In order to gain popular success, respectable writer Thad Beaumont created a separate identity for himself--George Stark, a tough-as-nails crime novel writer. One day, Thad decides to put George behind him forever--to kill him, in a way--but George has other ideas.
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While reading this novel, I came across an interesting paradox--how do you write a book in which the main character is troubled, distant, and cold, and yet keep the reader interested in him and the story moving around him? Unfortunately for The Dark Half, its protagonist proves to be its downfall. The same distance that keeps Thad Beaumont from his family (and, perhaps, that generated alter ego George Stark in the first place) keeps the audience from ever empathizing with him. For the first time in reading a King book, I didn't care what happened to the characters, and while that may very well be part of the point, it didn't help me to enjoy the book. The pace is helped somewhat by gory scenes (the phrase "groin to gullet" comes to mind), but in the end, I felt as if the characters and their stories were just a little out of reach. (Oct 21, 2000) | |
One of King's Castle Rock stories--others include "The Body," Cujo, Needful Things, and (partially) The Dead Zone.
Made into a 1993 movie directed by George A. Romero and starring Timothy Hutton.
