The Shining

One of the best horror books ever written.

Stephen King at his very best!! Awesome in every way!!

I know this is an unpopular opinion, but I just don't think Stephen King is a good author fit for me. For the majority of the book, I was simply bored. The pacing felt off. In my opinion, a good horror story should keep you on the edge of your seat. It doesn't have to be gratuitously gory or be nothing but scare after scare. In fact, the best horror and thriller novels scare you, give you a chance to catch your breath, maybe lull you into a false sense of security, and then scare you to death again. Sadly, The Shining didn't do that for me. There were a couple of scenes that did make me uncomfortable, and it's going to be a while before I can leave my shower curtain closed, but after delivering a fright, the book descended back into dullness. The characters felt flat and for much of the 600+ pages, I really didn't care one way or the other who survived. I just wanted the book to be over.

Glad there wasn't an effort to explain the motivations of the hotel, no long exposition on the strategy of evil. Just scare after scare. Perfect.

I have only ever seen The Shining the movie and decided to read it. I thought the book was so much better than the movie (ha ha that’s what everyone says) I do like how in my head Jack Torrance was still Jack Nicholson. The book has a good ending, which is a surprise coming from Stephen King! I assume it’s because it is one of his earlier books. It has been a while since I have seen the movie, but I think the book is scarier, but less overtly ghostly. The ghosts are different, and sometimes a little less overtly scary, but their effect is more frightening. I don’t want to spoil anything, but I found the wasps and the man in the dog costume to be some of the scariest parts. I also thought Jack Torrance’s slow descent into madness is much better in the book. Danny’s relation ship with both Dick Halloran and Tony is better and less forced in the book as well. I also really enjoyed the subtext that is in parenthesis (often Jack Torrance’s inappropriate/dangerous thoughts) They made me laugh sometimes, and, I think it is very like real life. We all have an inner monologue that is never spoken out-loud. I have read “It” a few times before and I noticed that the ghosts in the Overlook Hotel from the Shining have silver eyes the same way that Pennywise from “It” has silver eyes. Wonder what that connection is? The Overlook Hotel itself kind of seems similar to Derry, Maine from “It” in that it is the entire place that seems evil, not just the entities inside it.

[Cross-posted to Knite Writes]God, I love The Shining. It’s been about five years since I last read it, so I wanted to refresh myself before I jumped into Doctor Sleep. Even though I’m sure King insulated the long-awaited sequel with enough background info that you’re not required to read The Shining to understand it. Eh, call me a traditionalist. I like to read the first book first.Anyway, after rereading, I now remember what it was about the book I liked so much: everything.Let’s start with the characterization. King is a master of characterization in this book. He jumps POVs a lot, and yet you always know whose head you’re head. Every POV has its own distinct voice, and each one is done fantastically. All their personalities are clearly built from their past experiences, are consistent, are interesting. There’s nothing about King’s characters I don’t like in this novel. And my favorite character of all? The Overlook, of course. For a building, it’s certainly got some attitude. And pure, unapologetic malice.Now, the plot. This is a long book, as evidenced by the fact it took me forever to read. I could have plowed through three more of The Dresden Files in the time it took me to reread this sucker, but you know what? It deserved every page. There’s always something going on in the story — there’s never a lull — even when what’s happening seems, on the surface, mundane. Everything ties so expertly together as the story progresses that the sheer level of interconnectedness kind of blows my mind. (As you’re aware, my major weakness is plotting, so great plots often leave me in awe.)How about we talk about the horror. Oh, the horror. When I first read this book, it scared the crap out of me. I don’t typically read (or watch) horror, but King has always been an exception. Because he’s Stephen King, you know? And when I first tiptoed my way through The Shining, I almost scared myself silly. This time around, I knew what was coming, so I wasn’t nearly as disturbed as I was half a decade ago. And this was a good thing because it gave me the power to see the massive amount of subtle horror embedded beneath the overt, in-your-face horror. Like I said, this book has a lot of layers, and they’re all very complex. I was even more impressed this time around with how well King connected the family drama and the horror, with how complex his horror in and of itself is.

After some troubles in his personal and professional lives, Jack Torrance quits teaching and becomes a caretaker at the Overlook Hotel. Located high in the Colorado mountains, the hotel is unoccupied during the winter, so Jack and his family are all alone ... except for the rumors of ghosts being on the hotel grounds.I resisted reading any of King's works for a long time on account of being a scaredy cat. But once I started reading a few here and there, I learned they aren't really all that scary. In addition, he does great characterization (which is a huge selling point for me) and his writing is all-around well done. So I finally decided to bite the bullet, face my fears, and read The Shining. And I'm not surprising anybody else here but saying it's a good read.King does an excellent job of working in subtleties, especially for the first two-thirds of the book or so. That is really all build up of the characters and how they relate to each other, as well as setting the stage as to the environment. While another writer might be boring with those details, this fully caught my attention all along the way. When the ghosts arrive at last, it's only a little bit creepy actually and far more fascinating to see how the characters will react. For the audiobook listener, Campbell Scott did an excellent job of bringing the story and its characters to life.

4.5 stars. Excellent book. Sad more than anything, really.

The book is so much better than the movie. I can understand why Stephen King was so upset by the film.

This book is so much better as a adult than it was at 14. Don't get me wrong, it was good then. It was scary and exciting. However, at 44 I'm better able to appreciate the reality of every character in this book. One of my favorite things about King is how fully nuanced his characters are. The Shining exemplifies this.

Well, that was longer than I remember! Not one of my favourite novels, thanks to Jack Nicholson's one-note performance in the film, I avoided reading The Shining for the longest time, and only an interest in Doctor Sleep - write a sequel for Ellie Creed too, Mr King! - made me return to the Overlook. Everyone knows the story, I think. But I forgot just how awful the characters are, apart from Danny - and even his portrayal is spotty (is he five or forty-five?) - and Dick Hallorann. I'm not sure if King wants his Constant Reader to sympathise with Jack Torrance, but I can't stand the pathetic little man. Self-centred manchild. And the book should be subtitled 'You Should Have Left Him When You Had The Chance, Wendy'. As the dumb wife herself thinks at one point, 'She was aware now that she had made one bad decision when she had gone against her feelings (and Danny’s) and allowed the snow to close them in … for Jack’s sake. Another bad decision when she had shelved the idea of divorce'. No shit! Still, she has more wit and strength than Shelley Duvall's screaming victim in the film.The best character in the book is not actually a person, but a building. I love the Overlook, and the creepy, claustrophobic atmosphere King creates! I also love Stuart Ullman, the hotel's manager, despite King's slightly homophobic description of him. William Daniels would have been a great casting choice for the character I imagined while reading. Anyway, the Overlook is the Evil Force in the story, filled with ghosts from its shady past - though the building is only seventy years old - including a rotting corpse in room 217 - but the real terror of course comes from being holed up with a man who blames his failures in life on other people. This inhuman place makes human monsters.Onto Doctor Sleep to find out how Danny survived such a trauma so early in life!

Not his best book. The psychic kid, Danny, is great, but I hated his parents. His abusive, alcoholic father and his useless, wimpy mother. King had obviously created good backstory to show why the parents were as messed up as they were, but he didn't put enough of it in the book for me to ever sympathize with them. The plot hinges on some vague ghost-like thing. It's sort of one thing and sort of many, so what is it? Unclear and unsatisfying. At one point the alcoholic/writer/father, becomes obsessed with writing a book about the history of the hotel, which seemed like it might get down to cases, but that was a dead end too, with him never finding out why anything happened that happened. And moving topiary? How does that work? I'd say this one is pretty weak. I bet the movie is better, but I don't remember. That was a long time ago. So far I like Doctor Sleep a lot better. Thinking that King has improved with age.

Reviewing The Shining without bias might be difficult for me. I decided to read it for two reasons: one, because I love Stephen King and this is one of the classics, but also, frankly, because I hated the Kubrick adaptation.

I heard that Stephen King also hated the movie, so I thought I’d give the book a shot. I had a few questions for the book based on my distaste for the movie, but all the questions boil down to the same thing – what in the hell is going on?

The movie explains nothing. It’s a well-directed jumble of randomly picked horror tricks with no sense and no explanation. I was hoping this was just a failure of translation, but I went into the book with reservations. I was pleasantly surprised.

The plot outdid my expectations. I had a few questions I wanted answered from the beginning, and it answered all those and more. There are a few lingering questions I have, which is why I give a rating of 4/5, but they’re just ambiguities – not inconsistencies. That is a key difference for my judgement of the success of a plot. I’m alright with not knowing a few background details of the Overlook hotel, though I wish I did, because the details I do have fit together and make sense with and of each other.

But what makes a Stephen King novel great is usually not the plot – the plot is just the structure. Rather, it’s the characters. I love and hate Jack, I love Wendy and Danny and Mr. Hallorann, despite their flaws. I feel like I know them and understand them. They’re beautifully human, with incredible strength and tragic weakness and endless lovability. The characters make sense, which helps make sense of the plot. Even in the thriller and horror genres, character is perhaps the most important aspect – if the characters are not believable, or you just don’t care about them, you won’t care about the book. Stephen King never fails on this point.

The Shining succeeds as a thriller, and at times as horror. My heart-rate shot up at times, and I definitely had to put the book away when my power started flickering in and out (great time for a windstorm, amirite?). The imagery is perfect, the descriptions vivid and relatable. When I read a scene by Stephen King in which scary things are happening – ghosts coming after a beloved character, for example – I often feel like I’m watching a horror movie. Except, of course, that I don’t have to hide under a blanket, because I’m a little less of a weenie when it comes to books. But Stephen King’s style is effective, his prose at times beautiful and at times terrifying and all the time exactly what the scene calls for.

The Shining lives up to its reputation. It’ll frighten you, sadden you, make you smile, make you laugh. Unlike the movie, it has depth – it’s not a cheap bag of horror tricks. Whether you like horror or not, the Torrance family is worth a shot.

Excellent read. The movie is one of my favorites, and I'm seriously pleased with how well it apparently follows the short story. The characters are far more fleshed out in the movie, but the short story is merely a launching pad. And an awesome one at that.

Oh this book. It is brilliant. There's no doubt about that. Stephen King definitely knows how to set the scene and keep you pinned on the edge of your seat. I can't say that I loved it. Or even liked it. It made me extremely uncomfortable. It is by far the scrariest thing I've ever read. And if I'd had a brain in my head there's no way I'd have finished the last 120 pages at close to midnight. It took hours to get to sleep because my heart was pounding so hard. Anyway, I will concede that this book is a work of genius. And then I never want to think about it again.

This is one of the best King books. Its creepy and claustrophobic and a must read for horror fans.

This novel is incredibly well written, and left me on the edge of my seat on multiple occasions. A surprisingly somewhat quick read. I recommend this to anyone wanting something a bit spooky!

This book is so different from the movie. The movie does not do the book justice. The iconic scenes in the movie are not in the book! So weird. I loved how creepy this book was, my heart raced, I was scared to read what was coming up next, Jack slowlt going crazy and the ballroom was so good! Loved this book.

For me, Jack Torrence was the star of this book. He's hit rock bottom in his personal life and his professional life and takes this job as a caretaker at the Overlook Hotel because they are in desperate need of money. This character-driven horror story was entertaining.

Absolutely amazing book! I adore the movie and it's my favorite horror film; however, the book is even better! A must-read for any horror genre lover or lover of the masterpiece film!

A very good tale. Engaging, scary, emotional I loved it.

I thought this book was supposed to be scary. I didn't finish it not because it was horrifying but because I just got bored and had no sympathy for the adult characters. Quite frankly the sooner something killed them off the better. Maybe I just didn't read far enough in the book ...

If you think the extraordinary, Stanley Kubrick-directed film adaptation of this masterpiece novel is terrifying, just wait until you actually read the book itself.

There are things happening in the book that are so horrifying, the filmmakers couldn't replicate them for the screen, due to the limited technology in special effects during the making of the film.

The Shining is the epitome of sheer, paralyzing terror.

The Torrance family embarks on a months-long retreat into complete isolation when Jack Torrance signs on to be the winter custodian of the Overlook Hotel in Colorado. Jack takes some personal demons with him to a hotel chock-full of malevolent, ghostly spirits; he is a recovering alcoholic who, in the last couple of years, lost his job and broke his little boy's arm in a state of drunken fury. He thinks the months alone with his wife and son will allow him to find peace - and to finally finish the play he has been working on. His long-suffering wife has some misgivings, but the only person really clued into the dreadful possibilities is his son Danny. Danny has "the shine," a gift which allows him to see and know things he cannot possibly know; it is a powerful gift which the Overlook (which really is an entity unto itself) jealously desires for itself.

As the days pass, the Overlook exerts more and more of an influence on Jack, exploiting his weaknesses, exacerbating his paranoia and persecution complex, and basically turning him into a murderous new tool at the hotel's disposal.

It's been 36 years but I ask you "who can ever forget "redrum" or Jack Nicholson, who brough "The Shining" to life in film, staring at himself in the mirror of the Overlook Hotel?" The book is hard to put down.

If you're not reading this because you've seen the movie, then you need to read it anyway. Movies and books are each their own and should never be compared.

For the most part, I wasn't a very big fan of this book. When I first began reading it I was really enjoying it, but after so long I just completely dreaded reading. I felt like it was really drawn out, and everything leading up to the climax of the story was super dull. No real action happened until the last 100 pages or so. That's the only reason I'm even giving it two stars. However, the action that DID take place I enjoyed. This book didn't really scare me at all, but I did get to the point where I didn't want to put the book down because I wanted to know if everyone would make it out okay. That's about it though. So yeah... I don't really like reading 500+ pages just to finally enjoy the book at the last 100 pages.It seems like everyone loves this book, and I really really really wanted to, but I just couldn't get myself that invested. I hope I have better luck with some of Stephen King's other novels.

I am an occasional reader of Stephen King but I avoid the straight out horror books cos it's not my interest. But my reading group got The Shining as this month's book so it was time to tackle a horror from him. And it was OK but it has his usual faults - he just goes on too long at times, it took ages to get anywhere and I didn't find it scary at all. His "non horror" books have sometimes scared me more. I rather suspect that the hype around this story is very much to do with the film, rather than the book. And they are very different apparently - I avoid horror films too.King knows how to tell a story but I think I will carry on sticking to his "non horror".

I read this the first time in 1994, then again in 2002 and a third time last night before starting Doctor Sleep, the "holy crap, it's been 36 years!" sequel. I had forgotten how truly creepy this book is. I've always been fascinated by empty hotels and I would still be stoked to have a job like Jack's, but damned if I will keep the curtain around a bathtub closed. For trivia's sake, I'd also like to point out that at no time does he ever say "Heeeere's Johnny!" and there were no twin girls popping up in the hallway.

The iconic horror story of a man who heads to the Overlook Hotel in Colorado. He's a recovering alcoholic attempting to salvage his writing career and dignity while also providing for his wife and son. This is a potent admixture of the real and the surreal, of madness and sobriety. This is #VintageKing, the guy who makes you live the dream and the nightmare, and wondering which is which! There are some pop psychology references, dated social conventions, and some cringe-worthy pejorative terms or expletives - all sustained within the book's context; but showing the story's age a bit. Campbell Scott delivers the story with a subtle but effective range.

I finally read this for the first time and it was pretty great. Everyone knows the story, the movie, so no need explaining it here. It's basically about a hotel in offseason and the caretaker and his family's chaotic time in it. It has a bit of paranormal and sci-fi to it, as much of Stephen King's works tend to have, and it just works well together with the dynamic of overall story and themes.

I've read some reviews that claim this book wasn't scary and I would have agreed, seeing as I didn't find myself very scared or creeped out while reading. But, I did find myself extremely nervous and scared of the shadows in my home when I was going to bed at night.

This was a phenomenal read and I can't wait to read Doctor Sleep and find out what happens next.