The Dark Half

Amazing!!! But nooks version disappoints

This is my favorte book. It has a great story line and is typical king gruesome. Couldnt put the book down when i read it first. Nooks version, however, is laced with errors that are distracting from how wonderfully great the book is. A must read whether on nook or old fashioned with a paper book.

2 out of 2 people found this review helpful.

Extrapolation on a Pseudonym

This review may not be the most objective, seeing as how it's a re-read for me, but I still enjoyed it. Here we have another Stephen King book about a writer, most of which include some of my favorites characters (write what you know). There is another parallel; the "death "of a pseudonym, similar to the revelation that Richard Bachmann and Stephen King are the same person.

Stephen King gives us his amazing voice here. I think one should always read his books aloud. He always uses great vernacular, funny stuff, and I prefer to call him a storyteller, instead of an author. He also taps into the edging out of that rational voice in our heads whenever we face something inexplicable. I think that's why people can get sucked into his stories; they start off so "normal" . Characters don't become immediately converted to belief in whatever monster or horror is in front of them. They take as long to come around as any of us would. There's also some good meta-references here--like when the s*** hits the fan, Thad Beaumont talks about how he's not reacting how the people do in the kind of books he reads and writes. Kind of a dig from Stephen King to writers who don't care about realism in their books, especially in regards to the unbelievable stuff.

Just when I thought I was desensitized to violence, out comes a scene, like the one with Donaldson, and delivers all the visceral thrills you'd expect from King. In additional to the traditional thrills and expected gore, this is also a book about keeping secrets from the ones you love to spare them, a writer's struggle with books he wants to write and the books his public wants him to write. Also, [SPOILER] it made me want to rent Cheech and Chong's THE CORSICAN BROTHERS

I felt the spell was broken, for some reason, when the story switched to Stark's voice. There were some mistakes in the digital transfer. "h" becoming "b", "t" becoming "f", "e" becoming "c", "l" becoming "t" and "cl" becoming "d". Also, some words or phrases in either bold or italics, and where they began were not transferred correctly. Other than that, a good Stephen King read with a clever concept and conclusion.

1 out of 2 people found this review helpful.

The nook copy is bad!

I love this book, it is another great by Stephen King. However, the NOOK Book or eBook is not worth the money. The nook copy has a lot of problems that do not exist in the real copy, the worst of which is the spelling errors on every page that uses the wrong words.

To me this book looks like someone used a bad OCR to scan the book and no one checked what had been scanned. For exammple, in the book the word "closed" is used many times, but in the NOOK book it reads "dosed" every time. Unfortunately, this happens with a number of letter combinations leading to wrong words on every page.

So, my recomendation for anyone wanting to read this great book is to go buy a hard copy rather than wasting your money on an eBook with so many errors.

1 out of 2 people found this review helpful.

Classic King! FANTASTIC...but the publisher should be ashamed.

This is truly one of King's finest works. It is also however the worst quality ebook I have paid for yet. The number of typographical errors is staggering. Nothing that actually affects the readability...but enough to make you question how Penguin could have the nerve to charge $7 for such a shoddy product. I've downloaded Internet Project free books with fewer typos! They should be ashamed. Despite their attempts(Penguin's) to make this an unpleasant experience...the book is a must read/must own for any true Stephen King fan! Thanks Stephen...I'm your biggest fan! ; )

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

One of the masters bests

The dark half is trulcreepy novel and and one of kings best. My only gripe is that the nook version is full of typos.

This book stopped my reading of Stephen King books!

I used to read everything that came out by Stephen King or any of his pen names but this is the novel that made me quit reading Stephen King! Thought it was a desparate attempt on his part to just crank out another and much stranger 'King' novel so that there would be something new out at that time. Wouldn't recommend it, ever!

0 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

I liked it

I liked it, but if you're not a Stephen King fan or your just getting into his books I don't recommend you start with this one. The plot itself was a bit boring. Start with the classics like The Shining, Carrie, or It. They're well-known for a great reason!

0 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

Loved it!

This book was amazing! I didn't want to put it down. I could read it again and again, even as viciously gruesome as it is, which in my opinion gave it more of a sinister memory scar.

Full of stupid errors!

The publishor of this book needs to do a better job of editing this book...it was a great book.
But the errors were too much....

Great story!!!!

Could not put it down...King strikes again!!

Good story, BAD Nook copy

I've been an off again, on again fan of Stephen King for a while. Some of his stores are incredible and some are so-so. This one was pretty decent. It took me about a week to read it which is average.... the first book in the Dark Tower series I literally stayed up all night to read - I just couldn't put it down!

The only reason for my poor rating is the HORRIBLE port of this book to Nook. Full of spelling errors - two or three on each and every page. I don't think there was a single 'cl' in the book. Every 'clean his clock' became 'bean his bock' which has a totally different meaning. How Penguin can dare charge what they charge for a book of this poor quality is beyond me. I will easily say this is the LAST Penguin Nook book I'll ever purchase.

All time favorite!

This is my all time favorite King book. I think I have read it 5 times, its that good!

Thrilling! A page-turner!

I have recently read The Dark Half for my ninth grade reading project. During my reading, I was awed by King's use of language and incredibly detailed characters. I could always see a clear picture in my mind because of the superb use of imagery. Whenever I didn't understand a situation, King would use dialogue in a way that I could figure it out. I thoroughly enjoyed this novel and I know many others will. While I may have enjoyed The Dark Half, not everyone will. I would recommend this book to mature high-schoolers and adults. This novel includes foul language and violence that may not be suitable for some high-schoolers. Personally, I believe that most of my peers and myself can handle it but it may not be the best choice for others. However, I think this is a magnificent choice for readers seeking a thrilling and compelling story. Throughout the novel, I was intrigued and the pages seemed to turn on their own. The Dark Half is a marvelous book that is sure to satisfy a horror-lover's desire. I believe King's style of writing is a primary reason that the novel was so exceptional. The language used by the characters as well as the descriptive text was relatable yet unexpected. King started The Dark Half with events so chilling and he didn't let up as the tale continued. I have past experiences reading his novel and I thought this novel might be repetitive or not as captivating as his others. Fortunately, my prediction proved to be incorrect. Stephen King can enrapture his audience and he displayed his talent in the pages of The Dark Half. Overall, the book had all of the key elements needed in an ideal scary story: vulnerable, antagonistic and heroic characters, a more than sufficient amont of twists, and a plot that was complex but all ties together in the end. The storyline was composed of plenty of blood and a villain you will love to hate. I was always left wanting more and I could never guess how it came to an end. The Dark Half was enthralling, suspenseful, and vivid.

0 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

Absolutely Amazing

I am a big Stephen King fan, and recently read some of his Bachman novels. The new forward he added to reprints- 'the importance of being Bachman' mentioned this novel. As a matter of fact, Beaumont and Stark are very personal based characters. It makes one wonder what King may have done to keep his own less dangerous pseudonym alive if given the chance.
It's a fairly unrealistic storyline, but when have the good King novels been realistically believable? The explanations, despite being mystical and unbelievable, hold true in the story universe. Without giving too much away; the end of story like it's main characters is a study in juxtaposition. An outsider may see it as a happy ending, but it is anything but when one takes the after-effects into account.

The Dark Half

Coming soon.

0 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

I liked it

This was the first SK book I have ever read. I found that I really enjoyed the book. I was confused on parts from time to time, but were usually explained later on in the story. It only took me 2 days to read it. Toward the end, I could not put it down. It was twisted. I plan on reading more SK books in the future.

My favorite Stephen King (so far)

It's been a while since I read this one and I still consider it my favorite Stephen King. Iread it in 2 nights (a record for me) and dreamt about it! To this day I still do a double take when I see a gathering of sparrows.

Another Good One...

I wouldn't say that this was the best Stephen King novel ever, but i really enjoyed it. It slowed down for me in the middle, but the last 150 pages had me never wanting to put the book down. I definitely recommend this book to Stephen King fans or to any one in search of a truly thought provoking tale.

There's just something about it...

I just cant say how much I enjoyed this book. There was a lot going on and it kept me thinking about it until the end. Even when I wasnt reading it I was trying to figure it out (this is without reading the back, I had no idea what it was about when I started). There was just something about the story that kept me wanting more, and I also thought that it was really eerie, especially in the beginning. This is my second favorite book just behind Misery. I would highly recommend reading this one.

King delivers another grand title...or is it Bachman?

¿I¿m back from the dead and you don¿t seem glad to see my at all, you ungrateful son of a bi$ch.¿ During a time when folks began to question Stephen King¿s story telling ability, the ¿Master of Horror¿ pulls yet another ace from the deck. The Dark Half is a strong novel, similar to a short novella, ¿Secret Window, Secret Garden¿ from another SK book, Four Past Midnight. However, after reading the first couple hundred pages the close association with that story ends and The Dark Half begins. This novel is a nice breath of fresh air compared to other work that King released during this time period such as: The Tommyknockers, Needful Things, Dolores Claiborne, etc. Its unique style screams Bachman and displays Steve King¿s uncanny ability to write beyond the ¿typical monster under the bed¿ yarn, while capitalizing on his untapped ability to write a great crime novel. With a little mythology and telepathy thrown in to boot, The Dark Half delivers a prominent yarn, that will keep the reader engaged from start to finish. The only major problem I had with the book was the short, abrupt ending, which always seems to plague most of King¿s work (as his fans love to point out).