The Shining

* This review is of the edition, not the story of the novel It is a relatively nice paperback, I really like the cover and the pages are really white. The book is weirdly narrow for its height, it's almost as if it had been chopped to small by in production but the text looks fine inside. It does however make it slightly uncomfortable to read, especially since the font size is rather small. The pages are a really nice, bright white and the font easy to read. The spine is somewhat durable, it not break or crease when I read it.

Good quality ... Good read... novel arrived safely...

Before I read King I had assumed he was an overrated, bloated author that had way too many movie adaptations of his works--in fact he has the Guinness World Record for most film adaptations of all time (no surprise). Then I read his `On Writing' book (because I am an aspiring fiction/horror writer) and I learned a lot. Big deal though, whoopie do, I still wasn't interested in his stuff . . . but something kept on nagging and nagging at me . . . something dark and tall; it was The Dark Tower: The Gunslinger. I cannot explain why; maybe it's because the book I was writing at the time seemed like it would benefit itself if I, my book's Writer, would step outside my comfort zone (Crichton, McCarthy, Matheson, Barker) and just try to read The Dark Tower: The Gunslinger. I finally read it because the cover looked sweet, not gonna lie. The ever-binding, story-interweaving Todash Darkness pulled me into the world of King. For instance, the Turtle is in It, and even mentioned in his most recent 11/22/63; and Todash Darkness--that vague conceptual, slightly existentialistic evil that makes a sound like rumbling chimes--which is also mentioned in "It"; and then there's Randal Flagg, Donald Callahan, Ted Brautigan, the Low Men and the Crimson King: all the former are uniting elements in many Stephen King books. And The Dark Tower series is a gateway drug to his other novels; and his other novels are a gateway drug to The Dark Tower--it's full circle, baby! But let's talk about The Shining, shall we, because that's why you're reading this. In his introduction for the novel King says that the decision to write (and how to write) The Shining was very crucial in terms of his career as a writer. You must understand that Carrie did not break any rules besides (this one) and it was very short, which is ideal for debut novels for any author. It was also original and shocking; another must-have. But Carrie wasn't necessarily epic or long lasting. Then `Salem's Lot was his second. He took risks with style, but nothing else; the pacing was fast, and he didn't get too deep into character history. What you knew about most of the characters were through immediate actions and thoughts. And the town itself was something he was familiar with, along with the people and the professions of the people. It was marketable. It worked. It was filmable. Then The Shining was written more of a character study about how alcoholism destroys marriages and relationships between fathers and their children. Most of the horror wasn't shown on a golden platter as it was in Carrie and `Salem's Lot; instead, the horror was suggestive. It was there, in the shadows, you could choose to see it or ignore it; it was subtle, but there. Then toward the end, that's when the fireworks begin to go off one after the other . . . but still, for my generation (twenty-somethings) and younger, many will pass up The Shining just because it takes a while to pick up the pace and, hey, there's a movie, too--Jack Nicholson's in it, so they'll just watch that, assuming that they'll get the "same thing out of it"--which is a shame. Ultimately this was King's attempt to actually write a literarily respectable novel with horror aspects (and he does stay true to horror; it's just not blood and guts all the time). I won't waste your time with the synopsis; the book is different than the film, but it's not that different and I can't say how it is even if I wanted to (which I don't), because the differences would be spoilers. It's a little scarier than Stanley Kubrick's film adaptation in principles and it had a better story; but the movie is easier to watch. However, if you don't mind a slower paced novel that builds up like tension from a rope being pulled further and further apart until it snaps like a stale jerky, then you should definitely read The Shining--and then make sure you read The Dark Tower series (at least the first four are phenomenal).

A masterpiece of character and a striking psychological thriller.

I received my order quickly, but the cover of the book is not like in the picture. I specifically chose this one for the nice artwork of the cover and instead i got something different.