Weblog 3
In the article “Dumbing down American Readers,” Harold Bloom argues that Stephen King does not deserve the National Book Foundation’s award for “distinguished contribution.” He states that King is only receiving the award because he sells a lot of books. He then compares King with J.K. Rowling, who also enjoys a high degree of commercial success, but whose books are garbage. Rowling doesn’t deserve the award; therefore, neither does King. Bloom feels that children reading Rowling will eventually grow up to read King. He also says that King is nothing like Edgar Allen Poe. I find this quite ironic seeing as I’ve never laid a finger on Harry Potter, I grew up reading Poe, and I love King’s writing. I think King has contributed greatly to literature. He’s produced such great works as The Shining, The Stand, Carrie, Dolores Claiborne, and Needful Things. Also my top two favorite movies of all time are adapted from two of King’s works, 1. The Shawshank Redemption, 2. The Green Mile. But besides these awesome stories, King has also done something amazing in his magnum opus, The Dark Tower series, which tells the tale of Roland, the last of a long line of samurai-like gunslingers, as he makes his way to the “Dark Tower”, the linch-pin of all existence, before the world falls apart. In this incredibly deep saga, King begins to incorporate characters, times, events, and locations from many of his previous novels and stories. The reader begins to feel that Roland’s world is just one realm of a larger, more grandiose universe that may in fact, include our own. I, for one, feel that this is a remarkable literary feat, one yet to be accomplished by any previous writer (as far as this author knows), and one worthy of the award for distinguished contribution. But I don’t believe that Stephen King won the award based soley on his illustrious writing career. He also has contributed a great deal financially to the National Book Founation. If it weren’t for King’s high grossing sales, and his philanthropic nature, there may not even be an award, and no one would be recognized at all. So suck on that, Dr. Bloom.
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MyTyeSpace 
I forgot that Stephen King wrote “Shawshank Redemtion.” Great movie. Judging by the way you summarized Bloom’s essay, it seemed like you were implying that Dr. Bloom is jealous of King and Rowling’s commercial success.