls of any high School and you will see. And just because “one man’s trash is another man’s treasure” does not disqualify the item as being trash.
Has Ms. Meyers written a story that captures the attention of a specific demographic yes. Is it going to be the next Great Expectations, not likely.
Oh, I agree wholeheartedly. I do not see Twilight becoming a classic either, but I also do not see Harry Potter becoming one either which Stephen King seams to think is a good writer. Does not make either good or bad. If a book being the next Great Expectations is the judging factor on whether it is /good/ or not, then 99% of all books written today will fall into the bad book bin. Then Stephen King would be wrong, because both Harry Potter and Twilight could be considered /bad/ then.
I know I was once a teenager, and I am pretty sure you were too. No need to look to the High Schools to see that students are “emotionally dependent and sexually frustrated”, seeing as we lived it at one point in our life. I never argued that they were not though. Just about every popular teen show feeds on this fact. And in this case you could probably say that Meyers is quite unimaginative for going along with the main stream of teen entertainment.
i bet when steven king made those comments he was holding a bunny’s severed head.
Jeremy K says: “Honestly though, I do not think there is such a think as a good or bad writer, …”
I think we can all agree that there is such a thing as bad writers. John Grisham comes to mind – dude comes up with compelling plots, but lacks substance, depth, fleshed-out characters, etc.
By saying it all comes down to “people’s preference,” …well, yeah, no duh.
Just because you, and others I am sure, think Grisham is a bad writer, does not make him a bad writer. There are probably people out there that think he is a good writer. Personally I have never read his stuff, so I do not have an opinion. What makes your judgment of him being a bad writer greater than somebody else that says he is a good writer? Oh way, let me guess. Your a teacher as well?
Whoops, “Oh wait”
Well, let’s flip the coin here Jeremy. Couldn’t we all agree that Shakespear was a good writer, Steinbeck, Hemingway, Langston Hughes?
By saying it comes down to personal preference in a chatboard is a cop out … it defeats the purpose of even posting a repsonse. We are here to debate, not attack. I disagree with you – I think there is such a thing as a good or bad writer.
And I am not a teacher, but feel like one now, so thank you.
And again, I bet there will be people that can argue you that Shakespear, Steinbeck, Hemingway, and Langston Hughes are not good authors. And personal preference is not a cop out anywhere. Personal preferences it what separates one individual from another. Without personal preference the world would have no diversity other than race and gender. Everybody book written would be a clone of the last as everybody would prefer a single thing. Personal preferences is what drives everything, it is in no way a /cop out/.
I should seriously proof read before I hit the “Leave Reply” button. “It what” should be “are what”. “Everybody book” should be “Every book”. My apologies on that.
You’d be an idiot to try and argue that Sharespeare is not a good writer. I repeat, you, anyone for that matter, would be an idiot.
We can not like something – our personal preference – and still recognize good and bad writers/authors. (“I like Lord Byron, I just can’t dance to him.”) But by saying personal preference is a way to not acknowledge that – yes, it is a cop out.
No, nobody would be an idiot for arguing Shakespeare is a bad writer. I am not saying he is or he is not, I honestly do not have an opinion on the subject, but I sure as hell would not resort to name calling if somebody did. And you still failed to justify how personal preferences are a /cop out/. The fact that personal preferences drives the human race is enough reason to justify it NOT being a cop out. Yawn, and at this point I will stop with this branch of conversation. The repetition is getting old and we are stuck in a loop.
My editor once said to me, “You can go to school and someone can teach you to write a sentence, but that doesn’t make it a good sentence.”
Great bakers can bake a cake that is much more moist and much more sweet, especially with those small zests of peel, than an average baker. No one would disagree that. And besides going to school to be a writer is a new phenom. Art can’t be taught, it is innate. You either got it or you don’t. Time will tell if Meyer’s has the chops to do it again and again like Mr. King. All hail the King!
Did Shakespeare go to school to be a writer? I honestly do not know, but it seems like the whole “go to school to be a writer” would be something fairly fresh to the past century or two. I could be wrong. There are, though, a lot of authors that did not go to school to be a writer, but later became a writer on their own. How do you explain that? Writing is a from of art in my opinion. Finally, I’d rather not hail King, his books put me to sleep.
I completely agree wtih Stephen King’s comment, Meyer is not a good writer. She is however a good storyteller and that is the draw of the books. It’s a modern day romantic fairy tale wrapped up in teen angst and tied neatly together with a happy ending bow. These books are fluff and not literature, not in the least; however there is nothing wrong with that. I was once a teenage girl with insecurities and romantic notions, so these books appeal to the girl I once was and entertain my tween daughter. We’ve had as much fun reading them as laughing at the flaws. I have to say I’ve often been bothered on how hailed Stephanie Meyer has been as this fantastic writer and it is a little freshening to hear a respected author say something different.
You hit the nail on the head there Meli. Just because a book tells a good story does not mean it’s well written. There’s a technical levels that must be adhered too. You can say the same things about movies, right? A movie can have a great story, and touch you on a nice happy level. But the directing was horribly and the special effects were crap. However the story that the film told was able to surpass these technical problems. The movie had a good story, but that doesn’t mean it was well directed. You see the comparison I’m trying to make here?
There is more to a book then it’s story.
you really hit the target. you are very very right. the story telling was the one who hooked the readers. Meyer has wonderfully told us of the story but it did not have to be well written. it is quite a talent to be able to make appealing the otherwise unappealing story.
Sorry but Stephen King is never,ever wrong when it comes to writing
Ahahaha, I have never met a person, nor known of a person, that was perfect at anything. Thus Stephen King is capable of being wrong. However, what he has to say in the quote just sounds like his personal opinion, so nothing wrong there.
no man is perfect and unless King is not human, by any chance, he can never be right all the time. and bigsampson is right, King should not have criticized her badly in public.
I dont know shit about twilight but IMO king is a dickhead for cominmg out to the media to say she sucks…..sure maybe she does….but that doesnt make me forget what asshole ugly fuck king did to the dark towers…fucking vien prick added himself litterally to his own books imaginary world..so in my opinion king is more of a assshole then a book critic…to each is to own….
twilight is as trashy as mainstream rap
great to see mainstream rap is taking a beating but ……what non mainstream rap has more to offer? haha somebody shops at wallmart for there c.d.’s?
yes non mainstream rap has a lot more to offer listen to some underground hip hop it blows the lid off the mainstream garbage like t pain
Why the hell would you bring this into a rap music discussion?
Talk about non sequitor.
You went out of your way to find some reason to take a shot at mainstream rap (which is weak since its just more successful than non mainstream rap – thats why its called mainstream) just so you could also take a shot at Twilight.
I have to side with King on this one. Meyer’s books are poorly written drivel that plays on an emotionally dependent, sexually frustrated audience. I teach High School English, so yes I am allowed to say that; I work with her target demographic all day long. Besides, just because you can connect emotionally and victimize your audience doesn’t mean you can write well. It simply means that you are good at discovering what the market wants and exploiting that. If you haven’t read the Twilight series, you will naturally disagree, but if you have read it and have any sense of literary value, you know that the plots are sub par and contrived, the characters are ALL flat, and the story is entirely predictable from book 1 page 1 to the final page of Breaking Dawn, which had perhaps the most disappointing conclusion in all of literature. Sure I’m a lit snob, but come on! When the only adjective used to describe Edwards eyes is “smoldering”, and you read it over and over and over again, you almost want to pluck out your own eyes in protest. Besides, Vampires don’t sparkle when they step into the light, they turn to a pile of ash! And that is my two bits.
Well, vampires are not real, and are also subject to re-interpretation. The turning to ash thing is just one mythos amongst many. Some stories tell that vampires don’t mind the Sun, while others are just irritated. Stephanie’s Meyers created her own myth to why they stay out of the Sun. That is just creativity. There is no handbook that says “this is how vampires must be portrayed!”
“Meyer’s books are poorly written drivel that plays on an emotionally dependent, sexually frustrated audience. I teach High School English, so yes I am allowed to say that.”
That just makes you sound like the art teacher that looks at a student’s drawing and says, “that is not art!” I saw that first hand in college, where a college art teacher said that to a student. All I have to say to that, with a flare of color, is FUCK THAT! People who go around stating that this is not art and this is not good writing, and then justify it with “i can say it because I am a teacher of said subject matter, does two things: stifles creativity and provides negative motivation to others. The saying “one man’s garbage, is another man’s treasure” is true. The teacher’s responsibility is to provide the student knowledge, and the student’s responsibility is to take that knowledge and make something they are proud of. It does not give teachers a license to say this is good and this is not when it is all relative to the artist and the person viewing.
Everybody is free to have their opinion, though. That is not based on being a teacher, it is based on personal preferences.
i believe jeremy is right. vampires are not real and are subject to reinterpretation. who are you to say that they don’t sparkle? (no offense, just a rhetoric)only vampires could say what they do in the sun and i would assume that you aren’t one since you wrote this at 10 in the morning, broad daylight. we are not saying that her writing is the best there is or that her plots and stuff are unique and different, no. we are saying that despite those that what she wrote was still beautiful. the descriptions are not the most important aspect, at least not to my perspective. so what if the only description of his eyes is “smoldering”? to me, and to most of those i know who’ve read the book, is how they went through their circumstances and their problems, but most of all what the story is all about. the story is important, not the descriptions or the wording of the book or whatever you see as flawed. and what’s also important is that it can connect to the people who read it, who are able to feel and understand what the characters go through, not simply a reading for enjoyment or passing time. try to read it and connect the events to true life, i know it can reveal truths about life. — now that is what OUR english teacher taught us. don’t judge it just yet, delve deeper.
Twilight is now popular but its a fleeting popularity. Saying if Twilight is good or not is pure opinion. If King thought that her writting was bad then thats what he thinks. His opinion wont end the fan base of Twilight nor will it get bigger. I also feel he not saying it out of jeliousy cause he compairs her writting to that of Harry Potter. If he was jelious he compair it to his own writting then say how much better his is.
I wouldn’t say Meyers is the best writer either, but her books were an easy enjoyable read. Stephen King, on the other hand, just bores the crap out of me. Honestly though, I do not think there is such a think as a good or bad writer, it is all relative to a person’s own preferences. If a person writes a book that honestly makes absolutely no sense, but somebody likes it, then to that person the author is good. If another person writes a book that is very deep and thought provoking, but somebody absolutely hates it, then to that person the author is bad. It is all relative to the audiences perspective.
You’re right. Of all the books I’ve read Meyer’s may not be the best of all of them, especially not in the expression in words, but it was wonderful to read and could relay her real intent even though it wasn’t in so a flowery words. And I also agree with you, in that upon reading Twilight I was able to finish one book and was able to go on, and finish the whole series within one week, even seeing the movie more than once; King’s books could not even hold my interest for more than 10 minutes, even his movies doesn’t have the same staying power than that of Twilight. Relativism is the key, everyone has different tastes and some may like King and some may like Meyer better, it is their opinion. But although, with relativism and opinions that are their own right, i believe that he should not have bashed her so publicly. It looks as if he’s just jealous or is bitter or something. One advice I’d give: “Don’t say anything if you have nothing good to say”
Can we say Jealous that the spotlight is on someone else?
Ok I definitely have to agree with the jealous thing. I have ALWAYS been a HUGE Stephen King fan and when I heard about Twilight it didn’t interest me at all, the whole VAMPIRE thing. BUT, when some of my family told me about how amazing the books were, I had to go buy the first book. From then on I had to buy the rest and finished them all within a period of a week! I’m 28 and they were the best books I have read and I hope she continues them. I was in aw when I heard that Stephen bashed Stephanie. Who is he to judge? I’m sure there are alot of people that think he sucks also!
“who is he to judge?”
i think the writer of the dark tower series can judge anyone he wants tbh
While I’ll give props to Meyer for ‘sinking her teeth’ into what young girls want, the last novel was lacking to say the least. The Twilight series is nothing more than a Mary Sue story and not, IMO, the best writing. And I read a lot.
From wikipedia: Mary Sue, sometimes shortened simply to Sue, is a pejorative term used to describe a fictional character who plays a major role in the plot and is particularly characterized by overly idealized and hackneyed mannerisms, lacking noteworthy flaws, and primarily functioning as wish-fulfillment fantasies for their authors or readers.
I think Mr. King has every right to state his opinion. This is America. If any writer in America can make a statement like that, it’s him. People can knock King for writing horror, but he is one of the most prolific writers this country has–not to mention some of his epics are eloquently crafted: The Stand, The Shining, Rita Hayworth and the Shawshank Redemption, and It. With more novels and short stories pouring from his fingers, you can’t deny the man does know what he is talking about.
Not that I read the article but I get the impression he’s saying that Meyer is playing on her audience rather than connecting, just telling them what they want to hear, maybe a bit too much maybe to the point of treating them like idiots.
I have no interest in twilight. It just sounds like buffy without the whole ‘feminism’ thing. a love story is a love story, even if it has vampires in it….
yeah but if its writen for younge adience then who gives a crap of how it is writen we don’t vbeven now right grammer now a day we speak all gangster now…………well not me so much but wat ever
The same has been said about Stephen King.
Exactly. Every writer has their own style. This of course is going to appeal to people differently.
I just found it odd that King puts his own opinion on this saying she can’t write then goes on to explain how Meyer can connect to her audience on an emotional level and write things so sexual that are not overt which appeals to her target audience.
He asserts she’s terrible, then explains why she has appeal. Many awful things have appeal to certain folk. Ever seen Rent?
So by that definition, Because it’s popular amongst it’s target audience, it’s automatically good quality writing? I doubt that.
I can see you didn’t read the whole post.
Because it can connect with its reader it is good writing. Maybe not a Pulitzer. But still effective. Anyone can write down a story, but to write it in a way that it can connect emotionally is a talent.
Sure… and pop music is all “good” music because the artists are successful. BS. Yes, success in a bullshit genre doesn’t equal quality for me. It equals success in a bullshit genre.
rite on Rodney!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
boooooo liguid
These types need tp get called out more often
Hallelujah! Thanks Stephen King