A review by lilmatt050
The Dark Man, by Stephen King
4.0
To check out all my reviews: Reading In The Dark
If you are reading the title and wondering if it is about Randall Flagg then I would say yes and no. Stephen King back in 1969 wrote this poem about this dark man serving as the genesis for Randall Flagg aka The Man in Black. I have to say as a poet, I am glad that Stephen King did not quit his day job as a literary author because I have to admit that the poem was meh for me. I can see the concepts and the structure of what he was trying to convey in a poem but I can say that poetry is not his strong suit and I am grateful that this gem of a poem exists.
It is crazy to think that he wrote this character back in 1969 and for the rest of life, this character would play one of the most epic roles of good versus evil in the Stephen King universe. I like that at the back of the book they include the poem in the original syntax and reading it a second time did help my reading experience because this entire poem is illustrated by Glenn Chadbourne. The illustrations are phenomenal, my sole complaint about it is that I wish it was colorized because it would showcase the deep and dark undertones of what looks like an apocalyptic world.
Reading it and seeing the illustrations made it look like I was reading an excerpt from The Stand and for sure there was a reason why I wanted to read this poem. I want to read either The Stand or The Dark Tower series and this book help sparked my motivation and put me in the state of mind to finally tackle these gigantic epics. I haven't made up my mind yet but this poem showcased that the Dark Man is not someone to mess with lightly.
If you are not a Stephen King fan or rather curious if you need to read this poem I would say no not really but if you are fascinated to see how this poem planted the seeds for a phenomenal villain then, by all means, please read it! Otherwise, you can skip it and read a Stephen King novel. Overall I wish the poem could have been better and it is the main reason why I cannot give this book all the stars but in the end, I look forward to immersing myself with my favorite author and his massive catalog.
If you are reading the title and wondering if it is about Randall Flagg then I would say yes and no. Stephen King back in 1969 wrote this poem about this dark man serving as the genesis for Randall Flagg aka The Man in Black. I have to say as a poet, I am glad that Stephen King did not quit his day job as a literary author because I have to admit that the poem was meh for me. I can see the concepts and the structure of what he was trying to convey in a poem but I can say that poetry is not his strong suit and I am grateful that this gem of a poem exists.
It is crazy to think that he wrote this character back in 1969 and for the rest of life, this character would play one of the most epic roles of good versus evil in the Stephen King universe. I like that at the back of the book they include the poem in the original syntax and reading it a second time did help my reading experience because this entire poem is illustrated by Glenn Chadbourne. The illustrations are phenomenal, my sole complaint about it is that I wish it was colorized because it would showcase the deep and dark undertones of what looks like an apocalyptic world.
Reading it and seeing the illustrations made it look like I was reading an excerpt from The Stand and for sure there was a reason why I wanted to read this poem. I want to read either The Stand or The Dark Tower series and this book help sparked my motivation and put me in the state of mind to finally tackle these gigantic epics. I haven't made up my mind yet but this poem showcased that the Dark Man is not someone to mess with lightly.
If you are not a Stephen King fan or rather curious if you need to read this poem I would say no not really but if you are fascinated to see how this poem planted the seeds for a phenomenal villain then, by all means, please read it! Otherwise, you can skip it and read a Stephen King novel. Overall I wish the poem could have been better and it is the main reason why I cannot give this book all the stars but in the end, I look forward to immersing myself with my favorite author and his massive catalog.