The Shining Book Review
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 29 ก.ย. 2024
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"She didn't like the book, so I corrected her...."
best comment ever :))
Give her the medicine
@@olly_evans TAKE IT LIKE A MAN
She’s just being a little pup lol
COME HERE YOU LITTLE PUP
I love the fact that he is character driven and the slower structure just reminds me of Agatha Christie's style. It's more old school.
Good review! I remember there being quite a bit of slog as well. The book really could have been shorter.
You think The Shining could have been shorter? Try The Stand. 1600 or so pages long. It's like 5 books in 1. LOL.
The difference is that The Stand is good
For me the terror of the book was being able to relate to Jack Torrance.
I totally agree with your thoughts on pacing. One of my favorite King books is The Stand. It's really long (over 1000 pages), but the character work, like you mentioned, is great and it is a slow burn horror that creeps you out the whole way leading up to the climax. Might be a nice response to the problems you found in The Shining.
Stan K famously reworked the story to his own liking rather than "film the book" because, among other reasons, he wanted the audience to be uncertain as to how much, if any, of the goings-on were genuinely supernatural vs Jack and Danny merely being psychotic. There is one scene in the hotel which gives away the answer... can you name it? :)
Salem's Lot. It scared the crap out of me when I read it 40+ years ago.
You didn't mention Dick Hallorann at all. Did you like his character? I've always felt he was the unheralded hero of the story.
Poor Dick. Dude goes through all this shit for a family he barely knows.
@@sleepyandroid6904 I think it's he guilt of leaving Danny when he had a feeling the Hotel was after him.
Plus he cameos in IT the novel. :-)
Gabe R. Totally agree! Love that character
At least in the book he doesn't fly across country just to die in an almost comical fashion. I wouldn't have minded a whole book about him.
Come play with us Merphy....
*FOREVER AND EVER AND EVER*
Samte Pal wonder what happened to the twins in the movie
@@johnsumner6593 What do you mean..?
They were killed by Grady together with their mother
Was that in the book? I feel like I missed that
Cel Bel thanks
I literally LOL'd at your commercial! I think this is the first time you've ever "acted" in one of your videos.
I just finished the book yesterday, for me it was a all win kind of a book. I thoroughly enjoyed the backstories of the three main characters. The Hotel was like an evil entity playing through their minds . . . King portrayed it wonderfully. There wasn't much of a dull moment for me in the book, only except for the minute history of Oveelook's brutal past. I absolutely loved Danny and Wendy's characters. Jack, well I felt quite a sympathy for him, tbh. It's my first King book. I am looking forward to read some of his other books as well.
A couple of notes:
The Shining, Pet Semetary and Misery occur, as do most of King's books, in the same universe. The main character's accident in Misery occurs as he's passing the burned out remains of the Overlook and Salem's Lot, his vampire novel is mentioned in passing in Pet Semetary.
Jack in The Shining had a lot in common with King. Both former teachers, both struggling alcoholics (King got better eventually) and while King was never outright abusive of his kids he admits to coming close a couple of times.
None of that makes it a good story though
@@jjthehowlingwolf288 "Oranges are orange"
"That doesn't make oranges cool"
@@jjthehowlingwolf288 nobody said it does
Also on his new one “billy summers” there is a reference to the shinning. I am not going to say it, to not ruin it but it was really good!! 🤍🔥
Where in Misery does it say he’s passing the Overlook?
I thought the Shining reference in Misery was that Annie had a bf who wanted to sketch the burnt remains of the Overlook but she eventually kills him.
I, personally, didn't think there was any dull moments at all. I think all the "duller" seeming moments are the ones where you get the best insight to Jack's ever evolving insanity! at least that's what I got from them in my opinion. I also managed to get extremely attached to all the characters, esp danny and dick, I'm surprised you didn't mention him or their relationship at all.
It's mad how subjective someone's writing can be for readers. I personally hate the way King writes - idk why but I cannot get engaged with how he writes - but I do respect his legacy and what he's done to the world of literature and pop culture.
@@juliall255 his books are so hit or miss for me, its almost always a love or hate for me. and yeah his writing style took me a few books to get used to, now i love it
@@divad44 can you drop you're favourite Stephen King books list please
Before you write another review, check your grammar.
Same. I was absolutely gripped by every word on every page. But of course the subject matter is a big part of what appeals to us. I know I wouldn't pick Pet Semetery up regardless of how good the writing or characters were.
try reading 11/22/63 for a non- scary version of King. One of my King faves and one of my favorite groundhog day trope books.
11.22.63 is my favourite book ❤
Love 11/22/63. My new favorite is "the institute" though. If you haven't had a chance give it a read!
His recent releases are quite good
Can't read this book without thinking about Joey putting it in the freezer 😂
While I totally respect the fact that you didn’t love the book I can’t understand how you found it so “downtiming” and yet you loved pet sematary where nothing happens until the last 50 pages of the book
bruh, tf is you talking bout
@@nahte- fax
Bro have you even read pet semetery 💀
As a Stephen King fan, I no longer read his books in order to scare myself, I don't even consider him as the horror novelist that those who haven't read his stuff see him as, he writes more than just horror. It's his parallel universe that he created throughout his 60+ books that are all connected, and the tower is what keeps them from falling, that's the actual reason why I still read his stuff.
Long days and pleasant nights. 🌹
Wow. I've read almost all of his work and this novel was top 5 for me for sure
i have a super hot take for you. ive read all his works too. salems lot and shining both dont crack my top 10 lol. to each their own.
@@divad44 I’m interested to know what your top 5 are.
Mine are:
5. 11/22/63
4. Misery
3. The Shining
2. The Stand
1. The Dark Tower series
@@chrismartin500 we're extremely similar in our tops interestingly enough. Mine are It, Stand, Pet Sematary, DT series, 11/22/63
Pet Semetary is by far the scariest book I've ever read...
Wow, you need to read some more books then
@@jjthehowlingwolf288 why don't you recommend some then instead of just being rude? I myself have read an insane amount of horror novels and I find Pet Semetery to be the scariest of them all. The only thing that came close to me was Blatty's the Exorcist, but somehow Pet Semetery spooked me more. Seriously though, recommend something because I'm always looking for new books to read within the genre.
I found IT a lot scarier than pet semetery personally...
My absolute favourite was the shrubbery moving back and forth taking on the traits of the animals they were cut in the shape off...that I think was the most terrifying part.
Surprisingly, one of my least favorite parts of the book... I just don't think shrubs are scary at all and can't imagine them hurting anyone ever...
I thought it was stupid.
Now you should read Doctor Sleep. It’s a kind of sort of sequel to the Shining. And as someone who also didn’t love the Shining, I ended up LOVING Doctor Sleep
I've DNFed the Shining three times at this point and finally decide just pick up the Doctor Sleep and read it as its own thing and it's literally one of my all-time favorite books.
Lmao, I love the shining and did not care for Dr. Sleep. I think you can only like one of the two haha
Hahaha you’re commercial was brilliant Merphy! Best sponsor ad ever! You do creepy well lol.
"Heressssss Merphy!" Oh that was bad...
So original..
I love Stephen King, but his short stories are MUCH better than his novels. I know most people are much more into novels, but I think King's works, ideas, and writing style are more effective in the short story format. Much more punch and suspense to them.... As far as the novels, I think they work better for him when he focuses more on the human aspect, rather than the horror. That's probably why you liked Pet Semetary and Misery so much (2 fan favorites). They aren't about the horror or fantasy, not really. Pet Semetary has so little horror in it. But I agree about the Shining. It is definitely not my fav.
I've tried to read Stephen King a few times and just can't get into his books. I didn't know he did short stories! Are there any you'd recommend? Thanks!
@@kimberlynewsom9876 His short story collections are: Night Shift*, Skeleton Crew*, Nightmares and Dreamscapes, Everything's Eventual, Just After Sunset, and The Bazaar of Bad Dreams. I added a "*" to the first two because I feel like those are a lot of people's favorites.
He also has a few collections of novellas if you'd be interested in that, which are: Different Seasons (predominately non horror), Four Past Midnight, Hearts in Atlantis (the stories in this one are all loosely connected) and Full Dark, No Stars.
Hope this helps!
@@kimberlynewsom9876 Hi, yeah.. he has several short story collections. Many of the movies are actually based on his short stories... "Creepshow" and "Cat's Eye" are based on some of his shorts; "Graveyard Shift", "Lawnmower Man", "Children of the Corn", "Maximum Overdrive", "Stand by Me", "Secret Window", "The Mangler", "1408", "The Mist", "Shawshank Redemption"... I'm sure I'm missing some (and beware that some of the movies have different names than the stories they are based on).
Check out his first couple of collections of horror/suspense shorts ("Night Shift" and "Skeleton Crew"). They are great. If you like those, check out "Nightmares and Dreamscapes". Then try out his non-horror novellas collection "Different Seasons". He set out to prove that he could write more than just horror. This collection provided us with 2 of his most enduring stories ("Shawshank Redemption" and "The Body" (the basis for "Stand by Me"). And if you like that, check out his second collection of novellas "Four Past Midnight". This one gave us the adaptations "The Langoliers" and "Secret Window").
That should be a good primer to King's short and medium length works. He has some other decent story collections from the 90s and even the past decade.... but make sure you like his classic stuff first. Happy reading!
Also... while not a short story, if you like Fantasy, try out "The Eyes of the Dragon". King wanted to write a fairy tale/fantasy for his kids (don't worry, it isn't a "kids book"). It is his only traditional style fantasy novel (and it ties in to his other semi-fantasy works/magnum opus, "The Dark Tower"). It is very short.... and as I've said before, I feel King is much more effective when he writes shorter stuff (with the exception of "The Dark Tower", though I'd argue his first 3 books in the series are better story telling, and they are much shorter than the last 4).... just my 2 cents!
@@Book553 Very helpful - thank you!
Wow.. 2 stars? - This is a very good book, well written, and great characters. Even if you didn't dig the plot, its surely higher than a 2? - But yes, we all like different things. - Although, they way you reviewed the book, sounded like you did enjoy it :)
Yay! My favorite Stephen King book, and one of my favorite books of all time! My other favorite books are Misery, Gerald's Game, and Salem's Lot. I thought Cujo, It, and Carrie were okay (unpopular opinion, I know). I appreciate your honest opinion on the book and I hope you review other King books, including Pet Cemetery!
One word: IT
I really loved IT but something tells me she'll hate the ending... Haha. I love the psychedelic ending... and the feel good denouement... I believe most people misinterpret that book.
I loved what you did with the squarespace ad lol. The amount of times I’ve seen that site brought up, I always skip through it, but I actually watched this time!!😂😂
Yeah sometimes Steven King books are brilliant and sometimes they are just really really bad! But I guess when you put out several novels a year instead of spending a year or more on one novel the quality is going to vary and suffer in most of them. 'Salems Lot and The girl who loved Tom Gordon (this is one is really a novella) are the BEST of all his books I've read (13) Pet Semetary is next under those two in my opinion. And I love to hear your honest opinion! Even if you don't like the book I still like to hear your thoughts and point of view
To be honest I hate The girl who loved Tom Gordon. I think it's his worse. But that's the beauty of Stephen King. He reaches out to everyone on different level.
@@samtepal3892 normally I really REALLY dislike ALL of Kings work since he got hit by that car and had serious head trauma in the late 90's. After that his stories became less scary and just strange and weird and not like they used to be. But for some reason a little girl being lost alone in the woods having to survive on her own was just really fascinating and scary for me! It could be that my little sister got lost in the woods for a few hours when we were little (she was found perfectly alright and had just fallen asleep) and so I relate to that feeling of just sheer terror and worry! I have never felt anything as strongly as that since I doubt I will ever be that scared again (hopefully). So it could be less his writing was good and more that it tied to a personal experience. So I am biased
Agreed, so tired of reading books that only have a few good parts. I couldn't finish it the first time I tried, because NOTHING. HAPPENS. in the first half, and I NEED a plot to get through most books. I do need to try Salem's Lot again, I think I'd like it more physically than as a audio, because it had waaay too many characters for me as an audio. However, I think he copies way too much of Dracula for me to truly enjoy it. I did love Needful Things though, and think you might get a lot out of that book!
i just bought the book, haven't read yet, waiting for festive holidays to start
Crazy how opinnions can verify, I love Stephen King, and specially the shining, both the movie by Kubrick and the book are in my opinnion masterpieces
Vary
My favorite Stephen King novel is Needful Things. It is very metaphorical and the plot is interesting. I highly recommend it.
CANNOT WAIT to read this book, i know its a lot of people favorites. i still want to read the dead zone before i delve into the "final castle rock" story
Pet Cemetery was my favorite SKing novel. It’s been a loooong time since I’ve read his books, but that one still stands out as a favorite.
Pet Sematary and It are easily my top 2
The movie was awful, I’d love to read the book and see if it’s better ahaha
Yeah! That one was such a great one ForeSure, for me I really liked that one. The Shinning, and Misery too, I think those three books were AMAZING. I can't get into or start IT. Something about it just is boring and long in the beginning.
As a man with a wife and a little kid, I gotta say I really love this book. I’m about to finish it for the second time and this time around I really enjoyed the segments you call “downtime”. Maybe cause it was easy for me to relate to the characters, having passed that stage in life and having the same family structure.
I feel like the more "Downtime" we get, we get to learn about the hotel and kind of just see how much time they have on their hands stuck in that hotel. King did an amazing job at making it seem like Jack was this amazing guy in the first have of the book, and then you can really see the affect it took on him while living in that hotel for so long. I really really liked that part of the book.
Same for me. I'm not a man or a parent, but it's such an honest, unflattering yet tender look at what drives people to hurt themselves and the people around them. I can't really think of anything to even compare it to. It's a fantastic piece of character writing.
The downtime was the point. They were isolated in a hotel for months and that's enough to drive anyone crazy. It was basicly the Covid 19 isolation crisis but in 1977. With non of the modern streaming services.
PLEASE read 11/22/63 or The Dead Zone. They are my 2 favorites of King. Talk about amazing characters.......love them.
I didn’t read 11/22/63 but The Dead Zone was the first book I read and so far it’s my favorite.
My personal favorite Stephen King novel is Salem’s Lot. I would love to hear your thoughts if you ever read it.
I finished that book last week, and it was absolutely phenomenal!
can you tell me why you liked it? i just finished my first stephen king book, the shining and im curious to see what more is in store
Max Heller I like vampires, and Salem’s Lot is a great vampire novel. I love the characters and the setting. It’s also lean and mean. What I mean by that is, as this was King’s second novel, it doesn’t suffer from the bloat and sloppy writing that mar some of his later work.
I just finished The Shining and adored it!!! I really want to read another Stephen King novel already and my mom does have Salem's Lot. But I hated the movie for Salem's Lot. It sas super slow and boring for me. I've heard from others that the book is SO much better. Can y'all confirm that this is true?? If so, I'll definitely give it a read(:
Cassie Hall The book is definitely better. It’s also one of King’s shorter novels, so it’s a pretty fast read.
Might have Overlooked this ... :-)
Such a shame you didn’t like this one, but I hope you won’t give up on Stephen King. Not only because he has so many good books but also because I love your reviews and I’d love to see what you think of them.
Downtime? You mean character development? Danny has Telepathy not Telekinesis and this book was masterfully written. The movie is great too but you haven’t seen it since you were in middle school so I was surprised when you said you prefer the movie. 🤔 You also failed to mention any of the character names and backstories.
This is my first Stephen King book and I am very disappointed. No offence but I hate every bit of it. I just find it very boring and the writing style is so tedious that I need to skip between the lines sometimes. Even the “scary scenes” are very dull and nothing near thrilling/ horrifying to me. For the characters, I don’t know why I just cannot engage with them. But I am open minded to read more Stephen King books. Any recommendations? 🤪
I did not care for the shining or salems lot which i know are a lot of people favorites. honestly, a lot of his classic 70s and 80s dont jive well with me... i dont know why! overall, i absolutely adore his stuff but its usually newer works surprisingly. maybe too much hype around some of his more iconic works? idk. But yeah also wasnt crazy about cujo either. Misery was okay, but again nothing spectacular imo. It and Pet Sematary are my top 2 from him by far.
The only reason you didn't like the book is because you like manga and it doesn't have enough pictures.
I'm really curious what you're gonna think about Mr. Mercedes, because that did not feel like a King novel to me at all.
i thnk u should review -------THE KINGS GRAMMAR
Nooo I’m so sad you didn’t love The Shining 😭 I’ve read many of his books and this one is my favorite! I was hooked on every page and while the movie is made well, so much of the backstory and the relationship between Danny and his father was left out.
Oh well... hope you get to the Bill Hodges Trilogy. Another fave of mine. The novel I liked the least of his is Salem’s Lot. Found it to be predictable and the end was very unsatisfying.
Salem’s lots my favourite Stephen king book and maybe the most creepiest books I’ve read
The downtime is what I too disliked a lot. But honestly I felt almost the same way with pet semitary. The fact that King fills 10 pages of nothing but the description of a fence or a house is what made me say alright I'll give one more book a shot and if it dissapoints me again I'll drop him alltogether. The themes and character work is amazing but it really is just too much (imo) unncessary stuff in between. I'm sure those two books could have been at least 200 pages shorter. I'm reading The Stand right now and I feel like it's moving forward pretty damn fast, love it so far.
I’m in the camp of this being my favorite King novel. I just read it again a couple of months ago. I found your thoughts on the down time interesting as I thought a lot of that time was devoted to the downward spiral. I look forward to more of your reviews on him as he’s one of my favorite authors
You thought the Long walk was really bad? I loved that book. A slow burn but really good in my opinion
The Shining is a stunning book though of course, personal taste is personal taste. For me The Girl on the Train was that book for me. I'm a guy who presumed that TGotT is not for me, it would be more of a ladies read. I remember it was very popular upon release and a lot of people were speaking about it. About six months after it's release, I so happened to be passing my local book store. This was long before there was even any talk of there being a movie, and as I passed the book store I saw that The Girl on the Train was half price so I thought ... what the hell?
All the way through I though it was a decent read, nothing special but it was half price so I couldn't really complain but ... but ... the last fifty of sixty pages really brought the story together making an alright story into a really good story. Many stories need time to build so I don't lower an opinion on any book for that. I'm glad I gave that book a go and I'd never put a book down without finishing it. If a book starts slow and stays that way then that is unfortunate, but if it comes good in the end then I am more than happy with that.
Anyhow, it is always interesting to see what different people make of different books. We are all free to like or dislike whatever we choose.
My dad is a King fan, but he will not read the book because he loves the movie so much. I liked The Shining, but 'Salem's Lot, The Stand, Pet Cemetary, Duma Key, and The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon (my absolute favorite King novel) are also amazing.
Check out The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson, King was obviously inspired by the book when writing Carrie and The Shining, and since it's shorter it will probably hit the things that you like while minimizing the stuff you don't.
i also JUST read the shining and you put my thoughts into words! i was truly expecting more considering the hype around it, but i could just never bring myself to connect to the characters.
i was also reading It by Stephen King, in tandem to The Shining which i’ve been enjoying LEAGUES more. i know your tbr must be ever growing but if you ever get around to it i’d love to hear your thoughts on It
The shining book is way better than the movie in the book it’s more character driven then in the movie in my opinion
I am a King fan and have read several of his books. I didn’t dislike this book, but didn’t love it as much as most people do. Like you, I think the movie ruined it for me a little bit. He has said and interviews that this book was meant to explore alcoholism and the destruction of the family. And his character work is the ass
is the absolute best. He makes you really get to know them and care about them which is what makes the horrible things happening to them that much more powerful. He does that well here, especially seeing the downward spiral of the father. But I expected more from the book and more to happen in it and for it just to be a little scarier and have some more action involved in it.
I resonate with you so much. I'd picked up this one with so much hopes, but within the first few pages I knew the story. That the dad would go back to alcohol, and try to kill his family the same way the previous caretaker had done. It was all told in the interview, then the boy's dreams. Not much left for imagination. Individual scenes all along were great but yes a lot of downtime, as you said.
if she doesn’t like a lot of downtime, she shouldn’t read IT
Wow.. The Long Walk is my favorite Stephen King book lol... Sucks you didn't like it...
Same. One of my favorites.
I’m reading it now and am enjoying it!
So when reading The Long Walk, I felt this sheer force of desperation and exhaustion. I *felt* the characters in such a real and horrific way. The emotions, reactions and sickness of the entire thing absolutely captivated me.
The only thing that bothers me so far is not knowing why the walk takes place or why anyone would choose to participate.
They get into that as it moves along. It plays into why some of the kids would try it, motivations and all. It ads a severe element to the story.
I think you’d really like doctor sleep, the sequel to the shining
I think it was a good book, pretty scary for a book. there is a lot of build-ups and silent action but when it comes to horror its scary.
Love how you smiled when you said the ending was a lot more explosive. You played that off really well lol
Brava. Well-stated reasons and a solid assessment. You do such a great job at this tightrope walk kind of thing.
Oh Merphy...I thought I came across a goldmine with your channel, but I know we can't agree on everything... I recently re-read "The Shining" and it's still one of my favorite SK novels. The movie is really nothing like the book, it is its own story with the very basic foundation. The Shining is a tragedy of a family trying to get itself back together, and "the hotel" wears Jack down so he'll murder Danny to add to its power. Yes, the ending is really cool.
If you're disgruntled with the "down time", that is a Stephen King trademark. He is an acquired taste. I highly recommend you try "It". That is my favorite Stephen King novel. They have made two adaptations of it, and it's just not the same story. The problem with a TV/movie "It" is that actors play a part, and although It often appears as a clown, he is a shape-shifter and you now take the actor out of it and narrow the whole scope of the story. Give it a shot, it's a long book, but it's awesome. But SK does get very weird at times, goes into very negative-thought places, creepy side characters, and lots of "down time" as you call it. Pet Semetary had the same stuff. Some may call it developing the story and characters, but there are definitely down times. I thought "The Shining" was a pretty short novel for SK; I have the hardcover and it's 450 pages. Not sure how you have so many pages.
I loved it. But my bookshelf holds a lot of his work, being he's my favorite and he has SO many. But, I think what made it fun for me was, I was traveling at the time I read it. Purposely started it while in a hotel. It's definitely scary to read in that setting. It's not my all time favorite of his. But it's up there. I get your feelings on it though.
There is definitely a lot of downtime in the Shining but I think this is one of King’s more personal books because Jack Torrance’s alcoholism was a reflection of King’s. The things Jack does are things King reported wanting to do while drinking. So I think this book was really used as a psychological exploration for King into his own demons. At this point, King was deep into addiction: alcohol, cocaine, cough medicine, etc. he wrote the monster book “It” while using cocaine, doesn’t even remember writing the Tommyknockers. His family eventually staged an intervention for him and the first book he wrote sober was Needful Things. So, while I’d agree this isn’t King’s best work, it might be his most insightful.
This is not my favorite Stephen King book by any means (that position goes to 11/22/63 and Doctor Sleep), but I'd never say that that bastardization of an adaptation was better. It was a good horror film, but I personally feel that it doesn't do justice to the characters, which is the reason I do enjoy this book.
It was Stephen King's Idea to make that Horrible Tv Show He hates The Movie that shows that He's An Idiot The Movie IS INCREDIBLY TERRIFYING MASTERPIECE!
The movie’s fine. The book is so so much better.
finally! someone who agrees with me about this book🔦💀
i've only read 6/7 King books so far, but his short story "elevation" has been my fave (which seems to be quite the unpopular opinion); i think it was because the length forced King to GET TO THE POINT👁👄👁
I don’t understand your points at all, and I think this book just isn’t your type.
Using first comment to say New King > Old King. I never liked his older more horror stuff. Really bored with the Shining. But his newer stuff like 11/22/63 or Revival is some of my favorite stuff I’ve ever read.
I agree 11/22/63 is one of his absolute best and gets almost no recognition outside of big King fans. For me it's a top 3 King book which is saying a lot. The Outsider is one of his latest novels and that one for me is one of the best hes done in the past 2 decades which also gets like no recognition.
Sean O'Connell if you haven’t read Revival trust me and do that now.
I really like Outsider but I feel like at a certain point he didn’t know how to progress the story so he just brought in a character to explain everything to the main characters and it just sort of felt hand wavey which took me out of it a lot. I loved the first half of the book but the second half just sort of soured for me because of that character.
Please pick up Needful Things!!!
Agreed about the downtime here.. although 2 stars slightly harsh. I still rate this as one of King's best work.. alot of similarities to what King went through with his own demons with alcoholism.
Finally a review of The Shining that gets real. I'm a huge King fan, myself. I've read everything he's ever published, including his magazine stuff. The Shining is the worst of his early work, hands down. From the hedge animals to the cartoonish mallet, it made me roll my eyes so many times. King says he hates Kubrick's version, but really he should be on his knees thanking Kubrick for the millions and the unwarranted reputation for scares the novel gained.
Shining was and is my first and only King book I've read. I enjoyed the book. I thought Jack was a funny character and there was a lot of funny moments in the book. I read the book because The Shining was one of my favourite movies. The book was much better than the movie, I even re-watched the movie recently. This is one of the reasons why I think the book was excellent. I personally don't have any expectations when I read a book, usually my expectation for a book is that it's going to be stupid and bad and boring, but I'll read it anyway because I'm a grinder and I do things because I feel a duty to do something I set my mind to doing. And I never judge a book as I'm reading it, because most books are absolutely horrendously boring as u read them (for me), but afterwards having read the book I get the enjoyment out of it as I can judge the book as a whole. So I judge the book like couple of weeks after having read the book, do I feel good about having read the book. And good books always give me a good feeling afterwards, and I don't mind the process of reading the book having been painful. Then there are books that I feel good while reading but feel awful awful awful after having read the book - I absolutely hate these books. Mostly the reading experience is awful afterwards because there are logical inconsistancies or there is something stupid that happens in the book (like literally stupid, like the author contradicts himself with the story), or the story as a whole doesn't have a message or a lesson - or the lesson or the message is stupid.
As others have said, please please read The Stand. It's a book that has stayed with me for decades. A phenomenal read. Shout outs also to: 11.22.63, Salem's Lot, The Dead Zone and The Talisman (with Peter Straub).
I've never really been able to get into Kings books. The only one that I've loved was Shawshank Redemption but theres just something about how he writes that I can't get into, which as a horror lover sucks cuz everyone recommends his stuff. I've had to turn to independently published horror novels cuz theres nothing I can get behind, which was a great decision but it still sucks that King isn't for me.
I didn't like The Shining the first time I read it either, there was such a hype around it. But for some reason years later I reread it and I loved it.
I'm very much of a mood-reader. :) Since I like almost all genres, it really depends on my mood what I will like.
Misery is amazing though!
The book is great, the movie is great but took out a lot of key and important things from the book. 4/5 stars
Read The Stand if you want amazing Stephen King!
Definitely check out 11/22/63. The character focus in that book was phenomenal.
The style of his writing is absolutely phenomenal, especially in The Shining. The characters, the claustrophobic setting, the constant sense of impending doom and slow descent into madness… what’s not to like? Everyone’s got their own opinions, for sure. But I respectfully disagree with your take on this novel.
For me, it was 5 stars. Not because of the hype, but because of how truly engaging it is. You care about these characters and what may happen to them. And the slow decent is so evident in his technique and word choices. The ending was indeed excellent as well. It’s truly a masterpiece in my opinion. Thanks for making the video.
YES! in the book it makes it seem like there is this big, nice hotel and there is all the space in the world. But the longer they stay there you can just feel the tension in that hotel break everything and it felt like everything was closing in on us. As a reader, I thought it was an amazing, wonderful book, with good characters and a good plot!
Aw, sorry to hear you didn't enjoy it! I am one of those people who holds this one up as one of their favorites King novels (surpassed only by IT and the 4th book in the Dark Tower Series: Wizard and Glass). I personally loved the characters in this book and couldn't put it down. It was one of those rare books that I'm able to finish in less than a week (I'm usually a very slow reader). However, I could see how this one could be a difficult read if you didn't feel that way about them, its a definite slow burn.
Any plans on checking out The Dark Tower?
I just finished reading the Shining, I thought it could have been shortened down a lot and still been just as good of a novel.
Read The Stand. King’s best book.
Colin Setford I’ve read Shining and Misery so far, and have chosen The Stand as my third Stephen King book. A third of the way in, I concur. It’s a robust wonderful read of such depth of characterization. So darn awesome so far!!!
your part about square space was amazing and i actually watched the whole part. usually when people have sponsored parts i skip through it but not this one
I've been reading King a lot this year and I've loved everyone that I read. I just finished The Shining and to be honest, it was a struggle. I enjoyed it and appreciated the story overall but it took me way longer to read it than I expected because I just sometimes didn't feel excited to read it. The build up was great but I gotta be honest the tension of the end was constantly cut by cutting back to Dick trying to get to the Overlook. Like I'd just get engrossed again and suddenly we're back to Dick. A character trying to get back to the main events of the story was done a lot better in Pet Sematary. It's not my least favourite King book but I'd pick up the other ones I've read this year again faster.
The shining was my first Stephen King book and has for me a special place, i was more spooked to be inside Jacks mind that Dannys ghosts and that's art! I love his books but i feel you, they are not for everyone and is good so😂
Please don't be disrespectful towards things you don't like! 🙄
I just got Doctor Sleep today for 50 cents and I'm excited🤓
One of the first King books I read, not one of his very best but I liked it
I absolutely LOVED this book.
I agree with most of what you say.
I am currently reading the book, right now on page 288.
But the book is quite boring.
After 2 weeks trying to read it, I almost returned the book to the library today, just to decide at the the last minute to continue reading for 2 more weeks.
Hopefully, as you say, the end is better.
Most of the book revolves around the husband and his alcoholism.
Unfortunately he is a very unlikable character, agressive to his wife and son, disrespectful to his boss and even his friends.
I am much more interested right now in the son and his super-powers, but the book does not seem to focus on him.
If the hotel is haunted, why is it that only the husband is affected, but not the son and wife?
The film definitely seems to be better than the book.
Stephen King has written better books.
I haven't read many of his books, but my favorite is "The Dead Zone".
I can't stand King's writing and more so I cannot stand how many people try to push him as a good author-his writing is BAD. It's bland as f***, he describes everything in such detail as to rob readers of the experience of using their own mind to build a world, and he gives so much background that isn't plot related that it just drags... I totally don't get it, and his books aren't even scary, they are usually just dumb...
I totally understand how you could feel that it could get really slow at times. I think I might even agree, though I was so into the story I didn't really care. I plowed through the last chunk (40% ish) of the book on a rainy Sunday. Since I have finally finished WoT (it was so so good), I'm ready to dive into another novel, and I've decided it's gonna be Salem's Lot, King's second published book. I wanna try and (eventually) read most of his books in publication order, working up until The Dark Tower.
Dark Tower is pretty brilliant. :-)
This was almost the exact opposite of how I experienced this book. I liked the character development, but the horror parts not so much. The best scene for me is one where Danny just stares at a fire hydrant and nothing happens. I really empathized with that paralyzing fear of something that you know is total nonsense but you can't quite get over. The supernatural elements did much less for me, the worst part probably being the ridiculous hedge animals. I found it very hard to take the book seriously after they showed up, especially since several other things were also silly.
I gave SK a second shot with Salem's Lot and got pretty much the same impression. There are a couple great scenes where some characters are consumed by vague irrational fears of things that don't make sense. Then things actually start happening, and the book loses its iron grip on me. Eventually it gets silly, and the tension is lost.
My verdict based on these two books: SK writes psychology well, and action poorly: Good build up with insufficient payoff does not really float my boat, and I think I am done with him. I do not regret reading these two books; they are good, but I will not rave about them the way others do.
I agree with you from what I can remember of it. Read it on holiday in a caravan and never really felt scared by it. I ended up disappointed by it, part of that was all the hype. I found the movie way scarier.
For me personally I find King's early work a little hard to get into. I know this was written a long time ago and that his style has flourished and continued to improve over the years but I found some of the exposition a little long winded. Having watched the movie before reading the book I wondered if I'd end up judging the latter over the former. I was happy to find that I managed to treat the two as very different pieces of fiction and the only time I thought about the movie was to be happy about how much more I liked the characters of Wendy and Danny.
The plot itself was fairly decent. Discovering what the actual antagonist of the story was came as a nice discovery as I'd either got it completely wrong while watching the movie or it didn't portray it very well. Also I was happy to see the characters of Danny and the head chef (who's name completely escapes me right now) developed a great deal. Also, as much as I've never found a book to be scary I know I'll never look at a hedge animal the same way and if I lived somewhere that had them I'd let them grow out to no longer resemble animals then chop the things down because my God did this book creep me out with them.
I think the reason I found this book a slow burner was the isolation aspect and the fact that the three main characters were the only characters for a large portion of the story. I wanted a larger cast to get to know and while I'm aware that's the whole point of the book it was a sour point for me.
Now Dr Sleep on the other hand I absolutely loved and couldn't put it down.
BTW I gave the book 3 stars.
Bhaha! Great ad Merphy. creepy stuff when I am only listening to you.
I've noticed that King's earlier novels such as Carrie (first novel published as Stephen King), The Shining, etc., lack the character development. Getting invested in his earlier characters is difficult - I think Carrie is the only one I ever really connected with. Probably because I was a teenager when I first read Carrie and Carrie is a teenager.