Prongs - Ninth Review - The Shining

'Just like 7-11. We may not always be doing business, but we are always open' -Boondock Saints
Sorry folks, looks like you are stuck with us.
It has been quite some time has it not? We have missed all of you dearly, but most of all we have missed our dear dear blog.
It's not you blog, it's us... we weren't ready for a serious commitment.... we have changed, matured, gotten those other silly sites out of our system and are ready to settle down for the long haul. Please take us back? Please?!
Without getting into all the mundane details of moving, mono, and manic-Mondays (finals are finally over)... we have emerged from the swamps of this school-term refreshed and ready to review! So once again, we apologize sincerely to our loyal reads for the lack of posts. Our hope is that even though we have been on a short hiatus, you will return to the Padfoot and Prongs that you once loved so dearly, ready as always to talk about BOOOKKS.
And to kick off what is sure to be a jammed pack summer we have a review for you! Look for many more updates this week and beyond, since we don't plan on walking out on you again any time soon. Pinky promise.

"We all shine on." The Beatles (The inspirational line behind the title)
The Shining
By Stephen King

Disclaimer: For quite some time now I have had a love/hate relationship with Stephen King. I have to give it to him; when Stephen King is ‘on’ he is ‘ON’ . But there are other times when it is as if someone has just flipped his creative switch, and what comes from that is far cry from good-quality writing. With the amount of work that he has produced in a lifetime, I can not blame him for having a few ‘off’ works, but honestly some of it is more than just ‘off’… it is down right bad. It is only my love of a few choice works by him that keeps me coming back for more. Just when I think I am ready to give up on him as a writer, I come across another gem that I had overlooked that reminds me why I even return to him in the first place. This time, it just happened to be The Shining.

Truly a master of horror, Stephen king has comprised a novel that shows the total transformation of a loving yet flawed father into a deranged shell of his former self. To King, the ability to ‘Shine’ is the supernatural capability of people and even buildings to read the minds of others, and in Jack’s case, posses them. Most are familiar with the story line, but the novel centers on Jack Torrance and his family who have moved into The Overlook hotel, with the responsibility of keeping it running during the 5 winter months when the building becomes snowed into seclusion. Unbeknownst to Jack and his family, the Overlook has a violent history of gangsters, adulterers, murder, and these memories echo within every empty hall of the hotel. Jack’s young son Danny posses the strange ability to ‘shine’ , which ultimately is the driving force behind all of the horrific events that happen to the family within the desolateness of the hotel.

"A stupid man is more prone to cabin fever just as he's more prone to shoot someone over a card game or commit a spur-of-the-moment robbery. He gets bored. When the snow comes and there's nothing to do but watch TV or play solitaire and cheat when he can't get all the aces out. Nothing to do but ***** at his wife and nag at the kids and drink."

What truly turns this novel from just your average horror story into a literary classic is the slow climatic degradation of Jack’s sanity, which makes the audience question: ‘If it could happen to him, why not me?’. Jack is haunted by the embarrassing alcohol driven mistakes of his past, and his ghosts follow him to The Overlook, where they are given free reign to tear him down slowly. While the movie focuses more on how unstable and unpredictable Jack becomes, the novel never lets you forget for a moment what will happen at the end. From the beginning Jack’s son Danny has constant premonitions about the final climatic scene where Jack has finally become possessed by the hotel, and the slow build up is absolutely electric. The foreshadow of Danny’s dreams clings to every inch of the jungle print wall paper, the crystal chandeliers, and the strangely odd hedge animals… until the moment when the dreams become a gruesome reality.

King shows off his immense talent to understand the human element of fear through his use of detail and internal character reflection, weaving together a story that is both complicated and terrifying. While the movie has become something of a cult classic, it is important to not forget the roots that these cinematic doppelgangers come from. Trust me, this is one book you will want to read with all the lights on.

-mischief managed-

Prongs - Ninth Review - The Shining

'Just like 7-11. We may not always be doing business, but we are always open' -Boondock Saints
Sorry folks, looks like you are stuck with us.
It has been quite some time has it not? We have missed all of you dearly, but most of all we have missed our dear dear blog.
It's not you blog, it's us... we weren't ready for a serious commitment.... we have changed, matured, gotten those other silly sites out of our system and are ready to settle down for the long haul. Please take us back? Please?!
Without getting into all the mundane details of moving, mono, and manic-Mondays (finals are finally over)... we have emerged from the swamps of this school-term refreshed and ready to review! So once again, we apologize sincerely to our loyal reads for the lack of posts. Our hope is that even though we have been on a short hiatus, you will return to the Padfoot and Prongs that you once loved so dearly, ready as always to talk about BOOOKKS.
And to kick off what is sure to be a jammed pack summer we have a review for you! Look for many more updates this week and beyond, since we don't plan on walking out on you again any time soon. Pinky promise.

"We all shine on." The Beatles (The inspirational line behind the title)
The Shining
By Stephen King

Disclaimer: For quite some time now I have had a love/hate relationship with Stephen King. I have to give it to him; when Stephen King is ‘on’ he is ‘ON’ . But there are other times when it is as if someone has just flipped his creative switch, and what comes from that is far cry from good-quality writing. With the amount of work that he has produced in a lifetime, I can not blame him for having a few ‘off’ works, but honestly some of it is more than just ‘off’… it is down right bad. It is only my love of a few choice works by him that keeps me coming back for more. Just when I think I am ready to give up on him as a writer, I come across another gem that I had overlooked that reminds me why I even return to him in the first place. This time, it just happened to be The Shining.

Truly a master of horror, Stephen king has comprised a novel that shows the total transformation of a loving yet flawed father into a deranged shell of his former self. To King, the ability to ‘Shine’ is the supernatural capability of people and even buildings to read the minds of others, and in Jack’s case, posses them. Most are familiar with the story line, but the novel centers on Jack Torrance and his family who have moved into The Overlook hotel, with the responsibility of keeping it running during the 5 winter months when the building becomes snowed into seclusion. Unbeknownst to Jack and his family, the Overlook has a violent history of gangsters, adulterers, murder, and these memories echo within every empty hall of the hotel. Jack’s young son Danny posses the strange ability to ‘shine’ , which ultimately is the driving force behind all of the horrific events that happen to the family within the desolateness of the hotel.

"A stupid man is more prone to cabin fever just as he's more prone to shoot someone over a card game or commit a spur-of-the-moment robbery. He gets bored. When the snow comes and there's nothing to do but watch TV or play solitaire and cheat when he can't get all the aces out. Nothing to do but ***** at his wife and nag at the kids and drink."

What truly turns this novel from just your average horror story into a literary classic is the slow climatic degradation of Jack’s sanity, which makes the audience question: ‘If it could happen to him, why not me?’. Jack is haunted by the embarrassing alcohol driven mistakes of his past, and his ghosts follow him to The Overlook, where they are given free reign to tear him down slowly. While the movie focuses more on how unstable and unpredictable Jack becomes, the novel never lets you forget for a moment what will happen at the end. From the beginning Jack’s son Danny has constant premonitions about the final climatic scene where Jack has finally become possessed by the hotel, and the slow build up is absolutely electric. The foreshadow of Danny’s dreams clings to every inch of the jungle print wall paper, the crystal chandeliers, and the strangely odd hedge animals… until the moment when the dreams become a gruesome reality.

King shows off his immense talent to understand the human element of fear through his use of detail and internal character reflection, weaving together a story that is both complicated and terrifying. While the movie has become something of a cult classic, it is important to not forget the roots that these cinematic doppelgangers come from. Trust me, this is one book you will want to read with all the lights on.

-mischief managed-