Review: The Shining by Stephen King

Goodreads rating: 4.23/5

My rating: 4.5/5

Jack Torrance does his best to provide for his family but he's also an alcoholic with a temper. Meanwhile, his 5 year old son, Danny, has something called the shining. Its his paranormal gift that allows him to see what others are feelings or thinking, to foresee the future and to see the unnatural and the dead. When Jack loses his job at a prestigious school and notices that his wife is on the verge of divorcing him, it serves as a wake up call for him and he decides to sober up. His friend manages to get him a job at the Overlook Hotel as a caretaker where he and his family have to stay for 5 months. Little do they know, the hotel is haunted. Within their time in the hotel, they all experience unearthly things without realizing that the hotel is manipulating them to it's will. The hotel wants Danny for his power, but first, Jack would have to kill him.

This book was phenomenal and that's a lot coming from someone who isn't a fan of Stephen King's writing. When I watched the movie last year, I was hesitant to read the book for 2 reasons. One, the movie was shit and two, I was still reading 'It' at the time and I was struggling so bad to get through it. There were too many unnecessary backstories and over-descriptive paragraphs of the scenery that I found common in King's writing and I was afraid that the Shining would have the same. However, there was so much hype around 'The Shining' and I wanted to be able to read 'Doctor Sleep' before watching the movie but I couldn't do that without reading the first book so I caved. I hunted down the best deal I could get for a brand new copy, just 20 dhs, and boy was I excited to read it!

I didn't read it immediately though. My excitement was overridden by my fear of not liking the story and the way it was written in but after putting it off for a few months, I decided to get it over with. Suffice to say, I'm so glad I put my fear aside. This is probably only the second book by King that I love, 11/22/63 being the first. Yes, love. It was so difficult to put this down, I had to fight the melatonin in my brain to let me read just a little more! There was none of the unnecessary back stories and over described scenery, everything was perfectly balanced, including the suspense build up. When the story was climaxing, I read as fast as I could in fear that I'd lose the image that I'd already conjured up in my mind.

By the way, the movie is completely different so if you haven't read the book, you should! There weren't any little girls calling to Danny to play with him, although there was a family with twin girls that did die in the Overlook Hotel. There also wasn't a maze, instead there was a topiary that played it's part in terrorizing Danny, Jack and Mr. Hallorann. That's another thing, the way things end for Mr. Hallorann is completely different! Oh Dick Hallorann, I loved him. I didn't get to mention him in my synopsis but he was my favourite character. He exuded comfort and was the only person who completely understood Danny's gift. He was also the hero, there wouldn't be a 'Doctor Sleep' if it weren't for Mr. Hallorann. Back to the movie, I think one of the reasons it wasn't so great was because the technology needed to create the right imagery wasn't available back in 1980. How were they supposed to create a topiary that moved right?

Anyway, did you know that Stephen King was battling with alcoholism when he wrote this particular story? It's no wonder the emotions involved with being an alcoholic felt so authentic, I wonder if he drooled and wiped his lips whenever he'd think of alcohol too. Alcohol was Jack's weakness and it's what the hotel baited him with when it manipulated him to do the evil deeds it needed him to. That's the real horror story, the destructive nature of alcoholism and living with someone that's struggling with an addiction. I don't know if my dad would have been classified as an alcoholic but he was addicted to alcohol to the point that my sisters and I knew not to ask him for a ride or for anything that would spark his temper after 8 pm because that's when he'd start drinking every night. Thank God he's given up the habit but the empty bottles are still on display, like souvenirs to mark the many nights of arguments we had with him during his drunken stupor. I really hope he keeps up his sobriety. Like the empty bottles we have in our house, I wonder if this book was Stephen King's way of commemorating his alcoholism and of letting it go.

Fun fact about me: horror movies don't scare me, in fact, they make me laugh. But books like 'It' and 'The Shining' do get me looking over my shoulder when I'm facing the wall while in bed, just to check if something is lurking in the darkness of my room. With movies, I'm able to convince myself that it's just a movie, that it's not real. But with written horror stories, everything plays out in your head while reading and I think that's what makes it scarier. To top that off, King's nightmarish stories aren't like other stories. 'The Shining' was so grounded in reality that it was difficult to convince myself that it was just a story. You know how in most stories, the protagonist always lives? Like when I read 'The Darkest Minds', Ruby and the other teens were always on the run and risked being caught or killed but I never feared for their life while I read the series. It got my adrenaline pumping but I never actually believed that Ruby or any of the other main characters could die. That's the thing about King's books, he makes it seem like it's possible for the hero to die. In 'The Shining', he described the way Jack would pound in Danny's head with a mallet so many times that I imagined it would actually end that way. His stories are pure fiction but he's so good at making you doubt yourself when you think, "It's not real, it can't be".

Another thing I like about reading King's books is the fact that his words actually exercise my brain, I've learnt so many new words from this one book. Check out how many tags I had, each tag marked a word I didn't know.

I think the only criticism I have for this story is Danny's age. He's way too advanced for a 5 year old, in my opinion. I don't remember much from when I was 5 years old but I doubt I knew how babies were made, amongst other things that Danny was already aware of. Also, who's Tony? I know he's Danny's imaginary friend that shows him things but other than that, what's his connection to Danny? Is he a spirit? A ghost? Danny's soul? I wish that were explained.

Nonetheless, I can't wait to read 'Doctor Sleep', I guess I'm officially one of Stephen King's fans. Teehee! If you're in for a good scare and don't mind swapping your dreams for a few nightmares, this book is definitely for you. Seriously, this is basically a horror classic, if you're a fan of scary stories and haven't read this one, I'm judging you. ;p