Stephen King is a fantastic author, a man that truly understands his characters and how to scare his audience. He’s best known for his horror but has written some amazing science fiction, fantasy, and heartwarming works.
The Shining is probably one of his best known works due to the Kubric movie adaptation.
Below is my review. For more information on how and why I review books read my posts Part 1 and Part 2.
Characters
I liked
There are five main characters in the book and we see a glimpse into each one but we mostly see the development of the Torrence Family. All in excruciating detail. They each feel real and like friends going through a terrible time.
I didn’t like
If you haven’t seen the movie or tv adaptation, you still know how this will end. It’s a large shadow of inevitability. It was amazingly done but the slow decent into madness was almost painful as a reader. I understand that was the goal but it was difficult to read and made me want to stop.
For characters, I give it 5 out of 5
Writing Style
I liked
King has an amazing way of swinging from exist descriptions to crude turns of phrase. Often he even mixes them. When we saw from Jack’s (the father) point of view, it was often filled with clichéd thoughts or crude turns of phrase. Almost as if King was trying to tell us that Jack as a writer wasn’t as good as he believed.
In contrast when we followed Danny (the son) his thoughts were poetic and beautiful. In the way that kids’ minds often are. Showing him to be the real hero.
I didn’t like
Often things were repeated from different viewpoints in what felt needless. The repetition served to remind us what was going to happen and why but it felt like it was overdone. That said it was written for an audience 35 years ago that might not have been as savvy with genre concepts.
I give it 3 out of 5.
Story
I liked
The story was set in one location for most of the book. Despite the stagnation in place, there is always a feeling that something is happening and that we are going somewhere with the story.
All the events are foreshadowed. Everything is structured and the book doesn’t pull any punches in scariness or character pain.
I didn’t like
The moments of joy are all at the beginning and a little at the end. This isn’t a happy story. It doesn’t pretend to be.
I give the story 4 out of 5
Fun
I liked
I loved the characters and the writing. It’s a true classic in horror literature. It was overall very well done.
I didn’t like
I knew what would happen and I didn’t like it. It made reading harder than it should have. Less the fault of the author and more the fault of the reader.
I give it 2 out of 5 for fun
Overall
The book is very different than the movies. Make sure to check your preconceptions at the door.
This isn’t the best Stephen King novel I’ve read but that’s not saying it’s bad. It’s an amazing book. If you like horror and don’t mind a sad book, it’s more than worth the read.
Final score is 70%