Stephen King and Philosophy edited by Jacob M. Held (2016)

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Stephen King and Philosophy edited by Jacob M. Held


                I read for the pleasure of it. I enjoy being immersed in a great novel or even in the unbelievable facts of a nonfiction book. I’ve been that way all of my life. I fell in love with Stephen King’s writings at a young age and have been addicted to him ever since. There are moments when I’ve been horrified, petrified, amazed, stunned and entranced while reading his books. And there have been plenty of moments when after reading I’ve wondered if there was more. If there was some meaning that I hadn’t pulled from the story itself. I love the conversations that I’ve had with other people about King’s work and that is the reason I wanted to read this collection of essays so badly. What are the hidden meaning behind King’s words? This was the chance to look at the body of Stephen King’s work to see just what gems can be uncovered about not only King’s writing but what he thinks about society.
                There are seventeen essays held between the pages of Stephen King and Philosophy. Many deal with the concept of Roland and his never ending quest to the tower. A few deal with the concept of life and religions and how they can be interpreted. Dystopians, death and ghosts are also discussed. This book of essays is meant for people well versed in Stephen King’s work. If you are not a fan of Stephen King’s work or unfamiliar with a large amount of his writings, especially the Dark Tower series, then I would suggest not reading this book. The essays are full of spoilers because the authors take a very in depth look at the stories in order to convey their point.
                I for the most part really enjoyed this collection of essays but I won’t lie, part of me believes that some of the essays were overdone. While reading some of the essays especially those having to do with time and time travel, they came off as pretentious and nitpicky. In the end, Stephen King has written over fifty fiction novels and I’m not sure if any of what some of the authors have proposed really matters when it comes to enjoying his work. In fact much of it doesn’t. It’s great reading how other people interpret the body of work but in some instances the conclusions seemed really far off. I struggled through a few of these essays for that reason. While other essays I found extremely interesting and they challenged my original interpretation. There is an essay for every Stephen King lover in this book and it is for the Stephen King constant readers that I would recommend this book. I give it 3.5 out of 5 stars. 

 Thanks Netgalley for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. 

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