Tuesday, September 24, 2013

Fiction Tuesday-Doctor Sleep

Stephen King returns to the character and territory of one of his most popular novels ever, The Shining, in this instantly riveting novel about the now middle-aged Dan Torrance and the very special twelve-year-old girl he must save from a tribe of murderous paranormals.

On highways across America, a tribe of people called the True Knot travel in search of sustenance. They look harmless—mostly old, lots of polyester, and married to their RVs. But as Dan Torrance knows, and spunky twelve-year-old Abra Stone learns, the True Knot are quasi-immortal, living off the steam that children with the shining produce when they are slowly tortured to death.

Haunted by the inhabitants of the Overlook Hotel, where he spent one horrific childhood year, Dan has been drifting for decades, desperate to shed his father’s legacy of despair, alcoholism, and violence. Finally, he settles in a New Hampshire town, an AA community that sustains him, and a job at a nursing home where his remnant shining power provides the crucial final comfort to the dying. Aided by a prescient cat, he becomes “Doctor Sleep.”

Then Dan meets the evanescent Abra Stone, and it is her spectacular gift, the brightest shining ever seen, that reignites Dan’s own demons and summons him to a battle for Abra’s soul and survival. This is an epic war between good and evil, a gory, glorious story that will thrill the millions of devoted readers of The Shining and satisfy anyone new to this icon in the King canon.

I agree with [a character in Doctor Sleep] who calls Twilight and books like it tweenager porn," King said. "They’re really not about vampires and werewolves. They’re about how the love of a girl can turn a bad boy good.
— Stephen King

its so weird reading the sequel even tho i read the shining less than a year ago i can’t believe its been over 30 years((??) and he’s just now releasing this
[its kinda like dandelion wine and how Bradbury published farewell summer like 50 years later]-Colag

“Doctor Sleep” picks up the story of Danny, the little boy with psycho-intuitive powers from Stephen King’s 1977 novel “The Shining.”-The Biology of a Fan Girl
I thought The Shining was fantastic, except for the hedge animals.
King does SUCH a good job of setting up scary situations, only to consistently blow it with one thing that doesn’t make a lick of sense. Alcoholism, child and spousal abuse, the disintegration of a family by one’s personal demons, and the way children “know” something’s wrong? Terrifying. Haunted hotel trying to possess a man to kill his family and feed its need for evil psychic energy? Scary. Graphic visions of the terrible things that have occurred at the hotel over the years, making you question your sanity? Panic-inducing. Evil fire hose that could be all in your imagination? Okay, sure. Demonic hedge bunny? What the hell is the back story of a demon, ghost, or spirit that would manifest itself as a demonic hedge bunny?
King’s gotten a little better with the Deus ex Machina endings over the years (Under the Dome being a notable exception), but even if he keeps the “…and then it’s a giant spider. Wait, no, space aliens” at the end, I’m optimistic thatDoctor Sleep will be at least three quarters of a GREAT book.-Fancy

3 comments:

  1. This sounds kind of awesome - I need to read more Stephen King! :)

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  2. Wow! I have only ever read Hearts In Atlantis. So cool he came out with another book!

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  3. It must be so cool for him to visit a book like the shining and write his very own fan fic of it. Like seeing an old friend I guess..even if they are kind of out of their mind at times.

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