Stephen King Comments on JK Rowling and Stephenie Meyer

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Stephen King Comments on JK Rowling and Stephenie Meyer

Posted by: sue

February 03, 2009, 07:52 PM

Scores of readers let us know about a new interview with acclaimed author Stephen King, who has made some new comments regarding Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling and Stephenie Meyer. Speaking with USA Weekend, Mr. King compared the two authors and had some blunt things to say about the Twilight author Meyer. Quotage as follows:

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."

"Somebody who’s a terrific writer who’s been very, very successful is Jodi Picoult. You’ve got Dean Koontz, who can write like hell. And then sometimes he’s just awful. It varies. James Patterson is a terrible writer but he’s very very successful. People are attracted by the stories, by the pace and in the case of Stephenie Meyer, it’s very clear that she’s writing to a whole generation of girls and opening up kind of a safe joining of love and sex in those books. It’s exciting and it’s thrilling and it's not particularly threatening because they’re not overtly sexual. A lot of the physical side of it is conveyed in things like the vampire will touch her forearm or run a hand over skin, and she just flushes all hot and cold. And for girls, that’s a shorthand for all the feelings that they’re not ready to deal with yet."

Thanks to everyone who emailed!

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318 Comments

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1359 Points

I’ve always loved Stephen King.. Carrie is on my bookshelf right next to Harry Potter. But these quotes just totally made my day, haha. WOOO JK<3 :)
Wonder how the Twilight fan base will react… AHAHAHAHA. >:D

Posted by g-g-gena; wbm! on February 03, 2009, 08:21 PM report to moderator

1359 Points

Posted by g-g-gena; wbm! on February 03, 2009, 08:21 PM report to moderator

167 Points

Today, I Love Stephen King

Posted by Alejandro Martinez on February 03, 2009, 08:21 PM report to moderator

783 Points

ooof..a bit harsh :/
hope twilighters don’t read USA Weekend..

Posted by Mary11_hplvr*WBM* on February 03, 2009, 08:23 PM report to moderator

84 Points

i used to like stephen king a lot! but now, i LOVE him!

Posted by Javier J on February 03, 2009, 08:24 PM report to moderator

84 Points

i used to like stephen king a lot! but now, i LOVE him!

Posted by Javier J on February 03, 2009, 08:24 PM report to moderator

78 Points

Thank you, that’s what I’ve been saying the whole time! Stephenie Meyer cannot write. The very fact that Harry Potter and Twilight constantly get compared bothers the heck out of me!

Posted by Jenleigh on February 03, 2009, 08:30 PM report to moderator

3115 Points

Meyer is just wretched fanfic passed off as original. And really, the Twitards can’t tought King—that guy wrote The Dark Tower, and recieved more flak from the fans than anything.
I <3 king.

Posted by Bre S. on February 03, 2009, 08:30 PM report to moderator

473 Points

Amazing, this has completely made my day. Stephen King is spot on, maybe its a little bit harsh, but its so true.

Posted by aLilyForAPrince on February 03, 2009, 08:37 PM report to moderator

280 Points

Hahaha, yay for Stephen King! I’ll support him when the TwiMoms and the TwiHards are out for his blood. What he said is very true; I enjoyed reading the Twilight series because they are so terribly written that it’s hilarious. Aside from her predictable plots and veritable ick, she pretty much uses the same descriptions for her characters…over and over and over and over again. It’s like “Oh just in case you forgot from the last page, Edward has marble skin, is beautiful, sparkly, blah, blah blah” and then “And Bella couldn’t get over how TALL Jacob was….Wow, Jacob! You’re TALL!”

Posted by HPKnowItALLFan13 on February 03, 2009, 08:38 PM report to moderator

131 Points

I enjoyed Twilight, but I’m up with the first to admit that it’s pure fluff. It’s not great writing, it’s fluff! And makes for a fun summer read. It’s definitely nowhere near The Jo Standard. =-D

Posted by Amikia on February 03, 2009, 08:38 PM report to moderator

428 Points

LOL thank you Stephen King!

Posted by rosalie on February 03, 2009, 08:41 PM report to moderator

4556 Points

I agree, Stephanie Meyer did pretty well for her first book, but her second, third, and forth? Sucked.

Without J.K. Rowling getting the ball rolling for series like this years ago, Meyer would have never gotton published.

Posted by Kaylie Marie [FTC!] on February 03, 2009, 08:42 PM report to moderator

3465 Points

oooooh… ouch. Them’s fightin’ words, Mr. King. I haven’t read Twilight, but I know people are really passionate about them, and that’s cool with me. O_o

Posted by gaminette [GTFO!] on February 03, 2009, 08:42 PM report to moderator

358 Points

Oh wow everyone… oh wow.

And for the record: I’m actually not obsessed with Edward at all, yet I still love Twilight. Don’t judge ALL Twilight fans by the actions of the annoying Edward/Rob fangirls

Posted by Christine on February 03, 2009, 08:45 PM report to moderator