The Dark Half

I finished The Dark Half this week. It's a good yarn about the duality that exists in all creative people (so everyone, I suppose). But in this case we have George Stark, a rotting zombie of a sociopath that kills everyone involved with shoveling dirt on his grave.

King does a good job with pacing on this one, but I've found the third act a bit tired. Sure, sparrows are psychopomps. They usher in the living dead. I get it. No need to continuously spout that information as we approach the climax.

Sherrif Alan Pangborn is well drawn, a character whose charm is outlined in multiple King pieces. And Thad is, well...he's Thad. Not the best authorial protagonist that King's ever had (that honor belongs to Mike Noonan, of Bag of Bones), but a guy that rises to the occasion when the situation dictates.

King penned this sucker in the late eighties (published in '89). It stands as a fair example of his style, but is far from the top of his creative output. I recommend it to King fans that haven't looked at it in years, but not to those just discovering the man's work.

By the way, I also finished Hearts in Atlantis this week. I've been listening to it on tape, and that is a far superior novel. What can I say? The man can really write kids and young adults.

I'm heart-sick over what happened last night to the Ducks' football team. I'm hoping Dennis can make a full recovery and we win out and get to the Rose Bowl...