In the same way that it is not unusual to return to the same music one used to listen in their teens and twenties, I lately feel the need to return to books that I've read in my early youth and that have left a mark on me. It is interesting to observe how you perceive them now compared to back then, and what feelings those same books awake in you today. As a fan of short stories and a lifelong reader of Stephen King, it thus occurred to me to take a closer look at his best work, his short stories, and to launch off the series "The Short Story Lover's Guide to Stephen King". We will take the chronological path from his first short story collection, Night Shift to his most recent You Like It Darker. Having finished Night Shift, we now move on to Skeleton Crew, I hope you actively follow the series and join me in (re)reading King's best.
Although Skeleton Crew is widely praised for its greater breadth and depth compared to King's previous short work, it even won the Locus Award for Best Collection in 1986, I personally find it to be a roller coaster ride of truly outstanding pieces of writing and amusing imagination, but also which seen from a lens of today's stand and understanding, of problematic writing, or at least passages that make me feel uncomfortable as a reader. I was surprised to find out, for instance, how the way obese people are being portrayed bothered me, or sometimes super sexualized ways of talking about women. Am I being too conservative or just expecting a reasonable level of respect for all people, I can't say. I admit much of it is also writing of its time, and with King you usually know when it is the writer speaking and when the character, but that line can be blurred at times. I'll discuss these parts as they come and try to be open minded and see them from various vantage points.
The Mist (as a combination piece of "Based on Books" and King's Short Stories since I'll be comparing Frank Darabont's film adaptation with the novella), Here, There Be Tygers, The Monkey (also under "Based on Books" in comparison with Oz Perkins' recent film adaptation), Mrs. Todd's Shortcut, The Jaunt, The Wedding Gig, Paranoid: A Chant, The Raft, Word Processor of the Gods, The Man Who Would Not Shake Hands, Beachworld, The Reaper's Image, Nona, For Owen, Survivor Type, Uncle Otto's Truck, Morning Deliveries (Milkman #1), Big Wheels: A Tale of the Laundry Game (Milkman #2), Gramma, The Ballad of the Flexible Bullet, and The Reach.
So buckle up again for our second collective read - next stop: The Mist (and go watch the movie while you're at it)!
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