LITERATURE in the U.S.

Pop Culture

Literature in the U.S.

1980's- Present
By: Sarah Speich

Stephen King Novels

Steven King

Most of us are probably familiar with the U.S. literature icons of the 80’s and 90’s because most of them are still writing and creating books and book-based films today. For instance, Stephen King novels were a huge hit in the 80’s and 90’s. King’s is very well known for his 1980 pieces such as The Gunslinger, Firestarter, Christine, The Dark Tower, and in 1986 King’s novel, It was published and sold over 1,000,000 copies. King’s popular novels in the 2000’s include Cell, The Stand, The Talisman, and many more. King’s books all seem to follow a similar theme and formula within them. Most people could tell they were reading a Stephen King book, just by the plots and storylines. King’s novels usually contain horror, science fiction, fantasy, and suspense. Many of King’s novels have been turned into extremely popular, high-grossing films. Some of King’s novels-turned films that I am most familiar with are Pet Cemetery (1983), The Shining (1980), Cujo (1983), The Green Mile (1999), Misery (1990), The Shawshank Redemption (1994), and many more. Sometimes King’s novels’ plots are formulated so similarly, that people already know how it’s going to end before getting halfway through the book. Despite this fact, however, Stephen King’s novels have been adapted into some of the most popular films of the last 30 years.

            The 1990’s brought us some extremely famous titles as well, as far as literature is concerned. Pieces such as: Jurassic Park by Michael Crichton; The Silence of the Lambs by Thomas Harris; Captain Corelli’s Mandolin (a personal favorite of mine) by Louis de Bernieres; Schindler’s List by Thomas Keneally; Men Are From Mars, Women Are From Venus by John Gray, and many, many more. As were Stephen King’s novels, many of these novels were also adapted into very popular films.

The Twilight Saga, Stephanie Meyer

Stephanie Meyer

            I was a teenager of the 2000’s so, the book or books that I think made a huge impact on that decade was Stephanie Meyer’s Twilight Saga. The books within the series include Twilight, New Moon, Eclipse, and Breaking Dawn, all of which since have become mega-grossing box-office hits. I personally enjoyed, the books more than the movies, myself. Meyer’s writing is exceptionally detailed and suspenseful. Meyer’s novels are the epitome of romantic myth and Edward Cullen is the hero throughout the entire saga. Each of the Twilight series books generally follow the same formula: Edward and Bella are in love, Edward fights his urge to kill and devour Bella because he loves her, Bella’s fragile humanity always puts her in harms way in which Edward must save her. Although, the different books have different renditions, the formula generally stays the same. The Twilight Saga craze has definitely caused a peak in the cult of celebrity, here within the past few years. Everyone seems to be obsessed with the actors Robert Pattinson, and Kristen Stewart who play Edward and Bella in the Twilight movies. Their on and off screen love has much to do with this obsession! People just can’t seem to get enough of the fictional lovers, Bella and Edward.

 Reference:

Stephen king novels: A-Z. (2012). Retrieved from

         http://www.stephenking.com/library/novel/