The Shining (book) Review

If ever there was a book that summarizes the horrors of isolation perfectly, then Stephen King's The Shining would be that book. King combines horrific imagery with excellent pacing and love-able characters in what many would call his best work to date. I won't go that far, because if King's literary repertoire is an ocean, than I have barely dipped my toe in it. Regardless, The Shining is one of the best horror books I have ever read, falling just short of taking 'Salem's Lot's top spot. If you've already seen the movie, don't worry. This book differs so greatly from Kubrick's The Shining that they are essentially separate stories.

King opens the book from the perspective of Jack Torrance, a recovering alcoholic trying to set a new course for life after his comfortable teaching job in Vermont came to a crashing end. Needless to say, he's at quite a low point in his life, which both makes him relatable and a good lead character. There's not too much I can say about him which won't spoil the book, but needless to say he's a good man with a flawed personality. His wife, Wendy Torrance, is also a like-able enough character, though there's a backstory concerning a fractured relationship with her mother which feels like it never goes anywhere, and is just there for references. As she also desperately wants to move on from their past troubles, Wendy feels very much like a loving mother and concerned wife, and I applaud King for writing her character so well. It's hard to get inside the heads of your characters sometimes, but apparently it's second nature of King. The final main character is Danny Torrance, their son. Again, a very well written character, which is hard to do since Danny is only five at the time. He too is very like-able, and while I do feel that some of his thoughts belong in the head of Socrates and not a little boy, he's definitely a very readable character.

The plot of this book is pretty straightforward, and it's helped by the small setting that is The Overlook Hotel. Jack Torrance has been hired as the off-season caretaker and must spend the winter alone in the hotel with his family. Excited to hopefully reignite his writing career, rekindle his romance with his wife, and reforge his relationship with his son, Jack soon discovers that The Overlook has a dark history, one that's been hidden away to die. At the same time, his son Danny, a uniquely gifted boy, starts seeing the wheels fall off of this adventure. This book, while fairly long at 659 pages, never drags and doesn't slow down. Like many of King's other masterpieces, this book starts at a fairly slow pace, and then picks up rapidly until the climax. Once again, King doesn't just thrust the reader into the deep end of demons and ghosts. Rather, he lays little hints of the dark nature of The Overlook throughout the book, so that by the time the darkness really comes, the reader is mentally prepared and willing to accept it.

My biggest gripe with The Shining has to do with some of the writing, which is stellar for the most part, but I do feel as though it's overly sexual. This is a common theme amongst all the Stephen King books I've read thus far, and it's not that it's wrong, or in bad form. Perhaps this is a problem unique to me, but I just don't see the need for it. It's one of my biggest issues with Game of Thrones as well. When you have a story as robust as GoT or The Shining, you don't need to add in sex scenes to keep the readers interest. True, it may be more true to life but books are a tool to escape reality. Nonetheless, it doesn't crop up too much, but I would prefer if it wasn't there at all. Or at least limited to one scene in the book.

The Shining is one of the best novels Stephen King has ever written, and that's saying something. True, it's over forty years old, but it still holds its place among the best horror novels. This book affirmed in my mind that Stephen King is one of the greatest American authors to have ever lived, at least when it comes to fiction. If you haven't read The Shining yet, then you need to do so. It's a journey which I can see myself going on many times throughout my life.