Here's a basic plot summary:
Jack Torrance is dismissed from his teaching position after physically harming a student. He has had trouble finding a new job because of this, and the fact that he is a raging alcoholic. A friend of his (a drinking buddy, in fact) gets him a job as the caretaker of The Overlook Hotel during its off-season. The hotel is in Colorado way on top of a mountain where snow abounds during the winter months. Jack takes his wife (Wendy) and has a 5-year-old son (Danny) along with him to the hotel. Danny has a special ability referred to as The Shining. Basically, he can read thoughts and he sometimes has visions of things (most of the time unpleasant) that could happen in the future.
Before they even arrive, Danny has a "shine" that makes him worry about living at The Overlook, but he knows this is exactly what his Daddy needs to get back into the work force, so he doesn't say anything. However, when they get to The Overlook, it is obvious that something is very strange. Danny sees things and things happen to him that are unexplainable and it really starts to worry Wendy, so she begins to come up with ideas on how to get Danny to a safer place. Without giving too much away, that doesn't really go to well, because what The Overlook wants, The Overlook is going to have.
This book is terrifying! I seriously only read it during daylight hours and I'm kind of having a hard time blogging about it right now my dark bedroom. But it was so good (so good). I don't know what Stephen King's deal is with the italics and parentheses, but I love it.
This novel is reminiscent of Edgar Allan Poe's "The Fall of the House of Usher." Just as Roderick and Madeline are connected to their home, Jack has a connection to The Overlook, rather The Overlook has a connection with whomever it chooses. The way that The Overlook progressively takes control of Jack Torrance shows King's superb, suspenseful writing skills. The way his character was tormented by his memories and goaded by hallucinations of past hotel patrons and staff added so much not only to his character development, but also to the story itself. Sometimes when there is a lot of back story, I find it uninteresting, but in this case, every detail that King shares about Jack's childhood or his past in general truly helped the reader to feel fully immersed in his world.
The end is of this book is especially suspenseful and there were countless moments when I just couldn't believe what was happening until it was resolved. I literally had continuous goosebumps for the final 150-200 pages. I'm sure my mother will think this is disturbing because all of his books are morbid and have killing and other scary things in them, but I believe I've found a new author I can list among my favorites. I loved Carrie and I loved The Shining even more!
