Reviews with content warning for Misogyny - The Shining

The way King moulds together paranormal, drama, and thriller thematics into this twisted and frankly (overall) sad tale of a mentally and emotionally tortured family is a shining example of just how masterful he is with weaving of the written word. His third person omniscient narration and the way he bleeds together the dialogue with the thoughts of Danny, Wendy, Jack, and everyone and everything around them ushers a sense of complete hysteria from the get-go. Soft at first (yet complete) only to truly spiral as the looming messages Danny’s getting only seem to correlate more with reality and (literally) conjure as they eventually move to being shut up in the Overlook (blizzard of their century comin’ for ‘em). Got to Part II and you could feel the absorption of the story pull you forward. It’s a hunk of text but man it is worth the read. Tells a horrible, awful story that (seems to) turn out right at the end…I plan on reading Doctor Sleep this year, so I’ll see how future adult Tony is doing and try to buckle up for that ride as well (hoping it’s at least HALF as good as this block).

Now, not to be petty or misunderstanding of the era in which the movie version was created in, but after finishing (heck, when I was only about 30% done with) the book I had begun to realize that Kubrick did not even tell the HALF of the Torrance’s story. He gave us a round of incredible performances from Shelly DuVall (so effed up the way he got her into character but damn the parallels to Wendy Torrance are uncanny and I so wish they would have kept her hair blonde!), Danny Lloyd, and Jack Nicholson; but The Shining as a piece of cinema seems more like a hashed up re-telling of the full story King so carefully crafted. Something personal to Kubrick and soiled by his need to succumb to the humdrum of Hollywood’s (then) obsession to always have someone produce “the next cult classic.”

In terms of today, I think this could be brought back and told in-full (very visually) through the lens of a limited mini series on one of these dang streaming platforms. Could be a very easy way to solidly connect it to a Doctor Sleep limited series as well. Alas, this would totally require very awesome writers and producers who would want to put in the time, effort, blood, sweat, tears, and fingertips into WHOLLY honoring King’s classic tale of a failing family at the wrong place at the WRONG time(s). But for the love of all that is holy, keep out all the N words! (<<< this is my only true pet peeve with Mr. Stevie King, I can’t stand it even if it is “only to make the story authentic”)

Content Warnings

ammme's review against another edition

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dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

Not necessarily a book I would recommend without a bunch of trigger warnings and disclaimers, but I also get why it was such an influence of horror fiction.

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slimshaedy92's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

I get why Stephen King hates Kubrick’s version, I really do. It has to be treated as a completely separate entity because Jack Torrance is a completely different character. I *love* this version of Jack and he has so much depth and while he still has a mountain of flaws you can see the internal battle he’s fighting through the entire book.

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ash_ton's review against another edition

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dark mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

definite overuse of the n-word for sure. putting that aside (as much as you can), definitely my favorite stephen king book. also different from the movie, which i watched first 😅

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