“personally speaking, you can have my gun, but you’ll take my book when you pull my cold, dead fingers out of the binding.” – stephen king
stephen king, the undisputed master of the horror genre, an award-winning novelist who has enjoyed unprecedented success transitioning his work to film, has named his top ten favorite novels ranging from those by george orwell, j.r.r. tolkien, katherine anne porter and more.
You are reading: Stephen king’s favorite books
Since the time Brian De Palma adapted King’s book, Carrie, into a film in 1976, the novelist has seen no less than 50 feature films born from his writings, with more due in the next 12 months. . Alongside Brian de Palma, King has worked with some of the best in the world of cinema, including Stanley Kubrick, Carpenter, Steven Spielberg, and most recently Mike Flanagan, all bringing King’s stories to the big screen. Still active both on paper and behind the camera, King oversaw the release of Doctor Sleep, the much-praised sequel to his 1977 novel The Shining, which was adapted by Flanagan himself. With that, we decided to look back at some novels that have had a lasting impact on the man himself.
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“Books are the perfect entertainment: no commercials, no batteries, hours of enjoyment for every dollar spent,” King once said. “What I wonder is why doesn’t everyone carry around a book for those inevitable dead spots in life?”
In reflecting on what it takes to become a writer, the iconic novelist put it simply: “if you want to be a writer, you must do two things above all else: read a lot and write a lot.”
Following that advice, King suggested his top ten favorite novels as essential reading. “Any list like this is a bit ridiculous,” King admitted as a precursor to his good read suggestions. “On another day, ten different titles might come to mind, like the exorcist, or all the beautiful horses instead of the blood meridian. another day i would make sure to include light in augusto or scott smith’s superb a simple plan. the sea, the sea, by iris murdoch. but what the hell, I’m okay with this.”
added: “although novels by anthony powell should probably be here, especially casanova chinese restaurant and books, sublimely titled, furnish a room. and paul scott’s raj quartet. and at least six novels by patricia highsmith. what about patrick o’brian? do you see how hard it is to let him go?”
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with people like george orwell, j.r.r. Tolkien, Thomas Williams, Adam Johnson and more, check out the full list below.
the 10 favorite novels of stephen king:
- lord of the flies by william golding
- the ship of fools by katherine anne porter
- watership down by richard adams
- the son of the orphan teacher by adam johnson
- harold roux’s hair by thomas williams
- blood meridian by cormac mccarthy
- invisible man by ralph ellison
- 1984 by george orwell
- american pastoral by philip roth
- the lord of the rings by j.r.r. tolkien
one of the main activities that king always recommends is reading. he once said: “you learn best by reading a lot and writing a lot, and the most valuable lessons of all are the ones you teach yourself”.
“It is not enough to have imagination. you have to be able to harness it,” she said. “I taught school and you could see kids lose their imaginations right in front of your eyes. I don’t know if it’s peer pressure or some kind of governor they have. but the imagination shrinks and shrinks and shrinks. I’ve never met anyone without a sense of humor, but I’ve certainly met people without imagination. my books are successful because i never assumed the job was half done because the reader had a great imagination. I try to be logical when I tell a story.”
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