[AR7]∎ [PDF] The Dark Half Stephen King 9780450524684 Books

The Dark Half Stephen King 9780450524684 Books

Download As PDF : The Dark Half Stephen King 9780450524684 Books

The Dark Half Stephen King 9780450524684 Books

The opening chapter does not pull any punches and immediately throws some gore and a shiver up your spine. We get further hits of this through the antagonist Starks point of view scattered throughout the novel, his actions are truly grotesque... I wanted to cover my eyes until it was over – but of course you can’t do that if you’re reading a book.

I felt moments in-between when reading, where the narrative dragged out – embellishing characters and their back-stories, or descriptions of the landscape of the novel that slowed the pace and had me speed-reading through. Though my interest in the novel never waned. I always wanted to know what was going to happen next. Eager to learn the secrets of Thad and Stark.

Thad was an interesting protagonist. I related to him immediately being a writer, and how he would get lost in a fugue of writing as if being taken over by another presence entirely. Though the smoking, drinking, patriarch stereotype that edged its way into this character annoyed me a little. But on the whole I found Thad to be intelligent, imaginative and a real risk taker; all with layers of love and compassion. I found perfection in his layers of imperfection.

As I did to his wife, Liz. I frequently was reminded of the phrase about poking a mumma bear with a stick when her twin children were threatened. Liz was always the quintessential homemaker, adoring her little family and supporting her husband. But the moment any of that was endangered she roared and snapped like a wild animal. Her protective spirit and tenacity created a deep respect.
Our straight-man (so to speak) being Sheriff Alan Pagborn filled the much needed critic against the supernatural. He guides the reader and grounds the narrative. The sceptic who deals only in facts and proof to form a conclusion. His added point of view helps to add credence to the theories Thad and his wife instinctively know.

I found the cast interesting, fully developed and added something unique to the story line, ultimately rounding it in some realism. Though the plot itself did fell drawn out a little too long, the journey there was paced well and held my interest. Stephen King’s writing style is prominent, though more intimate than his earlier works. For a novel nearly 600 pages long, I seemed to fly through it.

I was a little disappointed in the mythology of the novel – I’d read about the significance of sparrows before in Trent Jamison’s Deathworks novels, so this aspect was not a huge surprise to me; though Thad’s role felt like it was left hanging. Why had this event taken place in the first instance? Does Thad have some sort of ability? Was it Stark all along, clawing his way back from some dark place? I felt like I was wanting more resolution to this, or even a paragraph explaining why, but we didn’t get an answer.

I’ve read creepier, gorier books from King. But I have to say, ‘The Dark Half’ had just enough of both to satisfy this genre without making it difficult to read. The thriller-suspense is light, but a great story to ignite the imagination of any wanna-be writer.

It could have been a tad shorter, a tad more intense, and ended with more of an exclamation point, but a novel I’d be happy to recommend to all. I’d have to rank it in the top half of my King favourites.

Not until I had written this review did I discover that ‘The Dark Half’ had been adapted into a film in 1993 – silly me, I should have checked, with so many of King’s titles being optioned for screen adaptations, it’s kind of a given.


Tags : The Dark Half [Stephen King] on Amazon.com. *FREE* shipping on qualifying offers. Written by the author of Carrie, Salem's Lot, The shining and Christine, this novel features Thad Beaumont,Stephen King,The Dark Half,Hodder & Stoughton,045052468X,Classic fiction,Horror & ghost stories,Horror

The Dark Half Stephen King 9780450524684 Books Reviews

This is a great Stephen King book like most I have read. The version was edited by spell check and only spell check. There are 3 or 4 words in the book that are supposed to be one thing and have been "spell checked" to another. The word "gross" is "close" and towards the end of the book one of the main characters names, "Stark" becomes "start". It isn't anything you can't figure out from context but it severely interrupts the flow of reading such a good book.
This is a horrible kindle edition. It appears to have been a hard copy that was run through OCR software without the benefit of any proofreading. This is nothing more than laziness and greed on the part of the publisher. I will not be purchasing anymore of Mr. King's work until his digital editions proofreading has improved.
Stephen King published this fine novel in 1989. The plot exhibits King's wild imagination and creative gifts! Thaddeus Beaumont is an English professor at a Maine college and the author of several novels. His most famous works star his "dark half" nom de plume creation the evil George Stark. As the novel begins Beaumont and his wife stage a fake burial for Stark in a spooky Castle Rock Cemetery in rural Maine. People magazine sends a reporter and photographer to cover the unusual literary event. The idea behind it is that Beaumont has decided to stop writing the Stark thrillers and concentrate on more substantial works using his own name. the only problem is that George Stark is alive and emerges from the cardboard tombstone covered hole in the ground! He kills everyone connected with the photo shoot and People story including several policemen who have been called on to guard the innocent victims of Stark's murder spree. The novel ends in a spectacular showdown between Thaddeus and Stark his evil dark half. Beaumont and his wife have twin children reminding us of the duality of Beaumont's life. The book is autobiographical in that Stephen King reveals thoughts on the art of writing and the entire creative process of making fictional characters come live. A dark and eerie book!Stephen King is hard to beat for excellent fiction which will keep you on the edge of your chair!
When someone discovered literary writer Thad Beaumont was also crime writer George Stark and tried to blackmail him, Beaumont and his wife decided to go public and kill off George Stark themselves. But when the pseudonym takes on a life of his own and starts killing people connected to Thad, can anything stop him?

The Dark Half is an underrated book. Thad Beaumont had a parasitic twin removed from inside his skull when he was 12. Since then, he's become a critically acclaimed literary writer and a blockbuster crime writer under the pseudonym George Stark, who goes on a murderous rampage when Thad kills him off.

This is one of those books where the main character is the least interesting one. Alan Pangborn is a great viewpoint character and a lot more interesting than Thad. He's a small town sheriff trying to do his job despite some crazy stuff happening.

Basically, The Dark Half is Parker chasing down Donald Westlake. Since I've read all 23 Parker books Richard Stark wrote since the first time I read this, the reread was a much richer experience. I noticed some Richard Stark influence in the George Stark chapters. Also, I enjoyed the Creepshow reference, although I might have to check the timeline to see which one actually came first. "Call me Billie, everyone does!"

Aside from the psychopomp business with the sparrows and Stark falling apart, The Dark Half is pretty much a crime book. It doesn't feel nearly as long winded as some of King's books and the ending didn't suck for once. George Stark was a chilling villain and since I forgot the ending, I had no idea if Thad would live or not. Four out of five stars.
The opening chapter does not pull any punches and immediately throws some gore and a shiver up your spine. We get further hits of this through the antagonist Starks point of view scattered throughout the novel, his actions are truly grotesque... I wanted to cover my eyes until it was over – but of course you can’t do that if you’re reading a book.

I felt moments in-between when reading, where the narrative dragged out – embellishing characters and their back-stories, or descriptions of the landscape of the novel that slowed the pace and had me speed-reading through. Though my interest in the novel never waned. I always wanted to know what was going to happen next. Eager to learn the secrets of Thad and Stark.

Thad was an interesting protagonist. I related to him immediately being a writer, and how he would get lost in a fugue of writing as if being taken over by another presence entirely. Though the smoking, drinking, patriarch stereotype that edged its way into this character annoyed me a little. But on the whole I found Thad to be intelligent, imaginative and a real risk taker; all with layers of love and compassion. I found perfection in his layers of imperfection.

As I did to his wife, Liz. I frequently was reminded of the phrase about poking a mumma bear with a stick when her twin children were threatened. Liz was always the quintessential homemaker, adoring her little family and supporting her husband. But the moment any of that was endangered she roared and snapped like a wild animal. Her protective spirit and tenacity created a deep respect.
Our straight-man (so to speak) being Sheriff Alan Pagborn filled the much needed critic against the supernatural. He guides the reader and grounds the narrative. The sceptic who deals only in facts and proof to form a conclusion. His added point of view helps to add credence to the theories Thad and his wife instinctively know.

I found the cast interesting, fully developed and added something unique to the story line, ultimately rounding it in some realism. Though the plot itself did fell drawn out a little too long, the journey there was paced well and held my interest. Stephen King’s writing style is prominent, though more intimate than his earlier works. For a novel nearly 600 pages long, I seemed to fly through it.

I was a little disappointed in the mythology of the novel – I’d read about the significance of sparrows before in Trent Jamison’s Deathworks novels, so this aspect was not a huge surprise to me; though Thad’s role felt like it was left hanging. Why had this event taken place in the first instance? Does Thad have some sort of ability? Was it Stark all along, clawing his way back from some dark place? I felt like I was wanting more resolution to this, or even a paragraph explaining why, but we didn’t get an answer.

I’ve read creepier, gorier books from King. But I have to say, ‘The Dark Half’ had just enough of both to satisfy this genre without making it difficult to read. The thriller-suspense is light, but a great story to ignite the imagination of any wanna-be writer.

It could have been a tad shorter, a tad more intense, and ended with more of an exclamation point, but a novel I’d be happy to recommend to all. I’d have to rank it in the top half of my King favourites.

Not until I had written this review did I discover that ‘The Dark Half’ had been adapted into a film in 1993 – silly me, I should have checked, with so many of King’s titles being optioned for screen adaptations, it’s kind of a given.