The Shining
Jack Torrance's new job at the Overlook Hotel is the perfect chance for a fresh start. As the off-season caretaker at the atmospheric old hotel, he'll have plenty of time to spend reconnecting with his family and working on his writing. But as the harsh winter weather sets in, the idyllic location feels ever more remote...and more sinister. And the only one to notice the strange and terrible forces gathering around the Overlook is Danny Torrance, a uniquely gifted five-year-old.
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Readers say *The Shining* is a haunting psychological thriller with strong atmospheric tension and memorable settings. Many appreciate King’s explorat...
Yes the plot is scary. However the manner in which it’s written gets in the way.
There is so much history of the hotel in the book & pages upon pages of being inside (a drunk) mans mind it can get pretty tedious.
If it weren’t for the movie I would have DNFd this book for sure.
Last 100 pages the action really gets going. I might even say just read those pages.
Kings character development has definitely gotten better with time. Wendy is a pretty flat female character and Danny “Doc” perspective definitely doesn’t read as a child. It’s distractingly bad.
I never felt lost in the story or the writing for that reason. It was very much written from a CIS white male perspective.
Sad to say this “classic” just doesn’t do it for me.
3 star and not 2 because it’s still worth reading if you are a Kubrick fan (just to see how drastically he changed everything).
There is so much history of the hotel in the book & pages upon pages of being inside (a drunk) mans mind it can get pretty tedious.
If it weren’t for the movie I would have DNFd this book for sure.
Last 100 pages the action really gets going. I might even say just read those pages.
Kings character development has definitely gotten better with time. Wendy is a pretty flat female character and Danny “Doc” perspective definitely doesn’t read as a child. It’s distractingly bad.
I never felt lost in the story or the writing for that reason. It was very much written from a CIS white male perspective.
Sad to say this “classic” just doesn’t do it for me.
3 star and not 2 because it’s still worth reading if you are a Kubrick fan (just to see how drastically he changed everything).
The book was a total surprise. Where I expected only fear, I discovered a deeply human and painful novel. The story of Jack Torrance, a failed writer fighting his inner demons, initially frightened me more than the supernatural: I felt I could understand his desperation and frustration. The horror arrives slowly, not from the outside, but from his own character, transformed and amplified by the hotel. For this reason, I found it infinitely more disturbing and memorable than the film.
This book was a reread for me, but it was so soooo good! SK is just such a talented writer and being along for the ride as Jack slips into madness and the ghosts of the hotel torment the family.
Dang this was such a good book! The way Jack was slowly corrupted was so eerie. Danny is such a good character and seeing the way the shining works is really cool and Wendy is a badass! The premise is so interesting, love the thought of evil buildings.
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