A review by mery_2023
The Shining by Stephen King
dark
emotional
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Rereading this as an adult was the right decision. When I read this as a teenager, I thought it was a scary book. As an adult, I think it's a sad book.
I understand now why SK is mad about the Kubrick adaptation, it has nothing of the book in it. The book is about the tragedy of the characters and not the evil hotel.
The hotel plays second fiddle and only serves as a spark to fan the tragedy of young people seeing their lives destroyed, mostly by Jack.
The sad little boy looking at the spiraling grown ups, powerless. The premonition of it all, almost a promise. When you know what's gonna happen it feels like the ending is mapped out on every page. Every page is a spoiler telling you how the story is going to unfold. The plotline feels almost simplistic.
The Alice in Wonderland theme is so clear.
The descent into madness is almost logical. Jack doesn't take big steps, he takes small steps. His bad thoughts are mostly just a tad too exaggerated: he wants his wife to shut up, he wants Danny to leave him alone. And it increases. And suddenly it's murder on his mind.
Danny's visions of the mallet wheelding lunatic make me wanna facepalm myself. The whole book Jack reassures Wendy: there's nobody here except us. So why are we surprised when we learn who whields the mallet?
The generational and current trauma didn't escape me this time either: Jack's alcoholic and abusive father who Jack emulates - patterns that must be repeated unless they are broken, Jack's brother dying in the Vietnam War, Wendy's abusive mother and her precarious role as a woman in society. I'll add to this Danny becoming an alcoholic in Doctor Sleep.
The fack that Jack then named his son after his father, and that Tony turnes to be Danny himself, hit me like a brick.
Without knowing too much about SK life, I'm also interpreting the Jack and Danny as parts of SK himself. Jack, the worst possible version of himself as an alcoholic, a monster who didn't start out as one. Danny, SK as a child trying to stop himself from going down that path.
Truly a masterpiece of a book.
I understand now why SK is mad about the Kubrick adaptation, it has nothing of the book in it. The book is about the tragedy of the characters and not the evil hotel.
The hotel plays second fiddle and only serves as a spark to fan the tragedy of young people seeing their lives destroyed, mostly by Jack.
The sad little boy looking at the spiraling grown ups, powerless. The premonition of it all, almost a promise. When you know what's gonna happen it feels like the ending is mapped out on every page. Every page is a spoiler telling you how the story is going to unfold. The plotline feels almost simplistic.
The Alice in Wonderland theme is so clear.
The descent into madness is almost logical. Jack doesn't take big steps, he takes small steps. His bad thoughts are mostly just a tad too exaggerated: he wants his wife to shut up, he wants Danny to leave him alone. And it increases. And suddenly it's murder on his mind.
Danny's visions of the mallet wheelding lunatic make me wanna facepalm myself. The whole book Jack reassures Wendy: there's nobody here except us. So why are we surprised when we learn who whields the mallet?
The generational and current trauma didn't escape me this time either: Jack's alcoholic and abusive father who Jack emulates - patterns that must be repeated unless they are broken, Jack's brother dying in the Vietnam War, Wendy's abusive mother and her precarious role as a woman in society. I'll add to this Danny becoming an alcoholic in Doctor Sleep.
The fack that Jack then named his son after his father, and that Tony turnes to be Danny himself, hit me like a brick.
Without knowing too much about SK life, I'm also interpreting the Jack and Danny as parts of SK himself. Jack, the worst possible version of himself as an alcoholic, a monster who didn't start out as one. Danny, SK as a child trying to stop himself from going down that path.
Truly a masterpiece of a book.