King, Stephen. The
Shining. Pocket Books, 2001. 704 pages. Tr., $$8.99. ISBN: 978-0743424424
Plot: Jack
Torrance is a writer with a lot of baggage. He can be violent and he’s an
alcoholic (which plagued his father, also), and his parallel demons have made
him unemployable as a teacher and put him in danger of losing his family, too
(he was violent toward his young son, Danny, his only child). In an effort to
refresh his marriage to Wendy and to reignite his writing career, he brings his
family to the Overlook Hotel in Colorado.
Danny
is not like other children, and his paranormal abilities open up a window to
Danny as he sees ghosts and witnesses supernatural activity. Jack becomes more
and more unstable and it becomes clear that the spirit-possessed hotel is
gaining strength through Danny. Seeing Jack’s weaknesses as their way into the
family and as a way to take control, they play on Jack’s psychological scars,
especially his wounded feelings about his own father. The key scene is one in
which ghosts inhabit the dry bar, filling it with booze and working their way
into Jack as he gets drunk. It leads to a showdown: Jack and the Overlook Hotel
vs. Wendy and Danny. Tough Wendy is determined to protect her son to the
explosive end.
Critical Evaluation: King is a master of horror and
suspense, but this book reveals a great amount of depth, too. Jack’s psychology
is as much at play as the supernatural forces, and there is a strong message
here about the cycle of abuse and alcoholism. There are also themes about
isolation and civilization, the madness of the artist, the connection between
fathers and sons, and the strength that one needs to break the bonds of the
past to live a happy life in the present. It is a tough minded, well-wrought
story, with eerie yet brilliant sections that are amazingly scary. The fear is
cathartic, and so is the ending.
Reader’s Annotation: When a troubled family inhabits an
off-season resort hotel that is haunted, they have to face their fears and
their weakness to survive.
Author bio: Stephen King is one of the
bestselling writers in the world. Born and raised in Maine, his imagination
sparked by small-town life and discovering the work of New England horror
writer H.P. Lovecraft, King made his debut in 1973 with Carrie, a novel
about a psychic high school girl who comes to a tragic end. The novel was made
into a celebrated film. His other novels include The Shining, The Stand,
The Shining, The Mist and the Dark Tower novels,
the most recent of which came out this year. A 1999 car accident almost ended
his career.
In recent years, King has become a vocal advocate for
genre fiction, especially for the horror genre he works in. In essays and
speeches, he’s dismissed the canon of respected and much-taught literary works
as the product of snobbery and outdated tastes. His ideas have found some
converts. But he’s also been challenged by major critics like Harold Bloom, and
the image of a multi-millionaire writer, who sells more books in a week than
most novelists do in their lives, insisting he is misunderstood and underrated,
has led to a recent, if low-key, backlash.
Genre: Horror.
Curriculum Ties: English suspense.
Booktalking Ideas: Focus on the feeling of isolation, all
alone in a wintry resort.
Focus on the family dysfunction and the cycle of alcoholism
and abuse.
Reading Level/Interest Age: 16+
Challenge Issues: The paranormal aspect might bother some
people. Keep on file articles about the value of scary stories, even going back
to the Grimm fairy tales. Keep collection policy on hand and also have handouts
of positive reviews that the book received that reveal its depth.
Why Included: It’s a compelling, scary read with
psychological undertones. The fact that it was a feature film might hook teens.
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