so which of King ’ randomness books is the best-selling of all time ? How did he overcome acute personal issues to get bet on on course ? For one of the most celebrated authors, it ’ south been a long, often strange trip since he burst onto the picture in the ’ 70s .
‘The Shining’ remains Stephen King’s best-selling novel
Released in 1977, King ’ s The Shining has become nothing diffident of a cultural phenomenon. not only is it his top-rated book on Goodreads, but it ’ randomness besides by far the best-selling koran of his career. Although finding reliable sales information is surprisingly difficult, Writing Beginner estimates that it has sold close to 700,000 copies — more than double the sales of runner-up Carrie.
The Shining ‘ sulfur bequest is a lot more complicated, however. Telling the frightening narrative of Overlook Hotel caretaker, Jack Torrance, the fresh seemed like a natural fit for the big filmdom — until King realized what iconic director Stanley Kubrick intended to do with the corporeal. Although Kubrick ’ s version starring Jack Nicholson and Shelley Duvall has achieved its own fabled condition, King openly disliked Kubrick ’ s excessively cold interpretation. He ’ randomness remained critical of it ever since .
Far Out Magazine detailed a narrative about King and Kubrick argue over the earphone about the nature of evil and sin, a philosophical remainder they never overcame. As IndieWire reports, King even took a swing at Kubrick in his 2018 fresh, The Outsider, although he ’ mho besides said he likes all of Kubrick ’ s other films. Animosity digression, the awkward creative marriage worked : The Shining remains a elephantine achiever for both King and Kubrick .
From ‘Carrie’ to ‘Misery’: King’s other smash hits
Because King ’ s books tend to have a retentive shelf life, his earliest books still rank at the peak in sales. Behind The Shining, Carrie, and Salem ’ randomness Lot rank No. 2 and No. 3 for King, followed by Misery and Pet Sematary. Unsurprisingly, all five of King ’ second top-selling books besides appear near the top of his Goodreads list, according to Become a Writer Today, which ranks books based on the number of five-star reviews.
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The one noteworthy exception is It. The clown thriller is one-seventh on his best-selling number but has the second-most five-star reviews on Goodreads. It fans besides helped to turn King ’ south narrative of a writhe clown into an enormous achiever on the bad screen .
According to The Numbers, It ended up taking in more than $ 300 million at the domestic box office and $ 700 million global — more than doubling the inflation-adjusted totals of either The Shining or Carrie. It : chapter Two was besides a major hit in 2019, finishing with around $ 470 million in international box office receipts. Despite admitting it has structural flaws, King flush names It as one of his personal favorites alongside time-traveling thriller 11/22/1963 and horror-romance Lisey ’ s Story .
Overcoming his own demons: Stephen King’s intervention
Author Stephen King in 1999 | Mike Albans/NY Daily News Archive via Getty Images
After the career-changing achiever of Carrie, Salem ’ s Lot, and The Shining in the ’ 70s, King went down a night path while dreaming up bloodcurdling tales like Cujo in the early ’ 80s. At the meter, King was therefore locked into alcohol and cocaine that he barely remembers writing the book. thankfully, his wife, Tabitha, stepped in to give him an ultimatum : head to rehab or leave .
The interposition worked. King was able to embrace the grave biography while cranking out new books closely every one class for decades. After amply kicking alcohol and drug habits by the late ’ 80s, King pieced together an inspirational 2000 memoir, On write : A Memoir of the Craft. He ’ randomness tied been able to revisit his troubling past in other works as well.
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In 2013, King explained to The Guardian that he dug deep into his experience with Alcoholics Anonymous to write Doctor Sleep. The Shining sequel deals with drug misuse through the eyes of a grown-up Danny Torrance .
His earliest works continue to be rediscovered by new generations of readers. But Doctor Sleep is fair one of his new books to break raw grind while remolding past themes. Although King has been a about omnipresent bearing in fiction, television, and movies for about half a hundred, the literary giant shows no signs of slowing down .
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