Writers, whose books would be liked by almost all people, nowadays, unfortunately, there are not so many. Real bestsellers that would read millions can be counted on the fingers. But good interesting books of various kinds of publishing houses, of course, are sometimes published today. Very good reviews from readers, for example, deserved the works of American Stephen King. There are many admirers of this talented writer in the world, including Russia.
Creates his works Stephen King in the exciting genres of horror, thriller, fantasy. Based on the motives of his books, many successful and popular adaptations were created for the viewer. For example, many people are aware of two films āShiningā. The plot of which unfolds in the old Overlook Hotel, full of ghosts. These popular films were created based on the book of the same name by Stephen King. Reviews "Shine", written by the "King of Horrors" in 1977, from fans of the genre deserved simply excellent.
Author Biography
This writer was born on September 21, 1947 in the US state of Maine in the city of Portland. Stephen Nellie's mothers had been diagnosed with infertility shortly before - infertility. In order not to be left alone in old age, Kingy decided to adopt an orphan. So in their family appeared Victor David. But after a while a real miracle happened - the couple had their own child, named Stephen Edwin.
The father of the future writer was a sailor, and later a traveling salesman. Stephen's mother worked as a pianist. When King turned 2 years old, his family, unfortunately, broke up. The father of the future writer fled to another state with a cute waitress from a nearby cafe. Stephen and David were raised by their mother, who, in order to feed her children, had to take on the most dirty and hard work all her life.
At 7 years old, the future writer was seriously ill due to frequent travels. Stephen underwent several complicated operations on his ear. Perhaps because of the rather difficult living conditions, as well as the hardships that fell to his lot, as a child the boy became interested in the gloomy genre of horrors.
To distract from the constant pain in the ear, he, on the advice of his mother, began to write scary stories. Until the publication of the best horror of the XX century. - āThe Radianceā by Stephen King, the feedback from the fans who deserved it was just magnificent - it was, of course, still very far away. However, the "king of horrors" captured his first mystical story on paper at the age of 7 years. It was an exciting story, invented by King based on the comic book about Captain Casey.
After some time, Stephen wrote several more stories for which he received from his mother a āfeeā of 25 cents. Since then, the "king of horrors" wrote his works, almost without stopping.
Studying in college, Stephen King at the same time moonlighted on the packaging of goods. While still a student, he married his classmate, the pretty Tabitha. Having received a bachelor's degree, Stephen decided to make a living with his favorite thing - writing. However, before becoming an internationally recognized āking of horrors,ā King was forced to teach at a school in the city.
The first bestseller of Stephen was the novel "Carrie", a draft of which the writer, dissatisfied with his labors, threw it into the garbage can. Fortunately, the wife of the future "king of horrors" found the novel. After reading it, she begged her husband to finish writing this work. Subsequently, the novel "Carrie" was simply fantastic success with readers. Reviews about him were enthusiastic. For the writer this came as a surprise and, of course, gave impetus to the writing of new works.
The Shine by Stephen King: Reader Reviews
This bestseller was published in 1977. The Shining Book was the second successful work of Stephen King. She is loved and read not only by residents of the United States, but also by many other countries. From Russian horror fans, this work also earned just excellent reviews. Many domestic readers call this book the best in the horror and mysticism of the XX century.
Reader reviews about King's Shining are good, thanks to the following advantages of this book:
- good drawing of heroes;
- interesting story;
- happy endu;
- light style of presentation.
Also, according to fans of horror, the theme of the family is very well disclosed in this work.
Negative reviews related to the "Radiance" of King, in Runet are also available. But they relate mainly to the quality of the domestic printed products (small print, bad paper, plain design, etc.).
History of the book: an old hotel
How did the horror book King Radiance come into being? The fee received for Carrie allowed the writer to leave teaching. Together with his wife, the āking of horrorsā moved to live in the state of Colorado, in the city of Boulder. After the success of Carrie, Kingās business went uphill, and the family simply decided to buy a new home. In order not to be tormented with the choice of place of residence, Stephen simply closed his eyes and poked on the map in the first place that came across. It turned out to be the city of Bodler.
In October 1974, the couple decided to take a break from their children already born by then, and went to inspect the city's surroundings. A few miles from Boudler was the small, picturesque town of Estes Park, which interested the King's couple. This place was very popular among tourists, and therefore, of course, there was a hotel here. It was called The Stanley Hotel. As time approached winter, there were almost no visitors to the hotel. In fact, Stephen and Tabitha lived in it almost alone.
I got the pair number 217, where, according to local legend, a ghost lived. The situation at the hotel was rather gloomy. The couple had to dine in an empty huge dining room and listen to the stories of a local watchman about how the hotel cuts off the outside world with snowfalls in winter. King wandered for a long time along the empty deserted corridors of the old hotel and talked mostly only with the local bartender.
At that time, according to friends, the āking of horrorsā was experiencing some problems with alcohol. This subsequently, like the hotelās setting, a ghostly room, a talkative watchman and a polite bartender, was reflected in Stephen Kingās book āShiningā.
Sleep
Apparently, the empty hotel, which kept thousands of stories of tourists coming to Estes Park, inspired King to think about writing a new book. But the real impetus for the creation and publication of the second terrible horror for Stephen was a dream he had at night at The Stanley Hotel. In his daydream, King suddenly saw his three-year-old son screaming down the stairs from a fire hose. The writer woke up in a cold sweat and literally in half an hour made a plan for the future book.
Creation Background
Conceived his "Shine" Stephen King, thus, after visiting the The Stanley Hotel. However, the thought of a novel of a similar concept came to his mind 12 years before his trip to Estes Park. Then Stephen also wanted to write a novel about the hotel and name it Darkshine. The main character, as conceived by the author, was to be a psychic whose thoughts were embodied in reality. King came up with this story under the influence of Ray Bradberry's "Veld" short story, which was then on sale.
However, the aspiring writer did not succeed in promoting the idea in those years. Outlines of his novel went "to the table." After a night at The Stanley Hotel, King decided to use his old ideas. However, the main telepathic hero this time did not make a man, but a little boy. And so it was born perhaps the best work in the horror genre of the 20th century, which earned excellent reviews from readers - The Radiance by Stephen King.
Who the book is dedicated to
On the front page of his new novel, Stephen left a note that he dedicated to "Joe Hill King, whose radiance is unquenchable." The prototype of the protagonist of "Radiance" for the writer, after a dream he had, was, of course, his own little son.
Joe Hill was born to Stephen and Tabitha in the summer of 1972. In fact, the boy was named Joseph Hillstrom. The son of King took the pseudonym Joe Hill on his own, as an adult. The fact is that Joseph, like his father, chose a career as a writer. He hid his last name, first name and patronymic in order to succeed on his own, without using the fame of his father.
What is this book about?
Further in the article, for informational purposes, we present the content of āThe Shineā by Stephen King (short). Of course, to read this wonderful book, according to the majority of domestic horror fans, which is one of the best printed horror of the XX century, it is worth it independently and completely. Moreover, you can find this work in Russia today at any bookstore. There are many pages in this book, but they are read literally in one breath.
However, for those people who still doubt whether it is worth reading this work, below is a small overview of it. Of course, we will not give a summary of Stephen Kingās Radiance by chapter, otherwise the article will turn out to be too long. But those interested in the work of the āking of horrorsā will still be able to follow the main plot line.
main characters
What is the content of The Shining by Stephen King? The plot of this book unfolds in the oldest hotel "Overluk", located away from settlements, in the mountains. The novel begins with a description of the complex relationships in one of the troubled American families. The main characters of the book are a boy with telepathic abilities Danny Torrens, his father Jack and mother Wendy.
At the very beginning of the book, the family does not yet live in a hotel, but in the city, and is experiencing serious financial difficulties. Danny's father, working as a teacher, beats a student for disrespect for him. Of course, immediately after this Jack is fired from school.
In addition to financial, the Danny family is faced with another serious problem. The head of the family, unfortunately, is an experienced alcoholic. The prehistory of the events that took place at the Ovreluk Hotel is that Jack, once drunk, in a fit of anger breaks his son's hand. Of course, Wendy - an exemplary American housewife - decides after that to divorce him.
Wanting to save the family, however, Jack asks his wife for a reprieve and begins to attend the club of anonymous alcoholics. Here, among other things, he meets a rich friend Al, who also has problems with alcohol. This new friend offers Jack to work as a watchman at the Overluk Hotel, of which he is one of the directors. All that Danny's father needs to do at the hotel is to keep an eye on her empty courtyard and rooms in the winter.
Of course, the former teacher immediately agrees to this proposal. After all, they offer him a very good salary. In addition, Jack counts in the silence of the hotel, which does not accept guests in the cold season, to add the book he started.
Arrival at the hotel
Incomprehensible and terrible events in the book "The Shine" by Stephen King begin to occur even before the family enters the territory of the ill-fated old hotel. Danny, who has telepathic abilities, mystically learns that his father got a job at some hotel, even before Jack tells the family about it. At the same time, the boy feels that something terrible will happen to them in the old hotel. Pictures that a child sees are so scary that he even loses consciousness.
He learns not too good details about Overluk and Jack himself. When applying for a job, he is told a story about how the previous hotel caretaker went crazy a year before and committed suicide.
However, the Torrens in their old car set off for Overluk after some time. Here they meet the cook Dick, to a lesser extent than Danny, but also possessing a telepathic gift. Two extraordinary people even manage to "talk" to each other mentally. Danny, having a soul mate, tells Dick about his fears about the hotel. To this, the chef advises him to calm down and not perceive his visions as something real. However, at the same time, the cook offers the boy to call him for help mentally in the event that any disaster happens to him.
Alone in winter
Further, according to the plot of Kingās Shine, the assembled staff leaves the hotel until spring. Leave the hotel and the last guests. The Torrens family remains alone at Overluck. At first, everything for our heroes is just perfect. Jack writes his book; Wendy deals with Danny. But after some time, the fallen snow cuts the "Overluk" from the outside world. From this moment on, terrible things begin to happen at the hotel.
One day, Danny, playing in the hallway, looks into one of the rooms, from under the door of which there is a strange light. An impressive child sees a terrible blue dead woman coming out of the bathroom and heading towards him clearly not with good intentions. Danny's parents scream. Wendy notices bruises on the body of the boy who has again lost consciousness and begins to accuse Jack of beating the child. This becomes one of the reasons for the split in the family.
Jack himself sees the ghosts in the hotel. Despite the fact that in reality in the hotel, unlike food, they donāt leave a drop of alcohol for the winter, the spirit of the local, long-dead bartender, begins to offer Jack a drink from the other world. And the strangest thing is that a former alcoholic behaves, having accumulated unrealistic alcohol, is not at all like a sober person.
He soon begins to believe in the presence of ghosts and Wendy at the hotel. Firstly, her husband again every evening, for some reason, comes to their room drunk. And secondly, at night the family clearly hears the sounds of a party organized by a huge number of ghosts upstairs.
Hotel Book
In the end, Jack finds a notebook in the basement with a description of the unsightly events that took place in Overluk. Impressed by what he read, he decides to write a book about this hotel. Rich alcoholic friend Al, who gave Jack a job, fearing for the hotelās reputation, forbids him to do so. However, Danny's father, despite everything, still decides to describe the murders and suicides that happened in Overluck. After that, the hotel captures Jack completely. Ghosts are beginning to push Danny's father, like his predecessor, to kill the family.
Ending
Ultimately, Jack, armed with an ax, begins to chase Wendy and Danny around the hotel. Wendy, saving her child, for a while manages to lure her husband into a trap and lock him in one of the refrigerators in the kitchen. However, Jack previously breaks the radio and the snowmobile so that people close to him once did not call for help and did not escape. Soon he was released from the refrigerator all the same ghosts. Danny at this time struggles with his fears in the corridors of the hotel. For example, as in Kingās dream, a fire hose begins to chase him, past which he needs to go. In the end, the boy overcomes fear and hides from his father who has almost found him, brandishing an ax.
When the situation for Danny and Wendy becomes completely hopeless, an incident comes to their aid. The old hotel boiler, which Jack, who had withdrawn into himself, had long stopped monitoring, explodes. The hotel starts a fire. At this point, Dick arrives at the hotel on a snowmobile, telepathically summoned by Danny. Ultimately, the cook takes the woman and child to the city. Jack burns down with the hotel and its ghosts.
Adaptations
The book "Radiance" not only really liked the readers, but also caused a real boom among writers. Critics also appreciated this work. Subsequently, a lot of reviews appeared on the "Shine" by Stephen King, reviews of famous people and more. Of course, films were also shot on this work. I looked at these pictures by a lot of people.
The film based on the book āThe Shineā by Stephen King, reviews from fans of his work, who deserved good for a well-thought out sequential plot, the directors shot twice. This was first done by Stanley Kubrick in 1980. The second film adaptation of the novel was released in 1997. The director of this picture was Mick Garris. Both films aroused great public interest and brought their creators a lot of money. However, judging by the reviews available on the Web, the audience liked the picture taken in 1997 more. It is a mini-series and reveals the plot of the book in much more detail than the 1980 film.
The first picture, according to the viewers, among other things, turned out to be too concise. Moreover, Kubrick, according to many fans of the studied author, also completely in vain made several digressions from the plot of the book. A summary of King's Shining was given by us above in the article. As our readers will remember, Danny and Wendy ultimately save Dick from his enraged father. The cook takes the woman and child from the ill-fated hotel. However, Kubrick in his film at the end of Dick "kills".
Roles
In the film Kubrick, the role of father Danny was played by the characteristic actor Nicholson, very often playing in the movies of crazy people. This artist, while working on the image, made the main emphasis on the dark side of Jack's soul. And he succeeded to the fullest. Jack Kubrick literally scares the viewer with his gloomy, not quite normal look, as well as a complete inability to repent or compassion.
In Harris, the role of Danny's father is played by Stephen Weber - a softer actor, in full accordance with the content of Kingās book āShineā, which revealed the theme of Jackās struggle with the dark side of his soul for the sake of saving his son.
The role of Wendy in Kubrick was played by the not very attractive appearance actress Shelley Duvall. She was very good at conveying the character of a not-so-smart, scuffed and intimidated husband, but still ready to do everything for her child, a housewife.
At Harris, Danny's mother turned out to be more decisive, calm, smart, and therefore attractive, according to the viewer. In addition, Rebecca De Morney, who was very beautiful in appearance, played this role in the 1997 film.
Continuation of the book
Happy end is most likely one of the reasons why Stephen Kingās book, The Shining, has earned good reviews from readers. According to the plot of the "king of horrors", Danny and his mother, as we recall, are saved. Subsequently, they live together, they are often visited by the cook Dick, helping to raise a gifted boy. It is on this note that the work of Stephen King's "Shining" ends.
Subsequently, the "king of horror" also wrote a continuation of this book called "Doctor's Dream." This work was published in 2013. In this novel, Danny Torrens turns 40 years old. According to the plot, he works in a hospital and helps the girl Abra escape from vampires that feed on the "radiance."