Here was yet another Stephen King book which I had read before, yet surprised me. Indeed, it surprised me in terms of how little I remembered from my first reading.
Granted, the first time that I read this one would have been a long time ago. Literally could be counted in decades rather than years. So perhaps it should not be surprising. Still, it was unsettling just how little of it I remembered. It started to feel almost like I had not read it before, that maybe there was some kind of a mistake, even though it is in my personal records of books read.
Yet, it still feels strange to read a book which I read, even many years ago, and recall so little of it, frankly. I expected it to be more familiar, because most of the King books I reread were mostly familiar to me, having read them before.
Not so much this one.
SPOILER ALERT
SPOILER ALERT
SPOILER ALERT
Okay, so by now if you are still reading this, I have to imagine that you either are familiar with this story already, or perhaps you do not mind the spoilers. Please just don't say that you were not given advanced warning.
This book warrants some comparisons. And King himself seems aware of this by outright mentioning them by name in the book at one point. Indeed, he refers to the similarities between "the dark half" who goes by the name of George Stark in this book, and other monstrous characters in literatures, particularly Frankenstein's Creature and Mr. Edward Hyde.
Before I go into that, however, let's go back to the creation of the creature, or the monster, or the somehow undead, yet not fully alive George Stark. He seems to come alive precisely because Thad Beaumont, his creator and a writer of some notable success, symbolically buries his pen name alter ego, who goes by the name of George Stark. While Beaumont's own books have moderate sales, Stark's books generate significantly more popularity and revenue. But they also are horror novels, which means that Stark himself is a horror figure in every sense in this book. When he comes alive - sort of - it seems that he is responding to Thad's desire to kill him off. Of course, he does this for the benefit of the cameras for People magazine and their readers.
Then in the middle of the night, long after all the cameras have gone, Stark digs himself out of the grave which Beaumont symbolically buried him in, right in Castle Rock, Maine. When he comes alive, people start dying, because Stark is a dangerous man. Beaumont imagined him to be that way, and so that is what he has become when he suddenly enters the real world. The violence which follows him everywhere is all too real.
However, Thad somehow sees all of this, even though he himself was not physically at the site of the murders. Slowly, the police recognize that he cannot be in two places at once, and so he becomes less a suspect and more someone in need of protection against this perceived madman, although nobody is prepared to believe that the killer is a character out of Thad's writing and imagination.
Meanwhile, Stark needs to be careful. While he is powerfully built (and knows it), he nevertheless still relies on Beaumont in order to live. While he is on his killing spree - killing everyone who contributed to Thad symbolically killing off and burying Stark himself - he begins to find himself falling apart physically. His condition grows worse and worse, although strangely, his strength remains unaffected. He stays strong and dangerous right to the end.
Once Stark has avenged himself against those he feels had a fairly direct role in his own demise, Stark sets his site on Beaumont. Again, he cannot simply kill Thad. After all, he needs Thad to teach him how to write, since strangely, he has been incapable of actually writing anything. However, he can threaten to torture Thad's family - his two babies and his lovely wife - in order to get Thad to reply. Somehow, both men understand that the writing ability is what allows one or the other the ability to live. If Stark actually learns to write - if Thad, in other words, teaches, or rather transfers - his writing ability onto his alter ego - then Stark will stop falling apart physically and will grown stronger. Meanwhile, Beaumont himself will begin to fall apart in a similar fashion to Stark.
Despite his physical decline, Stark nevertheless remains strong and clever throughout. Not only does he manage to original killing spree of people associated with his symbolic death from People magazine, but he surprises several police officers trying to protect the people whom Stark figures to go after, including Thad and his family. It seems like nothing and nobody can stop or get the best of Stark, who eventually tricks Thad into leaving his Maine home precisely when Stark intends to strike. He kills the two officers outside of the home and then takes Thad's wife and children hostage.
Throughout all of this, we get to meet Sheriff Alan Pangborn. He will figure quite prominently in another King novel, "Needful Things," which was actually the first King book I ever read, and what got me to become a "Constant Reader." Pangborn is first not polite with Thad at all, convinced that he is a killer. Before long, Thad convinces him that he is not a killer, although the matching fingerprints and voiceprints really throw Alan for a loop in this regard. But the two men seem to become friends and allies against the threat of Stark. However, sharp as Pangborn is, he ultimately makes a serious mistake by underestimating Stark, and never fully accepting that the man is real until it is too late.
Also right from the beginning of the book, there are references to the mysterious appearance of sparrows. After one of his killings, George Stark wrote "The sparrows are flying" on a wall in blood. Strangely, Stark himself has no memory of doing so, and Thad begins to realize that perhaps a part of him was with Stark at the time, and must have written it. Working at a college, Thad has a chance encounter with a professor who sheds a little insight on the sparrows. Legend has it that they appear when life and death are in the balance and close. This will clearly have a part to play late, when the story is resolved. However, this colleague warns Thad, nobody controls the birds for too long. However, since Stark appears never to know anything about sparrows, he figures that he can use the sparrows, especially with the element of surprise on his side.
At the end, all of the major characters meet at Thad's summer residence outside of Castle Rock, a town that features prominently in many of Kings horror stories. Stark manages to sneak up on Pangborn while Pangborn was trying to sneak up on him. But Thad is clearly expected. When he turns onto the road that will take him to his summer home, he finds everything covered in sparrows. Every inch of roadway, every tree, everything is covered in sparrows. The final showdown will clearly take place. Thad knows that if he goes too far with allowing Stark the ability to write, that Stark will get better and then he himself will begin to deteriorate and rot away. But he springs a trap and, ultimately, manages to get the sparrows to attack Stark in such numbers that even Stark is powerless, before the sparrows manage to carry Stark away, albeit while struggling to do so.
Of course, I highly recommend this book. As a Constant Reader, as well as a writer, the style of his writing, the believable characters (even if they are in some frankly unbelievable circumstances) are always amazing. Reading him, he makes it look and feel so easy. Plus, this was simply just a fun book to read, as well as to admire the author's abilities.
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