Nandakishore’s review of The Shining > Likes and Comments

Great review. I really need to read this. I always find horror that builds slowly to be the most effective at inspiring true paranoia. It bleeds into real life.

I can remember the first time I read this, there was a part with a clockwork music box? Or a clock? With little dancers . . .

I was so scared -- I was too scared to continue reading, too scared to STOP reading, it was amazing and wonderful, LOL.

And I couldn't even have the book in the same room with me after that if it was night time!

Few books are THAT powerful, but King really is a master at frightening you so badly that you can't even think rationally.

Yes, that clockwork music box. Danny sees one pair of dancers doing something on it, and Dad sees something quite different...

Thanks for the likes, all.

Thanks for the review. I stole that book from the drugstore that I was working at back in 1977 or so, whenever it first came out. I was still in high school, and I had originally just taken it off the shelf to read during break, but I became so engrossed in it that I didn't ever return it to the shelf. Criminal tendencies aside, I was reminded by your review of how powerful King's novel is, and for me that aspect of the lost child/hero is what made the novel so special. I was a bit disappointed in the film because it was so much more focused on Jack than Danny, at least from the psychological angle. But reading your review brought something else up for me. King really hit on the issue of untreated alcoholism. Jack Torrance may have stopped drinking as the story opens, but from a certain viewpoint he had not dealt with the underlying causes and conditions of his alcoholism, and as the story unfolds, the reader who is familiar with the disease can see the Overlook as the perfect metaphor for this untreated condition. Torrance becomes increasingly restlees, irritable, and discontent, and the hotel begins to take him over, responding to and feeding his growing resentment and paranoia. Another moment that was really powerful in the novel yet one that Kubrick chose not to address in the film was the point in which Jack's better nature, still flickering within him, struggles mightily against the beast he has become and turns the axe on himself just as he is about to kill Danny.I haven't read the book in over 30 years, but I still remember this moment and how it affected me as if it was only yesterday. My perspective has been informed since then by my own experience with recovery from alcoholism, and I see that good part of Jack as his higher power, "the unsuspected inner resource" that is within him, breaking through at that moment because of his real love for Danny and overcoming the beast that has taken him over. Jack ultimately succumbs to the Beast but Danny is saved. What a hopeful proposition for a reader confronted with his own struggle between his good and evil natures. Thanks again for reminding me of this experience.

The old shiny metallic cover on the book was awesome, and is what caught my eye in the first place, lo those many years ago.

Patrick, your comment is awesome! It is actually better than my review! Why don't you post it as one?

aww shucks. Thanks for your kind response. Your review inspired me.

When I first saw the film, I expected to see the novel filmed faithfully, and I was a bit pissed off with Kubrick for altering it so drastically. But when I saw it again, I could view it as an independent entity, and recognise its power. You're right, Patrick, Kubrick shifted the whole story to Jack.

It was indeed a great film, but expectations are a bitch ,as they say. There was a made for tv miniseries that came out later that was truer to the book I believe, but i didn't see it, so I can't say how well it was done.

Time for a re-read ! Thanks for that wel written review.

Definitely a classic of the horror genre.

Arun and Laura,

I would rank "Dracula" and "The Shining" as two iconic works of horror as far as I am concerned. The first one scared me shitless in the fourth grade, and the second one did the same to me in my teens.

Funny. I read these books in reverse of you. I read "Dracula" in college (did not scare me) and "The Shining" in high school (I had nightmares).

I think "Dracula" has not aged well: I have to read it once again to see whether it works any more. My son is currently reading it: he's a sixth-grader, so maybe I can glean some information about how the book has aged from his reaction.

The Hithcock short story collections terrified me, especially the one about the kid who collected butterflies and then gets put in a cocoon while in bed one night! think it was called "Cocoon"

Patrick, I've not read that one! But I've read a lot many. In fact, I got introduced to Daphne du Maurier through one of his collections, I think-though I can't remember.

I remember reading "Birds", though - in Spellbinders in Suspense. Thankfully, I read it before seeing the movie. The story freaked me out so badly that a for some days afterwards, I used to keep a safe distance even from the doves in our local temples! (They are supposed to be the most innocent and gentle of creature: "as pure as a Temple Dove" is a well known phrase in my native language.)

Patrick wrote: "But reading your review brought something else up for me. King really hit on the issue of untreated alcoholism. Jack Torrance may have stopped drinking as the story opens, but from a certain viewpoint he had not dealt with the underlying causes and conditions of his alcoholism, and as the story unfolds, the reader who is familiar with the disease can see the Overlook as the perfect metaphor for this untreated condition"

Oh yes indeed. Fantastic comment. I saw the movie when I was pretty young, but didn't read the book until I was in early sobriety, and I actually had to go stuff it in the garbage can half-read - and then take the garbage out to the dumpster (I am not proud of this. At least it was a very used cheap paperback). Fortunately I got the guts to read and then reread it several years later (that very same silver shiny paperback edition I remembered seeing as a kid, in fact) and it was just as you say -- it's a great horror story but if you're in recovery you can see even further down to the real source of the horror, as if it's written in invisible ink. Pretty amazing.

Thanks for weighing in Moira! "The Real Source of the horror" -ourselves, alienated from goodness by selfishness.

I just picked this up from the library. Your review inspired me.

Jeffrey wrote: "I just picked this up from the library. Your review inspired me."

Thanks, Jeffrey! I am sure the book will not disappoint.

Congratulations on a very articulate review Nandakishore! :)

Rajat wrote: "Congratulations on a very articulate review Nandakishore! :)"

Thanks!

I'm probably the only horror fan & Stephen King fan who hated the Shining. I don't know why. Most of my favorite books are by Stephen King; (Under the Dome, Misery, Salem's Lot, The Dead Zone, The Mist) But i just couldn't get into this book. Same with Cujo

This was the very first Stephen King book I ever read and also the very first book that ever scared the crap out of me! I was in middle school and we were at a used bookstore down in Des Moines when I saw this book under the clearance section. I had heard the movie was good but I wanted to read the book first. So I bought this book and Cujo (which also scared me real bad). After reading this I knew instantly that it was one of the best books I ever read. I knew that I had to read more. I may never be able to write as good a review as Patrick did but I appreciate his review. As for the person who gave that negative review maybe you just aren't as interested in this stuff as I am (as of now I've read 32 of Stephen King's books.) I'm not hating on you or anything because there will always be someone who doesn't like a certain book. I am having a lot of trouble deciding what my favorite book by Stephen King is but this is definitely one of his best.

Who wrote a negative review, me? No, not at all. I've read all of his books, every single one. He's my favorite author but for whatever reason i just didn't like it. i'm not being negative at all because it's not Kings fault, it's simply my opinion, everyone has different taste so don't be surprised when people dont always agree with you on books. I have a thing for main charactors, i like to fall in love with them lol, i just couldn't do that here with the father

That happens to me sometimes. I read The Stand: Complete and Uncut Edition and thought it dragged too much. But that's just my opinion.

Did you like the Talisman or Black House? I really loved them both, great job he did on the characters there in those 2 books. See, i'm like really big on characterization lol. When the writer actually makes you start to care for the character as the book goes on, i enjoy that..

I have not read The Talisman but a friend of mine says its one of his best books. I've read almost half his books by now. I'm reading Needful Things right now.

Sorry, messed up on my last comment, just edited it but good luck on that one, i hope you enjoy it

What's your favorite Stephen King book?

I have a number of favorites but I will list them all here; Salems Lot, Under The Dome, Black House & Talisman, Misery, The Dead Zone, The Mist, Eyes of the Dragon.
Then there's the ones I really liked but I wouldn't consider my favorites; It, The Stand, Girl who loved Tom Gordon, Bag of Bones.
I'm not a big fan for any of the short stories. Night Shift was the best though in my opinion.

My very favorites are: The Shining, Cujo, Salem's Lot, The Green Mile, Four Past Midnight, The Running Man, The Stand, Pet Sematary, Rage, Night Shift, Skeleton Crew, Nightmares and Dreamscapes, The Long Walk, Roadwork, Firestarter, The Dark Half, The Drawing of the Three, Bag of Bones, Desperation and Hearts in Atlantis. The others I read were either okay or not as good.

Yup, I forgot the Green Mile, I also forgot about Dolores Claiborne, both were really good. The Dark Half I liked but i wish i hadn't seen the movie first because i personally didnt like the movie and i kept thinking about it as i read lol, but it was a really fun read though. I read the Long Walk while i was in the hospital, finished it in less than a week because i never got out of bed. You read Rage? That's the only one i have not read yet. I lied when i said i read them all lol, i couldnt find Rage, even though he does sell it in his Bachman Books collection.

Oh, and Storm of the Century is one of my favorites movies but it comes in books too, my aunt has it. So Rage and Storm of the Century are the only novels of his I didn't yet read. But it's more like a movie script than it is a book

I wouldn't count Storm of the Century as a novel since its just the screenplay for the movie. For whatever reason Stephen King let Rage go out of print so now its hard to find. The only reason I happen to have a copy is that I bought a used copy of The Bachman Books. You'd be lucky if you ever found an first published copy of the book. I don't think its the best Bachman book but its a lot better than some of his later stuff. I've read all the Bachman books except Regulators and Blaze, were those any good?

I still don't understand the whole Richard Backman thing. What was the point of that? Like how it says "Stephen King writing as Richard Bachman" what does that mean? Anyways his Bachman books weren't the best. I liked the Long Walk and the Running Man, the rest weren't that great. Roadwork was ok.

In the introduction in The Bachman Books he said he wanted to recreate his popularity and see if he wasn't a good writer by accident. So he took some old books he never published and published them under Bachman's name.

seconded! any book that can get me terrified of a freaking bush has earned top tier in the scary books category.

I think both the book and the film had their own strengths; the book certainly scared me! As for the alcoholism, Danny seems to have struggeled with it too - really, this is not a spoiler IMO - as is shown on the continuation-book, "Doctor Sleep" (I haven't read it, but own it and plan to read it ::) ).

7jane wrote: "I think both the book and the film had their own strengths; the book certainly scared me! As for the alcoholism, Danny seems to have struggeled with it too - really, this is not a spoiler IMO - as ..."

Yes, if you watch the movie as a separate entity, you can enjoy it. The focus shifts from Danny to Jack - and it is brilliantly done by Kubrick.

Doctor Sleep is a let-down, IMO.

Cheryl wrote: "Great review! Thanks for reminding me of its power over the mind."

Cheryl, I seem to have missed your comment! Thanks.

Nandakishore wrote: "7jane wrote: "I think both the book and the film had their own strengths; the book certainly scared me! As for the alcoholism, Danny seems to have struggeled with it too - really, this is not a spo..."

Have you seen the "Room 123" film, that deals with various interpretations of the movie? It was interesting even though I didn't believe all the theories included.

7jane wrote: "Have you seen the "Room 123" film, that deals with various interpretations of the movie? It was interesting even though I didn't believe all the theories included. "

No. It seems interesting. Let me see if I can locate a copy.

Nandakishore wrote: "7jane wrote: "Have you seen the "Room 123" film, that deals with various interpretations of the movie? It was interesting even though I didn't believe all the theories included. "

No. It seems in..."

They showed it at least twice here on tv a couple of months ago. Very interesting and gave more depth to the movie, I think. Perhaps one reason I finally got the DVD of the movie (it was also cheap to buy which helped *lol*).

'Salem's Lot scared me even more than The Shining, but they're both terrific.

Deidre wrote: "'Salem's Lot scared me even more than The Shining, but they're both terrific."

For me, nothing quite came near The Shining.

I like your angle about the incomprehensibility of the adult world, and the difference between Danny's psychic powers and Jacks more clinical demons was intriguing, but ultimately, I just wasn't able to feel scared, which is sort of the point, isn't it? Yet you, and others I respect, have been thoroughly scared by it. Something missing in my psyche, I guess. (But maybe that's a good thing, from my POV.)

Cecily wrote: "I like your angle about the incomprehensibility of the adult world, and the difference between Danny's psychic powers and Jacks more clinical demons was intriguing, but ultimately, I just wasn't ab..."

There is a similarity between the hotel corridor scenes in this story (novel as well as the Kubrick movie) and the movie Silence by Ingmar Bergman, which is not a horror film, but almost as frightening as one. Both focus on the child.

Focusing on a child can be much scarier - especially for a younger audience. When the BBC rebooted Dr Who a few years ago, an early episode focused on small children having their faces turned into gas masks. For what had always been seen as family viewing, it was a shock to some.