So I’ve recently finished reading Stephen King’s The Shining for the 4th time, if I’m not mistaken. 4th or 5th. I can’t quite remember.
Brief aside: In case anyone reading this doesn’t already know, I have a bit of an obsessive personality. Watching my favorite movies over and over, reading favorite books again and again – I don’t get tired of it. On the contrary, I generally take even more from things the more I get to know them.
That is absolutely the case with The Shining. Most amazing book I’ve ever read, though I’ve generally found it quite difficult to explain why. No spoilers here, don’t worry. I respect this book, as well as my readership, more than that to give anything away. Gotta discover the mysteries of the Torrance family and The Overlook Hotel for yourself! So instead of detailing the plot, I’ll try to cover the feeling of the book, and the feelings it arouses in me.
Absolutely terrifying to get inside someone’s head, to watch their logic unfold and to see the terrifying results of that logic. You are a part of the whole process. Having been given access to their thought processes, you are just as much a part of their tale as they are. That in and of itself is terrifying. Knowing the words that go unspoken between husband and wife, or between parent and child. You feel helpless. But when you start to recognize similar emotions in yourself, maybe on the second time through the book, that’s when the fear really sinks in. It becomes internalized. You come to know these characters as you know yourself. You’re given a look into their deepest fears, an area so closely guarded by all of us. King breaks down that barrier of self and other in his articulations of the characters’ thoughts as brief parenthetical asides mid-story. It’s not always coherent, but our thoughts never are, even more so with our fears. I find it absolutely amazing that such an absurd and unrealistic situation can come to mean something so close to home. The sign of a good writer – King really draws you in.
Each time I read this book, I find myself understanding the fear of each character to a whole new extent. At the same time, somehow, you are very much able to let these characters go when the book comes to a close. I’ve read some epic novels in the past [such as Vikram Seth's A Suitable Boy or the entire Harry Potter series] where it just broke my heart to suddenly come across that last page. You devote so much of yourself to these people, you make them real, and then they’re just gone. Well King has gone a step further. Throughout the whole novel, you find bits of yourself in each these people in this terrifying situation, to a point where it’s just flat eerie. King aptly describes fears and insecurities in his characters that absolutely everyone has wrestled with at one time or another. But he doesn’t let you linger on the characters. Because they could be anyone. Jack, Wendy, and Danny Torrance may as well be John, Jane, and Bobby Smith, or Keith, Marie, and Liz English. That’s what’s so wonderfully terrifying. The people don’t linger, but their thoughts, emotions, and fears do.
I’ve always been a big fan of mystery novels, thanks to my mom and her extensive library of thrillers and chillers. But The Shining was one of the first books I picked up slightly tentatively, knowing it’s reputation and having seen the film and having had it scare the bejesus out of me. I was stepping out of mystery and into horror/thriller. The genre title in and of itself makes me shiver. I like the idea that a book can have that kind of power, that there are writers out there who can choose their words that well and tap into so many different psyches. It’s inspiring, to say the least.
Gotta say, and usually my suggestion is quite the opposite of what I’m about to say, but you really should see the film adaptation by Stanley Kubrick before reading the book. I say this for several reasons. First of all, I believe the book has the potential to ruin the movie. And the movie is really something. Astoundingly complex, as with any Kubrick film, and yet simple and to the point. But, as is always the case, it necessarily leaves out so many of the little details that make this story so wonderfully creepy. I worry that once you get a taste for the detail in the book, the film might seem lackluster. It deserves it’s own spotlight. Secondly, while it is one of if not the best film adaptation of a book that I’ve ever seen, the two are amazingly different. They can really be looked at as two separate entities. So I suggest you first get the story and the feel from the film and then get the meat to fill it out and make it real from the book.
I am constantly blown away by this book and its ability to be an escape from current stresses, an opportunity to turn inward and examine my own fears, and, quite simply, a riveting story all in one. Can’t get tired of it. Please pardon the rambly tone. I could go on and on about this book, but to really feel it, you’ve got to pick it up and let King make you a part of The Overlook’s story.
