The Shining

I downloaded the sample of Dr. Sleep, having only watched the movie version of The Shining, and on the very first page I new I would have to go back to where the story of Danny Torrence started if I was going to read Dr. Sleep. Many people say "the book was so much better" and that line can be no truer for The Shining.

Immediately, the characters elicit strong emotions from the reader.

Jack Torrence, both protagonist and antagonist, compells the reader to feel sympathetic for his plight. As a "dry drunk" who has fallen on hard times after a short bit of success as a writer, he is desperate to straighten out his life for his family and feels that his last chance to do so is to take the caretaker job at the Overlook Hotel during the winter season. The reader can relate to this desire to provide for one's family. Jack's indecision - to stay at the Hotel and guarantee financial support or to leave the Hotel for the safety of his son - is very palpable. Jack's desire to be a good father plucks at the reader's heartstrings.

Wendy, Jack's wife, was not as likeable as her husband, in my opinion. She is very timid, having suffered her mother's psychological and mental abuse for years. It's obvious that she has traded her mother's abuse for Jack's quick temper and (at times) violent outbursts. She is only strong enough to stand up to Jack when their son's safety is concerned. Any other time, she dances around the issues that have plagued her marriage and is outright skittish whenever Jack's mood sours. I felt that her inability to stand up for herself made her unlikeable.

Danny, the five-year-old boy of the Torrence clan, was by far the most interesting character. He is very gifted with psychic abilities such as telepathy, empathy, precognition, and mediumship. As a child, he has very little understanding of these abilities and of the adult subject matter that he is inadvertently subjected to due to his abilities. This struggle is captured very well as it is described through his young and innocent point of view. The reader feels afraid for him as his abilities draw the attention of the malevolent spirits dwelling in the Overlook Hotel.

King does an amazing job bringing his characters to life. The reader is captivated by the Torrence family chemistry via an in-depth look into their histories, their lifes' experiences, and their struggles. These elements become crucial to the events that transpire inside the Overlook Hotel and they become fuel for the spirits that are preying upon the Torrence family, thus entwining events of the past with those of the present.

As always, Kind does an excellent job with description. Not only can the reader visualize the Hotel's various locations (the lobby, kitchen, different floors, the basement, the outdoors) but he also does an amazing job capturing the emotions and thoughts of the main characters. The reader knows what the characters are experiencing, knows what they are feeling, knows what they are hoping to accomplish.

The story moves along at a very steady pace. Told through a limited third person point of view, the present is interspersed with tidbits from each characters' pasts that bring relevancy to the current situation. As tension between family members rise and as the danger of the hotel becomes more evident, the pace steadily grows faster and faster, making it very difficult to put the book down.

The Shining was a very enjoyable book, full of human emotion and supernatural phenomena. With characters that are compelling and well-rounded and a story that captivates, this is a book that I highly recommend.

Before I read King I had assumed he was an overrated, bloated author that had way too many movie adaptations of his works--in fact he has the Guinness World Record for most film adaptations of all time (no surprise). Then I read his `On Writing' book (because I am an aspiring fiction/horror writer) and I learned a lot. Big deal though, whoopie do, I still wasn't interested in his stuff . . . but something kept on nagging and nagging at me . . . something dark and tall; it was The Dark Tower: The Gunslinger. I cannot explain why; maybe it's because the book I was writing at the time seemed like it would benefit itself if I, my book's Writer, would step outside my comfort zone (Crichton, McCarthy, Matheson, Barker) and just try to read The Dark Tower: The Gunslinger. I finally read it because the cover looked sweet, not gonna lie. The ever-binding, story-interweaving Todash Darkness pulled me into the world of King. For instance, the Turtle is in It, and even mentioned in his most recent 11/22/63; and Todash Darkness--that vague conceptual, slightly existentialistic evil that makes a sound like rumbling chimes--which is also mentioned in "It"; and then there's Randal Flagg, Donald Callahan, Ted Brautigan, the Low Men and the Crimson King: all the former are uniting elements in many Stephen King books. And The Dark Tower series is a gateway drug to his other novels; and his other novels are a gateway drug to The Dark Tower--it's full circle, baby!

But let's talk about The Shining, shall we, because that's why you're reading this. In his introduction for the novel King says that the decision to write (and how to write) The Shining was very crucial in terms of his career as a writer. You must understand that Carrie did not break any rules besides

(this one)

and it was very short, which is ideal for debut novels for any author. It was also original and shocking; another must-have. But Carrie wasn't necessarily epic or long lasting. Then `Salem's Lot was his second. He took risks with style, but nothing else; the pacing was fast, and he didn't get too deep into character history. What you knew about most of the characters were through immediate actions and thoughts. And the town itself was something he was familiar with, along with the people and the professions of the people. It was marketable. It worked. It was filmable.

Then The Shining was written more of a character study about how alcoholism destroys marriages and relationships between fathers and their children. Most of the horror wasn't shown on a golden platter as it was in Carrie and `Salem's Lot; instead, the horror was suggestive. It was there, in the shadows, you could choose to see it or ignore it; it was subtle, but there. Then toward the end, that's when the fireworks begin to go off one after the other . . . but still, for my generation (twenty-somethings) and younger, many will pass up The Shining just because it takes a while to pick up the pace and, hey, there's a movie, too--Jack Nicholson's in it, so they'll just watch that, assuming that they'll get the "same thing out of it"--which is a shame. Ultimately this was King's attempt to actually write a literarily respectable novel with horror aspects (and he does stay true to horror; it's just not blood and guts all the time).

I won't waste your time with the synopsis; the book is different than the film, but it's not that different and I can't say how it is even if I wanted to (which I don't), because the differences would be spoilers. It's a little scarier than Stanley Kubrick's film adaptation in principles and it had a better story; but the movie is easier to watch. However, if you don't mind a slower paced novel that builds up like tension from a rope being pulled further and further apart until it snaps like a stale jerky, then you should definitely read The Shining--and then make sure you read The Dark Tower series (at least the first four are phenomenal).