Full Dark, No Stars

[woodpryan]

Well, this is coming out on Tuesday, so I figure it sort of needs a thread. I didn't see one (I looked at the list), so here we go. I borrowed this from work on Thursday night (working at a bookstore has its cons, but it sure has its pros) and I'm about halfway through the first novella here: "1922." The promotionals for this thing keep calling it "the darkest King yet." And you know what? I think, maybe they're not too far off the mark. This thing is at least the darkest he's come out with since "It." I am loving it so far, and I highly recommend it. The first story alone has been worth the 27 dollars I will pay for it on Tuesday. Has anyone else had such an opportunity yet, or read the excerpts printed in Entertainment Weekly (this week's issue) or the excerpt that's online?

[mae]

$27? Amazon has it for fifteen!

[Bev Vincent]

There is an excerpt from Big Driver in this week's Entertainment Weekly.

[EvaH]

I don't want to read any exerpts, I'll just wait till Tuesday. Also, Barnes and Noble has it at $15 as well.

[biomieg]

I got the book last week (apparently Dutch bookstores are not under any embargo that forbids them to sell the book before the official publication date) and although I haven't had much time to read yet, I'm around page 60 of '1922' and it is indeed a very, very dark and grim tale. I'm loving it!

[Bob26003]

Hello, I am near finished listening to 1922. I must say, the reader is great. He is able to convey the emotions and depth in a manner that give it almost a cinematic quality.

As usual the characters are excellent; deep and rich. The plot so far is just downright crazy and gruesome. I like it :)

As usual King has been able to capture the texture and feel of the setting and the lifestyle.

For me, this is a must in a good writer. I like to be able to understand the motivations of the characters; what they feel, what they believe, the pressures on them, the expectations etc.

IMO this is classic King.

It's not quite on the level of "The Sun Dog" but it is damn close. Actually, to compare them is to do a disservice. They are different. I think the writing in 1922 is more laid back and mellow.

When I listen I am transported to the farm, and that is what is amazing.

Ill post again about the details of the plot once the posts get going.

:)

Two Thumbs Up on 1922 so far:clap::rock:

*****************

Oh and I hear alot of ppl whining about King endings. I don't think it matters that much. For me, its the journey; getting transported to Kings world. It's the ride. To step out of my world for a moment and into his weaved world. Good therapy value too I think.

I could stop listening to 1922 right now and I would still be satisfied with the experience.

[woodpryan]

I finished reading 1922 last night. I loved it. It felt very Lovecraft inspired to me. I never read "Rats in The Walls," but I'm sure that parallels could probably be drawn. Certainly the theme of a first person narrative writing out a confession of something horrific has been oft explored by Lovecraft. It was nice throwback to King's original inspiration, I thought. The ride was fantastic and I loved the ending. Question for those who have read it:

No one else can ever see the rats. Not in the bank, not in the denim factory, not in the library. At the end, it talks about him having bitten HIMSELF to death. The question is, what do you think? Were the rats merely in his head, or were his wife's "loyal subjects" fallowing him around. Ghosts from the well where she was buried?

[Bev Vincent]

I think that you can interpret however you like. There is no definitive answer.

I thought the story also had a Poe feel to it, the confessions of a madman like Tell-tale Heart, for example.

[Bob26003]

Karma The weird part is...... Did he actually know about the fate of his son and Shannon beforehand..... and if it was all delusion, how would that be possible. Or did he imagine he knew it beforehand. Because in the end, he was clearly still delusioning right?

[woodpryan]

Here's my interpretation of 1922:

By the time his son and Shannon died he was delusional. The vision of his wife coming to him was an illusion. At the time that he wrote the piece, he already knew what had happened and embellished a bit. This is part of the problem with first person narratives. Who knows whether or not what the narrator of the story is saying is the truth and/or how much of it is true. He kept saying he was telling the complete truth. And maybe he was. But who's truth was he telling? Well, his own of course. And what exactly is the truth from the perspective of a mad man? 1922. He bit himself to death in the end, under the illusion that the rats were killing him. The only way in which his wife haunted him was figuratively. She was always on his mind and he felt terrible about what he did to her, therefore she haunted him. That's what I think.

[biomieg]

That sounds like a plausible interpretation, Woodpryan. I finished '1922' this morning and read the first few pages of the next story. Can't wait to continue!

[woodpryan]

Working on "Big Driver" right now as well. I know I should stop and go to bed. But, damn it's hard to put down my favorite author.

[mae]

Mine arrived yesterday from Amazon. I promptly brodarted it and started reading but it was a tad too late so I only put away about 10 pages. Very good so far, but we all knew that.

[Sam]

I think that you can interpret however you like. There is no definitive answer.

I thought the story also had a Poe feel to it, the confessions of a madman like Tell-tale Heart, for example.

I was thinking of that very tale about three quarters of the way through 1922. Poe's influence is very easy to see throughout it.

[biomieg]

I'm halfway through the last story and so far the book has been an awesome, sinister read!

[woodpryan]

Just finished "Big Driver." Fantastic. Loved it.

[Delah]

This was an excellent book.

1922 was the most haunting story, but The Good Marriage was the one that really struck me. I live in Wichita, where BTK committed his crimes and was caught, and King did a really good job of research on him; the physical description, hiding his momentos in the garage, even the fact that he was a cub scout master.

[biomieg]

Finished the book. Loved it.

[Sam]

I've been reading and finished Fair Extension the other night. Unfortunately, I think it's gonna be a while before I can pick it up to read The Good Marriage. Fair Extension really shook me.

Big Driver was really good, and a very fast read to boot. I thought it was MUCH better than 1922, which was a pretty decent tale on its own.

[EvaH]

I've been reading and finished Fair Extension the other night. Unfortunately, I think it's gonna be a while before I can pick it up to read The Good Marriage. Fair Extension really shook me.

Big Driver was really good, and a very fast read to boot. I thought it was MUCH better than 1922, which was a pretty decent tale on its own.
I just finished Big Driver and agree completely. Great story.

[mikeC]

Steve is really preachy on the booze in-take in the book.
Everyone that consumes alcohol is either a drunk, a loud mouth or a fool.
Not sure if this is an underlying theme for the book but it's a shame.

The male narrator is really good, one of the best out of the recent books.
The woman is ok, she reads the story in a different vibe that what I feel that it should been but I think she became better as Big Driver went along.
One of a many things that S&S do wrong about their audio books is that the music cues come way to close to the ending of the stories....they don't let the endings breath.

I definitely think the first story would make a great movie, probably better than the actual story.
Big Driver was awesome.
The ending to the third story was terrible.

[SpaceMaN]

Overall I loved this book, but it's still too new for me to say it's one of his best. Definitely darker than he's been in a while, and I appreciate that. The few times I had to turn my head from the page and think about something particularly disgusting will stick with me. Damn he's good.

[Bethany]

The stories would have been okay if I had found them in a pick 'em up and toss 'em book from Wal-Mart but not from SK. His writing is aging right along with him, in my opinion. Where scary used to be getting trapped in "heaven", boogey men in closets and every where else, it is now cancer and bad stuff happening to you family? Please, Mr. King...I read your books to escape reality, not be reminded of it.

[Erin]

I somehow missed your text last night and didn't see it until this morning. I liked Full Dark/No Stars, but I do see your point.

[Hannah]

I was pretty impressed with this book. I'm a little late to reading it because I never actually went out and bought it, instead I had a coworker who let me borrow it. I really enjoyed all of the stories except Fair Extension. I didn't really think there was much of an ending with it at all. It kind of seemed like more of an idea than a story. Disappointment.

[Ricky]

Hannah! Where the heck have you been? :couple:

[Hannah]

Super busy at work optimizing and solution selling and begin a stupid business consultant, selling my soul for corporate dollars. Someone save me! :)

Also, I was obviously spending some of the time away from the site reading Full Dark, No Stars.

[Jon]

I want to find such a dude with a stand by the airport!!

[Randall Flagg]

Hi, I recently real-time reviewed FULL DARK, NO STRAS here:
http://nullimmortalis.wordpress.com/2011/01/02/full-dark-no-stars-by-stephen-king/
des
Welcome to the site.
Calvin's Corner is primarily dedictaed to the collecting of Stephen King books-the actual books themselves, whether it be a signed limited, trade 1st edition, or most other unique King item.
The actual discussion for literary content of any Non-Dark Tower Stephen King book is in this Forum: http://www.thedarktower.org/palaver/forumdisplay.php?14-Cara-Laughs
The Full Dark No Stars specific discussion is here:
Full Dark, No Stars (http://www.thedarktower.org/palaver/showthread.php?11458-Full-Dark-No-Stars)


Once again, welcome to the site.

[Weirdmonger]

My personal real-time review of FULL DARK, NO STARS - where SK becomes the world's spear-carrier or sin-eater - has been on my blog for some weeks now, as supplement to that of my DARK TOWER reviews, in case anyone is interested.

df lewis

[ICry4Oy]

Finished FDNS last week. Very much enjoyed all of the stories but Big Driver was my fave! Filled me with the oogies pretty much from start to end. 1922 certainly had many wonderfully disturbing moments as did A Good Marriage. Fair Extension left me wondering who I hate the most...hmmmmm....

[Darkthoughts]

Just finished...forgot I had this book on my towering "to read" pile!

I really, really enjoyed all four stories, infact I think it's the first SK short story/novella collection where I've equally liked every tale.

I loved all the nods to It in Fair Extension, including mentions of the Denborough's (the mom and Edvil's first name being George).

[mystima]

almost done with this book am half way through the last story and will probably finish it tonight. will give my thoughts on all the stories tomorrow or later.

[Jean]

I got the book for my birthday!

::happybear::

[Darkthoughts]

Brilliant! I think you'll love them, I know that like me you enjoy a long build up in King stories like Insomnia and It and he's very cleverly managed to give the impression of doing that with these four shorter ones.

[Jon]

Bear friend, you will enjoy.

[mystima]

Yes you will like these stories...stayed up past what should be my bedtime reading....lol...I liked these stories as they pertain to what a person would do in different situations. How dark can a person get if giving the opportunity or situation to do them. would you kill someone over some land just to stay there? Would you go to the police or do justice for yourself? Would you send your best friend to hell if given the chance. It makes one think "Would I or could I do that?"

[RolandLover]

Here's my interpretation of 1922:

By the time his son and Shannon died he was delusional. The vision of his wife coming to him was an illusion. At the time that he wrote the piece, he already knew what had happened and embellished a bit. This is part of the problem with first person narratives. Who knows whether or not what the narrator of the story is saying is the truth and/or how much of it is true. He kept saying he was telling the complete truth. And maybe he was. But who's truth was he telling? Well, his own of course. And what exactly is the truth from the perspective of a mad man? 1922. He bit himself to death in the end, under the illusion that the rats were killing him. The only way in which his wife haunted him was figuratively. She was always on his mind and he felt terrible about what he did to her, therefore she haunted him. That's what I think.

I just started reading this book today and finished 1922 and your interpretation of the story is how i interpreted also. Very dark and grim but good!

[beam*seeker]

I liked all the stories, but esp. 1922. But I have always loved tragedy.

[mtdman]

When I first got the book I skipped Big Driver because I couldn't take listening to a rape scene. And I totally forgot about that story after I finished the book. Just went back and listened to the book all over again, and caught Big Driver this time. Boy did I love that story. It helped that the narrator was pretty damned good too. Both narrators for this book are great, Craig Wasson and Jessica Hecht. She does the two 'chick' based stories and the voice she does for that last story is just incredible. Definitely a highly recommended book.

[BeDaN]

I loved the few tie-ins within "Fair Extension". The Derry Flood, the Denbrough's, but especially. . .

"Life is good, wouldn't you say?"
"Very good," Streeter agreed. "Long days and pleasant nights."
Goodhugh raised his eyebrows. "Where'd you get that?"
"Made it up, I guess," Streeter said.

It's these little things that give me a good giggle during a first time read.

[CyberGhostface]

I have to say Fair Extension really made me uncomfortable at spots, especially since it was apparently being sold as being "funny" and "satisfying". Were we supposed to enjoy reading about this guy's misery as his life falls apart? Kind of reminded me of The Dualitists by Bram Stoker in that regard.

[Ben Eads]

Ahhh... where to begin?

The first novella, 1922, is worth the cost of the book alone. King, I felt, had something to prove...and prove it, he did. By far, 1922 was the best of the four novellas. Poe's influence can be felt and King carried that torch well. Due to it being the first novella, it really stole the thunder from the rest of them.

I enjoyed A Good Marriage. However, with Fair Extension:
Fair Extension's ending was a let down. It lacked the resolution the other novellas had. It had a lot going for it structure wise--the premise was a good one: you can have your life extension, but you have to give it to someone else. King took it to a new place by having the protagonist have to choose someone he hated/loved. Again, great concept, but a severe let-down at the end.

I enjoyed Big Driver as well. IMHO it rounded out the collection.

[Merlin1958]

Very good analysis!!

[Girlystevedave]

The stories would have been okay if I had found them in a pick 'em up and toss 'em book from Wal-Mart but not from SK. His writing is aging right along with him, in my opinion. Where scary used to be getting trapped in "heaven", boogey men in closets and every where else, it is now cancer and bad stuff happening to you family? Please, Mr. King...I read your books to escape reality, not be reminded of it.


I can relate to this sentiment.
When I first picked up Full Dark, No Stars, I basically quit before even getting to the middle of 1922. It was too much for me.
However, I did pick it back up last night, and read a Good Marriage in one sitting. I enjoyed it more than I expected. It was a dark story, yes, but not as disturbing as I had feared.
So, it has made me want to try to read 1922 again, as well as the other stories.

[jhanic]

FDNS is one of my favorite collections.

I especially liked A Good Marriage and Big Driver.

Fair Extension was my least favorite.

John

[mae]

The Losers Club podcast episodes on this book:


https://bloody-disgusting.com/podcasts/3780499/full-dark-no-stars-1922/
https://bloody-disgusting.com/podcasts/3781643/full-dark-no-stars-big-driver/
https://bloody-disgusting.com/podcasts/3786146/full-dark-no-stars-extension-marriage-the-losers-club-podcast/