Review: Full Dark, No Stars by Stephen King

Full Dark, No Stars

Written by: Stephen King

Published: 2010

Synopsis: Is it possible to fully know anyone? Even those we love the most? What tips someone over the edge to commit a crime?
For a Nebraska farmer, the turning point comes when his wife threatens to sell off the family homestead.
A cozy mystery writer plots a savage revenge after a brutal encounter with a stranger.
Dave Streeter gets the chance to cure himself from illness - if he agrees to impose misery on an old rival.
And Darcy Anderson discovers a box containing her husband's dark and terrifying secrets - he's not the man who keeps his nails short and collects coins. And now he's heading home . . .
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Prior to heading overseas, I decided to save myself suitcase space and only bring digital books to read, this turned out to be a terrible idea but I'll save that for another post, another day. Full Dark, No Stars was one of the books I decided to read on my trip, and was a fantastic way to pass the time on the 6 hour train from Shanghai to Beijing...while my battery lasted.

Full Dark, No Stars is a collection of four short stories/novellas. Tapping directly into what Stephen King is good at, all four stories take a look at the human reality of a variety of crimes and situations. What happens when a wife of 30 years discovers her husband is a serial killer. Is it actually as simple as going to the cops? What about her son who has just put all of his money, energy and heart into starting a new advertising company, how would this news impact on him and his career? And who would actually believe that she had no idea, for 30 years, that her husband was routinely raping and savagely murdering young women? This is the crux of the fourth story, A Good Marriage, and the other three stories explore similar twists on common stories. As King says in the afterword,

"I have tried my best in Full Dark, No Stars to record what people might do, and how they might behave, under certain dire circumstances. The people in these stories are not without hope, but they acknowledge that even our fondest hopes, (and our fondest wishes for our fellowmen and the society in which we live) might sometimes be in vain. Often, even."   

And this is definitely the beauty of this collection. Each are very, very different stories, and each character handles their particular situation uniquely and encourage a variety of results, but you can't help but see the similarities which tie all four stories together. The hope that King speaks of, but also a certain power that comes from accepting the events they've been straddled with and resolving it in their own (not always conventional) way.

1922
The first story takes place, surprise surprise, in 1922. After his wife inherits 100 acres from her father and decides she wants to sell up and move the family to the city, Wilfred James decides the only option available is to kill his wife. And the only way he can kill her is with his 14 year old son, Henry's, help.  That's a pretty dark story in and of itself, but what this story is about is how this single event, disturbing and despicable as it is, tears the family (and other families) apart. Writing the full story out as a confession 8 years after the murder of his wife Arlette, Wilfred no longer lives on the farm and is convinced that his wife is haunting him and trying to run his life into the ground. Because it's all taking place in the past, Wilfred has a level of self-awareness to his storytelling which adds rich dimensions of shame, sadness, and wisdom that would have been absent if it had been told as it happened. The ending is especially grisly, but perfectly concludes a long and turbulent story.

Big Driver 
Tess is a mystery writer with a distaste for flying and a penchant for short-cuts. When she's offered a short-cut home from a speaking arrangement, she takes it immediately and hits the road. Unfortunately for her, a serial rapist and murderer regularly traps the road and Tess finds herself the latest victim of 'Big Driver'. Miraculously managing to survive, Tess scrambles home but flips backwards and forward over what to do next. If she goes to the hospital and the police, her name will hit the headlines in a big way and her life and career will never be the same again. Interviews about her books will always come back to the question of her rape, news sites will question whether she was 'asking for it' (just look at her promo pic - where she has bare-skinned shoulders and come-hither eyes) and she'll never be able to escape the events that happened the night before. Basically, Tess goes through the trauma that countless women who have been sexually abused go through every day. If you report the rape, will they believe you, will your friends treat you differently, what if the guy finds you again, what if they dredge up that night in college where you had a threesome and use it against you... In some ways the after events (or at least the fear and confusion of the after events) are as terrifying as the rape itself.

Fair Extension
Dave Streeter is riddled with cancer and has very little time left. When he dies he'll be leaving his solid, decent job, loving wife and two children behind - and it isn't fair. A chance meeting on a street behind the Derry Airport introduces Dave to Mr Elvid (care to rearrange that?) who offers Dave a life extension, he is in the business of extensions after all. The catch is that the 'badness' has to go somewhere, and if it isn't contaminating Dave's body he needs to direct it to someone he hates. The person Dave hates most in the world though? His best friend, Tom Goodhugh. Dave spent high school studying for the two of them, only to have Tom steal his girlfriend and go on to have a much more successful life in every single way. The story doesn't travel the way you'd expect it to, in fact the ending is kind of sudden and strange...but also satisfying. It's a much more straightforward story than the rest in this book, it's lighter (although still pretty dark), funnier and almost feels at odds with the rest of the book, yet also blends perfectly with the overall tone of the book.

A Good Marriage
As mentioned above, this story is about a wife and mother who discovers that her kind, quiet and loving accountant husband has been a serial killer for 40 years. And not just any serial killer, this is a man who hunts down women, rapes, mutilates and murders them and then taunts the police about the crimes. Partially inspired by Paula Rader (wife of the BTK serial killer -Dennis Rader) who instilled disbelief when she claimed to have had no idea about her husband's other life, this story charts an aspect I've never thought of before. Even after she's found out the truth, she's amazed to still feel love for the man when he speaks or smiles a certain way, because she's spent 30 years loving that particularly mannerism. While she knows he needs to be turned in, she has to wrestle with what this says about her, her children, and the life she's lead. How could she not know, and what does it say when she still feels love for a man who has destroyed the lives of countless women and their families? She feels like one woman split into two, and the story filled me with an incredible empathy for what she was going through, and now I can't help but think about the woman or the families behind the countless criminals I've read about or watched on the news.

Each story is a unique view on a common story, and the result of four such dynamic tales is a book that forces you to consider the wider ramifications of crime, justice, revenge and murder. Add Stephen King writing at his best and you have a must-read book that really...must be read. Each story is pretty dark and harsh in the telling, but they are mostly free from supernatural horror elements, so if you've been waiting for something a little different from King which will still perfectly demonstrate whether you'll like his style, this book will fit the bill.

Book Review: The Uncommon Reader by Alan Bennett

The Uncommon Reader 
Written by: Alan Bennett

Published: 2007

Synopsis: When the Queen in pursuit of her wandering corgis stumbles upon a mobile library she feels duty bound to borrow a book. Aided by Norman, a young man from the palace kitchen who frequents the library, Bennett describes the Queen's transformation as she discovers the liberating pleasures of the written word. With the poignant and mischievous wit of The History Boys, England's best loved author revels in the power of literature to change even the most uncommon reader's life.



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I'm going to try really hard not to adopt the book's regal tone in this review but it's going to be really difficult because the one word I really want to use to describe it is quaint, and that just sends me down all kinds of dangerous pretentious, semi-vague, mock-English pathways. Also, I'll be wary not to use charming, sweet or cute, although all three words are screaming out at me demanding to be used.

Tom's lovely nana demanded recommended I read this short novella, herself using many of my forbidden words to sell it to me. Not that I've ever really needed to be sold on a book, but she made it sound so damn delicious and so teeny tiny (a piddly 120 pages) that I decided it needed to be read sooner rather than later. Actually, if I had simply been told the plot I might have needed a little selling. The royal family, at least, this incarnation (the blood-thirty royals of old were awesome) bore me senseless. They might be nice people but...YAWN! So the idea of a book, regardless of how short and sweet, focusing on the oldest and perhaps dullest of the bunch...well, I probably wouldn't have rushed to pick it up on my own. Nevertheless, I'm a sucker for a recommendation and with my busy schedule tiny books are all the more appealling and I felt like reading something completely different from my recent picks so TADA! Here I am.

In this novella the Queen finds herself coming across a mobile library on the grounds during one of her regular walks, and what begins as the acceptance of a book because it's the polite and proper thing to do becomes an obsession. After years of obedience, duty and very little time spent lost in a book the Queen falls hopelessly under the spell of books (something I imagine you can all relate to here!). With the help of her personal book selector, Norman, to find all the books she could desire, the Queen's voracious appetite for books begin to get in the way of her duty and responsibilities. Her attention to her outfits falter, she begins to arrive late to events and perhaps worst of all, she makes people uncomfortable by daring to try and discuss books with award-recipients, dignitaries and palace workers!

The book is ultimately a mix of the Queen's reflections on the wonder of reading and literature, a collection of quotes, names and story recaps and interactions with countless people who just do not understand this little late in life hobby. While I enjoyed the quips at the expense of her primary advisor, Simon (a New Zealander - therefore the natural enemy of this Australian reader!) the real beauty of this book is her reflections espousing the wonderment that reading provides anyone lucky enough to fall under its spell. Some of my favourite quotes were;

"Briefing is not reading. In fact, briefing is the opposite of reading. Briefing is terse, factual, and to the point. Reading is untidy, discursive and perpetually inviting. Briefing closes down a subject, reading opens it up." (page 22)

 "Books are not about passing time. They're about other lives. Other worlds. Far from wanting time to pass...one wishes one had more of it." (page 29)

 "It was anonymous; it was shared; it was common. And she who had lead a life apart now found that she craved it. Here in these pages and between these covers she could go uncovered." (Page 31)

"A book is a device to ignite the immagination." (Page 34)

I adored the idea that someone who had had a life where every minute was ruled by appointments, commitments and public events, could finally find solace and escape in the pages of books. Not only that, but as her reading continued she realised exactly how stifling her previous life was the way she was living, and how amazing an experience it could be. Once she began reading she tried to actually connect with the people she met at events (although in most instances they weren't particularly pleased with this!), and she began to notice smaller details and changes in the emotions and attitudes of people around her - something she'd closed herself off to a long time ago. I also couldn't help but relate with her obsession and desire to constantly read all the time and read anything she could get her hands on. God only knows how often I've sat reading a book when I desperately needed to get work done, get some sleep or get ready to catch a bus.

In contrast with the happiness reading brings the Queen, everyone else seems to look at it as either a novelty or some horrific addiction akin to heroin. For some, like the Prime Minister and her advisor, they're annoyed that they don't have her full attention any more, while others seem honestly worried that reading, which is a luxury for many of the time poor, would further alienate an already alienated rich old lady. I might not be queen, but I've certainly faced people who are either incredulous that I have time to read or who see it as a waste of time, money and effort.

It's far from a perfect novel, there's this weird fascination with her reading "advisor" Norman being gay and always selecting homosexual writers for the Queen to read. Seriously, just about every section that he features has some mention of his "preference" - as it's sometimes referred to. Also, in trying to capture the voice of the Queen there is a lot of high-faluting language where one discusses what one's schedule has one doing for every minute of one's day.After a while, We are not amused. But they're pretty small annoyances, and since the book is so short they don't really have enough time to build into anything too frustrating.

So I've gotten this far without breaking any of the rules I set in the first paragraph, but I'm not sure how much longer I can hold back so I'll wrap up here. If you're a reader (which I know you all are) then this is a sweet little ode to reading and the fantastic contribution it makes to all of our lives. To set it apart from the many declarations of love we make on a daily basis though, it's wrapped up with an interesting little tale of a hobby discovered at the most unexpected time of life in a particularly uncommon reader. A pleasant, quick and sweet little read.