The Shining

An obvious must read if you enjoy horror.

I was surprised by how much I like this. Jack is a really interesting character here.

The book and movie can not be compared. I loved the book and got chills. I will also always love the movie but the book is fantastic read alone in the dark with a little light.

For me, The Shining is a good read, but not my favorite of the stories I've so far consumed by El Rey. I tried to read this over ten years ago (not exactly sure how long ago) when I was in college. I tried. At that point in my life I guess I just wasn't ready for the book because I got only a few chapters in before I simply stopped reading. Back then I would have given the book a solid one star for the simple fact that I couldn't get through it or even into it. This time I am happy to announce that I have finished it and it wasn't nearly as torturous as I remember it being. That being said, I've come to realize that my tastes in Stephen King's work tends to be toward those books that aren't as talked about. That's not to say that this was a horrible book because it definitely wasn't in the least. However, would I want to read this one again? Well, maybe someday years from now I'll pick it back up to see how my opinions and perception of it has changed. For now, I'll say that I like it. Also, a lot different from Kubrick's film! I won't go over the story here because most people already have a pretty good idea of what it's about based on what they've heard and even from what they know of the film (Kubrick or the made for tv version). I've never seen the tv version of The Shining so I'm not certain how true a depiction it is. The 1980 film though? It's like two totally different entities, two different stories.....like an urban legend that's changed through the years....starting out as one thing and then gradually turning into something else.

If you are a fan of King's work, this one will be worth it to you. For me, it was mostly interesting to see the changes in the characters as The Overlook works on the three central characters. Scary? I'm very rarely scared by what I read, but there was one chapter in the book that freaked me out. Danny at the playground on the hotel grounds while his parents were sleeping, the dead boy, and the topiary. I got a little scared!

Favorite character? Dick Hallorann. If nothing else, I think this character is probably in my top three characters of King's design.

What are you waiting for? Read it and then watch the movie(s)!

It seems like I've wanted to read The Shining forever, and I finally finished it the day before Halloween. So some backstory first... I've never seen the film, but of course I know of all the iconic scenes. I wanted to read the book first, because, well, that's what good bibliophiles do. I started reading anxiously waiting for all the iconic moments only to realize when I was almost done with the book that those iconic moments are only in the film. Wait, what?? So while this was still thrilling, well-written, iconic Stephen King material, I was not nearly as creeped out as I expected to be. I even read most of it in the dark on my kindle. But don't take my word for it. I don't scare very easily when it comes to books. I'm just happy to cross this one off my list and now I can go watch the film!

#popsugarreadingchallenge2019 (prompt #14)