Series: The Shining #1
Author: Stephen King
Source/Format: Purchased; Paperback
More Details: Horror
Publisher/Publication Date: First published January 28, 1977
Synopsis from Goodreads...
Jack Torrance's new job at the Overlook Hotel is the perfect chance for a fresh start. As the off-season caretaker at the atmospheric old hotel, he'll have plenty of time to spend reconnecting with his family and working on his writing. But as the harsh winter weather sets in, the idyllic location feels ever more remote...and more sinister. And the only one to notice the strange and terrible forces gathering around the Overlook is Danny Torrance, a uniquely gifted five-year-old.
Admittedly, it’s been some years since I’ve seen The Shining, so some of the details I knew I’d forgotten about, but the more iconic scenes and most of the story I did remember. And, for a very long time, that was as far as my knowledge about the story went. But, as I’ve said on numerous occasions on the blog, some of my favorite kinds of stories—whether horror, fantasy, contemporary fantasy, and even, on rare occasions literary fiction—are ones with settings that are memorable and seem to come alive with as much personality as the characters. And as I’d heard, the book differed from the movie.
I like it better, actually.
The Shining isn’t for the faint of heart, though. It’s a horror novel through and through, and it deals with a variety of dark themes like murder, alcoholism, and domestic violence, just to name a few. Even so, I found the book to be engrossing and the writing style engaging.
One main area where the book is far more successful is how much space King devoted to exploring the interior lives of the Torrances. So, by the time they actually arrived at the resort for Jack’s job as the winter caretaker, there was a clear understanding of who the family was, and it made what happened to them at the Overlook so much worse.
And the Overlook, in all of its sinister glory, was something else. I loved how much detail went into the hotel and its history. I was fascinated by how King managed to make it such a menacing presence with how it encroached on the Torrances in more and more destructive and horrifying ways. It came alive, in a manner of speaking, and in a way that was thoroughly creepy.
I wasn’t particularly scared by anything in it, instead it was more atmospheric and eerie, and this sense of dread just crept up and permeated the majority of the story. There was a tipping point in The Shining, though, where the occurrences gained in intensity, and you just kind of know there wasn’t going to be a happy ending for everyone involved.
But its horror and a tragedy, and I knew what I was signing up for when I sat down to read it.
I like it better, actually.
The Shining isn’t for the faint of heart, though. It’s a horror novel through and through, and it deals with a variety of dark themes like murder, alcoholism, and domestic violence, just to name a few. Even so, I found the book to be engrossing and the writing style engaging.
One main area where the book is far more successful is how much space King devoted to exploring the interior lives of the Torrances. So, by the time they actually arrived at the resort for Jack’s job as the winter caretaker, there was a clear understanding of who the family was, and it made what happened to them at the Overlook so much worse.
And the Overlook, in all of its sinister glory, was something else. I loved how much detail went into the hotel and its history. I was fascinated by how King managed to make it such a menacing presence with how it encroached on the Torrances in more and more destructive and horrifying ways. It came alive, in a manner of speaking, and in a way that was thoroughly creepy.
I wasn’t particularly scared by anything in it, instead it was more atmospheric and eerie, and this sense of dread just crept up and permeated the majority of the story. There was a tipping point in The Shining, though, where the occurrences gained in intensity, and you just kind of know there wasn’t going to be a happy ending for everyone involved.
But its horror and a tragedy, and I knew what I was signing up for when I sat down to read it.
