4.5 stars246 . . . 188 . . . 172 . . . 156 . . . 137—How low can you go?172 . . . 156—How low can you go . . . 137 . . . before . . . Death!This is the question that the “big, fat hog” protagonist Billy Halleck faces in this “last” Bachman novel. And interestingly, with his last, (before his resurrection, that is), a kind of shift occurs.As the Bachman writing persona affected the Stephen King writing persona in previous works, with Thinner, the King writing persona seems to affect that of Richard Bachman since typical “King” elements cross over here. Thinner, though, with its expected “ticking timeline” and darker sensibility remains “Bachman.”Unlike The Long Walk and The Running Man, Thinner takes place in the “here and now,” that being 1984-5, a “present” time. And like The Dead Zone and Cujo, Thinner reflects these times while simultaneously providing comment and critique. Again, a refreshing shift from an author who has been so centered in the 1970s.And so, Bachman-King relays many of the affectations and cultural shifts that defined the 1980s including two of the most visible: the wanton greed, and the rise of a nouveau riche. And so, the protagonist, Billy Halleck, and his wife, Heidi, embody the “new” American success story sculpted from the Gordon Gecko,“Greed is good,” 80s ethic—where green, sprawling parks, trips to scenic Mohonk resorts, and a house on Lantern Lane in the Fairview, Connecticut suburb “is really what it’s all about.”And with such monetary success, excess follows. Consequently, each nouveau riche character embraces a particular excess. And so, they snort, smoke, “gobble” and “squeal” through their indifferent, seemingly unaffected lives until the novel’s consequential event, (a curse pronounced upon them by the aggrieved Gypsy Taduz Lemke). And hence, the protagonist’s “Good Luck” life in his “plastic” Eden turns upside down.Consistent with “painting” the ‘80s, finally, this author alludes to Reagan—which, of course, becomes most appropriate. And finally, Nixon allusions vanish; the Vietnam references fall to only a few, as well. And so, Bachman-King indeed “shifts” to the times; yet he continues his indictment of grotesque American culture.Also consistent with the ‘80s then, the reader comes face to face with that ‘80s “elephant in the room”—the outbreak and spread of AIDS. And appropriately, Thinner traces various facets of a “wasting” disease: emaciation, cancer, leprosy, contagion, and the fear thereof. This last, implicitly pointing to male homosexuality, as the contagion, appears progressively throughout the novel: Lemke’s curse comes with a touching “like a lover.” And, Billy’s isolation, weight loss, and regret do become affecting. Indeed, he learns what life is like as a freak, a pariah.Explored, this aspect then “feeds” back into the heart of what Bachman-King chooses to explore: the issue of justice / injustice. And, here is where this novel becomes exceptional despite some faults. The exploration here can be likened to those of the weighty dramas Sweeney Todd, the Demon Barber of Fleet Street, Caligula, and, The Oresteia. Questions of “strict” justice, injustice, prudence, and explicit, implicit, and complicit guilt arise.Particularly wonderful is how the novel finally resolves these issues. Halleck believes Lemke lacks a particular point of knowledge about the crime; yet, we learn that he, in fact, does not. Nor, is he imprudent, either. He simply applies (Oh, so just) consequences to the guilty parties.Yet, a cowardly, entitled protagonist cannot accept such a verdict, one so mythically apt. And so, the novel enters a fourth act, recalling Aeschylus’ The Oresteia with its background of the horrible House of Atreus curse. King-Bachman brings us into a cycle of “mad” vengeance that seemingly has no end—a cycle “played out” in a world of vicious dogs. And, of course, such “blind” fury, as the spirit of the Furies, runs rampant, flying where it may, engulfing what it may—to include the truly innocent.Although I anticipated the main “effect” King-Bachman wielded for the end, I was indeed surprised with the details. These details not only provided a mythic end which will allow this novel to “live” past the its topical ‘80s observations and critiques but also made a statement, indeed, an indictment, about King’s own generation—a statement with which I wholeheartedly agree. So wonderful to see it in print! And, in this context.Admittedly, “clinks and clunks” appear in the novel, pending a reader's "taste." But, given all the elements and issues that King-Bachman explores raises this novel to a high pitch. Indeed, this novel reaches a pitch equal to The Dead Zone, and Cujo.And so, quite a pleasure. And, a personal favorite.An allegory well worth the read.“More hot pies!”
'Thinner,' the old Gypsy man with the rotting nose whispers to William Halleck as Halleck and his wife, Heidi, come out of the courthouse. Just that one word, sent on the wafting, cloying sweetness of his breath. 'Thinner.' And before Halleck can jerk away, the old Gypsy reaches out and caresses his cheek with one twisted finger. His lips spread open like a wound, showing a few tombstone stumps poking out of his gums. They are black and green. His tongue squirms between them and then slides out to slick his grinning, bitter lips.Thinner.Richard Bachman was not a very nice guy, and "Thinner" shows why. It was the last Bachman novel, before the cover was finally blown and it turned out that Richard Bachman was in fact Stephen King. Or as King prefers to say, his dark half. The fingers that typed out the Bachman books might have been King's, but the one who sent words to the fingertips was old Richie. The creep from grocery stalls, airports and train stations, whose novels were printed without any sort of advertising and promotion, and who gained his reputation by word of mouth alone.In fact, "Thinner" sold 28 000 copies when it was published, which is over ten thousand more than King's collection "Night Shift" did several years earlier. Of course, when it turned out that both were copyrighted by the same guy the sales of "Thinner" went through the roof.It's hard for me to choose a favorite from the Bachman books, but I can safely say that Thinner is a perfect closure to a career that ended much too soon. The Bachman novels were all pretty grim, but I think that Thinner, together with The Long Walk, are the most thought-provoking and interesting.Also, Thinner is the sole Bachman novel that can be classified as horror, though it is much more than that.As with "Quitters, inc.", a classic short story about giving up smoking, King took another of the American nightmares and turned it around - weight. Billy Haleck, the protagonist, is a succesful lawyer who also happens to be fifty pounds overweight. Billy is camping at the border of heart attack country; his doctor, his wife, hell everyone tells him to drop some pounds, but Billy just can't get enough of the sweet taste, of the sour taste, of all delicious tastes of all delicious food. After all, all work and no play makes Jack a dull boy!One night while Billy is driving home and his wife, um, distracts him, he hits an old gypsy woman who dies instantly. The case is quickly dismissed; after all, Billy is a lawyer and no one in town is exactly a fan of gypsies. Just as Billy gets out of the courthouse, the old gyp comes to Billy and touches his cheek, whispering the sole, menacing word - "thinner".Billy dismisses the old man as mad, and goes back to his life as if nothing had happened. Till he hits the scale. He notices that he starts losing weight - at first he, his wife and his physician are all happy and rejoice in the blissful success of all diets he undertook. But when the pounds keep dropping and Billy keeps eating he starts being suspicious. He's not afraid of cancer, because his results were perfect...he's afraid that the old gyp might have meant what he said.And the pounds keep dropping...The strenght of "Thinner" lies in its complexity. Most works deal with likable protagonists and unlikable villains. That's not the case with "Thinner" - it's up to the reader to decide whom he will root for. If there is a person to like - After all, Billy did kill the old gyspy woman; and after all, the old gypsy's revenge is much out of proportion. "Thinner" is not a simple horror story, as many would pigeonhole it; the clever meachnisms of characterization and themes allow "Thinner" to work on several levels: as a cautionary tale on the pointlesness of conflict and hatred, the clash of cultures, family drama, corruption...the story of the white man and the gyp who crossed him. Or is it the other way round? I don't want to spoilt any of the plot detail, because it's truly a jou to watch it unfold. The novel was adapted into a movie in 1996, and while it greatly simplifies the novel it carries most of the story thanks to great performances of Robert John Burke and Joe Mantegna-. It's definitely worth seeing, but only after you've read the book. "Thinner" is one of the great horrormeister's most underrated works and deserves to be much better known and appreciated. It will make you turn the page, it will make you think and question your decisions, I don't know if it will scare you but you'll certainly remember it long after turning the last page. Eat hearty.
What do You think about Thinner (1996)?
This book was written by Richard Bachman, and for years, King denied that he was Bachman. The thing I love about the Bachman Books is that they do have a slightly different tone from the other King novels. It's almost as if "Bachman" feels more cold toward his characters- a character we get to know will lose everything, wheras in a King novel, he may hold on to something.In "Thinner", the main character is a well-to do lawyer who accidently kills a woman and is let off by the very court he works for. A curse is placed on him by the family of the victim, and he begins to lose weight. This may not seem to be a big deal to a grossly obese person, but he is UNABLE to stop losing weight, and soon everyone becomes alarmed. This book is creepy, and the ending is delicious.
—CMT325
Nope - I'm sticking by my soon-to-be-30-years judgment of "Thinner" (good to know that some things do not change!). The story (overweight man accidentally - but negligently - runs over and kills the elderly daughter of the very elderly leader of a "Gypsy group" and gets cursed, along with the chief of police and judge, who more or less swept the matter under the carpet) is not bad, but it's far from great also. For such a short story, it's surprisingly lagging in the middle. The strange storytelling technique of "staying with the main protagonist" while the Italian gangster (does not shy away from stereotypes, this one) he ultimately asks for help in "striking back" on the determined cursing Lemke drifts in and out for a few days - only to immediately afterwards having the Italian sit down and tell all things that happened that we "weren't there to see" initially builds some suspense, but, unfortunately, it soon feels like a way of adding some pages of text only - specially since the counteraction kind of lacks finesse and disappoints some.The characters are surprisingly bland for King also, none of them are really worthy of much of either like or dislike, again, not bad, but not great either. I don't care for the ending either, the premises are a bit silly, Halleck's decision a bit inexplicable and the outcome - while "Bachman-like" - feels unnecessary and sad...Finally, King's use of Swedish (not always fitting, logically following, complete or in the same tense) for Romani (apparently he picked most words and half-sentences from a translated edition of "The Shining") may have been a fun (or perhaps just lazy) idea, but is very distracting for the reader who understands it. To the point that I would actually recommend the Swedish translation of the book - in which the translator replaced the "nonsense-Swedish masquerading as Romani" with - Romani! Enkelt - but ingenious!
—Thomas Strömquist
This is the book that prompted me to say I wouldn't read anymore of King's "Bachman" books. it almost caused me to avoid all King's books altogether.____________________________Above is my first review from several years ago. I just wanted to add a clarification. The book didn't effect me so badly not because it's frightening but because it's so depressing and fatalistic.(view spoiler)[ My kids were still young when I read it and the end of the book put the protagonist's daughter in danger/doomed, also I just didn't enjoy the slow disintegration of the/a person no matter what he did to deserve retaliation. (hide spoiler)]
—Mike (the Paladin)
