Reviews

The Shining by Stephen King

tatyanavogt's review against another edition

5.0

I’m surprised at how much I enjoyed this book, I was expecting to be disappointed or for it to not live up to my expectations. I’ve enjoyed the shinning movie but I usually don’t like Steven King movies so I assumed I wouldn’t like the actual books.

Boy was I wrong, I loved the writing. I felt gripped by the slow plunge into madness, the unraveling of the characters. Interested in each of their internal thoughts, their fears and desires. I was interested to see what was going to happen.

aprilsbookshelf's review

2.0

Wanted to give it a 2.5 star rating but rounded down because this book took me months to finish. In typical King fashion, he wandered a lot and it felt like a lot of extra reading that didn’t affect the storyline. Then the most exciting bits happened in the last 30 pages, out of 650! Yeah, 2 stars for me. Probably an unpopular opinion but I didn’t enjoy this one that much.

chofstetter45's review against another edition

medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

oisiveteolivaw's review

adventurous dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

didge24_09's review against another edition

dark mysterious sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

between_the_clouds's review against another edition

dark hopeful mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

"Shining" è uno dei primi romanzi scritti da Stephen King, dal quale Stanley Kubrick ha tratto ispirazione per l'omonimo e iconico film del 1980 con Jack Nicholson, Shelley Duvall e Danny Lloyd. Il libro è scritto in maniera molto fluida e scorrevole. La lettura ci trasporta all'interno della storia, nell'hotel insieme ai protagonisti ad assistere al corso inesorabile degli eventi. Vi consiglio davvero tanto di leggerlo, non ve ne pentirete.

deanna_rigney's review

4.0

The Overlook is one freaky place. I have always been a fan of the Kubrick film, and though it hits on some of the main themes of the book, it is a very loose adaptation. I’m glad I finally read this just to find out King’s original vision, and it is also a particularly good partner read with Jackson’s The Haunting of Hill House, which King actually quotes. Both have a place as a main character and psychological horror is prominent in both. One thing the book does well is make you much more sympathetic to Jack Torrance from the get-go, whereas the film kind of has him as a son-of-a-bitch you don’t much trust ever (thank you Nicholson.) Torrance is basically used by the hotel to get to his son, Danny, who has crazy skills in the psychic department, also referred to as “shining” by the Overlook’s chef Dick Hallorann who also has a bit of the psychic juice his own self. Hallorann has a much bigger role in the book which I liked because it always irked me that poor Scatman Crothers goes to such lengths to help the boy in the movie just to get axed 2 seconds after he arrives at the hotel. Also the character of Wendy is blonde, leggy, and has an even keeled intelligence that saves her pretty ass in the end, so where in that description does someone think, “Hey, I know, let’s get Shelly Duvall for the part!” Really? I know I shouldn’t compare the movie and book so much because this should just be a book review, but the one is so ingrained in me that I can’t help but do so. I liked King’s ongoing comparisons of a wasp’s nest to the Overlook, with the seemingly quiet façade of an empty nest but always danger is lurking within. He makes the Overlook out to be a place that gains power and evil each time something bad happens there, but the place itself manipulates such evil and also draws it in, so it is an ever churning cycle. Freaky and fulfilling, this has gained a ranking of one of my favorite King novels.

qjbrown96's review against another edition

4.0

Crazy how different the movie is from the book. I think the movie is honestly better. The iconic scenes in the movie aren’t in the book and I appreciate those. The movie also didn’t have the corny Hedge Lion. all that being said it was still a great book and his best book of the first three he wrote.

syd_a's review

5.0

I read this in about 6 hours this afternoon. First Stephen King book, I understand the hype.

the_reading_vampire's review

dark tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0