The Shining

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Stephen King

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Pages: 512 (Paperback)

ISBN: 0450040186

Pub: New English Library Ltd

Pub date: 1982-07-01

Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 5737

Editorial Review:

Ghostly bursts of plaster dust. A low, rhythmic sound in the background: Red rum-RED RUM-red rum-RED RUM. A sense of something evil swirling inward on itself, like a whirlpool of black ectoplasmic energy. The experience of being inside the actual consciousness ("come out and take your medicine!") of a frightened little boy. Echoes of Shirley Jackson ("whatever walked there, walked alone"), of Poe's Masque of the Red Death and of creepy folk tales (Hansel and Gretel).
How do we love The Shining? Let us count the ways. In 1977, The Shining was the first widely read novel to confront alcoholism and child abuse in baby-boomer families--especially the way alcoholism, a will toward failure in one's work, and abusing one's kids are passed down from generation to generation. The heart of the book is not an evil hotel but a pair of father-son relationships: Jack and his father, Jack and his son. This was both daring and insightful for its time, long before "dysfunctional family" was a cliché.
The Shining was written in a frenzy. Stephen King imagined the whole novel in his head while sitting up all night in the dark, in the very Colorado hotel where the story takes place. He then transcribed it (that's how he puts it) in a burst of sustained energy. He could pull that off because, even at that early point in his career, King had figured out a successful way of structuring a popular novel. The speed of its composition gives the writing a powerful flow that sweeps you along past the awkward wording.

The Shining is one of those rare novels that can burn its images--such as Room 217--into your brain. Time alone will tell, but The Shining may well turn out to be one of the best horror novels ever written. By the way, you know that film starring Jack Nicholson? Stephen King says, "I have my days when I think I gave Kubrick a live grenade on which he heroically threw his body." --Fiona Webster

Reader Reviews:

The shining (0/3 people found this helpful)

i watched the film about a month ago, i wasn't impressed but i decided to read the book. i read it and i found it extraordinary dull. All the characters are one-dimensional. Danny and jack are so damn annoying, i felt as if i wanted to punch the living daylights out of them. King's works are pretty much the same thing. same plot. same characters. same endings. why doesn't he stop writing?
if you want to we scared out of your pants then read Poe or Harries novels.

The Shining Amazing (0/0 people found this helpful)

From the first page i read i was totaly hooked, i couldnt get enough of the book a definate buy for anyone who loves reading!!! If you start reading you'll find it hard to put down

A good horror... (0/0 people found this helpful)

I read the Shining immedietely after reading 'IT'.

The Shining is a lot shorter in comparison to 'IT' and I think I judged it unfairly because 'IT' was such a great novel.

In hindsight, The Shining is a very well written horror. It didn't grip me in the same way as 'IT' and I didn't fall in love with the characters as much, but the book still created plenty of vivid images, something Stephen King does so well.

I especially liked the way Jack Torrance is not just a one dimensional character who suddenly goes mad and tries to murder his family in the isolated hotel his family have been assigned to look after over the winter. The process into madness is gradual and you can feel him losing his grip on reality as the weeks go by and the hotel grips his mind more and more until it actually seems to come alive.

The fact that Jack is also capable of violence before the hotel 'gets him', this makes the story a lot more believable and a lot scarier.

I've seen the film version a couple of times and I'd say I like the novel more. The reason is with the novel you can delve into the minds of the characters, you get to hear their thoughts and their sides to the argument. It is quite scary the way Jack actually believes he is in the right in regards to his violence- King offers us both sides to each character and their motives, something a film version can never portray to the viwer.

There are some generally scary moments in the novel, I won't ruin them but the Room 217 parts are genuinely horrifying. Basically Danny has seen the body of a long dead women in a bathtub. Jack, still sane at this time, goes to check. It's all about Jack being an unbelieving adult- ghosts simply don't exist...

He enters the room and the shower curtain is drawn over- through the curtain he can see the shadow of what looks like a body in the bath. Could it be Danny wasn't imagining the old lady? Without looking and hardly believing his eyes, he goes to leave the room and hears clambering and what sounds like foot steps behind him- it's all about him not believing what is happening yet still running for his life, just in case he isn't hallucinating- genuinely scary and sends shivers up your back!!

One thing I felt King could have done was reveal a bit more about Danny's imaginery friend, Tony. He seems to explain who he is towards the end, but I think he could have done a bit more with this character. But we can't have everything...:)

All in all, a great book, well worth reading if you are a horror fan or just simply like a good story. Defineteley worth the 4/5 stars.

OTT ending as usual (1/5 people found this helpful)

The majority of people I imagine readig this have seen the Kubrick film and are expecting something similar. This is a mistake. The Kubrick version dramatically deviated from this story, and yet imrpoved on it so much that it is the only film I have seen to surpass the novel which preceded it.
So, we have a dysfunctional family going to stay in the Outlook hotel in a range of mountains that we know early on are going to be cut off by snow. The son (Danny) 'shines', which is a bit ambiguous, and basically allows him to communicate with other 'shiners', and also to have premonitions of the future, relayed by an imaginary friend. He can also see the after images of violence. The father is a reformed alchoholic who has been violent to his son before, and the wife is rather stronger than Kubricks Wendy, and is ultimately the heroine.
The stage is set. The Hotel has a violent history. This is revealed both by Dannys visions and by Jack (the father), who finds papers in the cellar which gradual reveal the extent of the corruption. Jack tries to write his novel, but begins to be manipulated by the hotel itself, and descends into madness, fuelled by alchohol, which can only be imaginary (you'll see).
It is the hotel that shines too, and it wants the family. It uses such things as the ghosts of all those who have perished within it, and a horde of topiary creatures, to achieve its ends. To this end, the book suffers from Kings standard problems, which are the reason I have not given it the full 5 stars.
He builds up the tension magnificently, and begins to reveal the plot bit by bit, and with consumate skill. But at the end, it all gets a little silly, with the topiary beasts coming to life and attacking people, and the bizarre ghost cocktail party that prompts Jack to go on the rampage, as the house tortures his mind to encouarge him to slay those he ultimately loves. It was also slightly predictable how it was going to end, with constant references to the boiler.

Unputdownable! (1/1 people found this helpful)

As someone who saw the film version (with Jack Nicholson) a number of years ago and was scared by that and enjoyed it I decided to read the book and was not dissapointed. The book is even better than the film, it had sections which went more in depth into the psychosis and scenes which were completely edited from the film. A definate read for anyone, I could not put it down, even those who hate reading would find it hard not to enjoy this gripping and exciting story!

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