Doppelgänger from the German [literally
"double-goer"] is a look-alike or double of a living person,
sometimes portrayed as a paranormal phenomenon, and is usually seen as a
harbinger of bad luck.
Ever since I witnessed some mysterious
and frightening incidents as a child; something I still cannot explain, something
that I still think of from time to time – the role of the Doppelgänger has
always fascinated me, as well as acting as a warning to me, about personality, and
the dangers of existence.
Like many writers, I use pen
names and enjoy traversing the edges of personality, be it my own or that of
others. The reasoning is that most people are not who they present themselves
as; for we have facets of character that remain hidden - often to survive.
As
the 1980s were closing Stephen King's pen name Richard Bachman was exposed as
he battled the last stages of his alcohol and pharmaceutical misuse.
The
novel THE DARK HALF is from that time though rarely mentioned; with its surreal
story of Author Thad Beaumont a writer of literary fiction battling his Pen
Name George Stark's creation the disfigured and dangerously malevolent Alexis
Machine. George Stark wrote two ultra-violent and renowned pulp thrillers MACHINE'S
WAY and STEEL MACHINE that were far more popular commercially than Thad
Beaumont’s literary output.
This underrated King novel THE DARK
HALF is
a thinly disguised homage to Donald Westlake and it would be filmed later by
George A Romero starring Timothy Hutton.
I
recall King’s THE DARK HALF because like Donald Westlake, some of us have a little
Richard Stark in us, to help traverse the dangers in this world; but like
Nietzsche's abyss, when the inner Parker is revealed to others, the abyss that
is Parker looks back into you. The dark side of human nature is an evolutionary
necessity; but also a danger - one we keep locked away.
“The office women looked
at him and shivered. They knew he was a bastard; his big hands were born to
slap with, they knew his face would never break into a smile when he looked at
a woman. They knew what he was, they thanked God for their husbands, and still
they shivered. Because they knew how he would fall on a woman in the night.
Like a tree".” ― Richard Stark, The
Hunter
Here's a few words I wrote for Jeff
Pierce's THE RAP SHEET when Quercus Publishing brought back Parker to the UK in
2007. Jeff featured a staggering outpouring in 2009 when Donald Westlake passed
away, and here's some thoughts from the Crime / Thriller Community from The Rap
Sheet Part One and Part Two
I
wrote at the time in 2009 when hearing of the passing of Donald Westlake -
"I first discovered
Donald Westlake thanks to the movie version of The Hot Rock with Robert
Redford, which led me to explore more of the Dortmunder books, as well as
muttering “Afghanistan, Bananistan” to strangers from time to time. But my true
love was the Richard Stark series featuring Parker. I loved the spartan style
of Stark, and was overjoyed when I read Stephen King’s tribute to Stark in his
brilliant novel about split personalities, The Dark Half. (“Anyway, for reasons
you’d have to ask Westlake about, he eventually stopped writing novels about
Parker, but I never forgot something Westlake said after the pen name was
blown. He said he wrote books on sunny days and Stark took over on the rainy
ones ...”) It was an apt tribute to a great man.
I only met Westlake once
when we came to the CrimeScene convention in London in 2005. I was humbled in
his presence, despite his modesty and gentle nature. I find it surreal that
when I heard of the awful news [of Westlake’s death], the first words that came
into my head were “Afghanistan, Bananistan,” which echoed as a lament for our
loss. I miss his words already, as the world just darkened a tad, knowing that
he is no longer with us.
Watch
Detectives Beyond Borders Peter Rozovsky and
I discuss Donald Westlake and Richard Stark in an amusing and unscripted post-Crimefest
2017 Sunday afternoon.
In memory of the late Donald Westlake and Darwyn Cooke
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