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The Dark Half
 
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The Dark Half (Paperback)

by Stephen King (Author)
4.6 out of 5 stars See all reviews (18 customer reviews)

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Product details

  • Paperback: 480 pages
  • Publisher: Hodder Paperback; New edition edition (7 Oct 1993)
  • Language English
  • ISBN-10: 045052468X
  • ISBN-13: 978-0450524684
  • Product Dimensions: 18.1 x 10.9 x 3.4 cm
  • Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars See all reviews (18 customer reviews)
  • Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 160,303 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

    Popular in these categories:

    #19 in  Books > Fiction > Authors, A-Z > K > King, Stephen > Dark Tower Series
    #27 in  Books > Fiction > Authors, A-Z > K > King, Stephen > Complete List
    #93 in  Books > Horror > Authors > Authors, A-Z > S > Stephen, King

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Product Description

Amazon.co.uk Review
In 1985, 39-year-old Stephen King announced in public that his pseudonymous alter ego, Richard Bachman, was dead. (Never mind that he revived him years later to write The Regulators.) At the beginning of The Dark Half, 39-year-old writer Thad Beaumont announces in public that his own pseudonym, George Stark, is dead.

Now, King didn't want to jettison the Bachman novel, titled Machine Dreams, that was he working on. So he incorporated it in The Dark Half as the crime oeuvre of George Stark, whose recurring hero/alter ego is an evil character named Alexis Machine.

Thad Beaumont's pseudonym is not so docile as Stephen King's, though, and George Stark bursts forth into reality. At that point, two stories kick into gear: a mystery-detective story about the crime spree of George Stark (or is it Alexis Machine?) and a horror story about Beaumont's struggle to catch up with his doppelganger and kill him dead.

This is not the first time that Stephen King has written a dark allegory about the fiction writer's situation. As the New York Times writes, Misery (1987) is a parable in chiller form of the popular writer's relation to his audience, which holds him prisoner and dictates what he writes, on pain of death. The Dark Half is a parable in chiller form of the popular writer's relation to his creative genius, the vampire within him, the part of him that only awakes to raise Cain when he writes, the fratricidal twin who occupies "the womblike dungeon" of his imagination." --Fiona Webster

Review
'A writer of excellence...King is one of the most fertile storytellers of the modern novel' -- The Sunday Times 'King is unbeatable' -- Mirror 'Not since Dickens has a writer had so many readers by the throat!King's imagination is vast...one of the great storytellers of our time' -- Guardian

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Customer Reviews

18 Reviews
5 star:
 (11)
4 star:
 (6)
3 star:
 (1)
2 star:    (0)
1 star:    (0)
 
 
 
 
 
Average Customer Review
4.6 out of 5 stars (18 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

 
8 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Very Stephen King...very gory!!!, 22 Feb 2004
By Sue Lewendon "Film fanatic" (England) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)      
I read this a few years ago and the story has managed to stay pretty well intact in my mind. That shows that this is a good story.

It's about an author who, as a child, suffered with bad headaches. On examination, the doctors find that he has a growth in his brain. When they go in to operate, they discover the growth is actually body parts of what can only have been his twin. Somehow they have started growing and so they are removed.

Years later, Thad Beaumont becomes a very successful writer. But the books he writes are beginning to get him down as they all tell tales of a pretty nasty character. As well received as these are, Thad decides to retire the character and move on to other, nicer stories.

The character, George Stark, isn't happy about this and decides to stop Thad. How is this possible you might well ask? Anything is possible in the safe hands of King.

Then begins a truly horrifying tale of good vs evil as Thad comes to realise that George isn't just a figment of his imagination. He will do anything to protect his wife and twins, and George will do anything to stay a part of this world....

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6 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars Another excellent book from one of the greatest storytellers, 4 Mar 2005
I have read a large number of Stephen King books and am yet to find a disappointing title. The Dark Half was excellent in the way King manages to base a story around such a small amount of characters yet still engages the reader from start to finish.

Another stand out point from previous novels I have read from King was the excessive gore used to describes the murders in the story. These however only manage to emphasise the scares and thrills contained in the plot.

For me it would undoubtedly have won a five star rating, if only the ending had been slightly more inspiring, but to be honest the rest of the book alone makes up for any slight let down.

joe hindley

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3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars King uses his own life as a basis for one of his best books!, 29 Nov 1999
By Mr. C. Barker "MajorBoothroyd" (Durham, UK) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   
Written shortly after Stephen King revealed his own alter-ego, The Dark-Half takes the pseudonym author idea to the worst possible case scenario! What would you do if your alter-ego came to life and started killing everyone close to you in a desperate bid to make you write the book which would save his soul. A great yarn and a wonderfully abstract view of the heart of schizophrenia. Read it and see for yourself.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars 100% Blown Away!
When I picked this book up, I did not expect what I got. I picked the book up and I could not put it down until I finished it! Superbly written like all of his other books. Read more
Published 9 months ago by Michael David O'Neill

4.0 out of 5 stars good - but not the usual
good but strange King novel.
feels like he wanted to write two different stories (one about evil and sparrows and one about writing) but ended up mushing them together... Read more
Published 12 months ago by T. ANDERSEN

5.0 out of 5 stars King at his best
This book is superbly well written, covering every point of view effectively and subtly. Stephen Kings ability as a horror writer shines through excellent descriptions and an... Read more
Published 15 months ago by A. Auburn

4.0 out of 5 stars The Dark Half SK
At first you get put off 'a writer writing about a writer how original' ,but dont be put off king creates a chilling concept of a haunting pseudonym. Read more
Published 16 months ago by whippet

4.0 out of 5 stars The Dark Half
Writing about novelists is certainly a recurring theme in King's work, but inspired by the real-life uncovering of his own pen-name King hits upon a new brilliant conceit of an... Read more
Published on 5 Jul 2007 by dogbarkssome

5.0 out of 5 stars Wonderfully dark and scary!
Allegory or not,King here manages to write a classic novel ultra true to the genre. The writer was once operated on, to remove the remains of his "twin" from his head. Read more
Published on 6 Dec 2004 by B. Jonsson

3.0 out of 5 stars Very spine chilling
This is also an excellent book and I love the significance of the sparrows and the final role they play in his chilling story. Read more
Published on 21 Aug 2003 by nyree_sullivan

5.0 out of 5 stars keeps you glued for the next chapter
This was the first Stephen King novel I read and I couldnt put the book down at any point. The beginning was a little slow at first but as the story draws towards the centre,... Read more
Published on 8 Nov 2001 by morpheus_omega@hotmail.com

5.0 out of 5 stars Brilliantly gruesome!
This book is fantastic. It is quite a bit more gruesome than some of the other Stephen King books. George Stark is a very attractive baddie. This book is great all the way through.
Published on 31 Jan 2001 by zarag15@hotmail.com

5.0 out of 5 stars One of his best
I first read this book about six years ago, when my friend brought it back from America, I was 13 then. Read more
Published on 2 April 2000

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