64 Time November 18, 20197 Questions‘
I’M
INTERESTED
IN STORIES
WHERE PEOPLE
WHO ARE
WEAK ON THEIR
OWN FORM
SOMETHING
THAT’S STRONG
’
finds children who are in need, children
who are in a desperate situation and act
like real grownups. We have too many
people in this country, in positions of
power, who don’t act like grownups and
so—for me—that’s very satisfying.Isn’t that robbing them of childhood
and turning them into adults?
There’s an element of that involved. It’s
that old, basic storytelling string: going
from innocence to maturity. And all
kids go through that anyway. You don’t
need to put them in that situation.
Every kid faces, sooner or later, a
situation where they have to act like a
grownup or they have to discard their
childish illusions. And that’s the arc,
when a kid finds out there’s no f-cking
Tooth Fairy or Santa Claus.How has your relationship with pop
culture changed during the course of
your career? I’ve separated a bit from
pop culture. It’s more of a strain than it
used to be because I’m not where I was.
I don’t listen to a lot of current music.
People talk about some of the current
people like Jay-Z. I’m probably dating
myself just talking about Jay-Z. Once I
got a cell phone, I discovered that the
cell phone is basically the cornerstone
of today’s popular culture. So it’s
much easier for me to deal with things
like texting in stories. I used to get
copyedited notes saying, “Wouldn’t this
person text?” and now that’s there. You
talk about a grasp on popular culture,
I’ll say my fingertips have gotten the
tiniest bit numb.You’ve long been a critic of
President Trump. What are your
thoughts on the House’s current
impeachment inquiry? Let’s put it
this way: if the Russians aren’t paying
him, they should have, because he’s
torn this country in two. I think that
his 15 minutes are just about up. I think
even his hardcore supporters have
started to soften.
—PeTer Allen ClArkW
hat did you think of the
Doctor Sleep adaptation?
I like it a lot. He took my
story, which was the sequel to The
Shining, and basically did a seamless
weld to Stanley Kubrick’s film, which
is probably one of the reasons why
Warner Bros. was eager to do it. I
always felt that the Kubrick film was
rather cold, and director Mike Flanagan
warmed it up.There have been seven adaptations
of your work in 2019 alone. Have you
had any thoughts to what it takes
to make a successful adaptation?
I think that in most cases, the shorter
fiction has been more successful
than the longer fiction. That way the
filmmakers can stick to the story, pretty
much. I think that the more that you
stick to the story that I told, the more
successful the films are. Does that
sound conceited?What are some recent favorites
on TV that you’ve been watching?
The one network show that I’m
watching right now is called Emergence
on ABC, and I don’t think the ratings
are really terrific and I’m scared
to death they’re going to cancel it.
I’m watching a show with Billy Bob
Thornton called Goliath, which is
terrific. The first two seasons are good;
the third season is amazing because it’s
got that David Lynch vibe. There’s a
show on Netflix, a Spanish show called
Money Heist—actually in Spanish, it’s
“The House of Paper”—and that’s a lot
of fun.Your new novel, The Institute, is
about powerful children. What keeps
you returning to that theme? I don’t
know exactly, except that I’m interested
in stories where people who are weak
on their own join together and form
something that’s strong. Nobody is
weaker than children, and when they
get together, they can be fairly strong.
I liked the idea of a caring adult whoStephen King The best-selling novelist
on Doctor Sleep, Donald Trump and why
he often writes about children