The Tommyknockers is generally considered to be one of Stephen King's weakest novels. King himself has had disparaging things to say about it, and I've seen people proclaim The Tommyknockers to be his very worst book.
I can't quite go that far. The Tommyknockers is surely not among King's finest creations, but there are quite a few I like a lot less. Cell, Insomnia, Dreamcatcher, Rose Madder, The Regulators, to name a few.
I can't really knock the plot of The Tommyknockers. It's a pretty good yarn. There are some surprising sequences, and at least one I rank up with King's most nightmare scenarios.
The problem is, I think, in the pacing. At his best Stephen King is one of the most compulsively readable writers on the planet. The Tommyknockers lags when it should be soaring.
The characters are not among King's best creations, though I really like the burnt-out poet, James Gardener. Early passages with this character are really compelling. I think Stephen King can well relate to narrow-minded academic politics, and alcoholism is a subject he has intimate knowledge about.
King took some criticism about not being able to create realistic woman character between the ages of sixteen to sixty. He eventually improved in that area with books like Dolores Clayborne, Gerald's Game, and his recurring Holly Gibney character. I think King was fond of his no-nonsense Western fiction writing Tommyknockers heroine, Bobbi Anderson, but she frankly isn't that strong a creation.
The many secondary characters are mostly thin and either uninteresting or unrealistic.
I started to suggest that Stephen King avoid using aliens in his fiction, but in looking back I see he has done so much in that area. A lot of his work could be considered Science Fiction. Especially considering how psi talents were such a staple of 50's and 60's SF.
I was such a hardcore fan in 1987 when The Tommyknockers came out. I read it immediately, and while I didn't consider it to be among King's best, I liked it a hell of a lot. I am a lot more discriminate now.
I recently finished my second, and almost certainly final, reading of The Tommyknockers. I liked it considerably less this time. I still did enjoy the book, even if it took me way too long to get through it. I'm talking weeks.
Stephen King has written and spoken openly about his substance abuse, and I'm not sure where The Tommyknockers fits in that timeline. I am grateful and very happy that he achieved sobriety, and that he has continued to write and delight his legion of fans. I always assumed that The Tommyknockers was largely written during the recovery process.
The Tommyknockers isn't a bad novel, and I think it's a lot better than many acclaimed genre writers are capable of producing. Part of me wishes King would do a complete editorial overhaul, but I think it should stand as a stepping stone in an extraordinary writer's evolution. His career changed after It was published in 1986, and while I am not enamored of every turn he took along the way, I cannot help but admire and respect King's tenacity and his unparalleled work ethic as a writer.
Written by Mark Sieber
I can't quite go that far. The Tommyknockers is surely not among King's finest creations, but there are quite a few I like a lot less. Cell, Insomnia, Dreamcatcher, Rose Madder, The Regulators, to name a few.
I can't really knock the plot of The Tommyknockers. It's a pretty good yarn. There are some surprising sequences, and at least one I rank up with King's most nightmare scenarios.
The problem is, I think, in the pacing. At his best Stephen King is one of the most compulsively readable writers on the planet. The Tommyknockers lags when it should be soaring.
The characters are not among King's best creations, though I really like the burnt-out poet, James Gardener. Early passages with this character are really compelling. I think Stephen King can well relate to narrow-minded academic politics, and alcoholism is a subject he has intimate knowledge about.
King took some criticism about not being able to create realistic woman character between the ages of sixteen to sixty. He eventually improved in that area with books like Dolores Clayborne, Gerald's Game, and his recurring Holly Gibney character. I think King was fond of his no-nonsense Western fiction writing Tommyknockers heroine, Bobbi Anderson, but she frankly isn't that strong a creation.
The many secondary characters are mostly thin and either uninteresting or unrealistic.
I started to suggest that Stephen King avoid using aliens in his fiction, but in looking back I see he has done so much in that area. A lot of his work could be considered Science Fiction. Especially considering how psi talents were such a staple of 50's and 60's SF.
I was such a hardcore fan in 1987 when The Tommyknockers came out. I read it immediately, and while I didn't consider it to be among King's best, I liked it a hell of a lot. I am a lot more discriminate now.
I recently finished my second, and almost certainly final, reading of The Tommyknockers. I liked it considerably less this time. I still did enjoy the book, even if it took me way too long to get through it. I'm talking weeks.
Stephen King has written and spoken openly about his substance abuse, and I'm not sure where The Tommyknockers fits in that timeline. I am grateful and very happy that he achieved sobriety, and that he has continued to write and delight his legion of fans. I always assumed that The Tommyknockers was largely written during the recovery process.
The Tommyknockers isn't a bad novel, and I think it's a lot better than many acclaimed genre writers are capable of producing. Part of me wishes King would do a complete editorial overhaul, but I think it should stand as a stepping stone in an extraordinary writer's evolution. His career changed after It was published in 1986, and while I am not enamored of every turn he took along the way, I cannot help but admire and respect King's tenacity and his unparalleled work ethic as a writer.
Written by Mark Sieber
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