Full Dark, No Stars

I loved these stories. They were as close to perfection as you can get. I think this type of collection- four stories that aren't too long nor too short-are where Stephen King really shines. Similar collections include Different Seasons and Four Past Midnight, both of which were great. I think the reason why this is so is because Stephen King's greatest literary strength is his ability to think up compelling story ideas. And stories of this length offer the perfect opportunity to explore these ideas sufficiently, without taking too many detours and going off on too many tangents. That's not to say that there's anything wrong with a really long novel, at least if it's done right. When it's done right, a long novel becomes a very rich experience- something you remember with fondness, maybe even amazement, for the rest of your life. But, when it's done wrong, a long novel becomes a chore. It becomes more of an academic exercise than an enjoyable experience. Many of Stephen King's long novels, in my opinion, are just okay- they fall somewhere in that frustrating gray area between academic exercise and enjoyable experience. But not so with these stories. I was enraptured and intrigued all the way through these babies. It was just so much fun! I would say the most meaningful one is definitely the story about the dying guy who makes a deal with the devil, to not just save his life, but to improve it greatly. I've often thought myself that this sort of thing actually exists in real life. This often seems to me to be the more palatable explanation than just explaining everything away through the advent of good or bad luck. The most violent story in this collection is definitely the first one. And as I was reading it I thought that it might actually be too much, that the horrible violence was so graphic and disturbing that it was going to ruin the story completely. Fortunately, however, the violence was relatively brief, and the suspense, education and intrigue that followed made up for it. I was also very pleased to discover that there was what was essentially a mystery story in this package. It was a mystery story and a thriller all rolled into one! Talk about striking it lucky! I'm an ardent fan of such stories- both real and fiction. It was essentially this plot-style that led me to the horror genre in the first place. Horror stories, as a general rule, for all their violence, offer the best mysteries. I can't miss an episode of 48 Hours Mysteries, and I couldn't put this story down! Although all these stories were creepy, the only one that I would definitely call horror would be the last one. Don't be fooled by the title! On television, the show The Good Wife is not about the adventures, trials and tribulations of a shy reclusive housewife. It is actually a story about life in a successful law firm, which is essentially run by tough, smart hard-working women. Similarly, this story, Good Marriage, is not about the adventures and misadventures of a happy housewife. Instead, it is a very intrigueing character study of a serial killer! I've always been fascinated by such stories, not because I enjoy hearing or reading about the activities of these degenerates, but because I've always been intrigued by the vastness and complexity of the human mind. The field of Abnormal Psychology is one of the most fascinating fields in science, in my opinion. When you study it you learn all about the things that can go wrong with the mind of an intelligent being. And because, in general, life is hard, and always has been, for many of us, you end up learning alot about yourself and your ancestors. You learn about how to deal better with all the trials and tribulations that life throws your way. Am I saying that a hard life creates criminals? No, I'm not saying that, at least for most of us, and for most of the time. In fact, only a very small percentage of the population could be considered to be deviant enough to be considered psychotic. However, I do think every one of us has a dark side. And I think one of the main goals of this life is to learn how to control this dark side, to learn how to be a good person even in the face of adversity. And so, I think, when you study the lives of those among us who, unfortunately, were not successful in this battle, it offers insight into how you can further improve your own personality and behavior. Stephen King does an excellent job, in this story, of thoroughly exploring the mind of one such particularly-disturbing case. But not only that, he also explores how the behavior of this disturbed mind affects others around him, especially those who, surprisingly, have come to love him. I have heard about similar stories- the picture I saw of Gacy hugging his sister while he was in jail, where both of them had big smiles planted on their faces, will haunt me forever- but I was really intrigued with Stephen King's particular take on this subject. As I have been before. This is not the first time he explores this. You could actually make a believable argument that this is what he writes about the most, though probably not with as much realism as he does in this story. Needless to say, this was my favorite story of the bunch. And if you only read one story in this book, I would recommend this one. This was definitely a fascinating and compelling collection. It is definitely a memorable experience, and a must-read!

"Full Dark, No Stars" is King's latest long story/novella compilation that easily rivals or outdoes "Different Seasons" and "Four Past Midnight", both similar compilations that have produced feature length movies for at least five of the eight stories. Predictably, all four of the efforts in "Full Dark, No Stars" may conceivably end up as movies before all is said and done--they are that good and that transferable to the big screen. Having read all of King's pubished books, I am persuaded that the novella form is perfect for him. He does not get overly wordy or distracted as he sometimes does in his 600 to 700 page novels but his insightful characterizations, tight plotting, psychological manifestations, and thought provoking actions and choices by his characters are chillingly and accurately portrayed to satisfy even the pickiest reader. At varying times, this book is dark and gloomy, thoughtful, not for the squeamish, and deeply moving. Other reviewers are right when they compare these stories to earlier King efforts both in quality and in context. A theme of the book is that there is a hidden persona (monster?) in each of us that ultimately confronts us in times of great stress or during times when a massively ethical or moral decision challenges us. How we handle this challenge to our very identities, our very souls, is what ultimately defines our humanity and is, in fact, laid bare in each of the four stories in "Full Dark, No Stars". Each story presents a moral dilemma requiring a conscious choice on the part of the protagonist--a choice that may have severely grave consequences. But the unspoken question in each story is how would we, the reader, react in the same set of circumstances? What would we choose to do differently and why? These stories are guaranteed to be thought provoking and, at times, intensely introspective for the reader. In "1922", a tale with echoes of Poe's Tell-Tale Heart, a father makes a choice that ultimately effects not only his future but that of at least a half dozen others in his life including, most notably, his 14 year-old son. The guilt, the conscious choices made, and the accelerating suspense make this novella hard to put down. The "Big Driver" presents a chilling tale of betrayal, assault, rape and attempted murder that results in a moral choice for the terrorized victim--revenge (and to what extent) or reporting it to the authorities and getting on with life. Of course, revenge as an option always carries with it the law of unintended consequences that seldom allows the imagined revenge and the actual revenge to merge as one and the same. "Fair Extension" is the shortest and, at times, most darkly humorous of the four stories. As in all tales where humans bargain with the devil, a man's desire to live is granted but only at the expense of his selection of someone else who must suffer his pain amd indignity. Who will he choose? Who would you, the reader choose? This is a quick tale of choices made, lives lived, envy and retribution. In "A Good Marriage", a devoted wife makes an accidental discovery that turns her life upside down and challenges the very notion of who the man is she has been living with all these years. What happens when a loving wife learns her boy scout leader-type husband is a murderer--maybe a mass murderer? What choices does she make? What if he knows she knows? Again, what choices would the reader make in her place and at what point? All four of these stories are well constructed with believable characters. King does a lot in a few pages to attune the reader to the thoughts and feelings of his characters that ultimately allow us to cringe or cheer at their choices in "Full Dark, No Stars". The horror and suspense of these stories are much less based on the supernatural or walking dead monsters than by everyman or everywoman making choices with monstrous ramifications. This is definitely a highly recommended read.

4 histórias super envolventes com pessoas ordinárias passando por situações extraordinárias! Vale super a leitura! E não esqueça de assistir o filme de 1922 na Netflix, não é tão gráfico quanto o livro,

Well this is my first Stephen King novel and I must say that he sure does know how to print a picturein readers mind and sometimes that picture does get little disturbing and now as far this book is concerned one should know that it consists of 4 stories and not a single story as most novels are. Overall good, nice read. Recommended.

J'ai lu ce livre de nouvelles rapidement et avec bonheur , lire M.King c'est comme retrouvé , à chaque fois , un vieil ami . Il est très , très fort dans l'art d'écrire des nouvelles , plus ou moins longues . Et il faut se rappeler d'une chose avec Stephen King : il cherche toujours à ce qu'une nouvelle vous frappe par un détail qui la rend totalement originale.

この本も期待通りの Stephn Kingの恐怖の世界を彷彿させるモノでした。4作品も収められていてどれも甲乙つけがたい作品群でしたが、個人的には A Good Mariageが好みの作品でした。表面上は何の変哲もない日常生活から、突然私たちを恐怖の世界へと導いてゆく彼の小説家としてのテクニックは、陳腐な言葉で恐縮ですが天才的です。彼の言葉を借りるなら One lousy little step in wrong direction and you were falling. しかし彼の小説的才能は決して単なる a literary gameで終わるのではなく,現実離れしている様でも、私たちの住む生活空間から遠く離れた別世界のお話ではなく、レクサスか走り回り、ＴＶからはアメリカンアイドルの歌声が響く、まさに私たちが今生きている現実世界であると錯覚させてしまう文章力の巧みさです。よくよく考えてみたら何十年もの間、猟奇殺人犯の夫に気づくこと無く、平々凡々と夫婦が生活して来たこと自体、現実的でないとも思いますが、そんな秘密に無頓着でも夫婦関係は存在出来る様な、彼のストリー展開に、リアリティーを押しのけて充分に恐怖を体験させていただきました。今回もどうも有り難う！