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A review by dullshimmer
The Shining by Stephen King
5.0
I've been trying to read through the works of Stephen King in order. The Shining is his third novel and I found it to be the creepiest of his first three works. Carrie is more of a supernatural twisted coming-of-age story. Salem's Lot was a vampire tale, but felt more removed. The Shining is very intimate. You spend most of your time with the Torrence Family. They are developed as rich nuanced people. Jack who is battling past alcohol addiction, a bad temper, and an abusive childhood. Wendy who is struggling to figure out if she should remain loyal to her husband despite his flaws or move on, but who also struggles with an emotionally abusive mother and the desire to not become like her. You also have Danny, who while only five years old has powers to read the thoughts of others, see visions of things he shouldn't know, and thus is quite advanced for his age.
I think it is this closeness to the character that causes the tension to really develop in this work. That and the fact that the fourth major character you spend time with in the book is the Overlook Hotel itself, the building where Jack is hired for the winter as a caretaker. While you start the book getting connected with the Torrence family, the hotel is mostly quiet. There is a thing here or there that seems off, but they can largely be explained away. However, as the book continues to go on the darkness of the Overlook breaks through more and more, until by the end it is completely unbound. In my personal opinion there is something just innately creepy about the idea of a building with a mind of its own.
Many may be more acquainted with the movie version, but they are really quite different. I find it interesting that many of the most memorable moments of the movie are not found in the book at all. I think the books are more intimate, but also that they lean into the supernatural a bit more. In the movie, the antagonist always seemed to be Jack, but in the book the enemy is the Overlook itself, with Jack simply unable to resist the temptations of the hotel and becoming the hands of the hotel so to speak. This is important to note because if you think the book will be like the movie, more of a psychological thriller, you'll be disappointed. While there are plenty of thrills, they derive from a more supernatural source than a psychological one.
What I really find interesting about Stephen King is that his works, at least early on, were so diverse. Carrie is very different from Salem's Lot and they're both very different from The Shining. They have similar aspects to them, one being the inclusion of writers as main characters (even in Carrie, Sue Snell, had wrote a book about the events) and the inclusion of supernatural elements, but read very differently in my opinion anyhow.
Of course being Stephen King, these aren't books for those easily spooked. They're tense and often not very pleasant books. However, I've enjoyed them and I would place The Shining as one of the best of his works so far right alongside Salem's Lot.
I think it is this closeness to the character that causes the tension to really develop in this work. That and the fact that the fourth major character you spend time with in the book is the Overlook Hotel itself, the building where Jack is hired for the winter as a caretaker. While you start the book getting connected with the Torrence family, the hotel is mostly quiet. There is a thing here or there that seems off, but they can largely be explained away. However, as the book continues to go on the darkness of the Overlook breaks through more and more, until by the end it is completely unbound. In my personal opinion there is something just innately creepy about the idea of a building with a mind of its own.
Many may be more acquainted with the movie version, but they are really quite different. I find it interesting that many of the most memorable moments of the movie are not found in the book at all. I think the books are more intimate, but also that they lean into the supernatural a bit more. In the movie, the antagonist always seemed to be Jack, but in the book the enemy is the Overlook itself, with Jack simply unable to resist the temptations of the hotel and becoming the hands of the hotel so to speak. This is important to note because if you think the book will be like the movie, more of a psychological thriller, you'll be disappointed. While there are plenty of thrills, they derive from a more supernatural source than a psychological one.
What I really find interesting about Stephen King is that his works, at least early on, were so diverse. Carrie is very different from Salem's Lot and they're both very different from The Shining. They have similar aspects to them, one being the inclusion of writers as main characters (even in Carrie, Sue Snell, had wrote a book about the events) and the inclusion of supernatural elements, but read very differently in my opinion anyhow.
Of course being Stephen King, these aren't books for those easily spooked. They're tense and often not very pleasant books. However, I've enjoyed them and I would place The Shining as one of the best of his works so far right alongside Salem's Lot.