Book Review: The Shining and Dr. Sleep by Stephen King

For my 14th birthday I got my first grown-up book, and it was a whopper of a book, The Shining.

It was a scare-fest, and I learned the hard way that you don't read Stephen King before bed. I had several nightmares about what lies behind shower curtains and being attacked by bushes.

I recently purchased the book and re-read it, as well as the sequel, Dr. Sleep. It wasn't as scary as I remembered, but when you know what's behind the shower curtain in room 217 and what happens when the elevator starts running on its own, it's not going to be as scary.

It's still a well-written book, and I love his style of writing. He is the master of character development because he develops them from within the characters themselves. He's also the master of making ordinary objects sources of intense fear. As a Stephen King fan I've developed a deep nervousness about sewer grates and closed shower curtains.

I may have read the book for the first time almost 20 years ago, but we will still be leaving our shower curtain open for a while.

I give The Shining a rating of: 

Several years ago Stephen King published a sequel. Dr. Sleep is about little Danny Torrance, now a grown man suffering from alcoholism like his father, and haunted by his Shine. He has become a drifter, and finds himself in a small town. Someone takes a chance on him, and Dan Torrance begins to blossom into a wonderful man.

Dan works in a nursing home in partnership with a very strange cat who always knows when someone is going to die. Dan helps them cross over, and is nicknamed Dr. Sleep. However, his Shine is still the strongest Dick ever saw, and he gets a warning to help a little girl whose Shine makes his look like a candle in front of a searchlight. There is a group after this little girl, vampire-like creatures that feed on Shine, and Dan has to find her before they do.

Dr. Sleep was awesome, and I read it in one sitting. Stephen King is one of my very favorite authors, and while I hadn't read any of his books in a long time, I'm remembering how much I loved reading his work.

I give Dr. Sleep a rating of: 

Photo Credit Katherine Elizabeth

Stars Image Credit: lovethenerddesigns