less of the language, Steve

[Emily]

Stephen King is a good writer. I'm not a fan of horror fiction, but The Dead Zone is one of my favorite books. HOWEVER, I wish he'd learn to use less of the (almost entirely gratitutous) f**king language and sex. Then he sounds like a 15-year-old boy showing off for his friends. Just silly.

[Jeni]

I disagree-to an extent. Yes, he uses foul language a lot in his work, but I've never felt it wasn't justified. It is always true to the characters.

Not all his characters cuss and sleep around. When they do, it's because it's part of who they are as a person. I think he captures who these characters are and puts them baldly out there for us to see.

I've never felt anything SK does in his writing is gratuitous. He's a very thoughtful and purposeful writer, which is why he's one of the best.

[Richard]

i think i've read about everything King has written and have hardly noticed any sex scenes in his books. he tends to step around them aside from Pet Sematary and IT, and they were both brief.

the language is there though, but day to day it's at the bus stop, in the shops, on the television, everywhere. not to have curse words in dialogue language would seem quite unreal

[Zora]

While I love cursewords myself and take great joy in using them when I stub my toe or can't loosen a bolt, I agree with you. There's something puerile about King's use of them that I too find offputting.

Have you read Firestarter? I'm in the minority when I say it's one of King's best--I like it because it could happen. It's more dystopian sf than horror.

[Maud]

I've read everything by Stephen King... I cent remember any real sex scenes.. as far as the cursing is concerned i agree with Jeni and Sandyboy, it's justified by the characters or the situation.
Firestarter is definitely one of King's best novels, and in my opinion King's work has been classified as horror sometimes abusively... Have a look at Dolores Claiborne or Jessie.

[Gerd]

Emily wrote: "Stephen King is a good writer. I'm not a fan of horror fiction, but The Dead Zone is one of my favorite books. HOWEVER, I wish he'd learn to use less of the (almost entirely gratitutous) f**king ..."

Agreed.
I do find that his novels get continually worse in that aspect - it's as if King is turning into one of his dirty old men.

[Stephen]

Agree on the F-word I use it all the time when I want to ( a little less these days as I work in an Office) but oddly prefer not to read it written down- King Is a great writer and prolific - I suppose there is only so many words he can use - so the F-word is bound to appear often
Pet Samatary is my fav (read it years ago) Cycle of the Werewolf is a cracking short Story and his latest 11/22/63 was a good buy too

[Jana]

I'm not a fan of all of Steven King's books and I take them in small doses, but I feel that the cursing and sex add to the ominous feel I get throughout the novels. So I don't love them, but I don't often feel that it is unwarranted.

[Tash]

Sex scenes? There are sex scenes that I don't know about!?!?!!?
And SK writes about all types of people. Some cuss, and others (Annie Wilkes comes to mind) faux cuss. If SK was that kind of gratuitous writer, we would see a lot *more* gore and naked breasts!

[Roddy]

If you don't like the way he writes, don't read him. He's unapologetically vulgar, and I love it.

[Tracy]

Yes, he uses cuss words in his books but I have never felt that they were unjustified or were out of place. In most cases I think that the book would not have been as good if he wrote all his characters to not cuss - it wouldn't be very realistic. As for sex, I don't really remember much in the way of sex scenes in his work. The only two that I actually remember are from Gerald's Game and there was a short story in his last collection about the lady who was raped at the abandoned gas station and shoved in a drain when the guy thought she was dead (I am currently blanking on the title). I know there were some in his other writing's but they were so inconsequential that I couldn't name them.

[Drew]

Maybe because I use curse words and I'm around a lot of people who use them too but I just don't feel that he goes overboard at all with them. I hear more cussing in real life than in any of his stories.

[Kevin]

This is a good discussion. I tend to disagree that the language is too gratuitous. I can't swear by every Stephen King book (how many of us have read them all), but I believe the majority of the swears come from the characters' dialogue and not from the general narration (except in the case of a first-person narrator).

The salty language used by the characters tells us something about those characters (they're uncouth, they're quick to anger, they're uneducated, they're unconcerned with what other people think of them, etc)and should be conspicuous to the reader. Is EVERYONE swearing like a sailor? Likely not. It's used effectively.

To extend the analogy, the salty language seasons the story. It may not be to your taste, but that doesn't mean it's not good. (I for one hate curry chicken, but my friends say it's delicious).

And sex scenes? Can't say that I recall too many. There are other writers who are FAR more gratuitous.

I think, in general, too many people want to dissect King's work and pick it apart from the edges. I think one of his characters (who was a writer, natch) nailed it when he said he didn't care that his college professors found fault with his symbolism or theme development...that it ought to be just be a good story.

A fucking good story, at that.

[Benjamin]

Many authors use excessive amounts of swearing, but then so do many people in general. I don't have a problem with the language - when one reads Stephen King, hoping to be horrified or grossed out, you'd expect them to be immune to taking offence as to the coarse language.

[Bill]

If no one in a book ever dropped an F-bomb, the story would lose some of its immersion. People do swear (unless they're Amish), and leaving those curses out of the story makes it feel like it's written for the Twilight/Hunger Games crowd.

If it bothers you so much, don't fucking read it.

[[deleted user]]

One good thing about almost any author you pick up and read for the first time is that you're able to glean what's in store for you if you decide to read another of that author's books.

That said, I've read nearly everything King's written and from the very first, which happened to be Misery, he's used copious amount of violence and "strong" language. If you didn't like it in the first of his novels, and picked up and read another anyway, aren't you looking past the language, anyway, in favor of a terrific story?

I hope so, because I have some bad news for you if you're looking for something he's written that only uses swear words sparingly: It ain't out there.

[Shane]

Given all the sick and twisted stuff in his stories, the language seems rather minor.

[Randee]

I don't use that kind of language and I'm rarely around people who do so yes, I think he uses too much of it. I will continue to read his books though, because he's a fantastic storyteller.

[Michael]

Swearing is just like anything else in a book: whether its minimal or excessive, it has to work within the rules of the narrative. King's cursing usually works well enough, although occasionally feels a little awkward when he forces it. It tends to work more when King uses it in dialogue or 1st person narration, as opposed to third person, which usually rings false for him.

[Meran]

Sometimes I wish there were "like" buttons on Goodreads ;)

"cuss words" don't bother me, but pretend cuss words do! "Fudge" just doesn't carry the weight... Or "darn", etc.

These words are actual, real words, they mean something. Yes, we use them as expletives; they illustrate how strongly we feel about a topic!

You know, when the new civilization took over, raping the women to mix the blood up, they took the language away too, to convert the cultures. So, now cow meat is beef, as any intelligent person knows. In Atlanta, only the refined spoke a "real language" (French); etc. "Piss" became "pee" because it was a gentler, non-coarse word for that necessary function.

I see the blue language as honest language. Don't read the words if they upset you that much. ;)

JMHO