Full stops, little traces

Full Dark, No StarsStephen KingHachetteRs 850pp 340

Full Dark, No Stars
Stephen King
Hachette
Rs 850
pp 340

HT Image

A Stephen King book is a lot like pizza: it’s great when it’s good, but when it’s not good, it’s still fairly edible. This makes reviewing King’s writings a difficult proposition, as it leaves the reviewer with limited choice. There’s barely anything to criticise per se and it gets weary after a point to coin new metaphors to sing praises. So I’ll stick to the basics and tell you what Full Dark, No Stars has that the 50-plus previous titles by the 63-year-old maven of horror writing don’t.

Full Dark, No Stars is a collection of King’s four unpublished novellas, something that will make the King reader instantly remember the past, spine-chilling collections, Different Seasons and Four Past Midnight. But unlike them, this latest collection showcases ‘rocking chair writing’ where the author takes his own sweet time to roll out the narrative, pour out the theme and make the characters seethe. Shit happens. But the urgency for retribution — the theme that stitches the four novellas together — is buried or locked up.

In ‘1922’, a Wilfred James tells us how he wheedles his 14-year-old son into killing the lady of the house over a property dispute to settle down in the new, peaceful life. But it’s the coaxing that James “regret[s] even more bitterly than the crime” as is proved by the subsequent developments detailed in the 100-odd pages. The action-reaction-action cycle pirouettes till the bitter end with payback taking up various forms, including the semi-supernatural.

‘The Big Driver’ follows a middle-aged writer, Tess — “a good little squirrel” — who loses her way, is raped and left to die by the title character. The story is Tarantino-meets-King, a bloody horror combo which provides a peek into how King would have taken a swig from his whisky, stretched his arms and then got up to take a stroll in between writing and thinking about what he should do next with Tess and the truck driver.

Next comes ‘Fair Extension’, a masterpiece. Dave Streeter will soon bite the dust thanks to cancer. But a certain Elvid in a roadside stall promises Streeter a life extension — not by one year, not by two years, but by all of 15. In return, Streeter must shift his misfortune on someone he doesn’t like. This turns out to be Streeter’s very successful best friend. It’s the old Faustian theme of ‘cutting a deal with the devil’ done in true Stephen King style.

The last story, ‘A Good Marriage’, is everything that a good marriage is not supposed to be. Darcy Anderson’s 30-year marriage with Bob is “one of the fifty per cent or so that kept working over the long haul”. One fine night while Bob is away, Darcy chances upon a dangerous truth about her man and now she must save her own life.

Full Dark, No Stars isn’t King’s finest. But it leaves you with a shrewish notion of having matured as a King reader. Though I am not sure if King reciprocates the feeling as a writer.

PS: I hope he never does!