Review by angh - The Shining

angh 's review for:

The Shining by Stephen King

5.0

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Rating: 5/5 ⭐️

I’ve watched so many movie adaptations of Stephen King’s books and always wanted to read, many people have recommended them to me online and in real life, but I always put it off for some reason. This year I got really back into reading, after years of only reading a couple of books a year. This was at the top of his books I wanted to read and saved it for October for a horror book challenge.

And as my first King book, this was incredible!

While I liked Kubrik’s adaptation, I know it differed from the book. Many people, including Stephen King himself didn’t like it, and now I can see why. I still think the movie is quite good, but the book it’s ten times better.

While the movie mostly follows Jack, the book gives you the inner monologue of several characters, Danny, Wendy, and even some side characters. And through that we see more layers to everyone, their relationships, dynamics, personalities; the characterization overall was so much better than the movie.

The horror of it all, I think it’s done in two ways. On one hand, you have the paranormal horror. I loved how the Overlook was implied to be some sort of entity. Throughout the book we learn of the previous owners and history of the hotel, and how it always ends with death, tragedy or both. It seems like all that… bad energy, I guess? has fueled the hotel giving it life of its own, and now wants to claim its inhabitants' lives to keep fueling that energy. On the other hand, there’s the psychological horror, Jack is a former alcoholic, and we learn there’s been moments of domestic abuse, but he seems to have changed, he’s trying to be a good family man. But then comes the hotel’s influence, it makes you wonder has the hotel possessed Jack and it’s acting through him, or its influence has only brought the true violent Jack to the surface?

Danny’s powers, “The Shining,” are also better explained and developed, and I think it’s partly because we get his POV, and learn a little more through his thoughts. And partly because we also get Halloran’s thoughts and story, having someone who has lived more time with his Shining gives you a better perspective.

I still love the movie, it might not be the best as an adaptation, there’s a lot of differences with the book, but as its own thing? It’s an iconic horror movie. But now having read the book, I can see why everyone says it’s better. Definitely a true horror classic. And if you’re like me, you’ve watched the movie but never read the book, you should definitely read it!

The Shining Reviews:

#1 The Shining → 5⭐️

#2 Doctor Sleep → TBR

Content Warnings