The Shining by Stephen King (Audiobook Review)

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Title: The Shining
Author: Stephen King
Publisher: Recorded Books
Narrator: Campbell Scott
Duration: 15 hours, 55 minutes
Copyright: 2005
Genres: horror, paranormal
Filed in: Audiobook reviews
Review copy provided by Kearney Public Library.

THE GIST: Every hotel has its history, and its ghosts. The Overlook Hotel, a posh mountain resort in the Colorado Rockies, is no exception. Built in the early 1900’s, the Overlook’s history is long and colorful. A child dies of asphyxiation on the playground, a spurned lover leaps from a third floor window, a rich old woman commits suicide in a second floor bathtub, three men are slain in a gangland murder in the presidential suite. Is it bad luck, or is there some deeper meaning to the Overlook’s tragic past?
Dick Halloran, the hotel’s head chef, knows a little of the Overlook’s history. Dick has what some people would call a “psychic twinkle”, but what he himself calls “the shining.” Whatever you want to call it, what Dick has is the ability to see things that others do not. Sometimes he can see what people are thinking. Sometimes he can catch glimpses of the future, or the past. For people like Dick Halloran, the Overlook Hotel seems to come alive. The mask slips aside slightly, allowing a glimpse of the true face beneath, and the true face of the Overlook is not pleasant at all.
Enter Jack Torrance. Jack was once a young up-and-comer in the literary field. With several published stories, a post at a prestigious New England prep school, a beautiful wife, and a young son, his destiny seemed sure. But Jack has a couple of problems: alcoholism and rage. The two problems combined have proven too much for Jack, costing him his job, not to mention the prospect of finding another one, and nearly costing him his family. Luckily, Jack has friends in high places. Al Shockley, who happens to own a controlling interest in the Overlook Hotel, sets Jack up to be the hotel’s caretaker during the winter months when the Overlook is closed. It is the perfect opportunity for Jack, Wendy, and Danny. A positive mark on Jack’s resume, and plenty of solitude for him to finish the play he has been writing. A cooling-off period if you will.
There is just one small problem. Jack’s son, five-year-old Danny, has what Dick Halloran has. The shining. And when Dick meets the family, he is amazed to find that Danny shines stronger than anyone he has ever met. Dick tries to warn Danny about the Overlook, but the boy is only five after all.
The first couple of months at the Overlook are among the happiest that Jack, Wendy, and Danny have shared as a family, but the longer Danny, with his unusually powerful senses, spends in the hotel, the livelier the hotel gets. Danny is the winding key that starts the Overlook Hotel in motion. Danny with his powerful shine. The Overlook wants Danny so that it can run forever and ever, but to get Danny, it must first get Jack. Poor Jack, who is already half-mad, is the perfect tool for the hotel to get what it wants. And Jack is a willing tool. The Overlook represents his last, best hope for getting the train-wreck of his life back on the rails. It is a conundrum that can never be solved. Jack must save the hotel to save his family, but the Overlook Hotel has plans of its own.

MY THOUGHTS: Jack Torrance’s slow decline into madness is as heartbreaking as it is inevitable. Even after reading “The Shining” half a dozen times or so, I still find myself cheering for Jack, urging him to straighten up, to get away from the Overlook before it destroys him, always to no avail. I can think of no other author that invokes such a strong commitment from his readers, for his characters. Stephen King’s ability to make the reader care about his characters has always been his strong point, and I can think of no other audio book where he did it as well as he did with Jack Torrance in “The Shining.”

NARRATOR: Campbell Scott is kind of a no-frills audio book narrator. He does little to differentiate between the voices of the characters, but somehow that’s okay. Maybe I’m more lenient because “The Shining” is just such a great story. I had no trouble finishing this audio book as I do with some of the more boring narrators.

FINAL WORD: “The Shining” is for all of us who have suffered addictions or other personal demons, and tried to overcome them. King’s own personal experience is evident throughout the audio book.

FILM ADAPTATION: Most people are familiar with the 1980 release of this movie. “The Shining” was directed by Stanley Kubrick, and starred Jack Nicholson, Shelley Duvall, and Scatman Crothers. This film received a lot of criticism because it didn’t follow Stephen King's story very closely, but personally, I think it’s a great movie. Nicholson gave a great performance, and Kubrick's addition of the twin girls was just plain creepy.
There was a second adaptation of “The Shining” in 1997. The made-for-tv movie starred Steven Weber, Brian Hackett from "Wings." This adaption followed Stephen King's story much more closely, but it just wasn't as good as the original Kubrick version.

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If you liked this audiobook review, you can purchase the audiobook here:
Get "The Shining" by Stephen King (Unabridged Audiobook) from Amazon.com.

Interested in the movie?
Get "The Shining" (Two-Disc Special Edition) from Amazon.com.

This audiobook review is based on the unabridged audiobook.
Audiobook review by Steven Brandt
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