The Shining by Stephen King (from the archives)
Another review from my unfinished "Stephen King in Order" project. It was posted on my old blog and is still on Goodreads . The Shining was the 3rd book in my series, after Salem's Lot. Sadly, I seem to have lost my Salem's Lot review somehow. Please note that these "reviews" are more discussion than true review. The Shining: I think one reason why King's writing speaks to so many people is his ability to tap into our universal fears. Humans all have different circumstances in life, but I think that we're all afraid of some version of the same things: isolation, failure, loss, hurting/failing to protect those we love, dying before we're ready, being worthless, rejection, deception, the unknown, losing control. Carrie lived with isolation and rejection. Ben Mears had to deal with unearthly creatures as well as his failure to protect the woman he loved. Jack Torrance in The Shining has to face all of those things at once and it breaks him. Even