The Shining Book Review
The Shining is a book by Stephen King, who has written many books such as Pet Semetary, The Stand, and Carrie. He is from New England, where most of his books take place.
The book is about Jack Torrance, a former teacher, who was fired from his job after he hit a child. He then goes to be an off-season caretaker for the magnificent Overlook Hotel, in Colorado. His wife, Wendy, thinks it will be a way to repair their marriage, which has been damaged since Jack became an alcoholic. Only his son, Danny, sees the Overlook for the crazy, haunted place it really is. Danny is five years old and has extraordinary powers. Jack and Wendy think it is just his imagination.
When they get to the Overlook on closing day, the hotel cook, Hallorann, tells Danny that he has the shining, and that is why he can read people’s minds and sometimes, predict the future. He then says that he is not alone that Hallorann has it, too, and so did his grandmother. Hallorann then warned Danny that he may see some scary things, but that they are like pictures in a book, they can’t hurt him. Hallorann then leaves, leaving the Torrances alone at the Overlook.
The first unusual event occurs when Jack is re-shingling the roof. He finds a wasp nest under one of the shingles, so he uses a bug bomb to kill all of the wasps. Later he gives Danny the empty nest to hang in his bedroom. That night, while Danny is sleeping, three wasps come out and sting him. Jack then puts a clear plastic bowl on top of the nest and takes it to the back porch. He sees that there are at least fifty wasps on the other side of the bowl. He at first thinks the bug bomb didn’t work, but then starts to realize that they came back to life.
Then more things start to happen all leading up to an intense climatic showdown between Danny and the Overlook, who wants to consume Danny and turn him into just another hotel ghost.
I enjoyed this book very much; it was never boring. Each rising action was more thrilling than the one before. I just couldn’t put it down.