Customer Reviews

The Dark Half

5 star:		(73)
4 star:		(52)
3 star:		(23)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(7)

 

 

"I'm back from the dead and you don't seem glad to see my at all, you ungrateful son of a bi$ch." During a time when folks began to question Stephen King's story telling ability, the "Master of Horror" pulls yet another ace from the deck. The Dark Half is a strong novel, similar to a short novella, "Secret Window, Secret Garden" from another SK book, Four Past Midnight. However, after reading the first couple hundred pages the close association with that story ends and The Dark Half begins. This novel is a nice breath of fresh air compared to other work that King released during this time period such as: The Tommyknockers, Needful Things, Dolores Claiborne, etc. Its unique style screams Bachman and displays Steve King's uncanny ability to write beyond the "typical monster under the bed" yarn, while capitalizing on his untapped ability to write a great crime novel. With a little mythology and telepathy thrown in to boot, The Dark Half delivers a prominent yarn, that will keep the reader engaged from start to finish. The only major problem I had with the book was the short, abrupt ending, which always seems to plague most of King's work (as his fans love to point out).

Quick-paced crime thriller: That's the best description of this magnificent novel. Located of course in Maine, this time in Castle Rock. Both this book, and 'Needful Things' have several characters in common. Unlike another pair of novels, 'The Regulators' and 'Desperation', the characters in question preserve their personality and biographies throughout the novels. Although after finishing 'The Dark Half' you may have an impression that all is well that ends well, read its sibling novel to get to know that this isn't so at all. I have found the 'Half' colorful and enchanting. This novel bound me to itself, so that I felt compelled to finish reading at one shot. Chances are you will too. King often utilizes one writer's trick of emphasizing character's persistent thoughts in separated lines or special type. In 'Carrie' it was for instance "dirtypillows", in 'The Shining' it was "redrum", and here it's "the sparrows are flying again". These mantras remain rooted long after reading the book in question. The writing technique is very convincing, serving as a complement to sequential presentation of words spoken and thought. How many times a day you use one expression in your head's voice and quite another goes out of your mouth? Coming back to the main plot of the book, one can imagine how much pissed off King must have been when his Bachman pseudonym was revealed to the public. On the other hand, the book suggests that he had some bitter thoughts observing the divergence of the volume of sales of his Bachman books and the ones written under his proper name, respectively. Well, all is well that ends well at least in this respect. Years later, in 1995, he exhumed his Bachman pseudo to write a companion novel to 'Desperation'. It was very handy and King used it in a brilliant way, indeed. Hence, reading 'The Dark Half' in 2000, one can look at the bitter writer's experiences with some perspective. As for the book itself, I claim that few writers have King's talent to write books you can't put down, and at the same time be able to amaze the reader with both descriptions and dialogues. Let me use a cliché: we don't read King for blood or any other feature like this. We read him because virtually each book of his carries the stigma of good literature and uniqueness. We read his books because He wrote them, no matter what the book is about. Don't we? So what? Well, LONG LIVE THE KING!

The Dark Half is the first Stephen King novel I bought. For some reason the little paragraph summary on the inside flap of the book caught my attention, and the book undoubtedly carried it through.

The plot was very clever and well thought out. I was impressed to say the least. The concept in this book was a great one as well and it gave me a very good idea of Stephen King's style. It's not one of his strongest books, but its brilliant nonetheless. I was amazed by this book and it only made me want to go out and buy more King novels. The only thing lacking is the character development which really shows in King's later novels. This is one of his earliest works, so it lacks in areas where his latest don't. But its always fun to read an author's earlier books, even when they aren't as good as the new ones. It just gives you a nice perspective, Anyways, I highly recommend this book, its well worth your time and I hope you are as dumbfounded by it as I was.

This was the first book I read by Stephen King and it's still my favourite. The story is great and belive me when I say I couldn't put it down. It is really an exciting book and there was no boring part for me. I am planing to read it again soon. I would highly reccomend it to all Stephen King's fans.

I have just finished this book and though it was undoubtedly a good read, the story itself was a little too kooky for me. Its saving grace and the primary reason for the four star rating is that King writes very well, even if the plot fell a little short. In the beginning, I was very interested in how King would resolve the matter of a dual personality made flesh and blood, and was a trifle disappointed, but entertained nonetheless. His characterizations and dialogue are at turns cryptic, humorous, and almost always right on target. His use of sparrows was very intrigueing and his descriptions of the characters' physical and internal feelings had me right there with them. I have read only one other King book, Different Seasons, which I feel was better than Dark Half and would recommend to any fan of fiction.

When I first started it, I expected this book to be really good. It had a good premise and a chilling prologue.

It did in fact have some good parts, but unfortunately there are also a lot of parts that drag. There are numerous occasions of the characters just sitting around saying that they don't know what is going on which is repetitive and boring to say the least.

And unfortunately the characters in the book also aren't quit up to par with Stephen Kings normal variety of great characters. I just didn't feel that I knew them as well as those in his other works. The main character and his wife are so similar that it is bothersome at times.

It all comes out to an average read. It is not near as good as Kings other works. In fact, being the big King fan that I am, this was probably my least favorite of his works so far...

I am 14 years old and in the 8th grade and this is the second Stephen King book I have read. I thought the book "The Dark Half" was excellent! Stephen King has such a creative imagination. I really COULDN'T put the book down. I read the 26 chapter book in 5 days. The Dark Half kept you thinking through out the whole book. I don't think there were any boring parts in the book for me. Everytime you think you figure something out you turn out being even more suprised than before. I honestly have to say that I don't think Stephen King has any "bad" books. I know some may be better than others, but I think this is my favorite one. I enjoyed this book so much, that I would love to continue on reading more of his books. I think this has to be the most TWISTED book I have ever read. The book really freaked me out! I don't won't to go into any details about the book, that's up to the readers to find out what they're missing out on.

Sometimes, Stephen King can be complicated. Desperation, for example, is quite possibly the best examination of Christian morality that you'll find in popular fiction (or anywhere, for that matter), and Misery manages to construct a fairly accurate, if obvious, allegory of the writer's relationship with his fans. The problem that these novels have, of course, is the fact that the message can, at times, interfere with the story, which (let's admit it, folks) is what a lot of people read Stephen King for.

We don't have that problem with this particular book. For once in his long career, Stephen King managed to maintain the authoritarian discipline over his more verbose reflexes to write a story that was JUST a story. He doesn't let himself get sidetracked with backstory, theorization, or philosophy--his first and only focus is to tell the story from beginning to end, and that is just what he does, in masterful fashion. For those of his readers, like myself, who enjoy these literary sidetracks, this can come as a bit of a disappointment (though not much of one), but for people who like to simply dig into their books and forget all that coffee shop, art undergraduate bull [...], this is right up their alley.

This presents a bit of a delimma to me, then, since I generally enjoy reflecting on the deeper message and understanding that King is trying to convey in these reviews. There is one here, sort of--while I don't quite agree with George Stade's view (I think that he might just be weaving some of this from some pretty thin thread), there are some statements to be read about the author's relationship with himself, if you're of the mind. The great thing about The Dark Half, however, is that you don't HAVE to go looking for these things.

In that sense, I really have to say that this is one of Stephen King's best books, at least in terms of the discipline and focus that he brought to the writing. You can see elements of Richard Bachman in this novel (the style is fairly reminiscent of Thinner, a much poorer effort) alongside King's usual voice and presentation, and the combination works out well in the end.

Don't get me wrong--there are knocks to be made against this book. Most of these are of the usual variety for King--the ending is weak, brand names seem to pop up with every odd sentence, etc. Fortunately, the good of this novel far outweighs the bad, in the end. All things considered, I'd say that this is a book that would be good for ANYBODY, dedicated King fan or not, to pick up to simply take an afternoon or two off or pass a long plane ride. While you may not remember it for the rest of your life, it should certainly keep you entertained, and maybe even give you something to think about in the process.

A novel about the struggle between a man and his "dark half." Writer, Thad Beaumont, decides it's time he puts a rest to his pen name "George Stark." In a strange series of events, you find out that George Stark has come to life. The story alternates between George's view and Thad's view throughout their struggle to destroy each other.

This book, for me at least, was for the most part not too difficult a read. Stephen King has great diction. Some of the words he uses to describe things are extremely effective. These words give the book that extra edge in creating a suspenseful (and often times gruesome) situation. The novel is also one that you don't want to put down. In fact, in the prologue starts you with a little taste of what is to come in the rest of the book. In those first 10 pages you just know that you have to find out what it has to do with the story. You must be warned though, this book is not for those who are faint of heart or have a weak stomach, it's quite graphic. Another interesting thing King does is he splits up the book not only into chapters but also what could be considered two "acts." Before and after each act are parts from the stories that the characters in the book have written. This really gives you a good sense of the contrast between the characters and how each of their minds work. Also, once you get a little ways into the book you are now working with two points of view, that of Thad and that of George. This again gives you a great sense of what is going on. Once the two characters are both introduced into the book they are far apart. As the story progresses they gradually come together and their stories meet. Stephen King has an impeccable ability to keep you interested in what will happen next, even in the down time when nothing thrilling is happening.

This book was a good book but I found it some what difficult to read. I thought the book was written differently from other SK books. It seemed like SK had a quota of large words per each page which sometimes jumbled up sentences and took a while to get used to. After about the third chapter I adapted to the style of writing.
This book was more of a mystery/suspense/thriller book rather than horror. Some of the scenes were haunting but more suspenseful and thrilling. This book reminded me of Pet Semetary. If you like the traditional SK, horror and easy reading, I wouldn't highly suggest this book; but it is a good short read.
What I did like about this book was it had little cursing, sexual scenes, and those annoying long flashbacks. That is great, no flashbacks! None!
Overall this was a good book but I enjoy the more traditional horror SK books. If you are like me I highly suggest: IT, Salem's Lot, Misery, The Shining, or Christine.