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Summary: The Shinning
Review: Another thrilling novel by Stephen king. The Shinning is a book that keeps you on the edge of your seat. This is a story about a man named Jack Torrance and his family Wendy and Danny. They just move to this town and Jack got a job at the Overlook Hotel. They have no idea what they have got themselves into.
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Summary: AMAZING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Review: the is the first and only stephen king book ive ever read, but im certianly going to read more. this book is absoloutly fanatsic.
ill tell you a little about it. its starts off wiht a family moving inot a beatiful hotel, but there are terrible memories that would scare the hell out of anyone in that hotel. but thye move in anyway, whihc was a mistake. throuhg out the story, you see the father, jack, slowly turning insane until he reaches a point in which there is no turning back. the charctors are so real it will feel as if you knwo them and they are your closest friends. although i saw the movie before reading the book, i would recoment reading the book first. the only part of the book i didnt like, was the ending. althouhg it is a bit confusing anf it may take you a little while to figure out, it is worth it. this is a novel you absoloutly cannot miss.
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Summary: A GROWING EVIL THAT DEVELOPS MORE EACH PAGE... SUPERB!
Review: This book took me 2 months to read (it had 447 pages), but it was worth it. There is never a really boring part, but there are really exciting and intense parts. The characters are described and developed to the fullest point and their personality just seemed to click with the story. It is better than the movie. It has a lot more subplots to it. There are more explanations as to why Jack Torrance tried to kill his family. It is not as stupid as some parts in the movie. There is no "HERE'S JOHNNY!" or ALL WORK AND NO PLAY MAKES JACK A DULL BOY. This book focuses on real terror that keeps you wondering what will happen next. The woman in the bathtub in room 217 (not 237 like the movie) is described further, even who it really is! I would reccomend this book to anyone!
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Summary: Not Literature
Review: As a devoted fan of horror genre, i couldn't die without reading Stephen King. After all, he's considered the greatest horror writer of all times, and i thought any of his books would be an incredible experience about the art of scaring people.After reading The Shining, though, i desmissed him as a writer. This wasn't a horror book, but the story of a man, a drunkard, his entire life put in 400 boring pages. It's not a horror story, it's the story of a man trying to fight his addiction, and how he failed. It is set in a haunted hotel, though this is never fully developed. there is no idea why the hotel wants the boy, Danny, who has a power called 'shining'. As for Jack, no one know how he's caught by the hotel, whereas Wendy is just a pointless character. There is never horror, though King makes the reader expecting it every in turn of page. That's good, it's suspense, but sometimes is should come with a real display of horror, something harder than a hive of wasps. Then, there's the climax. Jack, totally controlled by the hotel, coming after his family. It didn't work with me. and how the hotel finally loses, it was one of the worst deux ex machinas endings i've ever seen. And they're not rare. King's greatest strenght lies in his characterization skills, how he imagines entire lifes. Too bad that's all he knows how to do. And even though it works in superb books such as The Green Mile, it fails in horror books. In a crime, it's not the detective's life that matters, but the crime itself. In horror, i don't care about who's getting scared, but rather why and how. All in all, i don't recomend this book to anyone. Still, if you're not convinced, don't just take my word for it. Get it free in a library, read it, and then decide. Everyone has a different taste.
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Summary: Brilliant and terrifying. A modern horror classic.
Review: I don't know what I can say about this book that 200+ reviewers haven't already said, but as a life long horror fan, I have to say this is probably the most frightening horror novel I've ever read. It set a new standard for the genre and no one has surpassed it since, including King himself, in my opinion. It is an unforgettable journey into madness and supernatural horror. When I turned the last page, I felt as though I had just washed up on the shore of the river Styx. If you are one of those people who have put off reading it because "you've seen the movie" then I implore you to pick it up. It's an experience you'll never forget and a modern classic.
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Summary: Simply fantastic
Review: Although many people have different points on which book by SK is the best, no one can disagree on the Shining being the most horrifying. Although the Kubrick film would leave you to believe otherwise, this is no "Crazy-guy-stalks-family" novel. It deals with a realistic but struggling family trying to hold themselves together. It would work well without the ghosts. The ghouls are merely icing on the cake. However, the icing is very sweet and delicious. ***** out of *****
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Summary: Masterpiece
Review: The Shining is a great book that is hard to put down once you start. The story begins when Jack Torrance gets the care-taking job at the Overlook Hotel during the winter months when the hotel is closed. Jack is married to a girl named Wendy and they have a son, Danny. Jack has had a rough past. He lost his teaching job for beating up a student and another time he broke his sons arm after coming home drunk. He was a real hard drinker but has been dry since the incident with Danny's arm. Danny possesses a power called a shine, where he knows what people are thinking and can see things other people can't. Danny meets Dick Hollorann, the hotels cook, who also has the shine. Dick tells Danny things about having the shine and warns him about places to stay away from in the hotel. The Overlook Hotel has a history of bad things happening, and most of those things have left evil effects behind. For example, one of the previous caretakers, Delbert Grady, killed his family and then himself while caring for the hotel. Dick tells Danny that if he ever needs help, to shine him a message and he'll come as soon as possible.
After Jack, Wendy, and Danny have been at the hotel by themselves for a couple of months, the hotel's evil forces go after Jack. They had been after Danny from the beginning, but Danny was too strong to let them get him. They eventually get to Jack and give him liquor to get him drunk. When Jack gets drunk, he has a very short temper and goes crazy. Delbert Grady, the former "psycho" caretaker, begins to talk Jack into killing Wendy and Danny. Jack listens to every word Delbert says and then begins to try to kill his family. The hotel has Jack under such a trance that it's not really Jack acting insane, it's the evil of the hotel in him. While Jack is under this trance, he forgets to check the boiler. Jack had been checking the boiler every day to make sure that it was okay. Danny and Wendy are trying to get away from Jack and save themselves. Tony, Danny's imaginary friend, tells Danny to remember what Jack has forgotten. Danny remembers that Jack didn't check the boiler that day and therefore it will blow up. This ends up saving Danny and his mom's life.
The theme of this book is that evil can be found in things or people that you think are good. Jack thought that the hotel would be a great place to stay. He also thought that beer was good and yet it also messed up his life. I liked the characters a lot. Stephen King did a great job of getting deep into their minds. He took the time to make sure that you knew and understood each one of them. His descriptions of the characters were so vivid that it was easy to picture in your mind how each one looked. Dick was my favorite character in the book because he was such a funny guy and was very thoughtful. Wendy was an inspirational character. She was strong and loving and would do anything to keep her son safe. All the characters were well written and interesting.
There was nothing I disliked about this book. I would read it ten more times if I had the time. I would recommend this book to anyone who likes thriller and horror type books.
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Summary: As Peter Straub says, probably the best supernatural novel..
Review: ...in a hundred years. And yet, it is so much more than a horror/supernatural novel. King's writing is excellent, easy to understand, nto overcomplicated, and so you can power through it easily and quickly. The characters are great, and the way Jack Torrance's ever increasing madness is described is masterful. It's a fantastic book. Simply. The mood is distinctly claustrophobic, tethered with hints of dark depression. However, the hope which shines through right at the end is wonderful. The beginning of the book tends towards being a bit slow, but that's fine, as it admirably sets the scene and mood, which is something all books need. And the ending is stunning. Probably the best ending King has come up with. Simply great. I can't really think of how to describe this book...so i won't. Just rest assured that if you like a good exciting read, this is definitely the one for you. Haunting, atmospheric, scary, chilling. Read, read, read.
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Summary: The Shining-Stephen King
Review: One of the scariest books King has ever written, The Shining is a must read. Ive read this book three times, and always find something new and exciting. The Overlook Hotel holds some of the most sinister forces youve ever encountered. As usual, King takes on the job of not only opening new doors to the supernatural, but depicting the mental demons that chase the everyday citizen. Jack Torrance is an alchoholic father who takes his family to Overlook for a nice peaceful getaway. Little does he know, this will be the setting for the final confrontation against the evil that lurks behind every corner and every suite. Read this book and you get the whole King package: magic powers, evils of the human mind, bloody twin girls, moving shrubs, and ghosts popping up everywhere. REDRUM!! Read with the lights on.
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Summary: Honey,I m home!!!
Review: Thank God I read the book first and then saw the films.Both of them. The book is a classic,a masterpiece a lovecraftian cry of horror in the unexpected places . The characters are not caricatures as in many horror books,but every-day real-life people . King is playing our chords of fear like a virtuose . He knows where to strike,and knows the impact.If you consider yourself a fan of this kind of literature and havent read this book,then you must have been somewhere in Alpha Centaury the past 3 decades..A recommendation : read the book first!!then go see the films.
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