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Stephen King: The Shining

SevenWritez

SevenWritez

New Member
Well, I just finished earlier today what I'm sure is considered one of Stephen King's "classics." However--and I'll give him benefit of the doubt for this, still being in the early stages of his career--I found the story to be a bit flat, and was freaked to see that the magnificent colossus The Stand came just after this.

I didn't quite care about the characters, and even though the scenes were fun reads, I felt no tug of adrenaline or suspense during the events where Jack is chasing Danny through the halls, or in the scenes involving Tony, or any of the other moments that I won't talk about so as to not ruin it for anyone popping in for the first time.

What I'm wondering really is, just to others who have already read The Shining, what did you think of it? Great work? Average? What made it tick (or, in my case, not tick), for you. I'm just curious.
 
Best work--draws you along--but pure fluff.

Really doesn't have much to say.

I consider "Misery" his magmus opus.
 
What made it tick for me, as with most of King's better works, is the history that he creates for the hotel. I love being drawn into a place so that you experience not only the story of the characters in the novel, but also of those there long before.

I didn't experience any 'terror' as such, although the scene where
Danny is chased by the hedge animals
scared the bejesus out of me. The scare factor in this one comes in the form of psychological tension, experiencing with Jack, and alternately with Wendy and Danny, Jack's slow descent into madness.

Ohh, I have to go out. Will post more later when I've had a proper think.
 
I can´t really say too much to this book. I´ve read it when I was a teenager and thats over 15 years ago. However, I remember me, reading it in a few days besides scholl and thought it was great. But then I think maybe I should reread again to say anything at all.
 
So, was REDRUM supposed to captivate me? That's a problem. I knew what the goddamned thing was the moment I saw it and thought, "Oh, you can't be serious..."

But no, it came back for a secound round-a-bout.

Anyhow, I picked up Pet Semetary yesterday. Give me thoughts on that.
 
God, how I hate Pet Semetary.

I seriously don't know how and why people rave about this.

*shakes head*
 
It? Needful Things? Gerald's Game?

I have all three plus the one mentioned above on my desk, and I've pecked at the beginnings of each, I just want to know which one I shoudl delve into first.

So, what would you suggest out of the four?
 
IT!!

Even though it long--real long--it's the best out of all four.

Gerald's Game drags.

Needful Things's ending is worse than a pile of crap.

Pet Semetary is just plain boring, with absolutely no action. You just can't care about the characters enough to understand the so called pain their going through.

It's long tho--real long. Hope you're up for it.
 
Peronel said:
I didn't experience any 'terror' as such, although the scene where
Danny is chased by the hedge animals
scared the bejesus out of me. The scare factor in this one comes in the form of psychological tension, experiencing with Jack, and alternately with Wendy and Danny, Jack's slow descent into madness.
Click to expand...


YES!

I agree.
 
I loved how Jack's feelings toward his abusive father slowly changed from contempt to sympathy. King wrote out Jack's thoughts so vividly as if they were his own!

I really enjoyed the parts involving Jack and the hedge animals, Jack and the snowmobile and Jack's dreams about his father.
 
Speaking of The Shining, I am headed to Portland, OR tomorrow for a wedding and I'm going to try and stop by the Timberline Lodge. Should be fun and creepy!
 
I am wishing to read The Shining again whenever I get a lot of the titles in my TBR pile done. It's one of the few King novels that I've really, really liked. You'd think that I liked more of King's books because I have an entire shelf holding his works... :p
 
I loved The Shining and must admit that it gave me gooseflesh as I was reading it. Of course, I was snowed in up in the mountains of West Virginia with an injury that kept me off the slopes. Talk about creepy! The inner machinations of Jack's mind made that book for me, but the setting of the book and the one I was in when I read it had a great deal to do with it as well, I am sure.

I highly recommend It as well. One of my favorites. Salem's Lot is another that I would recommend. I've never finished Gerald's Game (it's the ONLY book, including the Bible itself, that I've ever started and not finished), though I've tried numerous times. It just did not appeal to me.

Needful Things isn't a bad book, but the ending is not what you would expect after reading it. However, this is very common with many of King's works I have found. The voyage is a million times better than the destination.
 
"the shining" was the first book that ever actually scared me... i finished reading it while i was alone at night and the tender age of 15, but it remains to be the only book that managed to chill me to the bone. i've read king's work fairly extensively, and while his books are not all literary accomplishments per se, i'll always remember "the shining" as one of his best works.
 
As I said in my other thread "Being SCARED by a book" I have a love-hate relationship with King.

But I must beg to differ, Seven; I loved The Shining but found The Stand to be good but not great.

The Shining really pulled me in. The characters were very interesting and the premise was very intriguing.

'Salem's Lot is still my all-time favorite book, and The Shining, Carrie and The Dead Zone are among my favorites as well. I also really liked Pet Sematary. There are a number of other of King's books I've read that were alright, such as Desperation, Firestarter; and some that I'm not even sure why I bothered to finish, like IT. IMHO that was the worst example of King's self-professed "diarrhea of the word processor."

And then there's Christine, which I've started twice without finishing. Way too plodding. It's like, "Okay, we get it, the '50s wasn't really like Happy Days, now can we get to the story here?" Someday I might try it a third time, but don't hold your breath.
 
For me, the most memorable thing about Pet Semetary was the night walk back to the burial ground. The rest of the book, and the changed people element didn't make a big impression on me.
 
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