The shinning Review
By: Juanita Gonzalez
Stephen King, a master storyteller who exhibits his talent for creating mysterious and tense atmospheres, has more than one must-reads that have permeated generations of readers into chilling worlds. The Shining, one of King's most famous novels, exhibits his peerless imagination and his skills in all their brilliance. Therefore, for those who seek a chilling adventure during this spooky season, I highly recommend the masterpiece of The Shining.
The novel is set in the 1970s, in an archetypical site for a haunting story, The Overlook, an old and rustic hotel located in the rocky mountains of Colorado. Jack Torrance, the head of a seemingly ordinary family, finds an opportunity for a fresh start as the Overlook caretaker during the winter. But little did he know that things were going to get dark and twisty. Alcoholism and bad temper turned Jack Torrance into a man that neither his wife Wendy nor his son Danny recognized. He had lost his job, and his marriage (since it was on the verge of divorce), so the position at the Overlook meant a chance to reconnect with himself, his muse to write, and, most important, his family.
Further than the setting and the plot, The Shining is a novel that not only will frighten you but also will make you ponder on relatable themes that our society suffers nowadays. On top of the list is alcoholism and drugs, a quandary that nowadays it is usual to see due to the need of people to anesthetize feelings. Then we find morality, a topic that we certainly need to reflect on, and that will be represented with Jack Torrance and the thunderstorm inside his head. The most literal theme would be the supernatural stuff, more specifically telekinesis and spirits, which unquestionably are the heart and soul of the best-seller. The book has even more topics to display, such as family, time, and how we understand reality.
Moreover, the novel becomes more interesting when we understand the influences behind it. It was not surprising for me, that a prominent Author as Stephen king relied on the acknowledged Edgar Allan Poe, the master of terror. From the very beginning of the novel, King mentions Edgar Allan Poe in an epigraph of The Masque of the Red Death. Later on, we get to understand more parallels between both texts, like isolation and the troubles of inner monsters. On the other hand, it was pretty gripping for me to find out how the shining was a psychoanalysis of the one and only Stephen King. Who dealt himself with alcoholism and family issues, by using the novel as a catharsis.
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In summary, there's not a better novel to read during October than The Shining. It has relatable characters, an amazing climax, and deep reflections about the world and the monster that comes with it. Do not wait for a second more and unmask every mystery that it has to offer, within the novel, and even yourself.
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