Stephen King vs Stephenie Meyer:

The Controversy

The writer Stephen King in a -forthcominglastlatelyrecent interview said:

‘Both Rowling and Meyer, they’re speaking directly to young people; The real difference is that Jo Rowling is a -awfuldreadfulhorrificterrific writer and Stephenie Meyer can't write worth a darn. She's not very good.'

At first -appearanceimpressionlooksuspicion Mr. King's comments may sound insensitive,perhaps -evidencegroundsprooftestimony of an aging writer being jealous of a young and popular one. At -lastleastthe endthe most this was the reaction of many of Stephenie Meyer's fans: ‘King is jealous: no one buys his books anymore.’ ‘Name one of King’s books that is popular today: none!' ‘He can’t see a young writer  -accomplishhitsucceedwin .'

Having read most of Stephen King's books and – I must -conceiveconcludeconcurconfess  – none of Stephenie Meyer's, I went to my local bookstore and bought Twilight. Here's an -exceptionexcerptexhibitextraction : Jess drove faster than the chief, so we made it to Port Angeles by four. It had been a while since I've had a girls' night out, and the estrogen rush was invigorating. We listened to whiny songs while Jessica jabbered on about the boys we hung out with. Jessica's dinner with Mike had gone very well, and she was hoping that by Saturday night they would have progressed to the first-kiss stage. I smiled to myself, pleased. Angela was passively happy to be going to the dance, but not really interested in Eric. (Twilight, chapter 8)

What is wrong with the -abovebelowoverupper ? Inartistic. Truman Capote would call it ‘typing,’ not writing. The paragraph -containscontentslistssums not one single balanced sentence, let alone a well balanced sentence. And yes, all sentences are of the amateurish or childish pattern S-V-O (subject, verb, object – John hit the ball; John hit the ball; John hit the ball; etc). Next I bought several of Jo Rowling's books of the Harry Potter -serialserieseriesvolume , and I was delightfully surprised. Rowling is a master writer; a master of grammar, syntax, and rhetoric. If you love the English language, you will find well balanced sentences, and cadence and rhythm, and echoes that could be the envy of any literary writer. -AlthoughBecauseThereforeUnless she writes for children,her production isn't -awardedconsideredregardedrespected literary by many critics, but -eventuallyevidentlyfinallyunfortunately it will be, just as Mark Twain's, C. S Lewis', Tolkien's or Kipling's.

Mr. King might just be right in his -appraisalapprovalcriticismpromotion of Stephenie Meyer, not because he is jealous of her success, but because Meyer's writing isn't writing at all.

Adapted from an article by Marciano Guerrero
writingtolive.com