Flipping Through Pages #18 - The Dark Half (A Book Review)

“The bigger the lies, the better the pay.”

I’ve always admired how much Stephen puts of his own life and experiences into the books he writes.

And this is a book on writers and their demons. Or should I say, inspirations? For George Stark is an interesting man – and a fictional one at them, cobbled together from the last gasps of Thad Beaumont’s creativity.

This leads Thad into a wonderful maze of writing greatness but when it comes to retiring the man who made it happen, it proves a bit more difficult.

George Stark is not just an interesting man, he is a very real one as well.

King used a pseudonym during this time as a writer as well, so this seems born from that experience. How much does an author change when he or she has the liberty of a whole new persona? No weight attached to their writing, and they can be free and unburdened by expressive constraints.

King channels all that into this book – as George and Thad lock into a supernatural struggle to prove their existential superiority with body counts racking up and sparrows fly.

Not only do names differ, but King showcases how unique George is as compared to Thad. Different writing styles and equipment – they could really be two very different men.

I loved the thriller aspect to this novel, especially when we question Thad’s sanity and the actual existence of a George Stark. While King does make a good connective to Thad’s childhood and George’s emergence – I found it a bit discouraging to make it solidly supernatural.

I could compare this to misery, which just required a psychotic personality to clash with the author in a claustrophobic environment – but this became a different beast the moment George became a real entity and not a threat within Thad.

It is a wonderful thought through, to realize Thad and George were more alike than either would have liked. And there was respect. So even when you kill a monster, you remain wary of its origin.

So, I give it 6.5 out of 10.

+Amazing insight into a writer’s mind

+Some haunting moments

+The mystery element was enticing

-A subpar resolution

-King could have gone into Thad’s psychosis more