Just finished The Dead Zone and as usual, Stephen King packs a great story into a few hundred pages. I have never been let down by the King of Horror 🙂
One of my favorite aspects of this book is King’s criticism of absurdism in politics through Greg Stillson. It almost feels like King foresaw the rise of candidates like Trump, George Santos, Marjorie Taylor Green, etc etc. I found this especially interesting in a novel where the premise revolves around a psychic hero — King himself was a psychic into the circus of contemporary politics. If his past self thought the 70s were bad, I can’t imagine what he’d say about 2024.
What did others think about King’s depiction of politics in this, or connections to the present political situation?
by marks31
3 Comments
King has quite a few noteworthy tweets about the political situation lol. I read this book after parable of a sower and thought I’d take a break from doom politics. Little did I know…. Well haha
It’s great that you started this conversation, I was thinking about that book with regard to current politics a few days ago and considering a reread. I think King is fairly vocal about what he thinks about current events, he’s no Trump fan.
I need to look up some dates, I am wondering about the possible parallels to events back then, too. I was a little kid in the 70s so I do have thin memories of Watergate and Vietnam and the energy crisis and so on, so there was plenty to comment on. I still can’t believe we are facing the real possibility of an authoritarian regime. It doesn’t feel quite real though.
If Trump held a baby up as a human shield, the next day right wingers would be saying the baby was Antifa or a CIA plant and lauding Trump for his courage.