When I started reading Stephen King's The Dark Half, it felt like an early Stephen King—back when, IMHO, he could really tell a story and hadn't started on that silly, again IMHO, Dark Tower series. So I checked the publication date and, sure enough, it was 1989. Now back in the 70s and 80s I was reading every Steven King book when it came out ,in hardback. Finally though I reached the point where I decided he wrote books faster than I could read them. I guess that's when The Dark Half fell through the cracks.
Bottom line is that I like Stephen King's writing. I like his wit, and even though he can be a bit long-winded at times, I like his style. Specifics:
1) The premise behind The Dark Half is a good one. The protagonist is a writer whose most successful books were written under a pseudonym. The writer, being threatened with exposure decides to kill off his alter-ego and for the benefit of a national magazine publicizes his funeral. The alter-ego, however, is having none of this. He wants to keep on writing his bestsellers and, in an effort to do so, starts killing off people who participated in his death and funeral. And there the book begins. (BTW, King expresses his indebtedness to "the late Richard Bachman for his help and inspiration. This novel could not have been written without him." Nice touch, IMHO.
2) Often Steven King can sum up a truism about human beings and express it quite well. "Your head, Pangborn [the local policeman who covers the first murder committed by George Stark, the alter ego] had discovered, was always giving your nerves good advice they couldn't take. They said Yessir, now that you mention it, that's just as true as it can be. And then they went right on jumping and sizzling." (page 53)
3) Although Stephen King usually describes each character down to the most minute detail, he is able to sum up a character in a single sentence. "Dodie was a whore with the heart of a bank teller and the soul of an acquisitive cockroach." (page 71)
4) "He (Thad Beaumont, protagonist) sometimes believed that the compulsion to make fiction was no more than a bulwark against confusion, maybe even insanity . It was a desperate imposition of order by people able to find a precious stuff only in their minds… never in their hearts." (Pages 128-129) I'm pretty sure I agree with that.
5) One of the things I enjoy about Stephen King is his references to literature and pop culture. Most of the time I know what he's referring to, and that makes me feel smart. So, of course I like them. But there are times when I don't catch the reference. At one point in The Dark Half, King lists pseudonyms. "Mark Twain, or Lewis Carroll, or Tucker Coe, or Edgar Box." (page 165) The first two I got. The next two? No idea. Anyone know who they are?
6) Sometimes King even combines statements about the human condition and pop-culture references. Pangborn: "Not every lie springs from a conscious decision. If a man has persuaded himself is telling the truth, he can even pass a lie-detector test with flying colors. Ted Bundy did it." (page 205) I like his theory and his example.
7) "'All the times I've talked about writing,' he said. 'Hundreds of lectures, thousands of classes, and I don't believe I ever said a single word about a fiction writer's grasp of the twin realities that exist for him—the one in the real world and the one in the manuscript world.'" (Page 206) Yes! Here I am, only an infrequently published writer who can attest to the fact that when fiction writing goes well, the characters do the work. All the writer has to do is write down what they say. Also, when I'm working on two pieces at the same time, it's not infrequent the character from one story shows up in the other.
8) More references. Thad Beaumont: "if he was not to blame for George Stark, who was? Bobcat Goldthwaite? Alexander Haig?" (page 214) Anyone know of a Bobcat Goldthwaite?
9) "Together again for the first time, as the old vaudeville announcers used to say." (Page 237) I didn't know that came from vaudeville. Did you?
10) Oops! I think Mr. King got one reference wrong. "… George were to disappear again, like the crazy old man who wove straw into gold for Rapunzel." (page 259) No. Rapunzel had the long and climbable hair. Rumpelstiltskin wove straw into gold for a miller's daughter.
Words:
1) Trepanning. "… or the practice of trepanning to relieve headaches." (page 264) Dictionary.com: " to cut circular disks from (plate stock) using a rotating cutter." Or, I guess, for a headache one would cut circular discs from one's head. Don't think I've ever run into that one before. And definitely don't think I'll try it for a headache cure.
2) Pellagra. "It was the sort of blemish he associated with pellagra, which had been endemic in the deep South even into the 1960s." I've heard it before; I know it's some sort of disease, but specifically? I'll find out. "Pathology, a disease caused by a deficiency of niacin in the diet, characterized by skin changes, severe nerve dysfunction, mental symptoms, and diarrhea." Okay. I was right. At least generally.
3) Bolloxed. "The guy must have gotten the numbers bolloxed." (Page 309) Word is underlining it in red. Let's check. Dictionary.com: "to do (something) badly; bungle (often followed by up ): His interference bollixed up the whole deal." "OX" is a secondary spelling. Dictionary.com gives the primary spelling as BOLLIX.
4) Fastnesses. "… but they may have been there all the same, deep in the fastnesses of her unconscious mind…" (page 336) dictionary.com: "a secure or fortified place; stronghold." Dang! Another word I have no memory of ever running into before.
5) Insectile. "It sounds f''ing insectile." (Page 375) Insectile is another word Word doesn't recognize. Dictionary.com: "pertaining to or like an insect." Not surprising, considering what the characters were discussing.
6) Ructions. "… See if whoever got the car was off to any other ructions in there." (Page 391) Dictionary.com: "a disturbance, quarrel, or row." King's vocabulary is bigger than mine. I didn't think I'd be finding this many words to check out in a Stephen King novel.
7) Puckies. "Then drop your gun in the puckies and let's go." (page 409) Short for pockets? That's the sort of cutesy thing a King villain might say when trying to be cute and scary at the same time. Dictionary.com has no puckies but does have pockies meaning woolen gloves in a dialect in Scotland. Neither that nor my guess makes the sentence any clearer.
Bottom line: I like Stephen King's writing, particularly the older novels, and The Dark Half falls in that category. I also like King's apparent memory of him and pop-culture and of every word he's ever heard or read.
