Full Dark, No Stars

[Ricky]

Hannah! Where the heck have you been?

[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/...-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/...14-Cara-Laughs
The Full Dark No Stars specific discussion is here:
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.

Spoiler:

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:

Spoiler:

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

Spoiler:

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:

Spoiler:

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/podcas...no-stars-1922/
• https://bloody-disgusting.com/podcas...rs-big-driver/
• https://bloody-disgusting.com/podcas...-club-podcast/