Steve Duin of The Oregonian offers a not so flattering review of Full Dark No Stars. In fact, he titled the short review, "No light, no warmth in King's repellent quartet of novellas ." After saying some kind things about Different Seasons (and not mentioning Four Past Midnight), Duin then launches into his problems with Full Dark No Stars. Namely, the stories are too dark for him. But he can't say he wasn't warned! The name of the book is, after all, "FALL dark NO stars." Duin concludes by quoting King and then offering his own comment thusly, "I want to provoke an emotional, even visceral, reaction in my readers." Mission accomplished, boss. Reader appalled."
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Read the full review here: http://www.oregonlive.com/books/index.ssf/2010/12/fiction_review_no_light_no_war.html
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I might ask a question at this point: Why is Full Dark No Stars getting such a visceral response from some readers and reviewers? Frankly, because they've forgotten what a monster Stephen King can be.
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We Like The Dark Side!
Time has caused reviewers and readers alike to expect every novel to be a Green Mile or The Body. But every now and then, that guy who gave us Christine, Carrie, Salem's Lot, The Shining and Cujo pops his head out and says boo. I like it! I like it a lot.
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Is it possible we've forgotten what we originally liked about King? I can only speak for me, but I love his fearlessness in writing. He's not afraid to gross out, or go super dark.
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The Dark Makes The Light Brighter
King is not afraid to kill off main characters (sorry Nick), or bring a long story to a totally depressing ending. Now, because his stories are unpredictable, the result is real joy at the end of a good novel. When a writer always follows the same pattern, the joyful end isn't really so wonderful. But when you're not sure what you're going to get -- coal in your stocking, or a X-Box, the X-Box is all the better!
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Does anyone remember some dark moments from the past King gave us? How about... Needful things, two women cut each other up right on main street. It was sweet! Cujo was full of nastiness. I really liked the crucifixions in The Stand and the bathtub scene in The Shining.
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Now think about this: When you read King, you're always a little tense. Why? because you know he'll go THERE. So when we read Gerald's Game, what makes it scary when Jessie is in the room tied up with the killer there, you don't know what Mr. King will do. Or when Paul Sheldon is locked up in a house with Annie Wilkes, you really don't know what will happen. Because our mutual friend is known to slaughter his main characters. You're in suspense all the more!
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