The Shining Book Review

With Halloween approaching, horror movies increase in popularity. One of the classic scary films is The Shining, directed by the iconic Stanley Kubrick. The movie is already a psychologically chilling story, but the book, written by the man that inhabits much of my to-read-list, Stephen King, is an even wilder ride that no Halloween lover should pass up. The story is set up around the Torrence family, Jack Torrence and his wife Wendy, who have a young son named Danny. Jack’s anger issues, Danny’s almost psychic premonitions and fits, and Wendy’s love for both of them despite all flaws, are revealed through varying perspectives of the family. With underlying family problems, Jack starts a job at an isolated mountain hotel, The Overlook, for the winter, with his family in tow.

One may ask: why is slugging through a book of over 600 pages more satisfactory than a well crafted film? Here’s why. First and foremost, King’s writing is detailed, and he uses extremely unique writing styles, like using parentheses to convey intrusive thoughts that may not even directly relate to the ongoing event, but shows underlying importance. King is also excellent at portraying complex characters and the human condition. During this book, I felt viscerally hateful towards Jack, sympathetic of Wendy, and immensely joyful to Danny’s character. Though Jack seems to be portrayed as the main character in the movie, in my opinion, Danny is the most crucial character to the book. He is clever and mature despite his age, seeming to always know what’s going on between his parents, and his premonitions of a violent future at the hotel set the story as one of the most suspenseful reads you’ll ever experience. Another huge difference is that the movie has a sense of spookiness, of course, but Jack's descent into madness at the isolated hotel is not as clear as in the book, which is a slow, painful turmoil since the very beginning. I feel that a good story really has you get deep into the minds of its characters, and The Shining does just that.