Full Dark Journal 6: Fair Extension

I was excited to jump into Fair Extension, because so many have expressed that it was their favorite of the four Novella's in Full Dark No Stars. This one left me a little wide eyed. "Really!"

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In order for our cancer ridden protagonist, Dave Streeter, to extend his life (and get rid of cancer), he makes a deal with the devil: He will pay a tithe of his income to George Elvid -- aka: The Devil. He must also "do the dirty" to someone else. That is, someone must pay for his life extension.

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Theology:

I am again struck by the layers of theology here. Forgive me, I can't help it! Note: The concept of blood atonement (eye for eye, tooth for tooth, life for life), and the devil's price: 15%. A much steeper demand than the tenth (ie, tithing) demanded by God.

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So the deal is: The price is higher, but if you can live with yourself, the dark "blessings" can be counted ahead of time. I mean, think about it; you serve God, and you have to trust him to take care of you. You give to God, and believe He will bless. But God chooses the blessing (unless you're into TV preachers). So you have to trust God to know what you really need. But the Devil (at least in Fair Extension), is ready to give you exactly what you think you need. The price is higher, but the exchange is clearly stated up front.

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By the way, I don't think King is actually seeking to build a theology here. He's having fun. But he does it with skill and real depth.

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FAIR!

Now here's the catch: The devil turns out to be a fair trader. It's crazy, but it works. Streeter faithfully pays his dues, and watches over the years as disaster rains down on his frenemy. Probably the strangest thing about the novella is that Streeter feels no guilt. None! In fact, he watches with inner glee as his friends life unravels. I really like this. The simple exploration of a man who is so totally self focused, he is incapable of human compassion.

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For most of us, "doing the dirty" to someone else would take a huge toll on us emotionally. Even if we made the deal, we would experience intense guilt for bringing such harm on another person. But not Streeter! He's that rare creature who is perfectly matched to make a deal with the devil.

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Would Streeter do it again? You betcha! In fact, he wants more! Picture poor Oliver Twist holding out his bowl to the devil, "Please sir, I want more."

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NEEDFUL THINGS

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Elvid reminds me very much of Leland Gaunt. Needful Things was one of my favorite novels. It was brilliantly executed, in my opinion. An entire town was spun in circles by the manipulations of one wicked store proprietor. Of course, in that story the characters felt deep shame for their dealings with the devil. And old Gaunt didn't play fair.

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In Fair Extension, King narrows his focus. Instead of an entire town being the landscape, just one man and his relationships are looked at. I think it serves as a nice companion piece to Needful Things.

Full Dark Journal 5: A Good Marriage

I am sure there are spoilers here. I try not to give too much away... but I also think you should not read reviews and essays on books if you haven't read them. If you need a review to tell you to go read this book, then I'll put it right here at the beginning. . . go read this book. There. Now we shall proceed.

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A Good Marriage is a good story.

This is my favorite novella of the four in Full Dark No Stars. I found it genuinely scary. The story often moved in directions I did not expect.

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Darcy Anderson is in a genuine predicament. King masterfully explains why she chooses not to call the police. Not so much an issue of her love for her husband, but her own need for stability. But justice ultimately trumps her own needs.

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Edgar's Ghost

King cites Edgar Allan Poe's short story (weren't they all short?) "The Cask of Amontillado." That's cool, since 1922 had hints of the Tell Tale Heart. In Poe's 1846 story, The Cask of Amontillado, Montresor uses wine to trap his "friend." Montresor literally builds a wall, while Darcy walls her victim in by incapacitating him. In each case, the victim is betrayed by someone they trust.

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Mirrors and Coins:

Both mirrors and coin collecting play important minor chords in this novella. They not only move the plot, but are the kind of details that enrich the story as a whole.

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BTK:

The story is based on BTK . The documentary BTK Killer Next Door starts with this intro: "Known to his neighbors as a Boy Scout leader, a church goer, a family man. . . but a murderer?" That is exactly the angle King takes.

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Blading and pudgy, Bob Anderson even looks like Dennis Raider. Also, Like Raider, Anderson managed to stop for a period of time.

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King picks up on a serial killers inability to feel guilt over their crimes. "Hollow" is how Darcy describes it. He is just a hollow, empty shell of a man. Anderson claims that two men live inside him. After observation, that is not Darcy's conclusion. In essence, she decides that the good man doesn't really exist. It's not Jekyll and Hyde -- it's just Hyde.

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The mystery of marriage was explored more tenderly in Lisey's Story.

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Killers Among Us:

How can serial killers move among us seemingly unknown? I told this before, but it bears repeating. My Grandfather was a pastor. His church had a photo director. One morning I flipped through the photo directory and I stopped on the picture of Bill Suff. He was a serial killer in Riverside and Lake Elsinore, California. He also sang in the choir at Grandpa's church!

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Serial Killers and Stephen King:

My list will be no where near complete, but here is a list of Serial Killers in Stephen King's fiction. Please add to my list in the comments section, and I'll update this post. I'm not counting monsters as serial Killers (ie: Pennywise, Christine, Flagg) or animals (Cujo).

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Under The Dome, Junior Renny

IT, Henry Bowers

The Dark Half, George Stark

Gerald's Game, Raymond Andrew Joubert (The Space Cowboy)

The Dark Tower, The Pusher

The Green Mile, William Wharton ?

Big Driver, Big Driver and Little Driver

A Good Marriage, Bob Anderson

Frank Dodd, The Dead Zone (thanks Eva)

"Springheel Jack" - Strawberry Spring (Night Shift) (Thanks Eva)

The Man Who Loved Flowers (Night Shift) (thanks Eva.)

Lloyd Henreid and Andrew "Poke" Freeman - The Stand (Thanks Eva)

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Wikipedia says this about Annie Wilkes in a discussion about "angel's of mercy": "The character Annie Wilkes in the Stephen King novel Misery seems to be a serial killer of this type." http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Angel_of_Mercy_(serial_killer)

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In IT, King showed a serial killer in league with the devil. Henry Bowers works under the influence of Pennywise. However in more recent works, King appears to be showing us the evil comes from within. It is not so much the work of the devil, as it is the heart itself. This was true of Big Driver, Junior Renny and Bob Anderson.

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However, in IT the serial killer was best portrayed by Pennywise himself. The monster was based on John Wayne Gacey

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Hell:

Holt Ramsey, a retired detective mentions that Anderson is now being punished in hell "according to the Old Testament." That struck me as a strange comment. I know, Ramsey is a detective, not a theologian. But it implies that Hell is an Old Testament doctrine as opposed to a New Testament teaching. However, hell in the Old Testament is simply Sheol, the shadowy underworld of the dead. It is simply not a developed doctrine. Hell is actually a New Testament teaching. It is particularly advanced by: Jesus (Matthew, Mark, Luke, John), 1 Peter, Jude and The Revelation.

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Uplifting:

I found this to be the most enjoyable of all of the novella's. It was, frankly, uplifting. An encouragement to peer in at Darcy as she deepens in her convictions and carries out revenge. It is a redemptive novel, from Darcy's end. She is able not only to rise above the monster within (the monster is passivity), but also able to crush the monster who lives with her.

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If 1922 and Fair Extension were truly FULL DARK with not even a hint of STARS, I would have to say that we at least get moonlight in A Good Marriage and Big Driver.

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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TRPS0x66ncM

Full Dark Journal 4: Big Driver

Picture credit: Jill Bauman, http://www.cemeterydance.com/sh/king05.html

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There are probably spoilers ahead. If you don't like that, give the Library Police a call.
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I just finished Big Driver. It was hard going for a short little while there. Wow, I'm glad I hung in there. I like this novella a lot!
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Listening to the Stephen King chat helped relate to this story better. A woman asked King how he was able to connect so well with women. His answer was simply that it's part of the art of writing (my words). The difficulties for me had been with his female character.
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Tess' reasoning at several points still troubles me. Sorry to mention this. But I was not really convinced on her reason for not calling the police. And, her note to herself, "Don't get caught" . . . but she didn't really carry out much of a plan. She followed an emotion, but didn't execute a flawless play. Instead, she plans backward. that is, she carries out an idea, then figures out how to cover her tracks.
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While the story is dark, the ending is fantastic. King masterfully pulled the strands together. It is dark, but perhaps not as dark as some of the other novella's contained in FDNS.
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Cultural References:
It is also worth mentioning that the novella is chalk full of cultural references. Books, movies and even Diet Coke. The Jodie Foster film The Brave One really takes center stage. But those passing references always bring a King film home. The Sound of Music is also mentioned, as is Walmart, Lay-Z-Boy, Pabst Blue Ribbon, Doritos, (I know, this is really deep stuff here).
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Mirrors:
Both Big Driver and A Good Marriage make use of mirrors in a minor way. In Big Driver, Tess looks herself in the mirror after a shower and gets a glimpse of her own rage. In A Good Marriage, the bathroom mirror is again discussed. This time, from a woman's point of view, wondering why the mirror is aimed at the toilet. Who wants to see themselves, no matter how pretty they are, sitting on the potty? The mention of mirrors is interesting because both stories feature women.
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I don't know exactly who Tess is modeled after; but I keep picturing her as a Patricia Cornwell. She is a writer, who has written a series of mystery novels featuring a female protagonist. Okay, probably not. Old women like to read Tess' work, so I suspect she's more likely a type of Mary Higgins Clark.
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Chatting:
Everything talks in this book. It rattled me for a while. However, someone pointed out that this is better executed in print than audio. I have to agree. First, the novella is very focused. When going for a tight frame, dialogue of some kind is needed to break up the story and expand the characters thoughts. Things need to be worked out, and the objects and corpses give Tess something to work them out with. Actually, it's what the dead people started talking that I felt much better about this whole world of chatty objects.

Full Dark Journal 3: Big Driver Mid-Read Confusion

STOP
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If you haven't read Big Driver, don't read this. This is not a synopsis, but I will discuss things in the book that will spoil it for you if you haven't read. If you have read the story, press on!
.You know, don't you. . . the stand was the greatest novel ever written.

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Some Mid-Read Confusion. . .
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I've been listening to Big Driver. It's an interesting listen, because the reader is very naturally charming. But the story is very dark.
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I am finding this to be a difficult read. Namely because Tess constantly makes decisions that seem unreasonable. They're not what... anyone... would do in that situation. But more than that, she makes conclusions that don't make sense. and then, her irrational hunches turn out to be spot on. It's like that Mel Gibson movie -- what if sometimes the crazy peopl are right?
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Tess is a difficult character to identify with. Mainly because of her very strange decision making process. But she is also difficult because she talks to things, and hears them answer. I have not read the ending yet, but I'm starting to wonder if all this is taking place in her head. She talks to Tom (a GPS) and her cat. And both talk back!
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Another difficult thing for this story is the believability of the "bad guys." Why would a Liberian feed her rapist / serial killer son fresh victims? And why would she choose a popular author? Don't serial killers usually choose people who are easily overlooked? Prostitutes, homeless people and so on.
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I didn't understand the process by which Tess came to the conclusion that the Librarian was feeding her son victims (other than her giving Tess directions).
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Every story has to deal with the: "Why not just go to the police?" I just saw that on a TCM documentary. The idea here is that Tess will not go to the police because she doesn't want her reputation to be tarnished. So instead... she opts for a very nasty revenge.
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Am I the only one scratching my head here? I love King's writing, and plotting. . . but sometimes I'm left a little confused. How did we get here? How was that conclusion drawn?

Full Dark Journal 2: 1922

I just finished reading 1922. I liked it a lot.

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1922 is the kind of story King would never write just for reviews. It's the kind of thing that gets written just to please one's self, and the constant reader. But it won't win you a lot of friends among the literary snobs. They might still see him as nothing more than the literary equivalent of a big mac. Of course, the constant reader has learned that the meat in a Stephen King big mac is rat meat.

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This story has a lot of rats. Note the picture above; you can't say you weren't clued in. Lots of them. Disgusting, nasty, horrible, biting, rats. Aggressive little devils. And the queen of the rats rules her minions to do her bidding. It's really quite brilliant, if not disgusting. I'm trying hard not to give away too much, except that this is truly the stuff King fans love; and have been wanting for quite a little while.

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The story plays out like a Shakespeare tragedy. Or, perhaps even more importantly, it is a longer version of Poe's Tell Tale Heart.

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I do not know why the book is titled Full Dark No Stars; but I will venture an opinion having read just one of the four novella's. The book is brutally dark. This is not just a dark story, it is so dark that there is not even starlight. Total blackness. Hopelessness. No redemption what so ever.

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Regarding the all important "hundred acres" (no, it's not a Winnie The Pooh reference), the story is very much about the little man verses big business. In that way it's like a Bachman novel. Roadwork and the Running Man.

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Anyway, here's the bottom line; if you get paid to review books, don't bother with this one. If you read books for the joy of a good story; and if you read King because you love his sick, twisted stories -- then you should rush out and read 1922.

Full Dark Journal 1: The Journey Begins

I got an audio copy of Full Dark No Stars yesterday. Of course, I immediately started listening. I also had to stop the tape until my daughter was asleep because. . . it's a Stephen King book.

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One frustration

A frustration with the audio book is that the stories are not labeled on the CD's. This means you cannot listen to the novella's in the order that you want. Not a big deal when it's short stories, you just trudge through. But in this case, you have to listen to entire Novella's! A little frustrating.

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1922

The book starts with a story titled 1922. It is grim. Delightfully grim! The story is wonderful, dark and well told.

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So far a likable character has not appeared. The narrator, Wilfred James, has a wonderful way of explaining his actions as that of almost a different person. "I believe there is another man inside every man, a stranger . . ." Of course, the good man is himself... but the bad man who does the naughty things, that man is another man living inside him. I realize that sounds really lame when I write it, but King plays this well enough that it would have pleased Robert L. Stevenson.

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The stories are all stories of revenge... I think. Told in the first person, at least 1922 -- it is reminiscent of Poe. Thus far, I can say confidently that this stuff is raw horror. Honestly, it's the reason most of us read King.