AARP has printed an excerpt of Stephen King's upcoming novel, Doctor Sleep.
By introducing Dick Hallorann, King acts quickly to make it clear that this story is building from his novel, not Mr. Kubrick's version of The Shining. The narration actually feels very much like the voice King gave us in The Shining. Same author -- but after all these years you would think it hard to return.
In Prefatory Matters we learn that Wendy and Danny received a small settlement from the owners of the Overlook. We quickly get to revisit room 217 (another nod to the novel over the film.) In this short scene, Danny is eight.
This is masterful:
Close your eyes, Dick Hallorann had told him once upon a time. If you see something bad, close your eyes and tell yourself it's not there and when you open them again, it will be gone.
But it hadn't worked in Room 217 when he was five, and it wouldn't work now. He knew it. He could smell her. She was decaying.In Chapter 1, titled "Welcome to Teenytown," an adult Danny has turned to drinking, shadowing his own father's misery. He bops from job to job and town to town, reminding me of David Banner in The Hulk.
King quickly takes us back in time. Note the narrative voice here,
Sorry, Deenie, you lose, but nobody leaves empty-handed. What have we got for her, Johnny?Check out the excerpt at www.aarp.org
Well, Bob, Deenie didn't win any money, but she's leaving with our new home game, several grams of cocaine, and a great big wad of FOOD STAMPS!
I'll be honest. After reading those few lines I'm not even tempted or curious to see what's inside the book, and I don't believe there really is any Shining sequel, and that most definitely is NOT Danny Torrance.
ReplyDeleteI find myself sort of at a loss for words.
ChrisC
I had the complete opposite reaction.
DeleteTo each his own, I guess.
I liked it a lot. I think people who hold massive standards for The Shining should read it again. The novel is good -- but King is better now. My expectations are pretty high. I think this thing is going to be a home run.
ReplyDeleteWell, actually, this doesn't strike me as King in top writing style, at least if you base that judgment on novels like It and Misery, this is a more slowed down style, and one not as effective as some of his earlier stuff.
ReplyDeleteIt may work for others, but I'll swear I've seen him write better.
ChrisC