The Shining
Ratings1,150
Average rating4.1
This is not so much a review, but reminiscing about how this was the absolute first novel I ever read that wasn't for school back in grade 8 in the early nineties. A friend lent it to me, a book that belonged to her mother who was a teacher and thus began a lifetime of reading all of his works. On the cusp of becoming a teenager, I clearly remember reading it in my closet inside my sleeping bag with a little lamp and munching on sunflower seeds, scared of leaving the security of the closet. I would end up sleeping in it until the morning. My bedroom was in a windowless basement of an old house. It got suffocatingly dark in that basement and I liked it in my closet!
My friend lent me more of her mother's Stephen King novels and that became a ritual, reading Stephen King in my closet with a lamp and sunflower seeds. It annoyed my mother, for some reason, that I wasn't sleeping in my bed.
This is a must-read classic ghost story, the best of its kind. I reread it a few years ago because I had planned to read the sequel, Doctor Sleep, and it was just as good outside of the closet! ;)
omg. i'm rereading this and realizing how much of it is jack torrance mansplaining everything.
This is the first Stephen King novel that I've read and I found a little hard to adapt to his writing style but none the less I loved this book.
It sent shivers down my spine - so much so that I couldn't find the courage to read it at night. I really felt the pain and fear that these characters were going through. I would definitely recommend it to anyone, especially anyone who has seen the movie because the movie has nothing on this novel.
I think the storyline was pretty decent. It just was about 150 pages to long. There were many parts in the book in which I dreaded reading it because it got so boring and off track. Overall it's worth reading though and it definitely left an impression on me.
This was my first horror (and my only so far I think) novel and it indeed terrified me. I had heard so many good things about this and how this is the only story that seems to scare people. I heard equal praising of the movie but it felt like a low budget thriller if anything.
Fun fact: i had a white bathtub with white curtains in my bathroom, and after reading “the scene” I had kept the curtains open at ALL times
This is one where I actually think the first movie is better than the book. The book read too slow - a little too dense for my liking.
I finally sat down and took the time to read this and I thoroughly enjoyed it from beginning to end. This book is a classic for a reason. The Shining keeps you on your toes every page and I found it really hard to put down (even at 2 AM)
Based on his time staying at the Stanley Hotel in Estes Park, Colorado. King was living and teaching in Boulder, Co. and he and Tabitha decided to spend a week at the historical hotel “up the hill” from Boulder. Trail Ridge Road was closed for the season and the Stanley (at that point in time) shut down for the winter. The Kings were the last ones staying in the hotel and Stephen roamed the halls and rooms while coming up with the story for The Shining.
Ahhhh, it was such a long month. I have started two other books and DNF'ed them. I was about to DNF this too. Thankfully, I was able to push through and complete The Shining. And I like it. Like, like it the right amount.
The Shining is the story of a family. Jack and Wendy are the parents of a 5-year old son, Danny. Jack loses his job at a school and is forced to take up a job as a caretaker of the grand, historic hotel, The Overlook. As magnificent as it looks, the hotel holds a dark past. Will the family succumb to the horrors of the hotel? That is the remainder of the story.
Now, the only reason I picked it up is because I have always wanted to watch the movie. So, I am one of the lunatics who needs to read the book before the movie adaptation. Halfway through the book, I realized that the movie is no where near to the book, except for the core.
Talking about the book, this is my first Stephen King's read. He writes very descriptively. I had each and every detail of The Overlook in my head. Although the writing is fantastic, the pace and setup have been rather slow. 3/4th's of the book is taken to establish the influence of The Overlook on the family. It is great pacing but I prefer a faster one maybe? (Thank you, Instagram!)
Overall, I would definitely recommend this if you have been meaning to explore Stephen King. I think it's a great one to begin with. Although, I have heard the movie is much better than the book. More on that, later!
Terceira obra do Stephen King que leio e gostei bastante.
Como sempre nos livros do King a mistura de realidade e sobrenatural é o que mais me fascina. Mais da metade do livro é só focado na cabeça dos personagens, especialmente Jack e o alcoolismo e a luta com a sobriedade.
Foi uma leitura bem triste e desconfortável no começo justamente por isso. Ele vai te jogando pra mente complexa de Jack até você mesmo se questionar o quão perto de ser um Jack você está. Normalmente sempre leio a noite com copinho de bebida na mão, porém esse livro me deixou averso a bebida, pelo menos nas semanas em que lia ele.
Conforme os elementos sobrenaturais vão aparecendo eu já estava anestesiado pelo mal estar que o livro te deixa no começo. De qualquer forma é fascinante a escrita alucinante de King.
Listening to The Shining by Stephen King, narrated by Campbell Scott, was an incredible experience. From the very beginning, Scott’s narration captivated me. His voice range was impressive, and he skillfully differentiated between characters, making it easy to follow who was speaking at any given time. The way he captured each character's emotions made the story even more immersive. I tend to prefer narrators with a conversational pace, and Scott hit the mark perfectly, delivering the story in a way that felt natural and fluid. His performance helped me visualize the eerie atmosphere and fit the characters to a tee.
As for the story itself, it was absolutely gripping. I haven’t seen the movie, so diving into The Shining from this raw, unfiltered perspective was a rare treat. At the start, I found myself really liking Jack. He seemed like a great dad who was genuinely trying to turn his life around, and about 20% into the book, I was rooting for him to keep the upward momentum. But just as I started to feel that way, things took a dark turn. The hotel’s manipulative presence slowly took over Jack's mind, and it was fascinating to listen as he began to unravel. At the same time, watching how Danny and Wendy became more aware of what was happening added layers of tension that kept me hooked. Of the handful of Stephen King books I’ve listened to, this one might be my favorite, and it has definitely motivated me to listen to Doctor Sleep soon to see how Danny's story continues.
The production quality was great, with no distracting background noises or technical hiccups. Scott’s voice came through clearly, which really helped enhance the sinister mood of the story. The pacing of the audiobook felt just right, keeping me engaged without dragging or rushing through important moments. Scott’s conversational delivery made the experience flow naturally.
Overall, this has easily become one of my favorite books this year. The combination of King’s chilling plot and Scott’s captivating narration created a listening experience that I found even more enjoyable than It. Whether you’re a seasoned fan of The Shining or new to the story, this audiobook is well worth your time—especially if you love psychological horror with a touch of supernatural suspense.
I would recommend reading this book if you're a fan of the film. They're very different from each other, so reading this was like a whole different experience to watching the film. I like how fleshed out the characters were, and the scenes were very descriptive. There was definitely a lot of detailed descriptions of violent occurrences in story. And the atmosphere was just so creepy. I think King was able to capture that really well.
Incredible
The introduction of the wasp metaphor is the most masterful 2-3 pages of writing I’ve ever read
I need to rewatch the movie
Lots to think on
An absolute scare, filled with characters that you grow to both love and fear. This book and Kubrick's adaptation of it are probably some of my favourite pieces of media. Vastly different takes on the same story, yet still profound in their own, special ways.
It was my first king book so I can't compare much but even so I can say that this was an incredible book.Hooked for hours.
I had a really hard time deciding what to rate this book (actually, I'm waiting until I finish typing to pick a rating). It's a classic, and I can see why: it's scary and has believable characters and a super interesting setting. If you like the horror/thriller genre, this is a book that you could read and reread. But I don't think that I like the horror genre. Even worse was watching the main character's descent into madness. I think King was going for realism, but I hated reading the disgusting language, abuse, and hatred in this book. It feels gross, and the only reason that I finished the book despite it was to get some closure on the characters. My rating doesn't reflect the quality of the book of itself, but my experience of it. For completely unnecessary language and grossness, 2 stars. I definitely will not be reading the sequel.
Edit: I keep thinking back on this review and decided that it deserved at least 3 stars. It was a good book.
Age range: 18+
Yeah, no.
Totally understand why King hated the film now. Honestly, half agree with him? Most of the book, I like better narratively, but I think the film ending is much better.
As always, King is indeed a masterful storyteller. This is only my second book by him but I was really impressed by how intimately he could go into the psyche of a particular human topic. In this book, it's really all about the vicious cycle of intergenerational abuse and trauma. Yes, there're all the supernatural elements of this book that makes it creepy, but I think the ghosts are almost a sort of extension of the metaphor here, a way for King to explore how easily people can lose control.
I love how King drops crumbs but they all tie together into a motif that then feeds into the larger theme that he wants to explore. In this one, perhaps the most prominent one is the phrase: “Come and get your medicine.” Danny hears this as part of his visions from early in the book, but we don't know what that even means. Later, it's dropped casually and almost nonchalantly when we finally hear about the incident behind Jack's dismissal from his teaching position, where he assaults a student. He says, “If that's how you want it, just come here and take your medicine” to him before going into a trance-like rage. Even further still, we see in one of Jack's own flashbacks into his childhood, where we hear his abusive dad say the same phrase before he physically assaults his mom. So in all of this, we don't know what Danny is hearing - is he hearing his father say it in the memory about his student? Is he hearing his grandfather say it in his father's childhood memories? Or is he hearing a vision from the future where his own father would say the same to him? It all feeds into this feeling of tension and suspense that just builds and builds until the climax of the book.
Then there's also the theme mentioned about the cycle of intergenerational abuse. Jack's father was an abusive alcoholic, so Jack is now an abusive alcoholic. Jack is haunted, but more so than the ghosts of Overlook, it's this sinking feeling of being pursued by the metaphorical ghost of his father - he wants to exorcise it, but he feels himself uncontrollably falling under its influence, which i think King illustrates by having Jack also literally be falling under some kind of evil influence at the Overlook itself that makes him inexplicably act out against his wife and son. it was particularly sad when Wendy immediately attributes Danny's bruises to Jack. on one hand, we "know" that Danny apparently got attacked by the drowned ghost in Room 217 and Wendy was jumping to the wrong conclusion, but on the other hand - do we really know that though? Wouldn't it make perfect sense that Jack had lost himself again in another trance of rage and had harmed Danny, and Danny's supernatural experiences had been a child's reimagining of abuse at the hands of a beloved parent? Everything was just all so complex and multi-layered and I loved it. It's not just a simple story of humans being scared and pursued by ghosts, but that the ghosts are really manifestations (“real” or otherwise) of the spiraling traumas that haunt the humans.
I thoroughly enjoyed Jack as a character, in particular. He wasn't likeable by any means and I was annoyed and repulsed by him for most of the book, but he was incredibly complex and gray. It definitely kept me thinking about the question of culpability. We could blame Jack's childhood, his dad, his alcoholism, or an active malicious influence like the Overlook, but idk how far is a person not responsible for their actions? it's an uphill battle for sure to break free of the vicious cycle of generational abuse (physical and substance) and trauma, but does that remove or lessen culpability from Jack and the actions he has taken/will choose to take? I have a hard time saying an absolute yes to that. compassion for someone in Jack's position does not mean I should condone their actions or say they shouldn't face the consequences of them.
But ultimately, the ending still made me feel things. The bit where Danny stands up so bravely to the thing possessing Jack was just so weirdly uplifting, and then when Jack came back to his senses even just for a few moments and told Danny to run away, I almost cried. It was indescribably moving.
Overall 4.5/5. Really enjoyed this one.
Was so different from the movie, but I think I prefer the movie better. This book and the changing dialogue/imagined Jack situations confused me. I liked the different additions of the topiaries and the wasp nest.
Finally read this after it being recommended for ages as I enjoy Stephen King and the horror genre itself.
This is a good book and I did enjoy it, however if you are going in to it wanting to be scared, this isn't the book in my opinion. Not sure if the standards for scary were a lot weaker in the 80's, but I didn't even come close to being scared whilst reading it.
The pacing is also a little slow at some points and I felt like I needed to “get through” the first third or so.
It was boring, except for the last 15 chapters. The setting and premise were intriguing for a horror novel, but I wish King had made it much shorter.
The moving hedges, chapters dedicated to wasps, the drawn-out history of the Overlook, and the really slow build-up were aspects that I found boring and disliked about the book. It was my first Stephen King read, and I was absolutely disappointed.