My Two Pence: "The Shining"

If you think back a few weeks, (well, more like one week), I started reading "The Shining" by Stephen King. 

Verdict

I. LOVED. THIS. BOOK.  Like, cannot-put-it-down, would-much-rather-read-than-talk-or-eat, please-please-don't-end love. I kept flipping to the last page, not to see what happened, but to remind myself how many pages there were and therefore how many I had left to cherish.  Really, the kind of love that comes when you "discover" classics written well before your time that you just never got around to reading. I had a similar feeling for "Peyton Place" and "A Tree Grows in Brooklyn."  Go figure.

I really enjoyed the book for the following reasons:

1. It explained so many confusing parts of the movie that I simply could not understand unless I read the book. Scenes in the movie that I just passed off as creepy for no reason DID in fact have a reason! Rejoice! So next time you find yourself watching it and are like "whaaa?" just ring me up and I'll explain the nitty gritty details.

2. It was detailed, sometimes disturbingly so.  I never had a problem visualizing what was happening, whether it had to do with wasps, blood, lawn animals or redrum. It also had so much back story that was cut out of the movie, and rightly so. It would have made for a long, boring movie.

3. The book is long. 300-page books are for the birds.  Give me 500+ and I'm happy. It keeps me occupied and excited throughout the week. (Yet another nerd alert)

All in all, I am glad I finally got around to reading Stephen King, and I'm glad that "The Shining" was my first of his many novels.  I already reserved "Carrie" and "It" from the library, although I'd like to see "It" first so I can put my movie-then-book approach to good use.  

Currently reading now: 

My friend Jen loved it, and there is a dog on the front cover. I'm sold.

More thoughts to come when I'm finished! Watch this space.