A gripping, tragic work of horror fiction that deserves its iconic status
4/5
(image credit: https://robsmovievault.wordpress.com/1997/04/27/the-shining-1997/)
Reading Stephen King’s revered horror novel The Shining in 2017, forty years after its original publication, is an interesting experience. The story has become iconic thanks to the 1980 Stanley Kubrick adaptation, which King himself famously denounced for being unfaithful to his work. But the fact is that more people are familiar with the film version of The Shining than the book. Critics have long been split on the film’s merits but as far as the public are concerned it’s one of the best-loved horror films in recent memory, and instantly recognisable. Even I, who have never seen the film, am familiar with the most memorable scenes. Jack smashing down the door with an axe; the river of blood cascading from the elevator; ‘all work and no play makes Jack a dull boy’ typed over and over again.
People reading The Shining for the first time may be surprised to discover, then, that every one of these scenes was a product of Kubrick’s imagination, not King’s. There is no river of blood, no madness mantra typed out on reams of paper, and King’s Jack Torrance swings a roque mallet instead of an axe. It’s a very different piece of work altogether, and while I don’t think it was perfect by any means, it was still a brilliant novel.
Much of the core plot is the same as the film version. Jack Torrance – a writer coming to terms with the alcoholism that threatens to tear his life apart – accepts a job as live-in winter caretaker of the Overlook Hotel in Colorado, and moves in with his wife Wendy and their six year old son Danny. Danny has a special ability – the ‘shining’ of the title – that allows him to see the future, read minds, and pick up on the presence of ghosts or grisly happenings around him, and he has a bad feeling about the Overlook, a place infamous for crime and murder. But the family move in anyway, and slowly the Overlook comes to life around them, and it wants them for its own.
The really great thing about this story is the fact that Jack, who ends up falling under the spell of the Overlook and going on a murderous rampage against his wife and child, was not merely a poor innocent soul manipulated by the evil of the hotel. He is, though fundamentally a good person, deeply flawed and already prone to anger and violence before they even step inside. He loves his wife and son, but his abusive childhood and his alcoholism have led him to do terrible things, including breaking Danny’s arm once. This means that you could easily read the story as an allegory for what it’s like to live with an abusive partner or father; that sense that something is deeply wrong, and you’re powerless to stop it. And the ending of the book truly is tragic, seeing what the influence of the hotel’s murderous ghosts have done to Jack and what he has become, in spite of all his hard work to get better.
But for my money, the best character was little Danny. King has proven time and again that he knows how to write children well, and that’s definitely true here, but surprisingly what I liked best about Danny was how well I could relate to him. I mean, obviously I wasn’t telepathic and I couldn’t have visions of the future, but the parallels between ‘shining’ and childhood anxiety or autism are striking. At Danny’s age I suffered with anxiety and vacant, seizure-like episodes, as well as having an imaginary friend like he does. The way Danny’s parents react to him was almost identical to how my own parents reacted; I recognised that same concern and fear. Once he realises that his premonitions were true, and he has to try and save himself and his mother, it’s a real moment of maturity for his character, and very moving.
The plot itself, as with all of the Stephen King books I’ve read so far (Carrie, Misery, and Gerald’s Game), is quite slow in parts, and has an infuriating habit of continually cutting away from the drama once it kicks in, but it’s easily the best written of any of King’s works so far. I loved the way the ghosts of the hotel came to life, and the bizarre undercurrent not only of murder and crime but sexual predation within the place. It didn’t scare me in the same profound way that Misery did (and does still) but I was just fascinated by the concept, and the allegory you could read into it. It never stopped being engaging, even during the aforementioned slow parts, and some rather clunky story moments. Danny has multiple visions of a mallet-wielding monster chasing him through the hotel – what on earth could it mean?!? I think even in a world where the film didn’t exist you would know what this was leading towards.
Despite some minor flaws I did enjoy this book a whole lot, and I definitely think it deserves its status as a classic. From a pure and simple story perspective, it’s my favourite of King’s works so far, and I hope to read more in the future, because even when a King book isn’t perfect it’s always interesting.
Goodreads rating: 4/5
Similar books: The House of Sleep by Jonathan Coe, Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier, The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins
Briar the Rose 