Machel Shull's Blog - Posts Tagged "the-shining-movie"

The Shining by Stephen King

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


My eleventh SK book. Maybe the best yet...I always think that about all of his book that I am reading....except maybe INSOMNIA. (No offense Ralph!)

Okay, so I'm late the party. I had never read the Shining until this week. I just spent my entire birthday gobbling up the pages with much delight. Turning 43 and reading THE SHINING for the first time is realizing you have faced your childhood fears and you are no longer afraid.
His writing ranks up there (if not better and is because I love all of his books and in this case the reference of the book I loved, I never loved another book by this author) with Barbara Kingsolver, Amy Tan, Those Man Booker prize folks and who knows a Pulitzer.
I always thought that his books were more just scary novels...I never they were -postpone all birthday plans! Clear the deck! I must finish THE SHINING!
I will be forever eternally grateful for reading THE JOURNAL KEEPER by Phyllis Theroux. In her book she suggests to read ON WRITING by SK so I did. And after that? How could I not start to unearth his books??
One by one, I am.
I tried to speak candidly with the guy behind Barnes and Noble (a nice older gentlemen) about my love for Stephen King. I tried to tell him from what I had read (I had gone back to buy DOCTOR SLEEP) that the book truly was far more riveting than Krubrick's film interpretation of the book. (Which has lead to all of these bizarre theories, another alley I won't go down right now.) Any how, the man behind the counter completely disagreed with me and said, "It's one of the best adaptations ever of a film made."
That's when I realized, Ahhh...you are not a true SK fan... (a secret thought of mine, not literally spoken.)
I'm going on. I am going on because I am still quite jazzed up about a book I stumbled upon mid-life due to my fear of THE movie Salem's Lot.
That movie shattered my nights as a child and I vowed to never get involved with the scary SK guy by reading his books...
So glad I grew up and faced my fears to realize I had been missing out on one the greatest writers of our time. Forget HORROR.
How about clear your life for 2 DAYS EXCEPT FOR COFFEE because you have SK in the house!! Yippee:)
After reading 11, I have a good almost 40 or so to go, I can space those out over few years (if I can hold myself back) so I can enjoy a new SK books...well for quite awhile. Maybe some things are worth savoring later in life like a good tequila.

Those snobs out there that haven't cracked up one of his books or someone like me that was just to damned afraid are missing out on going to another planet...albeit temporarily. So:
Get over your snobbery!
Get over your fear!
And discover why reading a book is still more fun that checking a FB or Twitter of a site or an audio book or a movie. THE SHINING WAS PUBLISHED six years after I was born. The fact that it is more fun than an amusement park or even lunch with my girlfriends is only a testament to the superb craft at writing and story telling. His character development makes me believe in writing again, in stories, in books. So don't be a snob! Don't be afraid. Walk over to the other side and become a....what?
A CONSTANT READER!



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