King's retirement disappoints fans

By Nicole Rodriguez

J.D. Salinger wrote what is quite possibly the greatest American novel of our time and then disappeared off the face of the literary world. Rumor has it that the author continued to write, but instead of releasing his work for the public, he locked it away in a bank safety deposit box.

And now it appears that America's best selling author is taking the same route. Stephen King, who penned over 40 best sellers (including "Carrie" and "The Shining") as well as multiple screenplays, has announced his plans for retirement.

"I'd never stop writing because I don't know what I'd do between nine and one every day," King told Entertainment Weekly. "But I'd stop publishing. I don't need the money."

Instead, he says, he plans to take the Salinger route and file his stories away in a desk drawer, since he's "always rejected the idea that every book had to be available to every consumer."

It is a given that a writer's primary audience should always be himself, but this doesn't mean that he should take his readers entirely for granted. What King and Salinger don't seem to realize is the effect a decision such as this has upon on the readers. There is a reason that these writers are so popular. People are intrigued by both their stories and their style of writing. They look to them as sources of comfort and entertainment.

It is one thing for a writer to choose to retire - certainly nobody can argue with a person's decision to do so, especially someone like King who has produced work so prolifically over this lifetime. However, what Salinger and King have chosen to do is not retire, but to keep working and simply keep the fruits of their labors to themselves.

No one knows what became of Salinger after "Catcher in the Rye." Who knows how many brilliant manuscripts lie locked unread in a bank vault. This is not to say that every writer is as great as Salinger, or even that he and King should be compared in the same category, but the idea of a successful writer choosing to keep his work secret seems more like a crime against readers than a career decision.

However upset his readers are, King remains steadfast in his decision. Says King, "Somebody would say, 'Well, I want that book!' And I'm like, 'Hey, there are people in hell who want ice water, too!'"

Sadly it looks as though us readers are going to have to deal with our disappointment.