Published on 12, July, 2020
I'm reading the latest Stephen King novel "End of Watch" - the final book in the Mr Mercedes trilogy. There's a character in it called Holly who's obviously Autistic, but this isn't acknowledged and most people except for the main characters - who all love her obviously - can't understand her behaviour and treat her unkindly. Has anyone else read this book? I can't work out if the author is trying to get the reader to discover that this character is Autistic, and so give them an idea of what it's like to be "different"? Why would an author write an autistic character into a story and then not make it clear that is what they are?
I learned to read thanks to the early Stephen King novels - especially 'Salem's Lot, The Shining, The Stand and Pet Sematary. I haven't been able to read him since about Dolores Claiborne onwards. It just seems bloated and over-written to me. Maybe he was sharper when he was younger and hungrier. Having said that, a friend has told me I should try Dr Sleep and the Mr Mercedes novels, so maybe I will.
I think autistic characters exist throughout his novels. Trashcan Man in The Stand. Jack Torrance, maybe, in The Shining. Arnie Cunningham in Christine.
Maybe King himself is an Aspie and doesn't know it!
I'm sure most of my favourite authors were probably way up on the spectrum: Faulkner, Steinbeck, Dickens, Carver, Dos Passos. Bukowski. Yes... definitely Bukowski! I think it's their 'stand-apartness' that gives them insights into human behaviour that other people miss. It's an important ingredient for many writers.
Aspies don't really miss anything, do they. They see it all. All they miss is the ability to understand it.
But they can always write about it.
Writing is understanding, I think.