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brandiefralick4's review against another edition
I Gave 2 stars simply because it's Stephen King and I used to love his books. This one bored me. I tried SO hard to keep reading but by page 277 I was not invested in it at all nor was I enjoying myself. I don't usually DNF but I just couldn't finish unfortunately
kjrobbo's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Fuck me that's good
laura_npeace's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
sad
tense
slow-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
4.0
alisarae's review against another edition
3.0
This was the first King book I've read and I reeeally wanted a bloodier ending. Meh. At least I can judge what people mean when they say that they like Stephen King books.
moonbabie's review against another edition
5.0
Such a good novel. Very well paced and really good story and creepy aspects. Highly recommend
brodudesir's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
_darklybusyreading's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? N/A
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
ehuggins22's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
maekyy's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
mymiddlename123's review against another edition
3.0
Read Count: 1.5 (DNF Re-Read)
- MC's: Jack Torrance, Wendy Torrance, Danny Torrance, Dick Hallorann
- POVs Included: Multiple POVs (Jack, Wendy, Danny, Dick Hallorann)
- Book Playlist (Instrumental Horror Book Playlist)
-----------------------------------
-----------------------------------
SUMMARY: (SPOILER WARNING)
Jack Torrance needs a job badly after losing his teaching job because of a violent run in with a student. So when his friend hooks him up with a job as the winter caretaker for The Overlook hotel, he jumps on the opportunity.
But The Overlook is not as pleasant as it appears to be on the surface. It has dark secrets and monsters that lurk within its walls. And those monsters want Jack and his family. But mostly they want his son Danny -- because Danny has a big fat dose of The Shining.
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-----------------------------------
UPDATED REVIEW (10/18/2023):
UPDATED RATING (3 STARS)
Many years ago I tried to pick this book up and only made it about 19% before I gave up. It's a very slow paced book and Stephen King (at least in this book) has a very long-winded, easily distracted type of writing style. So it's one of those books that takes awhile to actually get to the meat of the story.
I know this is a very well-loved book and is a favorite for many. But even after finishing the book in its entirety, it's not a favorite for me. I'm not a fan of the writing style which fumbles about and doesn't stay very focused. And, frankly, it wasn't even that scary for me.
The last couple hundred pages get better and pick up in pace, but for a 660 page book, that's a lot of puttering around to get to the good stuff.
I will say that I understand why he writes it the way he does. I can appreciate that the tangents are a method of exploring the characters and giving us some background about them and their inner-workings (especially Jack). But I think there are better ways to do this same thing that don't take you out of the story so much.
Some things I did like were the scenes with the ghosts and the ballroom/party scenes in particular. I'm a big fan of these kind of time loop paranormal scenes! So these were very cool to read.
I also like that the book gave us a little background on the people who died there and the ghosts we encounter. This made me appreciate those encounters more as opposed to just being random ghosts. I actually would've loved to have even more history about Horace Derwent though, because there seems to be more there to be explored. It almost seems like some of his extracurriculars might have been (at least part of) the cause of some of the hauntings going on there. Like it seems surrounded around him.
I also liked the gradual descent we see Jack take. It was done pretty well over the course of the book. I do think he already had some things going on with him before being taken over. He seemed pretty narcissistic and possibly even bipolar. At times I'd even say he was paranoid schizophrenic. At first I wondered if he was seeing hallucinations because of all the Excedrin he was taking. But clearly the things he sees are really there because the others see them too. So I don't know...
I would also love to know more about who Tony was. Danny says he looked like himself, but older. Is it himself from the future? Curious.
Overall, there are some interesting things about the book. And it definitely gets better later in the book. But it's very slow paced and not very scary (in my opinion). I will probably read the sequel (Doctor Sleep) at some point. But I can't say I can see why this book is one of the most renowned horror books out there. It's okay, but not as amazing as everyone makes it out to be...
-----------------------------------
-----------------------------------
ORIGINAL REVIEW (5/6/2011):
ORIGINAL RATING (1 STAR)
DNF 19%
Boring...Only got to page 123 -- try again another day…
- MC's: Jack Torrance, Wendy Torrance, Danny Torrance, Dick Hallorann
- POVs Included: Multiple POVs (Jack, Wendy, Danny, Dick Hallorann)
- Book Playlist (Instrumental Horror Book Playlist)
-----------------------------------
-----------------------------------
SUMMARY: (SPOILER WARNING)
Jack Torrance needs a job badly after losing his teaching job because of a violent run in with a student. So when his friend hooks him up with a job as the winter caretaker for The Overlook hotel, he jumps on the opportunity.
But The Overlook is not as pleasant as it appears to be on the surface. It has dark secrets and monsters that lurk within its walls. And those monsters want Jack and his family. But mostly they want his son Danny -- because Danny has a big fat dose of The Shining.
-----------------------------------
-----------------------------------
UPDATED REVIEW (10/18/2023):
UPDATED RATING (3 STARS)
Many years ago I tried to pick this book up and only made it about 19% before I gave up. It's a very slow paced book and Stephen King (at least in this book) has a very long-winded, easily distracted type of writing style. So it's one of those books that takes awhile to actually get to the meat of the story.
I know this is a very well-loved book and is a favorite for many. But even after finishing the book in its entirety, it's not a favorite for me. I'm not a fan of the writing style which fumbles about and doesn't stay very focused. And, frankly, it wasn't even that scary for me.
The last couple hundred pages get better and pick up in pace, but for a 660 page book, that's a lot of puttering around to get to the good stuff.
I will say that I understand why he writes it the way he does. I can appreciate that the tangents are a method of exploring the characters and giving us some background about them and their inner-workings (especially Jack). But I think there are better ways to do this same thing that don't take you out of the story so much.
Some things I did like were the scenes with the ghosts and the ballroom/party scenes in particular. I'm a big fan of these kind of time loop paranormal scenes! So these were very cool to read.
I also like that the book gave us a little background on the people who died there and the ghosts we encounter. This made me appreciate those encounters more as opposed to just being random ghosts. I actually would've loved to have even more history about Horace Derwent though, because there seems to be more there to be explored. It almost seems like some of his extracurriculars might have been (at least part of) the cause of some of the hauntings going on there. Like it seems surrounded around him.
I also liked the gradual descent we see Jack take. It was done pretty well over the course of the book. I do think he already had some things going on with him before being taken over. He seemed pretty narcissistic and possibly even bipolar. At times I'd even say he was paranoid schizophrenic. At first I wondered if he was seeing hallucinations because of all the Excedrin he was taking. But clearly the things he sees are really there because the others see them too. So I don't know...
I would also love to know more about who Tony was. Danny says he looked like himself, but older. Is it himself from the future? Curious.
Overall, there are some interesting things about the book. And it definitely gets better later in the book. But it's very slow paced and not very scary (in my opinion). I will probably read the sequel (Doctor Sleep) at some point. But I can't say I can see why this book is one of the most renowned horror books out there. It's okay, but not as amazing as everyone makes it out to be...
-----------------------------------
-----------------------------------
ORIGINAL REVIEW (5/6/2011):
ORIGINAL RATING (1 STAR)
Boring...Only got to page 123 -- try again another day…