Author: Stephen King
Pages: 683 pages
Published: 1977
Source: owned paperback
Links: Stephen King.com, goodreads fan group
Past horrors and evil lurk in Colorado's Overlook Hotel, threatening winter season caretakers Jack Torrance, his wife Wendy, and their young son, Danny. Gifted with the shining, a clairvoyant Danny must battle the darkest evil in the remote hotel in an attempt to save his family from its influence.
I love love Stephen King as many of you know. This was my first Stephen King book way back in 2001. My mom had always read King ... and so I finally gave his books a go and just fell in love. In 2013 I went to a Stephen King book signing and bought Doctor Sleep. I have been so excited about Doctor Sleep but I just kept putting more and more books in front of reading it (which is why this year I am reading only books I own). A friend of mine wanted to try out a King book last month so I told her I was in and would read the Shining with her! Perfect timing. Well.. my friend didn't make it through chapter 6 of the book. She said it was too scary (and it wasn't even at the scary moments yet!!). I kept reading. I told my sister and my mom I was reading it so they decided to do a little readalong with me. For my mom it was a reread and for my sister it's her first King book. My sister is loving it!
Let's be clear for those of you who have not read the book and only seen the Shining's movie... not the same. I know you hear this all the time but the suspense in the book is so much better then the movie. Plus... King can't stand the Jack Nickleson movie. So... let that tell you something. Some of my readers may know that I run the Stephen King Fan Group on goodreads. Pretty large group and there is a pretty large discussion on the Shining. I love the idea of a haunted house... and The Shining is basically about a hotel (The Overlook) that haunts a caretaker and his family. Sending them into madness!
One thing about this book is that it provokes a lot of thought. Who exactly is haunting who. Is Jack Torrance (the dad) just crazy? I can never decide if I like the character Jack. He is a victim of the hotel, that's true. But then again did he kind of allow it by being the type of character who is easily manipulated?? Danny, the star of the novel has what is called the Shining. A kind of psychic ability where Danny can see the future, ghosts, things of the past, read thoughts, ext. This is why I am excited to get started on the second book Doctor Sleep and see what happens to Danny as an adult.
I love that I live near the area where the hotel (The Stanley Hotel in Estes Park) is located. Stephen King stayed here for a while and it inspired this book. I have been to visit the Stanley many times and have even stayed there a few nights. I wanted to stay in Stephen King's room but it is always booked up. This year there is going to be a maze created outside the hotel (the maze is not in the book by the way). I think it will be neat to go up there and visit it and go through it. Here are some pictures from the Stanley Hotel.
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| The 100 year old elevator |
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| The Stanley is in the middle of a town |
I just love this book... it is timeless. The outdated technology makes it even more creepy (no cell phones/direct TV/ Internet/). I recommend this being your first King book if you have never tried one before.
Doctor Sleep Review
The crystal ball says:
Sun is shinning!!! Great day to go outside and read this book.
I've watched the movie and then a TV movie that was made back in the 90s of this one and loved it. I'd love to read the book as I'm sure that there are lots of details that the movie left out. I've never read any King but I can't wait to try this one!
ReplyDeleteI've watched the movie, but I've never read the book. I'm currently reading Misery and it's my first Stephen King novel. Depending on how I like it, I'm going to branch out and read more of his others. :D I'm glad to hear this is a good one.
ReplyDeleteI've never watched the movie but I've read the book. I really enjoyed it but there are many other Stephen King books which I prefer to this.
ReplyDeleteI've read a couple King books, but I am curious about this one. I just saw the film for the first time last year actually and it was a bit odd...not too bad though, so I think I'd like the book way better. haha
ReplyDelete-Lauren
www.shootingstarsmag.blogspot.com
I haven't watched the movie or read the book. I promise I'll read the book. Now that you've told me that King can't stand the movie, I'll avoid it.
ReplyDeleteI love this book. Not as scary as I would have thought. I read this right after IT and IT was much scarier for me. Doctor Sleep was a great book too. Not scary but the story was so well written. I hope you like it. I loved this review and the pictures you included.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the lovely review!! I haven't read The Shining by Stephen King... Yes, I saw the movie version like a gazillion years ago, so don't remember much about the movie... I would absolutely believe the movie is better than the movie (aren't they always??). I should read this classic Stephen King novel.
ReplyDeleteI need to read this, and other King books. I love the ones I have read but I've only read a couple. My favorites so far are The Stand and Under the Dome. I don't know why I haven't read this one! Great review! :)
ReplyDeleteI can not get myself to watch the movie (too scared!) but I enjoyed the book! After being afraid of reading it for so many years, I finally did and wasn't as traumatized by it as I feared. :) It's so cool that you live near the hotel, especially since you are such a King fan! I for sure, would not want to stay there though. :D I would get my brain started thinking things I wouldn't want to think about. Heh
ReplyDeleteThis is seriously the perfect book to start King with. That mini-series was so good and spot on to the story. The movie not so much.. though still good. I hope I peer pressure people into reading this book.
ReplyDeleteI am excited to see what you think of Misery. I have never read Misery surprisingly, though I want to because I hear it's one of his good books.
ReplyDeleteOh really??? Which ones do you like better??? Salem's Lot is up there for me as well as the Dark Tower series.
ReplyDeleteYeah.. the movie... I don't know. The book is much more about a haunted house where the movie seems to concentrate more on Jack Torrence.
ReplyDeleteYeah... I think that is when he was younger. Now he has admitted to just signing away the rights to his books and not worrying about how they turn out. I think the Shining movie left a bad taste in his mouth as far as trying to control how movies/TV shows turn out.
ReplyDeleteI actually have not read IT. That is the one King book I have avoided for a long long time. I know it might scare the crap out of me. I do have a big road trip this summer. Maybe I will listen to the audio book on that trip.
ReplyDeleteI think King's classic books are the best ones. Salem's Lot, Carrie. Just amazing books. The newer books are OK... I did really enjoy Cell. To me.. all his books are so different from one another. That is one reason I really do enjoy them.
ReplyDeleteYES YES to the Stand. One of my favs... I also did enjoy Under the Dome. The TV series I liked at the beginning but then quit I think in the middle of season 2. It just was getting too far from the book.
ReplyDeleteLOLOL! The hotel is quite fancy actually. I am so glad you have the book a shot. If it weren't for my mom I am not sure I would've read Stephen King and now I compare all authors to him. I just can't help myself.
ReplyDeleteFunny because I just mentioned in a comment on another King post that things would likely have been so different in his earlier books had there been better technology. This one fell absolutely flat for me (it's one of my least favorite of the ones I've read!) but I think maybe the audio had something to do with it. Just never really got into the book like I did with the others. But how cool to see the Stanley hotel! I did watch the mini-series when it came out and really liked it--it also scared the crud out of me!
ReplyDeleteOh Angie! You should have joined us for the Misery Readalong this past month. So much fun--and I loved the book!
ReplyDeleteOh my gosh, IT will scare the crap out of you and that's what I loved about it. It is very close to being my all time favorite book but it has to take seat two on my list. It is really long but the story is so well written you don't even realize how long it is. Hope you like it when you get to it.
ReplyDeleteThis is one of the few Stephen King books that I haven't read. How awesome that you live near that hotel where King set his story. Does the place give off a spooky vibe?
ReplyDeleteI can't believe this is your least favorite. WHAT! I have never really heard someone say that. I am not an audio book listener so.... I can get why that didn't work for you. I just like to read with my own voice I guess.
ReplyDeleteI just finished Doctor Sleep today so I am about to post my review for it.
I actually didn't think the place gave off a spooky vibe to be honest. It was actually quite a classy hotel. I didn't go on the ghost tours though and so that might have changed how I feel about it.
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