Dissertation

[Niall]

Hi guys. I’m a 20 year old doing a degree in English literature in England. I’m looking to do my dissertation on King simply because he’s my favourite author, and no other flowery reason. I was just wondering if any of you had any fairly specific topics that you consider deep and extensive enough to write a 10,000 critical study on. Sort of want something original, although being the absolute genius he is many have produced great criticism on his work already. Thanks very much guys, all suggestions welcome.

[Mark]

Perhaps a study of the influence of gothic horror and mythology on King's work? The Great God Pan, Lovecraft, and Rebecca by Du Maurier were all big influences for him. explore that and maybe other older horror/fantasy/sci-fi influences like EC comics?

[Nick]

There are tons of studies on how King has affected American literature but I am yet to see anything that directly talks about how he has affected English literature or literature of the world at large. With the exception of Neil Gaiman having been very vocal about how King has influenced him. You could likely do an original paper on that.

Or do you need something more specific to the genre? Such as what is unique about his writing style versus that of others.

Perhaps then you could do something about why his horror is so effective? I think that you could draw a comparison to show that his works are very Dickensian in nature. What with their extremely well drawn out characters that allow you to understand the subtle motivations behind each of them.

[Kandice]

Two of his children are published authors. Tabby, his wife, is also a published author. I wonder if there is a paper in that? The fact that children raised in a household surrounded by literature and writing shapes their professional paths.

Tabby's first couple of books had tinges of horror (Small World and The Trap, but the rest are straight fiction. Tragically underappreciated in my opinion.

Joe writes (mostly) horror, but also screenplays and comics. His (second) wife is an editor.

Owen's fiction, with the exception of the one he co-wrote with his dad, is mostly straight fiction, but he too writes comics. His wife is an author.

[Nick]

You might consider contrasting the roles of the wild lands and their effect on the characters... in great British Romantic Literature and in King's work: the great expanses of American land in The Stand or the beaches in Duma Key and other King works, vs Wuthering Heights, or Egdon Heath in Return of the Native.