#267 Doctor Sleep (2013)

Author: Stephen King
Title: Doctor Sleep
Genre: Novel
Year: 2013
Pages: 500
Origin: read on the Kindle
Nod Rating: 2 nods out of 5

 

‘The shining was back, and strong. The question was, why now?’

Back in 2013 the Worm read Stephen King’s novel The Shining. Having grown up with the impressive Stanley Kubrick film, the novel offered a different interpretation on the story (King’s definitive version, it could be said). The Worm wanted to know what happened after the final scenes; in particular, what happened to little Danny Torrance. So, the author’s follow-up to the novel – more than three decades later – promised to be an interesting one.

Doctor Sleep shows us an adult Danny (now named Dan) who has come to terms with the demons in his life, both mentally and physically in the form of the Overlook Hotel as well as his alcoholism. ‘You take yourself with you, wherever you go,’ King writes. Dan befriends a girl – Abra – who displays the gift of the shining to a greater extent than himself. However, Abra unwittingly invites the attentions of the True Knot, an odd gang who travel across America looking for kids who have the shining in order to feed off their energy. As King writes, ‘America is a living body, the highways are its arteries and the True Knot slips along them like a silent virus’. Dan Torrance becomes involved with defending Abra, leading him back to the grounds of the Overlook Hotel.

All of this sounds like positive sparks ready to explore. However, the experience of reading this overly long novel was a different one that the synopsis suggests. Some of the Worm’s chief complaints include pacing issues (a drawn out introduction and not enough time given to the book’s climax at the Overlook), tiresome action scenes, as well as some incredibly dull characters. Furthermore, the characters who could have injected a bit of energy into this novel – those of the True Knot – were completely underused. This includes the character of Andi who was given attention in the beginning, and then neglected for the remainder of the novel.

The biggest complaint comes in the form of King’s fairly standard writing. This is regrettable to say, as the Worm has long been a fan of Stephen King (in particular many of his short stories). However, Doctor Sleep lacks spark and imagination. Rather than suspense, it plodded along in a harmless manner.

Although it was nice to check in on Danny after decades of the original novel, Doctor Sleep is - like the horrors of the Overlook Hotel - best left alone. It adds nothing new to the myth of “the shining”, and is a wasted opportunity to really explore the meaning behind the apparent gift. The Worm will return to Stephen King in the future, but he may just stay away from his recent publications.

#208 The Shining (1977)

Author: Stephen King
Title: The Shining
Genre: Horror Novel
Year: 1977
Pages: 410
Origin: bought at a second hand bookstore for £1.99
Nod Rating: 3 nods out of 5

“Here’s Johnny!” teased the warped and insane Jack Nicholson in the cult film The Shining. It is a movie that has terrified a-many over the past three decades; a film that can stand its head high and pride amongst the heavyweights of Stanley Kubrick’s catalogue.

However, it is an image at odds with Stephen King’s original creation. Before the image of the axe smashing through the door and before the twins standing in a hallway of oozing blood there was the less extreme text that had a bigger, more caring spirit. King himself has previously stated his distaste for Kubrick’s film; he even help oversee a later television adaption that remained truer to the source material. But in a battle between the two, which version stands up best? Thankfully, the Worm is here to help decide the contest.

Although, it must be stated for the record, the Worm’s interest in reading his first Stephen King novel for this blog is not motivated by the Kubrick-King “feud”, but rather by the news that the author was planning and writing a follow-up novel to The Shining: Dr Sleep. It follows the life of Danny decades after the horrific events occurred at the Overlook Hotel. The Worm was interested in what King would do have returned to a much earlier creation, and therefore the gauntlet was laid down to read his first novel before devouring the second.

The plot is a well-known one: Jack Torrance is given the job of maintaining the snow-ridden Overlook Hotel during the winter season. A struggling writer, he intends to write his masterpiece amongst the peace. Also present is his wife and their son, Danny; it is Danny who has the ability to “shine” and look into the thoughts and emotions of others. He is aided (and hindered) in this ability by his imaginary friend Tony; wonderfully shown in Kubrick’s film by a waggling finger (1-0 to Kubrick, it would seem). Whilst at the hotel, events take a turn for the worst; well, this is the horror genre, after all. Jack is seemingly possessed by the potency and history of the hotel, whilst Danny’s images of death and disaster become all the greater. The hotel’s supernatural spirit takes hold, turning the father against his family.

The book goes into greater detail into the mentality of Torrance, his relationship with Danny and the turmoil of his marriage to Wendy. Where the film scratches the surface, in a seeming triumph of style over substance, King is intent to get across the message that Jack Torrance is not a maniac in the making, but rather a normal guy who is moved to do extraordinary things. This investment, despite being heavy-loaded in the first section of the novel (more than one hundred pages pass before we move onto the setting of the hotel) pays dividends come the book’s climax. Here, in a bloody pitted duel between father and son, Jack is able to reach into the love he shares with his son and help him escape by bludgeoning himself to death (King equalises to make it 1-1).

However, the book has many annoying features: nowhere more clearly than in King’s writing style. He displays a seeming inability to tie up a chapter, adding superfluous text and clogging up the book with pointless pages of print. Yes, it is true that the reader finds out much more of the family than the film can offer; but it must be asked: is this entirely beneficial? The hints and forewarning of the trouble ahead is enough to distract the reader, as is the annoyance that is the character of Danny. Shown in the film to be a quiet, disturbed child, in the novel he takes on an irritatingly developed mindset; one more fitting for a child of ten or more years, rather than a six-year old (2-1 to Kubrick).

But, the biggest gripe of King’s novel is the ending (again, demonstrating his inability to successfully conclude a segment of writing). Yes, we have the death of Jack as well as the blowing of the boiler – itself a metaphorical indicator of the rising tension throughout the novel – but after this point we, the readers, are left to follow a pointless summary (Final score: 3-1 Kubrick).

Both novel and film exist and stand on their own merits. Each is a different, and for that both reader and cinema-goer should be thankful. For King and fans of the original novel, there is no hope of defeating the movie, such is its iconic status. However, King deserves the kudos for bringing these characters to life. Despite the sometimes pedestrian writing, the author brings a tale to terrify us – but a tale that has heart on the possibilities of love triumphing over evil. This may not Stephen King’s best work; but it may just be his most memorable.

Buy it here