You Like It Darker

Stephen King’s books usually fall into two categories. The first category is made up of books I force on everyone whether I know them or not. I even do this to random strangers on a bus (this is a warning). The second category is made up of books I hide in the bookstore because I don’t want anyone reading and getting a bad impression of his work. The difference, however, doesn’t lie in terms of quality as no one can deny that King is an extremely skilled craftsman. He doesn’t rely on the muse’s call; he gets the job done and produces a qualitatively reliable piece of work. In this way he churns out one book after another. But as you might have experienced, this pace doesn’t always allow creative sustainability in the long term. And so it happens that King publishes books that just somehow miss the mark, that are, thematically, a bit soulless.

The last time King hit the bullseye for me was Fairytale (2022). Rarely does it happen that I stumble upon a writer who can make me cry, but King has managed to do so. Twice. The first time, it was The Green Mile over which I shed many tears.

"Coffey like the drink, only not spelled the same way."

And then it was the portrayal of Radar, aging German Shepherd with arthritis, in his Fairytale that managed to thaw my ironclad literary heart. A good half of my copy is wavy from all the tears that have fallen into it. Emotional roller coaster galore. And, yet, my copy of Revival is pristine, having incurred damage neither from tears nor a tight grip of my fingers from excitement. So, I was curious where his new short story collection You Like It Darker would fall.

You Like It Darker

King, Stephen

EnglishHardback

Hodder & Stoughton

ISBN: 9781399725095

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Delivery on Friday, 13. of December 2024

CZK 531

Common price: CZK 590

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On order

Delivery on Friday, 13. of December 2024

CZK 531

CZK 590 -10%

Yet again King didn’t let himself be constrained by word limits and brought us twelve short stories on a whopping 480 pages. As usual, some are ten-page pieces, some are breeching novella territory. This makes it a good choice, whether you have fifteen minutes on your commute or are in a mood for a lazy morning with a cup of “coffey.” Length, however, is not the only thing that diversifies the stories. The motifs do too. Although all of stories are typically King-esque (i.e. for warm and fuzzy look elsewhere), the means responsible for unsettling your heart range from the supernatural and merciless mother nature all the way to the Poesque sticky rotten core of the human soul. And just between us, those are my favorite.

Out of the recent pile of brick-like King books that have gone through my hands, this one was a breath of fresh air. Often, with King’s eposes, I struggle with slow pacing bordering on tediousness. Not exactly a good thing if you want your thriller to thrill. Often, all the hard-earned tension disappears by the time he gets to the main point. The short story format of Darker successfully prevents that and represents King in his best form. Tension, shock, fear. Repeat. A formula that might seem like a cliché, but which totally works. Some of these stories grab you and don’t let you go, but not all of them. The excitement of The Fifth Step and Willie the Weirdo is followed by the somewhat lukewarm On Slide Inn Road. A warning: he does sprinkle his stories with more political commentary than he ever has, so if that’s not your thing then be wary. In a way, the collection represents King just as I know him: sometimes up, sometimes down.

Although Darker is not a blow your socks off gem like The Green Mile or the Fairytale I wouldn’t hesitate to shove it your way. Perhaps because those short stories are more digestible chunks of storytelling. If you don’t like a particular story, just assume everyone dies in terrible ways and thumb on to the next one. Darker is a must have for any member of King fandom, for you know exactly what you’re getting into. However, if you’re not one (yet!), You Like It Darker is the perfect introduction title, a buffet, where you get to enjoy both literary delicacies and simple, yet satisfying, hot dogs.

Stephen King

Gabriela Ježková

Odborný a metodický konzultant ELT pro Prahu

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