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A review by joshkiba13
The Shining by Stephen King
dark
mysterious
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
"A long and nightmarish masquerade party went on here, and had gone on for years. Little by little a force had accrued as secret and silent as interest in a bank account. Force, presence, shape, they were all only words and none of them mattered. It wore many masks, but it was all one. Now, somewhere, it was coming for him. It was hiding behind Daddy's face, it was imitating Daddy's voice, it was wearing Daddy's clothes.
But it was not his daddy. . . ."
Perhaps the darkest fiction I've read, so quite a way to close out the year. The Shining marked my 52nd book of 2024, which somehow equated to one book a week even though I didn't do that hehe. It also marks my 19th Stephen King book excepting a couple of novellas and short stories, so . . . all things serve the beam ;)
So much to say about this novel. It's 450-600+ pages depending on the print format, yet I blasted through the whole thing in just a few days. It's very immersive, most of the novel taking place in an isolated hotel in the mountains during a harsh winter. I've said this many times, but I really respect writers that can write such intense stories featuring only a few characters in complete isolation (Life of Pi, Misery, etc). It would be easy to quickly run out of material, but the story just layers and layers until the big kaboom.
This was King's third published novel ever, but with this as well as 'Salem's Lot it's clear that right from the get-go he knew how to slowly build up the creep factor in fiction; Danny, Jack, and Wendy see things one by one in the Overlook that are just off, and as the snow piles up and traps them up in the mountains it gets more tense and more tense as time goes on.
I love how King works flashbacks into the fabric of the story so seamlessly. For example, early on Jack goes into a phone booth to call his friend Al. Rather than dump a five or six page flashback, King slips it right into the action. Jack enters the phone booth --> remembers how he met Al --> he puts quarters into the machine --> he remembers how they bonded over alcoholism --> the phone rings --> he remembers how they almost killed a kid drunk driving --> the operator says he's not picking up --> he remembers how they went sober together --> he eventually answers and they talk. Similarly, I've noticed in many of King's novels but especially in The Shining that the character's racing thoughts are thrown into the middle of the narration in parentheses; it makes it all the more immersive, like we're right inside the minds of Danny, Jack, and Wendy.
Having a lot of the story told from a five year-old's perspective made the narrative both scarier and more tragic; Danny's unconditional love for his father made it so heartbreaking to watch as Jack slipped away from them. Danny's young age also upped the terror; even something as simple as the cook's warning to Danny at the beginning to stay away from room 217 gave me the heeby-jeebies. And having the recurring premonition of REDRUM be figured out after Danny learns to read was shocking and scary.
Having read On Writing, I know that a lot of this story was Stephen projecting troubles from his own life, mainly alcoholism. I can totally picture him writing this as a young father in his late 20s just subconsciously terrified of what the vice could make him become.
Lots of metaphors and symbolism in the story, whether wasps, masks, the boiler building up pressure; what felt like random events or aspects of the story ended up really coming together in a satisfying way. I think I could read the whole thing again and get an entirely new perspective on it.
Not one for the lighthearted, and I'm glad I was at home for winter break when I read it rather than still in Seattle hehe, but it was really good.
But it was not his daddy. . . ."
Perhaps the darkest fiction I've read, so quite a way to close out the year. The Shining marked my 52nd book of 2024, which somehow equated to one book a week even though I didn't do that hehe. It also marks my 19th Stephen King book excepting a couple of novellas and short stories, so . . . all things serve the beam ;)
So much to say about this novel. It's 450-600+ pages depending on the print format, yet I blasted through the whole thing in just a few days. It's very immersive, most of the novel taking place in an isolated hotel in the mountains during a harsh winter. I've said this many times, but I really respect writers that can write such intense stories featuring only a few characters in complete isolation (Life of Pi, Misery, etc). It would be easy to quickly run out of material, but the story just layers and layers until the big kaboom.
This was King's third published novel ever, but with this as well as 'Salem's Lot it's clear that right from the get-go he knew how to slowly build up the creep factor in fiction; Danny, Jack, and Wendy see things one by one in the Overlook that are just off, and as the snow piles up and traps them up in the mountains it gets more tense and more tense as time goes on.
I love how King works flashbacks into the fabric of the story so seamlessly. For example, early on Jack goes into a phone booth to call his friend Al. Rather than dump a five or six page flashback, King slips it right into the action. Jack enters the phone booth --> remembers how he met Al --> he puts quarters into the machine --> he remembers how they bonded over alcoholism --> the phone rings --> he remembers how they almost killed a kid drunk driving --> the operator says he's not picking up --> he remembers how they went sober together --> he eventually answers and they talk. Similarly, I've noticed in many of King's novels but especially in The Shining that the character's racing thoughts are thrown into the middle of the narration in parentheses; it makes it all the more immersive, like we're right inside the minds of Danny, Jack, and Wendy.
Having a lot of the story told from a five year-old's perspective made the narrative both scarier and more tragic; Danny's unconditional love for his father made it so heartbreaking to watch as Jack slipped away from them. Danny's young age also upped the terror; even something as simple as the cook's warning to Danny at the beginning to stay away from room 217 gave me the heeby-jeebies. And having the recurring premonition of REDRUM be figured out after Danny learns to read was shocking and scary.
Having read On Writing, I know that a lot of this story was Stephen projecting troubles from his own life, mainly alcoholism. I can totally picture him writing this as a young father in his late 20s just subconsciously terrified of what the vice could make him become.
Lots of metaphors and symbolism in the story, whether wasps, masks, the boiler building up pressure; what felt like random events or aspects of the story ended up really coming together in a satisfying way. I think I could read the whole thing again and get an entirely new perspective on it.
Not one for the lighthearted, and I'm glad I was at home for winter break when I read it rather than still in Seattle hehe, but it was really good.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcoholism, Domestic abuse, and Murder
Moderate: Body horror, Gore, Mental illness, and Gaslighting