1408 & Stephen King

I just saw “1408,” which I’d give 3 1/2 stars, a B+, a fresh tomato, or a thumbs up to (choose whichever rating system you’re comfortable with). It’s more fun if you don’t know that much about it before you see it, so I’ll just say 3 quick things:

1. John Cusack’s performance was stellar.  Samuel L. Jackson’s brief role was delicious.
2. Had a few really scary/cool moments & great sound design.  Middle part was boring.
3. If you like supernatural thrillers, just go see it – it won’t knock your socks off, but it’s one of the better ones and I totally enjoyed it.

“1408” was based on Stephen King’s short story, which is available on his audio book, “Blood and Smoke.” One of the taglines for “1408″ is “Based on the terrifying story by Stephen King.” That tagline wouldn’t work if you put another best-selling novelist, say Dean Koontz, in its place.  So I wanted to ramble about Stephen King for a bit…

Sure, King is prolific, but there have been myriad authors who wrote faster (Mary Faulker, a romance novelist @ 900+ books, John Creasey, an English thriller writer @ 500+ novels, Anthony Trollope and so on and so forth). King’s books aren’t of the “Great Expectations” or “Moby Dick” caliber, but they’re not meant to be. He certainly takes a lot of crap from literary snobs for his commercial success, but the sheer volume of King’s works which have been ingrained into popular culture is impressive, indeed.

I just like him.  He seems to be a humble and down to earth guy. He’s quirky and kooky, he plays guitar in an all-writer’s band, he’s a dedicated father and husband (married to the same woman he married after college), he survived alcoholism, drug addiction and a serious accident…he’s just a really interesting dude. He’s not trying to be Edgar Allan Poe or Shakespeare. He simply has a ton of great ideas in his head, and he writes them down. The results more often than not entertain the hell out of us.

I highly recommend King’s “On Writing,” which is a wonderful, practical and unpretentious book for anyone interested in the craft of writing. There is no doubt in my mind that he’s a genius that is lucky enough to be appreciated in his own time.

So write on, Mr. King, and we’ll keep reading!