The Shining by Stephen King, published by Hodder & Stoughton
I'd somehow managed to never see The Shining (which I still haven't seen, but will) and never read a Stephen King book. So I was intrigued as to what I would think when I picked up The Shining.
It is the story of Jack Torrance, his wife Wendy and their five year old son, Danny.
Jack has had problems in the not so distant past with alcohol and aggression, and finds himself in a situation where he has to take the job of caretaker of the Overlook Hotel, over the winter months. The hotel being remote, is shut every winter and cut off from everywhere else. However the boiler is old and needs someone on site to maintain it. A previous caretaker killed his own wife and children and then himself, and there is concern that Jack also won't be up for the task, but Jack is sure he can do this. Danny, however, has a gift. He can hear people's thoughts, know what will happen in the future, and very much see dead people.
Will the Torrance family make it through winter unscathed, or will the Overlook Hotel, with it's bad reputation, have the last laugh?
This is one of those books that had me gripped from the start, right through to the end. At times I was screaming at the characters, I was totally absorbed.
Wendy I found to be an interesting character, in that she seemed at times to be a stereotyped typical 1970's housewife. And, indeed, some elements of this book do seem to have become outdated, they do, however, reflect the late 1970's very well.
I enjoyed Stephen King's writing style greatly, and was amazed at how much I thought about the book in the times between me actually being able to put it down.
I would definitely try more Stephen King books in the future. Do you read a lot of King, what would you recommend next?
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