Scan barcode
A review by bbrassfield
Doctor Sleep by Stephen King
5.0
A near perfect continuation of the story of Danny Torrance from Stephen King's excellent novel, the Shining. When I discovered not too long ago that Doctor Sleep would check in on the adult Dan Torrance I was skeptical. The Shining is one of the great horror novels. Sure, I get why a writer, not to mention the legions of fans the novel has, would want to see what happened to the young Mr. Torrance as he ages. After all, a lot of awful things happened to Danny in the Shining. Things that could well fuck up a kid's life for the rest of his natural days (and unnatural ones since Danny has the shining). I'm happy to report, dear reader, that fans of the first book will not be disappointed. Doctor Sleep is fantastic, both as a standalone story and as a "let's see how Danny is doing as an adult" novel. King's story is very organic, and by that I mean it seems all together natural that the events depicted in Doctor Sleep would indeed be things Dan would encounter as an adult. Not only that, Doctor Sleep is the work of a mature writer and the adult themes that Dan faces in the pages of this novel are exceptionally well captured and conveyed to the reader. We see Dan face the demons of his past, partially begotten by an alcoholic, abusive father driven to madness by a very nasty, very haunted hotel, and the burden of having the shining. As an adult Dan Torrance struggles mightily at first but when he begins to right his own ship the story really takes off as he is able to put his shine to healing use, both in the service of the dying and of a young girl whose shine (one that greatly exceeds Dan's) attracts monsters worse than the malevolent spirits that preyed upon young Danny and his father in the Overlook hotel all those years ago. The conclusion is both satisfying and entirely natural.
Re:Read: Holds up well. I re-read this after seeing Mike Flanagan's film. I didn't remember some of the events towards the end of the novel and the film while excellent for what it is, a proper sequel to Stanley Kubrick's the Shining, is still inferior to the novel IMHO. Enjoy both for what they are, but Doctor Sleep remains one of King's finest and really works incredibly well as a sequel to a classic novel of horror. No easy task!
Re:Read: Holds up well. I re-read this after seeing Mike Flanagan's film. I didn't remember some of the events towards the end of the novel and the film while excellent for what it is, a proper sequel to Stanley Kubrick's the Shining, is still inferior to the novel IMHO. Enjoy both for what they are, but Doctor Sleep remains one of King's finest and really works incredibly well as a sequel to a classic novel of horror. No easy task!